Rep. Suzanne Kosmas recently began airing blatantly false attack ads against her opponent Sandy Adams for signing the Taxpayer Protection Pledge. Kosmos’ claims come straight out of the playbook of the Democrat Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) who have made similiar accusations across the country. Earlier in the year, Factcheck.org found the claims made by the DCCC to be "blatantly false" and Jon Ralston of Face to Face said the claims against the Pledge were "thoroughly misleading."

Kosmas’ campaign is attempting to distort the actual meaning of the Pledge by linking it to outsourcing. The reality is that the “No New Taxes” Pledge focuses on protecting individuals and/or businesses from experiencing tax hikes. The Kosmos’ campaign should have learned that the lower taxes supported by the Pledge protect jobs while tax increases don't give anyone, anywhere a job.

To read ATR’s official statement on the attempts by the Kosmos campaign to distort the Pledge, click “read more.”

Suzanne Kosmas Campaign Caught Telling Lies about the “No New Taxes” Pledge
Kosmas campaign desperate to distort Adams’s “no new taxes” promise

WASHINGTON, DCThe Suzanne Kosmas Campaign recently launched a new line of attack on Sandra Adams by attempting to mislead voters about the actual meaning of the Taxpayer Protection Pledge. The goal of the Pledge is to protect taxpayers and businesses from tax increases. The Kosmas campaign’s charges follow the patently false claims made by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) earlier in the year – claims that the non-partisan FactCheck.org agrees are “blatantly false.”

The “No New Taxes” Pledge commits a signer 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.” By making this promise, Adams has taken tax hikes off the table for all taxpayers in Florida- something Suzanne Kosmas has not done.

This is not the first time Democrats have tried to misrepresent the meaning of the Pledge. During the special election in HI-01, the DCCC ran misleading attack ads against the Pledge. FactCheck.org, a non-partisan "consumer advocate" for voters that aims to reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics, responded by condemning the DCCC and agreeing that the ads were “blatantly false.”

Similar claims about the Pledge were made recently in Michigan, Nevada, and Washington. In Michigan, the Jackson Citizen-Patriot, a Jackson, Michigan newspaper, deemed Rep. Mark Schauer’s claims about the Taxpayer Protection Pledge and Tim Walberg to be “not true.”  In Nevada, Jon Ralston of Face to Face “reality checked” the Dina Titus campaign ad and found the claims made against the “no new taxes” Pledge to be “thoroughly misleading.” King 5 TV in Washington called the accusations against the Pledge and senate candidate Dino Rossi to be a “stretch.”

“Why is Suzanne Kosmas going out of her way to shamelessly distort Sandra Adams’s position on taxes? The Pledge signed by Adams is a promise to constituents and businesses to never raise taxes. Kosmas has yet to make the same promise and should explain to voters how tax hikes revive a struggling economy and promote job growth in Florida,” said ATR President Grover Norquist.

"Sandra Adams has committed to never raising taxes on her constituents while her Democrat opponent has left the door for tax hikes wide open,” continued Norquist.

Click here to view a printable pdf of the release.