In six years, John Edwards amassed one of the most anti-taxpayer records in Congress. Americans for Tax Reform (ATR) president Grover Norquist calls choice "a power transfer among Democrats from the labor unions to the trial lawyers."
WASHINGTON – Today, taxpayer advocate Grover Norquist, who heads Americans for Tax Reform in Washington , DC , issued the following statement on Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry\’s choice of Sen. John Edwards as his running mate:
"One week ago, the United States transferred power to a sovereign government in Iraq . By choosing John Edwards over Dick Gephardt, the Democrats today transferred power in their party from the labor unions to the trial lawyers.
"John Edwards brings no experience, which is especially crucial in the midst of the War on Terror. He brings no regional balance to the ticket, as he would not have been reelected in his home state of North Carolina . He brings no ideological balance to the ticket, as he is every bit as liberal as Kerry. What he brings is truckloads of trial lawyer cash.
"And trivial lawsuits cost the nation hundreds of billions each year. With this choice, John Kerry has declared war on America \’s manufacturing base, small businesses, and every doctor, nurse and hospital in America .
"Like Kerry, Edwards has a nasty record of voting against taxpayers. In six short years he has amassed an anti-taxpayer record rivaling both Kerry and the other Massachusetts senator, Kennedy. Edwards voted against the 2001 and 2003 tax relief plans, voted 12 times against repealing the marriage penalty, 8 times against repealing the Death Tax, against the per-child tax credit, against suspending the gasoline tax, and is an ardent protectionist. In the last six years, if a policy was good for taxpayers, Edwards was on the wrong side every time."