IDP kicks off “12 Days of Taxes” with web video panning Congressmen Messer and Rokita for debt hawk hypocrisy on taxes
INDIANAPOLIS – The Indiana Democratic Party is out with a new video todayhighlighting the hypocrisy of Congressmen Messer’s and Rokita’s votes for a tax bill that could add trillions to the national debt after repeatedly claiming to be deficit hawks. The video kicks off the IDP’s “12 Days of Taxes,” a daily “celebration” of the myriad ways Washington Republicans are harming Americans this holiday season by passing the McConnell tax bill.
The House and Senate are currently engaged in a conference committee to reconcile the differences between the two chambers’ tax bills. True deficit hawks will be hoping that Republicans will address the massive increases in the deficit that the bills contain. A report by Congress’ Joint Committee on Taxation revealed that the GOP plan will add over $1 trillion to the national debt over 10 years, even after taking into account the GOP’s rose-tinted growth predictions. And a survey of economists by the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business found that every single economist polled believed the McConnell plan would add to the deficit.
One might expect these reports to be overwhelming obstacles for Congressmen Messer and Rokita, as both men have expressed support for a balanced budget amendment in the past. When voting against raising the debt ceiling, Congressman Messer justified himself by saying that “Hoosiers know our nation can’t keep spending money that we don’t have.” Congressman Rokita, meanwhile, has claimed he’s been “hawking on deficits” since becoming a Member of Congress and would continue to do so while Republicans were in power.
Despite these strong words, both men chose to explode the deficit when it came time to act on the recent tax bill. Congressman Rokita even falsely claimed that “every third-party economist that you look at shows that this is gonna be good for Indiana” despite a legion of reports and statements by economists to the contrary, including the Booth School survey.
The video marks the first installment of the Indiana Democratic Party’s “12 Days of Taxes,” which over the next two weeks will highlight a different problem that the McConnell tax bill would create if Republicans like Congressmen Messer and Rokita succeed in passing it this holiday season. The bill is already the least popular major piece of legislation in three decades for taking money from middle class Americans to fund more tax breaks for major corporations and the wealthiest among us. However, as more information comes out, it’s clear that the McConnell plan’s negative effects reach across American life.
“The Washington Republicans running for Senate in Indiana have a long history of claiming they’re tough on deficits, but they’re fighting for a tax proposal that will blow up our debt beyond recognition,” said Will Baskin-Gerwitz, Senior Media Strategist for the Indiana Democratic Party. “Our ‘12 Days of Taxes’ video reminds Hoosiers of Congressmen Messer’s and Rokita’s years of misleading voters about their deficit hawk credentials. Hoosiers want commonsense fiscal responsibility, not hypocritical support of the McConnell tax bill.”
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Let’s elect more Hoosier Democrats We can't sit this one out.
