Audacity,
Thy Name is Debbie Stabenow
Senate
Candidate Tries to Pull a Fast One on Michigan Voters
WASHINGTON,
D.C.- Americans
for Tax Reform (ATR) has kept a close eye on elected officials
at every level all across the nation since 1986. We've gratefully
applauded valiant efforts to defend citizens from the ravages
of taxation and wasteful spending.
We've also never hesitated to condemn all myopic endeavors
to allegedly "improve" the lives of people through brutal tax
increases and outrageous government largesse. But every once
in a while, we're completely taken aback by an officeholder's
words and deeds. Case in point: Debbie Stabenow.
Rep.
Stabenow, who hopes to become Senator Stabenow, is offering
a host of tax credits for small businesses, as well as individuals
with certain educational, childcare, and health care expenses.
Furthermore, she wants to eradicate the infamous and inimitably
unfair marriage penalty. All well and good-but a noticeable
departure from her lengthy and consistently pro-tax, anti-taxpayer
voting record.
"Watching
Debbie Stabenow talk about cutting taxes is like watching one
of your vegetarian friends eating a bacon cheeseburger," chuckled
Damon Ansell, Vice President of Policy at ATR.
"It confounds any seasoned Stabenow observer who has seen
her try to push taxes through the stratosphere in the Michigan
Legislature and the US Congress."
Stabenow
has a long history of opposing tax relief for individuals, couples,
and businesses small, medium, and large. For instance:
-
As
a Member of the Michigan Legislature, she supported a 38%
hike in the personal income tax in 1983.
-
And
a jaw-dropping 50% hike in the income tax in 1993-a far
cry from the tax credits she now advocates.
-
And
her modus operandi
didn't change when she came to DC. As a Member of the US
House of Representatives, Stabenow voted against proposals
that would have lifted the patently unfair burden of the
marriage penalty three times. Now she favors eliminating the very same tax she voted
to preserve not once, nor twice, but thrice.
