Senator Edward\’s short public record is consistently anti-taxpayer.
WASHINGTON – Into the vacuum that is the current leadership of the Democratic Party, a new face has entered: freshman Senator John Edwards (D-NC). He announced today he would be setting up a presidential exploratory committee to lay the groundwork for a presidential campaign.
Though after four short years in public office Senator Edwards has built only a meager legislative record, there is one aspect of his record that is perfectly clear: he is against the American taxpayer. Over the last three years, Senator Edwards has voted in the interest of the taxpayer on average only 8.33% of the time, according to Americans for Tax Reform\’s annual ratings of key Congressional votes. In 2002, he scored only 5% out of 100%. For a complete list of ratings, go to www.atr.org/ratings/index.html.
"John Edwards seems to have worked overtime to achieve one of the worst voting records in the Senate," said taxpayer advocate Grover Norquist, President of Americans for Tax Reform. "He voted against the Bush tax cuts, he voted against making them permanent, he voted against trade and cutting taxes on imports, and he voted for the bloated agriculture subsidy bill. Worms, however, have a real reason to support John Edwards – he voted to protect federal funding for worms kept in alcohol at the Smithsonian Institution." (Senate Roll Call #136, 107th Congress, 2nd Session, June 6, 2002)
Speaking about his tax views as opposed to the President\’s, Senator Edwards said, "We have a stark alternative to present to the American people and they\’ll have to choose." Nothing could be more true. The President\’s plan cut taxes for the average American working family by $1013 in the first year alone, and it will save the same family $2681 yearly in income taxes alone by 2010. It provides new incentives to growth and productivity for the future. Just what would Edward\’s "alternative" be?
"President Bush\’s successful tax plan has relieved some of the burden faced by American families, and has laid the foundation for growth and prosperity in today\’s entrepreneurial, dynamic economy," Norquist continued. "It is the right policy for our time. Senator Edwards, like his compatriots, seem trapped in an outmoded age."