Washington - Citizens Club for Growth PAC released a new ad in Florida's Twenty-Fourth Congressional District today. The $160,000 ad buy will run on broadcast television in the Orlando market.
Entitled "Taxes," the ad tells voters about Democrat Suzanne Kosmas' tax-and-spend record. During her years in the Florida legislature, Kosmas voted against reducing sales taxes and property taxes. Apparently, voting for higher taxes was not sufficient for Kosmas, because she also voted against an amendment to limit state spending as well. It is clear from Suzanne Kosmas' liberal record that taxpayers' dollars are not safe in her hands.
"With economic times being tough, voters in Florida-24 should think twice before voting for someone as liberal as Suzanne Kosmas," said Citizens Club for Growth Spokesman Chuck Pike. "Can they really afford to elect someone who has a track record of voting for higher taxes and against reducing government spending?"
"In contrast, Rep. Tom Feeney has an outstanding record of fighting for taxpayers, voting against countless wasteful pork projects and always supporting lower taxes. If voters want a representative they can count on to fight for their hard-earned tax dollars, then Tom Feeney is their guy."
PAID FOR BY CITIZENS CLUB FOR GROWTH PAC AND NOT AUTHORIZED BY ANY CANDIDATE OR CANDIDATE'S COMMITTEE. 202-955-5500.
Citizens Club for Growth PAC Urges Voters to Reject Lynn Jenkins in KS-02 Election
Andrew Roth
Washington - As voters in Kansas' Second Congressional District prepare to go to the polls tomorrow, Citizens Club for Growth PAC urges them to remember Lynn Jenkins' record of raising taxes.
Last year, Citizens Club for Growth PAC ran a $100,000 ad buy in the Topeka, Kansas City, and Joplin markets highlighting Lynn Jenkins record of raising taxes when she was in the State Legislature. These include:
Jenkins voted to increase fuel taxes by more than 38% (HB 2071, 1999) (HB 2507, 2001) (HB 3011, 2002)
Jenkins voted against decreasing property taxes by 5% (SB 69, 2001)
Jenkins voted to raise the state sales tax by 8% (HB 2009, 2002)
"As Americans are struggling under the burden of record-high gas prices, do they really want to be represented by a politician who has a long record of raising taxes, including fuel taxes?" asked Citizens Club for Growth spokesman Chuck Pike. "Thanks to Lynn Jenkins' votes, Kansas taxpayers had to pay higher taxes on basic necessities, like gasoline and groceries. The last thing Kansas taxpayers need is to send a tax hiker like Lynn Jenkins to Congress."
PAID FOR BY CITIZENS CLUB FOR GROWTH AND NOT AUTHORIZED BY ANY CANDIDATE OR CANDIDATE'S COMMITTEE. 202-955-5500.
Citizens Club for Growth Statement on FEC Settlement
Andrew Roth
Washington - Today, Citizens Club for Growth announced an agreement with the Federal Election Commission to bring to an end to the lawsuit the agency had filed nearly two years ago, marking the sixth settlement reached between the FEC and "527" groups since last December. The agreement acknowledges our position that Citizens Club for Growth "operated under the good faith belief that it had not" violated any of the election laws and regulations, and that the settlement was reached "in order to avoid protracted litigation costs."
Speaking on behalf of the Citizens Club for Growth board, vice president Chuck Pike said, "The board decided that further litigation costs would waste the resources of the pro-growth movement, which would be better invested in fighting the Pelosi-Reid tax increase agenda in Congress." Pike noted that the actions which gave rise to the lawsuit were taken by Citizens Club for Growth between 2000 and 2004. However, recent FEC actions made it impractical for a Section 527 organization to operate without intolerable government interference. Mr. Pike said:
"Most unfortunate is that a lawsuit like this was able to occur at all in a country that purports to protect political free speech. No government agency should have the right to deem words "forbidden," and no group or individual should fear legal action for exercising their First Amendment rights. If we had proper respect for the First Amendment, such a law suit never would have taken off the ground to begin with."
Earlier this year, Citizens Club for Growth sold its name and non-monetary assets to the new group now known as Club for Growth, which is organized under a different provision of the nonprofit tax laws and is not a party to the settlement or affected by other anti-527 actions that may be
PAID FOR BY CITIZENS CLUB FOR GROWTH AND NOT AUTHORIZED BY ANY CANDIDATE OR CANDIDATE'S COMMITTEE. 202-955-5500.
Citizens Club for Growth PAC Releases Ad against Tax-Hiker Lynn Jenkins
Andrew Roth
Washington - Today, the Citizens Club for Growth PAC released a television ad in Kansas, highlighting State Treasurer and U.S. congressional candidate Lynn Jenkins' track record of raising taxes on Kansas taxpayers.
Entitled "Tax Hiker," the ad uses a playful political parody to demonstrate how the "Lynn Jenkins Taxes" have hurt hardworking Kansans. Whether they are filling up their cars with gas, buying groceries for their families, or enjoying the comfort of their homes, Kansas taxpayers are paying higher taxes thanks to Lynn Jenkins' votes. These include:
Jenkins voted to increase fuel taxes by more than 38% (HB 2071, 1999) (HB 2507, 2001) (HB 3011, 2002)
Jenkins voted against decreasing property taxes by 5% (SB 69, 2001)
Jenkins voted to raise the state sales tax by 8% (HB 2009, 2002)
"As a former State Legislator, Lynn Jenkins went on a tax-hiking rampage, and now Kansas taxpayers are paying the price," Citizens Club for Growth spokesperson Chuck Pike said. "Although the ad is a political parody, Jenkins' numerous votes for higher taxes are very real and have had a deep impact on Kansas taxpayers. Kansans couldn't afford Lynn Jenkins when she was in the State Legislature, and Americans can't afford Lynn Jenkins in Congress."
The two-week ad buy totals $75,000, covering the Topeka, Kansas City, and Joplin/Pittsburg broadcast TV markets, and cable systems throughout the district.
PAID FOR BY CITIZENS CLUB FOR GROWTH PAC AND NOT AUTHORIZED BY ANY CANDIDATE OR CANDIDATE'S COMMITTEE. www.citizensclubforgrowth.org
Last night, the House passed a tax hike for the first time in 13 years. It was a bill that specifically sticks it to oil companies. As noted in the previous post, the final tally was 264-163, with 36 Republicans siding with the Democrats to vote YES, and 4 Democrats siding with the Republicans to vote NO.
Meanwhile, Dan Clifton at Americans for Tax Reform sent me the following list of congressmen who broke their pledge never to raise taxes by voting YES on the bill. Those in italics are Democrats.
The House is voting on the first tax hike in 13 years. Since the Contract with America was born, the House GOP majority had opposed all tax increases. But within a month of officially being in the majority, the Democrats are now voting for one. Didn't take long, did it?
You better believe that this is a sign of things to come. And the worst part is that dozens of Republicans are expected to vote with the Democrats on this. Where have all the fiscal conservatives gone?
Stay tuned for updates.
UPDATE (6:09pm): The bill just passed 264-163 to thunderous applause, with 36 Republicans joining the Democrats. I feel like we're in a New Deal Congress. It's almost surreal.
Congressman Mike Pence, elected with Club member support in 2000, was on the Fox News Channel earlier today to talk about tax hike rumors surrounding Social Security reform. The video quality is a little crummy, but it still works.
Danny Glover at National Journal has the top ten list of most popular blogs on Capitol Hill. Not surprisingly, it's top heavy with lefty blogs. The Right is still lagging, but from my perspective, it's gaining ground.
Jeb Hensarling is off to a great start as chairman of the RSC.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Congressman Jeb Hensarling (R-TX), Chairman of the Republican Study Committee (RSC), today issued the following statement as time on the House Democrats' "100 Hours agenda" runs out:
"The Democrats' 100 hours agenda has accomplished very little for people and families across America. On the other hand, they have done a great deal to expand government dependency and control at the expense of individual empowerment, incentive, and private enterprise. And it should be noted that while it took Democrats even less than 100 hours to raise taxes, not 1 cent is going to deficit reduction.
"Thus far, Speaker Pelosi and House Democrats have attempted to: empower the federal government to set drug prices that are already being successfully negotiated in the free market...federally mandate a higher wage that will keep younger workers from job opportunities; push students into a federally run bureaucratic loan program; and federally impose billions in fees and taxes that will cost American workers jobs and cause millions of Americans to become even more dependent on foreign oil. That is a whole lot of federal."
"Though very few of these agenda items will actually become law in their current form, Speaker Pelosi and House Democrats clearly have chosen to empower the federal government over families in America."
According to a West Virginia newspaper, Senator Robert "King of Pork" Byrd has already secured more than $110 million in pork for his home state. And this is before the appropriations process has even begun!
The Club for Growth, with its 40,000 members, plans to score the signatures of a recent coalition letter to President Bush, led by Congressman Tom Feeney, as a pro-economic growth measure in its annual Congressional Scorecard.
Signers of the letter pledge to sustain any veto made by the President on any tax increase submitted to him by Congress.
The problem in Washington hasn't been a lack of revenue; it's been a lack of spending restraint. Tax hikes are counterproductive and anti-growth and Congress should vigorously oppose them.
A copy of the letter is reprinted below. To sign onto it, please contact Tonnie Wybensinger in Rep. Feeney's office at t.wybensinger@mail.house.gov.
Our Congressional Scorecard for the 110th Congress provides a comprehensive rating of how well or how poorly each member of Congress supports pro-growth, free-market policies and will be distributed to our members and to the public.
Vietnam seems to be getting the hang of capitalism. One farmer in the country is getting innovative. From the indispensable Pig Progress website:
A Vietnamese pig farmer is using a new and interesting way to boost productivity. He believes that the melodies of Beethoven, Mozart and Schubert help promote productivity while his 3000 pigs have their noses in their troughs.
"I saw that my pigs started eating more and that they were gaining weight faster than usual," said [Nguyen Chi] Cong, who adds that he blasts the tunes of the composers daily from 7:00 - 11:00 am and 14:00 - 16:00 pm.
"I think I am the first farmer in Vietnam to apply this technique."
In light of the earmark reform debate currently going on in the Senate, it seems appropriate to resurrect the "Big Daddy" speech given by Robert Byrd. He's the one most strenuously opposed to reform and he's the one most adamantly opposed to Gregg's rescission amendment. This video clip is a classic.
Senate Democrats refused to allow debate on the Gregg Amendment last night, and instead, sought a vote to end debate on the entire bill. Thankfully, that vote failed 51-46 (60 votes are needed).
In response, Senator Gregg issued this statement:
"Despite reaching a good-faith agreement with the Democratic leadership that my fiscally responsible amendment, A Second Look at Wasteful Spending, would be taken up at another time, I was disappointed to learn that objections from another Democratic senator effectively blocked that agreement. I fully support ethics reform - in fact, I offered my amendment to strengthen the ethics reform package - so will continue to push for a vote on this reasonable proposal to reduce wasteful federal spending. I cannot support ending debate on this bill until the Senate has had a chance to fully debate and vote on a proposal to improve the government's stewardship of taxpayer dollars, and I look forward to working with my colleagues across the aisle to achieve that goal."
The unidentified Democratic senator that Gregg is referring to is the King of Pork, Robert Byrd.
Free to Choose, the classic 10-part TV series by Milton Friedman is now available online so you can watch it on your computer. IdeaChannel.tv also is streaming the updated 5-part 1990 version of the program.
While there may not be a free lunch, at least there is a free version of Free to Choose.
Don't forget to tune in to the National PBS Broadcast "The Power of Choice: The Life and Ideas of Milton Friedman" on January 29. You can check local listings here (PDF).
Tune into C-SPAN right now. The Democrats are refusing to allow a vote on an amendment offered by Senator Judd Gregg that would give the President rescission authority, which is similar to the line-item veto.
Reid has been preaching about ethics reform and his strong desire to reduce wasteful spending, but his talk is cheap. He blocked strong earmark reform last week until he was forced to retreat and now he's blocking a vote on another important measure that would help break the big-spending habits of Congress.
UPDATE (4:26pm): Dick Durbin is now speaking out against the amendment as well.
UPDATE (4:34pm): Dianne Feinstein just said that Gregg's rather simple amendment is "impossible to understand". Priceless.
UPDATE (4:37pm): Andrew Moylan at NTU has more coverage here. Here's a blog post by Mark Tapscott as well.
Larry Kudlow points out that profits are soaring, adding that, "Profits may be a four-letter word to some in Washington, but they are manna from heaven on Wall Street."
After taking a second glance at the Index, I've got a few random thoughts:
1 - It'd be a wonderful thing to see Cuba go from the bottom of the list (#156) to a much higher position once you-know-who kicks the bucket.
2 - Congress recently passed a free trade agreement with Oman (#54). That point wasn't lost on the Heritage Foundation, which wrote, "A new free trade agreement reached with the U.S. in 2006 should spur further growth and new opportunities."
3 - The Baltic Triumvirate -- Estonia (#11), Lithuania (#22), and Latvia (#41) -- are miles ahead of Russia (#120).
4 - Both India (#104) and China (#119) are in the back of the pack, but they're making remarkable strides at weaving themselves into the free market. Recall that they are the two most populous countries, containing over one billion people each. That's over 35% of the world's total population.
As House Democrats get ready to pass a tax hike on Big Oil, Brian Phillips of the Tax Foundation writes, "ExxonMobil reported paying over $26 Billion in federal, state, and local taxes in the third quarter alone - roughly two and a half times what they made in net profits."
GQ Magazine has a lengthy, but thoroughly entertaining, profile on Senator Tom Coburn, who was elected with Club member support back in 2004. Within the article are several "Coburn Originals", including this gem about his time in Washington:
"The waste I saw every day was incredible," he said. "Most of our politicians don't have high self-esteem, so they have to have people doing things for them all the time, telling them how great they are. The system is broken, and the only way it gets fixed is by throwing the vast majority of the incumbents out. One of the greatest things I saw in six years was Arlen Specter and Tom Harkin—this just shows you how callous and brassed these guys are—introducing a bill on the floor naming institutions that already had names, naming them after themselves! I would tell you, in Arlen Specter's case he's done a great disservice to the nation. Also Robert Byrd—he knows exactly how to rape the U.S. Treasury and mortgage the future. It's sad. There are two kinds of members, with two different lifestyles. There's the guys that come home every weekend, fly in Monday or Tuesday morning for the week, and live a real life in their district the rest of the time. And then there's the guys that live in Washington. I spent one weekend there in six years, and I don't ever want to spend another one."
