Americans for Tax Reform confident Coburn would fight for taxpayers in the Senate
WASHINGTON – Today, Tom Coburn, former Congressman and Senate nominee, was applauded by Americans for Tax Reform (ATR) , the nation’s leading taxpayer group, for his outstanding Congressional record. Coburn is running against Brad Carson (D-OK) for Senator Don Nickles’ (R-OK) seat in the U.S. Senate.
Coburn has received ATR’s seal of approval in the past as a “Hero of the Taxpayer” as a U.S. Representative from 1994 to 2000. He has also signed the group’s “Taxpayer Protection Pledge," a written commitment to the taxpayers in a candidate\’s state to oppose any and all tax increases, joining President George W. Bush, 42 U.S. senators, and 217 members of the U.S. House of Representatives in signing the pledge. Carson, like Presidential candidate John Kerry, refuses to take the Pledge.
“It’s really very simple. Coburn signed the pledge,” said Grover Norquist , president of ATR . “He has never voted to raise taxes in the past and isn’t afraid to make a public commitment not to raise them in the future. Carson is a different story.”
Carson is quick to claim that he has never voted to raise taxes but his Congressional record shows that he can not hold a candle to Coburn when it comes to hard-line taxpayer issues. In 2001, Carson voted against decreasing income taxes for all Americans. He also voted against a constitutional amendment that would require a two-thirds majority in Congress to raise taxes, an amendment that Coburn supports.
Coburn consistently voted for the taxpayer in Congress. He co-sponsored legislation that provided tax relief to Oklahoma voters by suspending motor fuel taxes and eliminating the 1993 gas tax. Additionally, Coburn’s legislation increased tax credits for Oklahoma families and eliminated both the marriage penalty and death tax, changes that could be made permanent in the next year.
Coburn stands strong on taxpayer issues. Carson has nothing to stand on, claiming to be in support of tax cuts but “making sure those votes don’t take money away from the things we value.”
“I value Coburn’s record and his future commitment to the taxpayer.” said Norquist. “ Carson’s using John Kerry-speak for ‘I’m gonna raise your taxes.”