Businessman Rod Blum has signed the Taxpayer Protection Pledge in his race for Iowa’s 1st Congressional District. The Pledge, sponsored by Americans for Tax Reform (ATR), commits signers to “oppose any and all efforts to increase the marginal income tax rates for individuals and/or businesses … and oppose any net reduction or elimination of deductions and credits, unless matched dollar for dollar by further reducing tax rates." Iowa’s 1st District is home to incumbent democrat Bruce Braley, who won reelection in 2010 by a narrow 2 percent margin. Though Braley has held the seat for the past two election cycles, Cook Political Report has the re-drawn district rated as only a D+5, and the incumbent democrat is appearing vulnerable as the 2012 election draws closer. Of the two republicans in the upcoming June 5th primary, Blum is the only candidate in Iowa’s 1st district to have signed the Pledge. The taxpayers of Iowa deserve a candidate like Rod Blum, who has pledged his conviction to never raise taxes.
ATR has offered the Pledge to all candidates for federal office since 1987. To date, 41 U.S. Senators and 238 members of the U.S. House of Representatives have signed the Pledge. Additionally, thirteen governors and over 1,200 state legislators have signed the Pledge.
“I want to congratulate Mr. Blum for taking the Taxpayer Protection Pledge. The American people have clearly shown their displeasure with the tax-and-spend policies coming from Washington. They want real solutions that create jobs, cut government spending, and get the economy going again,” said Grover Norquist, president of ATR.