When in doubt, lie, lie and then lie some more

Remember when Republicans were the party of fiscal responsibility. Somewhere in the past decade or so they decided that it would be easier to just CLAIM to be fiscally responsible, but not actually, you know, do it.

We thought that was going to be part of Lynn Jenkins' campaign in the primary against Jim Ryun. You know the, "If ever there was a time to send a CPA to Washington..." line. Well, apparently she's decided she can't win by actually being fiscally responsible, because that takes a lot of work and requires sacrifices that you just don't have to make when you can simply lie about it.

So Jenkins and Ryun teamed up with Nick "The Tool-man" Jordan to perpetuate one of the NRCC's lies against Dennis Moore and Nancy Boyda.

(Dear TKR and SRK, the above letters in the pretty colors with the funny line underneath them, that's called a "citation" Readers can click on it to see independent confirmation of the claims being made)

Jim Ryun, Lynn Jenkins and Nick Jordan — all Republicans trying to unseat two Democratic congressional incumbents who represent Lawrence — say the Democrats voted for the largest tax increase in the history of the United States.

(OK boys and girls, the above lines with the messed up margins, those are called "block quotes." This is another method of providing verification and credibility to one's argument)

Zing. One point for the radical right. But wait, there's more. It turns out that their statement, powerful though it may be, is...how should we say this...not true.

On that day, the House on a 212-207 vote approved a budget resolution, which Boyda and Moore supported. No Republicans voted for it.

The bill title was: “Revising the congressional budget for the United States government for fiscal year 2008, establishing the congressional budget for the United States government for fiscal year 2009, and setting forth appropriate budgetary levels for fiscal years 2010 through 2013.”

You see, the bill didn't actually do a damn thing to the tax code. So how, pray tell, can you carry out the largest tax increase in the history of the universe without making a single change to the tax code? The answer: you can't.

Sure, Reps. Moore and Boyda, along with other Democrats who are actually fiscally responsible, are willing to let some tax increases on the wealthiest Americans expire, because it was unwise fiscal policy in the first place. (Sorry billionaire oil tycoons, you may only be able to buy one Rolls Royce this year)

But the Republicans don't stop the lying train here. No sir. There are more lies to be told.

In his speech at Americans for Prosperity, Jim Ryun painted a horrifying picture of what might happen when all of the middle class tax cuts are destroyed by the above mentioned vote.



Just one problem, the resolution in question seeks to PRESERVE those tax cuts.

In a speech before the anti-tax group Americans for Prosperity, Ryun said the resolution that Boyda voted for will increase the taxes on millions of Americans, including many in the middle class.

But the resolution also includes policy language that calls for middle income tax relief, including extension of the increase in the child tax credit, relief from the so-called marriage penalty, and other deductions aimed at the middle class.

“Nancy has always believed that the middle class relief should be made permanent,” said her spokesman Thomas Seay. He said the sunset clauses in Bush’s plan don’t take effect until 2011. “Nancy has said again and again that when this issue reaches a vote, she’ll support extending middle class tax relief,” Seay said.

Oh right...the facts again. (NOTE: TKR and SRK...facts are things that are verifiable accurate. In addition to citations and block quotes, you should consider adding these to your blogs as well.)

Don't believe a politician on either side? I don't blame you. But typically you can trust the non-partisan research institutes. Not Center for American Progress or Americans for Prosperity, the actual research organizations that care about...research.

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities says the budget resolution contains no tax increase, let alone the largest in U.S. history.

The resolution approved by the House assumed that the nation’s tax law would be amended to extend some of the expiring tax cuts, especially those affecting middle class families, according to the center, which is a nonpartisan group that works on policies and programs that affect low- and moderate-income families. The costs of those tax cuts would be offset by other changes in policy, which could include eliminating the tax cuts for the very wealthy, some Democrats have argued.

Of the allegations made by the Republicans, Aviva Aron-Dine, a policy analyst with the center, said, “Our view is that that claim is inaccurate.”

She added, “The language of tax increases is very powerful. It’s important to correct the record.”

Time and time again, I find myself think "Stephen Colbert was right." The truth really does have a liberal bias.

Tip of the hat to BoydaBloc.

What say you, Americans for Prosperity

After listening to Americans for Prosperity drone on and on about what a horrible state for business we find ourselves in, some might have been shocked when they happened upon a recent story in the Lawrence Journal-World entitled "Kansas No. 10 Pro-business state."

Using 29 categories — including taxes, quality of life, human resources, labor, education, infrastructure and incentive programs — the study’s authors indicate the best places to expand a business.

In Kansas’ case, the state fared well by having a relatively high-quality work force, plus relatively low costs for utility services (emphasis added) unemployment insurance and workers compensation rates, said Brent Pollina, the study’s lead author.

Kansas also has effective professionals working on economic-development activities at the state level, he said, reflecting a commitment from the governor’s office.

Though the story does say Kansas is 38th in business taxes, it goes on to say that it is still a very hospitable state for business.

“Kansas actually is one of the rare states out there that seems to being doing right by the business community in their state,” said Pollina, vice president for the Chicago-based firm, which provides project-management services for Fortune 500 companies and others looking to expand into new areas of North America. “They have been constantly going over what the state government does and trying to make improvements on it, whereas most of the other states out there figure good enough is good enough.”

Looks like all those horror stories Alan Cobb and his anti-tax cronies tell you have no basis in reality. But then again, we've seen how well Alan Cobb deals with reality.