State Democrats Launch 'Blatantly False' Attack on Sean Duffy

Democrats try to distort Duffy's "no new taxes" promise

WASHINGTON, Aug. 25 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ --  The Democrat Party of Wisconsin recently issued a deliberately false attack on Republican Sean Duffy for signing the Taxpayer Protection Pledge. Their claims mirror the misleading charges 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, Duffy has taken tax hikes off the table -- something neither Democrat candidate has 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."

Two weeks ago in neighboring Michigan, Rep. Mark Schauer (D-Mich.) made similarly incorrect claims about Tim Walberg and the Taxpayer Protection Pledge. The Jackson Citizen-Patriot, a Jackson, MI newspaper, deemed Schauer's claims "not true."

"Democrats are desperate to take voters' eyes off of their dismal performance as stewards of our economy. That's why they continue to roll out this disturbingly false claim about candidates and the Taxpayer Protection Pledge. Quite simply, there has been no improvement in the economy or in job growth since Democrats took over. They have nothing to show for themselves in the run up to November," said ATR President Grover Norquist.

The idea behind the Taxpayer Protection Pledge is to protect against tax increases and to promote revenue-neutral tax reform. This is a concept that Democrats fail to understand as they continue to betray voters trust on the issue of taxes.

"Sean Duffy has committed to never raising taxes on his constituents while his Democrat opponents have left the door for tax hikes wide open," continued Norquist.

Americans for Tax Reform is a non-partisan coalition of taxpayers and taxpayer groups who oppose all tax increases. For more information or to arrange an interview please contact John Kartch at (202) 785-0266 or by email at [email protected].

SOURCE Americans for Tax Reform