Apparently, some blue dogs bite.
Rep Gene Taylor (D-MS) has fired back at the group, Americans for Tax Reform (ATR), calling them “lying sacks of scum.”
ATR is a nonprofit, 501(c)(4) lobbying organization which “opposes all tax increases as a matter of principle.” As part of their anti-tax efforts, ATR asks members of Congress to sign pledges opposing all tax increases. The site claims that the pledge is “de rigeur” for Republicans seeking office and “necessary” for Democrats running for office in GOP-dominated localities.
Which brings us to Gene Taylor. Gene Taylor signed the pledge in 1996. ATR has since blasted Taylor’s signature on the pledge as worthless, claiming that Taylor, “like many others is a BDINO (Blue Dog in Name Only).” The sticking point? Whether Taylor has changed his position on health care reform – ATR says that he has (for the record, Taylor’s web site claims that he is opposed to the current health care bills being debated in Congress).
Taylor immediately labeled the statement as a lie and has asked ATR for a retraction. While Taylor’s office says that ATR will not return their calls, ATR issued a press release which includes the following statement:
He has broken his Pledge so far three times now at Pelosi’s bidding: on January 18, 2007 (Roll Call No. 40), on July 27, 2007 (Roll Call 756), and on December 6th, 2007 (Roll Call No. 1140). We’re glad that Congressman Taylor finally found a Pelosi tax hike package he’s willing to oppose (so far), but you can’t blame us for being caught off guard by it. If he doesn’t want to be associated with the Blue Dogs, he should formally leave the group. No fair hiding behind their skirts when convenient and then pretending he’s never met them when inconvenient.
ATR’s position seems to be guilt by association (trust me, in Congress, nobody wants that label) since Taylor is a member of the Blue Dog Coalition. The Blue Dogs are a self-described fiscally conservative group formed in 1995 with “the goal of representing the center of the House of Representatives and appealing to the mainstream values of the American public.”
There are currently 51 members of the Blue Dog Coalition, including Taylor. The Coalition has opposed most of the current efforts at health care reform, citing them as too costly. The Coalition recently reached a compromise with Committee to push a modified version of health care reform through. That spurred ATR to release its initial statement.
Taylor, however, claims that he does not support the health care reform bill as written, despite Blue Dog support. Taylor’s office called for an immediate retraction of the ATR release and said it’d repeatedly sought to get in touch with the group’s representatives.
When ATR didn’t respond, Taylor submitted a press release of his own. That’s when he referred to ATR as “lying sacks of scum” and went on to accuse ATR of “a history of unethical behavior,” providing links to reports linking Abramoff to ATR and to Norquist individually (the founder of ATR). You can click here to see the press release, including the links.
Yowza. Anyone else think this is going to get worse before it gets better?
Taxgirl for Congress!!!
The “hullabaloo” about “Blue Dog Democrats” is a bunch of misleading distortions. I live in a Congressional district that would be considered “conservative” by most standards. The Bloody 8th of Indiana.
When our conservative Republican voted against the IRAQ war initially the voters voted him out and voted in a “conservative” Democrat. Brad Ellsworth.
Only thing is most of the voters in the district and most voters of most of the other conservative districts, just don’t get it. It makes absolutely no difference how Mr Ellsworth votes in Congress, it makes absolutely no difference how the other conservative democrats vote in Congress. The leadership with the likes of Nancy Pelosi and Barney Frank, tell the conservative democrats: “You keep right on voting on the bills the way the fools at your district want. That keeps you elected, that keeps us in power. Then we keep right on doing what we want. Nothing no one can do about it.
The train on the track to total socialism is a “rolling”.
I never cease to be amazed when I read they are going to tax the corporations and the rich folks and leave the middle class alone. Those are fools that don’t understand. It really is simple: Corporations don’t pay taxes, they collect taxes. Rich people don’t pay taxes, they collect taxes.
You want Exron to pay more taxes, and don’t think the cost of gasoline isn’t going up? You want Coca Cola to pay more taxes, and don’t thin the cost of a Coke isn’t going up? You want a millionaire to pay more taxes? Don’t think the interest rate he is going to collect on his Municipal bonds isn’t going up?
Jeff Day EA
Preparer for the good of the common American and not the illegals!
Mmm. Sit back and pass the popcorn!