State House Minority Whip John Loughlin, who is running for congress in Rhode Island, recently signed the Taxpayer Protection Pledge. Loughlin is the first candidate to sign the pledge in the race for the 1st congressional district in the Ocean State.

Loughlin, who has served in the Rhode Island State Legislature since 2004, is running in the 1st district to replace retiring Democrat Rep. Patrick Kennedy. Though a Democrat has held the seat for many years, the election of Scott Brown put an end to any “Kennedy” mystique carryover; and put Democrats in the Northeast on notice that the voters don’t care about legacy or party, they care about common sense economic policies that are beneficial to the taxpayers of each and every community.
                                                         
As a pledge signer, Representative Loughlin has made a commitment to the taxpayers in Rhode Island that he will fight outrageous tax increases from an ever-hostile and out-of-touch Congress that has burdened working families in Rhode Island with massive government debt. ATR continues to strongly encourage candidates for Federal Office to sign the Taxpayer Protection Pledge.
 
ATR’s official statement on Representative Loughlin can be read below.
John Loughlin (R-R.I.) Signs the Taxpayer Protection Pledge
Congressional candidate promises to protect taxpayers’ wallets
 
WASHINGTON, D.C. – John Loughlin, a Republican running in Rhode Island’s 1st Congressional district, recently signed the Taxpayer Protection Pledge sponsored by Americans for Tax Reform (ATR). The Pledge 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.”
 
ATR has offered the Pledge to all candidates for federal office since 1987. To date, 34 U.S. senators and 172 members of the U.S. House of Representatives have signed the Pledge. Additionally, seven Governors and over 1,100 state legislators have signed the Pledge.
 
“After the passage of the so-called “Stimulus Package,” better known as the Pelosi-Obama-Reid Spending Give-Away, Americans are desperately searching for candidates and politicians that will protect their livelihoods and put their wallets ahead of the federal government’s coffers,” said Grover Norquist, president of ATR.
 
“By signing the Pledge, John Loughlin demonstrates that he understands the problems of hard-working taxpayers nationwide, but especially the taxpayers in Rhode Island’s 1st Congressional district.”
 
“I challenge all candidates for federal office to make the same commitment to taxpayers by signing the Taxpayer Protection Pledge today,” Norquist continued.