Candidate is only signer of Taxpayer Protection Pledge in a field of four candidates for the Republican nomination for Congress.
WASHINGTON – The 26th congressional district in Texas is one of the most conservative areas in the United States. In the 1992 presidential election, more voters from the district cast their vote for Ross Perot than for Bill Clinton.
And despite the anti-tax attitudes of voters in the Dallas-Fort Worth suburbs, only one candidate in the Republican primary from the 26th district has signed the Taxpayer Protection Pledge. Sponsored by Americans for Tax Reform (ATR), the nation\’s leading taxpayer advocacy organization, the pledge is a written promise from a candidate to his or her constituents to oppose any efforts to raise taxes and income tax rates.
"Scott Armey has shown himself to be a friend of the taxpayers in Texas," said taxpayer advocate Grover Norquist, who heads ATR in Washington. "By signing the Taxpayer Protection Pledge, he has shown his mettle to taxpayers all across America."
President George W. Bush, seven governors, 37 U.S. Senators, 21 U.S. Representatives and over 1,200 state and local officeholders have signed the Pledge nationwide. It reads: "I pledge to the taxpayers of the 26th District of Texas and to the American people that I will oppose any and all efforts to increase the marginal income tax rates for individuals and/or businesses." Copies of the Pledge and up-to-date lists of signers can be found on ATR\’s website at www.atr.org.
"Taxes are the single most important domestic policy issue in America today," continued Norquist. "Until President Bush\’s tax relief legislation last year, taxes when compared to the economy were at a post WWII high.. But tax levels remain well above the historical average even with the tax cut, and more representatives like Mr. Armey are needed to keep the government small and our tax burden under control. I encourage all candidates for public office to sign the Taxpayer Protection Pledge."
Grover Norquist established ATR in 1985 to generate popular support for the Tax Reform Act of 1986, which radically simplified the nation\’s tax code. The group evolved to become one of the most influential advocacy groups in Washington, opposing all tax increases at the federal, state and local levels as a matter of principle. ATR supports a tax structure where taxes are simpler, fairer, flatter, more visible, and lower than they are today.