Desperate to take voters’ minds off his dismal performance in Congress, Paul Hodes has attacked Kelly Ayotte for signing a “No New Taxes” Pledge, which commits her to never raise income taxes on individuals and/or businesses. Hodes has attempted to spin Ayotte’s support of taxpayers by saying it “protects companies that ship jobs overseas.” The claim is absolutely false and ATR has repeatedly refuted similar attacks.

Comparable claims made against other candidates who have signed the Pledge have been called “blatantly false” by the nonpartisan, nonprofit FactCheck.org. The Pledge does not protect any particular tax deduction or credit. In fact, the Pledge was designed to promote revenue-neutral tax reform. As such, removal of a deduction or credit from the tax code that is accompanied by a tax reduction of equal value does not violate the Pledge. This requirement can be met by increasing another deduction/credit or by lowering marginal income tax rates.

Paul Hodes has made no attempt at reforming the tax code. Hodes is attacking Ayotte’s pledge not to raise taxes to hide his preference for higher taxes, a fondness he made clear by leaving Washington before voting to prevent one of the largest tax hikes in history. Voters should be wondering why they would be expected to let Hodes keep his job, when he hasn’t fulfilled its responsibilities this session.

To read ATR’s official statement on Hodes’ misleading attacks on the Pledge, click “read more.”

Paul Hodes Campaign Caught Telling Lies about the “No New Taxes” Pledge
Hodes campaign desperate to distort Ayotte’s “no new taxes” promise

WASHINGTON, DCThe Paul Hodes Campaign recently launched a new line of attack on Kelly Ayotte 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 Hodes 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, Ayotte has taken tax hikes off the table for all taxpayers in New Hampshire- something Paul Hodes 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 condemningthe 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 a “stretch.”

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

“Kelly Ayotte 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 for a printable pdf of the press release.