Candidate for governor refuses to sign No Tax Pledge
WASHINGTON – In a recent television ad, gubernatorial candidate John Lynch (D) states that he will repeal the statewide property tax, and will veto an income or sales tax. Howe ver, candidate Lynch has spurned repeated requests to put his commitment in writing by signing the Taxpayer Protection Pledge .
This contradiction is a familiar refrain from candidates running for governor. Over and over, Democrats and Republicans have won office claiming to be opposed to new taxes, but refuse to rule out taxes in writing. Their record is clear: Bob Riley (R-AL) tried to raise taxes by $1.2 billion, Gray Davis (D-CA) tripled the already high car tax, Bob Taft (R-OH) raised taxes as much as $2 billion, Jim McGreevey (D-NJ) passed several billion dollar plus tax increases, Mark Warner (D-VA) raised taxes by $1.6 billion, and Ted Kulongoski (D-OR) snuck a billion dollar tax increase through the legislature in the dead of night.
“If John Lynch refuses to pledge not to raise your taxes, what he is really saying is that he plans to raise your taxes,” said taxpayer advocate Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform. “Granite State residents better keep an eye on their wallets if he is elected.”
Since 1986, ATR has urged federal and state candidates and officeholders to sign the Taxpayer Protection Pledge, promising the voters that they will “oppose and vote against/veto any and all efforts to increase taxes.” To date, President Bush, 42 U.S. Senators, 218 Congressmen, eight governors, and over 1320 state legislators have shown their commitment to hard-working families by signing the Pledge.
“John Lynch has it all wrong – signing the Pledge is a liberating act, not a limiting one,” Norquist continued. “ The spending interests in Concord are relentless in their efforts to spend more and more of our hard-earned tax dollars. Most politicians are hostages to the big-spending interests. But signing the Pledge frees you from the spending interests by taking the tax issue off the table. No tax increase is floated, because everyone knows it would be vetoed.”
“By refusing to sign the Pledge, John Lynch willingly hands his freedom over to the big spenders in Concord.”