Chris Cillizza of the Washington Post reports that Brad Ellsworth is looking to be the Democrat nominee to replace retiring Sen. Evan Bayh. While Democrats are confident that Ellsworth is a formidable opponent, the voters of Indiana should be reminded that Ellsworth repeatedly violated his Taxpayer Protection Pledge as a member of the U.S. House.
I wrote a post in December highlighting the list of Democrat Pledge signers that had betrayed taxpayers by breaking their Pledges. Ellsworth is a repeat offender and at the top of the list breaking his word on 5 of 6 occasions- an abysmal record at best.
Running in 2006, Ellsworth used the Pledge as a tool to convince voters that he would be a Blue Dog Democrat (aka fiscal conservative) in Congress, but he has clearly failed on the spending and tax front. Aside from violating his Pledge, Ellsworth has supported three of the four major issues upsetting American taxpayers over the last year including the Obama Budget, the so-called “Stimulus Package,” and the Big Government Healthcare bill.
Voters should be wary of any promise or comment that he makes during his Senate run and ask him to explain his repeated violations of the Taxpayer Protection Pledge.
To see a pdf of Ellsworth’s Taxpayer Protection Pledge, click here.