Attack Ad Taxes Democrat’s Truth Deficit
SAVANNAH, Ga. – A new campaign advertisement by Athens trial lawyer John Barrow is catching a lot of flack from Southeast Georgia voters. The Democrat launched the ad Tuesday which claims that his opponent, former Congressman and Educator Max Burns, would raise taxes if elected.
The Burns camp calls the advertisement a lie and says Barrow is using the same scare tactics he used when the two last met in 2004. Burns’ Campaign Manager, Tim Baker, believes the Athens Democrat is lying in order to intimidate voters into believing Burns will raise their taxes.
“First and foremost, Max’s record on taxes is crystal clear: an honest tax code that is simple, fair and less burdensome to families and small businesses,” said Baker. “Our current tax system is broken, too complex, and onerous.”
Burns served in the 108th Congress before narrowly losing to Barrow in 2004.
While in Congress, Burns introduced the Simple Tax for Seniors Act, which created the first-ever short-form “1040S” for America’s seniors and the Tax Simplification for Americans Act of 2004 which expanded the use of the short 1040EZ form to millions of Americans. Both passed the House with strong bi-partisan support.
“Max knows we are well beyond rectifying the unfairness of the IRS by tinkering around the edges,” Baker said. “Instead, the system is in need of transformation and Max is willing to examine any number of proposals that will lower the tax burden on Georgia’s working families. What he cannot support is the IRS.”
Earlier this year, Burns signed the Tax Payer Protection Pledge, agreeing to oppose any and all efforts to increase the marginal income tax rates for individuals and businesses. In 2004, Burns was at the forefront of the “death tax” debate, working to repeal a system that Baker says “kills so many small businesses and family farms.”
Burns also voted for President Bush’s 2003 tax cuts and has said he supports making all of President Bush’s tax cuts permanent.
For his efforts in the last Congress, Burns earned the Friend of the Taxpayers Award by the National Taxpayer’s Union. Barrow received an “F” from the National Taxpayers Union for his support in reducing spending, regulation and opposing higher taxes during the First Session of the 109th Congress.
“John Barrow knows he is lying about Max’s record to cover up his own miserable record, which supports the IRS and opposition to making President Bush’s tax cuts permanent,” said Baker. “John Barrow should do the honorable thing and stop using these false attacks immediately, but based on his previous campaigns he will say and do anything to get elected.”
Burns represented the old 12th District from Jan. 7, 2003, through Jan. 3, 2005. Prior to serving in the 108th Congress, Burns, a Fulbright Scholar and Army veteran, served two decades as a Professor of Information Systems at Georgia Southern University, as well as being a farmer.
He is a former Screven County Commissioner and served as its Chairman. Burns earned the endorsement of the Business-Industry PAC for his commitment to a pro-growth agenda.
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Why didn’t Mr. Barrow stand up for my 1st Amendment right to freedom of religion? He voted against the Public Expression of Religion Act. Why would he do that?
“Max knows we are well beyond rectifying the unfairness of the IRS by tinkering around the edges,” Baker said. “Instead, the system is in need of transformation and Max is willing to examine any number of proposals that will lower the tax burden on Georgia’s working families. What he cannot support is the IRS.”
That doesn’t sound like he’s denying it, so the ad is
factual. Everyone knows poor people and the elderly
would be unfairly burdened by replacing the current income tax system with a sales tax, and the rich would continue to enjoy tremendous tax breaks.
The Max Tax isn’t good for Georgians who work hard for their money, and spend a large portion of their income
on food, clothing and other expenses. Those people would pay a disproportinate tax while rich people could roll their money into their bank accounts and essentially pay the same dollar amount as the working class folks.
If anything’s broken it’s Max Burns’ logic.
Chris: Unfortunately, instead of actually researching the Fair Tax, you are just re-playing the propaganda that every opponent of the idea gives.
The Fair Tax includes tax breaks for the poor and elderly in that basic needs including (but not limited to) food and medication would be un-taxed. From my view, the fair tax would place a greater tax burden on those who buy more expensive items (the rich) than those who buy less expensive items (all of the rest of us). I see that you chose to leave these points out of your post above.
I think the Fair Tax idea is a great idea, and it deserves some debate. Max Burns at least is willing to stand up and say “the IRS is broken and we can’t afford to ignore it”, and offer an idea on how it we could fix it.
John Barrow is too afraid to stand up for anything because he might make someone mad in the process; instead, he can just stand outside of the debate and criticize everything. Is that what we want in our Congressman?
Burns Backers Forced to Pull Dishonest TV Ad Off the Air
Friday, September 29, 2006
Savannah, GA – After serious questions were raised about the accuracy of a negative TV ad running in support of Washington Lobbyist Max Burns, one local TV station in Augusta has confirmed that the ad has now been pulled off the air.
“It appears that Max Burns isn’t the only person who has a hard time telling the truth,” Barrow spokesman Harper Lawson said. “Obviously, the dishonest political front group that’s backing Max’s campaign is also intent on playing fast and loose with the truth.”
The false TV ad was paid for by the so-called “Economic Freedom Fund,” a shady third-party group that is financed almost entirely by a wealthy Texan named Bob Perry. Perry, a close friend of White House political advisor Karl Rove, was instrumental in funding the infamous 2004 “Swift Boat” ad campaign.
So far, Perry’s group has spent close to two hundred thousand dollars attacking 12th District Georgia Congressman John Barrow – blanketing the congressional district with false, attack TV ads, deliberately deceitful “push polls,” and dishonest, negative mailers.
Late yesterday afternoon, WAGT-TV (NBC) in Augusta confirmed that the “Economic Freedom Fund” had pulled the original ad and replaced it with a revised ad. In the original ad, the group used a graphic to attack Barrow by falsely claiming that he had introduced only 5 pieces of legislation since being elected to Congress. In reality, Barrow has introduced 48 pieces of legislation since January of 2005. This includes personally authoring and introducing 11 pieces of legislation, and co-introducing another 37 pieces of legislation.
“This should send a strong message to Mr. Burns and his cronies: In Georgia, the truth matters,” Lawson continued. “Folks all across the 12th District are sick and tired of Mr. Burns’ false negative ads stinking up their TV sets. First Max lied about being a lobbyist, and now this. It’s just more proof that Max has no positive vision for Georgia’s future. Unable to win this election on his own record, he and his backers have resigned themselves to do nothing but lie to the people of Georgia.”
Can anyone say John Barrow Lapdog???
Interesting response. You clearly don’t dispute my comments on the Fair Tax, so you try to change the subject to something else before anyone realizes that you’re wrong. That kind of sounds like a John Barrow tactic. Are you a staffer or a volunteer?
If you have a problem with the advertisements run by the Economic Freedom Fund (the ad referenced above), I recommend that you visit there website and contact them about it:
http://www.economicfreedomfund.com/
Max Burns has no influence over what EFF runs.
Well Adam Savannah GOP is right. You didn’t answer him at all and you’re just parroting democratic talking poiints.
You obviously know very little about the fair Tax and just like Barrow have no plan for fixing the rui ned tax system.
even more to the point you ignored the fact that max has no control over what the EFF does: AT ALL! And also, the ads weren’t “pulled”; that’s just Barrow spin. The EFF only paid for the ads to run for something like 9 or 11 days.
Oh and this: “Everyone knows poor people and the elderly would be unfairly burdened by replacing the current income tax system with a sales tax, and the rich would continue to enjoy tremendous tax breaks.” is total garbage. If by “everyone” you mean you and by “knows” you mean dillusionally accepts then i guess that stement works.
Why would I respond to people who don’t have the guts to use their full names? More than likely these posters are all Burns staffers or single users with multiple screen names.
“Why would I respond to people who don’t have the guts to use their full names? More than likely these posters are all Burns staffers or single users with multiple screen names.”
Thank you Adam Crisp for a wonderful demonstration of argumentum ad hominem:
1. A makes claim X.
2. There is something objectionable about A.
3. Therefore claim X is false.
Both Kevin and Savannah GOP make perfectly valid points regardless of whether or not they use their full name or identify whatever professional positions they may hold.
With regards and my entire name,
Adam M. Fogle, Editor-in-Chief
Blogging for Max
OK. I’ll play along.
A “national sales tax” as a means to replace the national income tax places an unfair burden on working-class people and the poor. Even with credits for low-income families, “working folks” would be hit hard by a national income tax. It’s simple math. The working class and poor spend most of the money they make, and in some cases they spend more than they make. Rich people spend a smaller percentage of their income. (That’s what makes them rich.) With a national sales tax, the rich could save money by simply shopping frugally and the poor and working class would bit hit hard by simply buying the things they need to survive.
Aside from that logical take on the issue, Republican Dick Army writes the following:
“Even if that goal were politically feasible — and I don’t think it is — the exchange would come at a high price. We would give up the income tax for a more intrusive and pervasive tax system.
“The reason is simple. If the government sets out to collect a new tax at the cash register, it will soon have no choice but to extend that tax beyond the retailer to every level of production, as it desperately tries to stop inevitable and massive tax evasion. Any sales tax will become a complex, pervasive, multi-rate, value-added tax. We will soon be living under a VAT — possibly the most insidious tax scheme ever devised.”
That’s hardly the small government Republicans say they favor.
The national sales tax give Congress far too much power and allows them an across-the-board percentage of our economy, whether or not that revenue is necessary. Just like SPLOST taxes on the local level, the government would never have an idea of exactly how much revenue they’d take in. It’s not a big deal when we’re talking about a millions, but a national sales tax could create massive surpluses to be squandered on pointless pork projects or wars. Or a bank-busting shortfall could throw our economy into a tailspin.
As for Economic Freedom Fund, you must be insane if you think those people don’t at least mention the content of the ads to the candidate before placing it on the air. Perhaps our Lobbyist Ex-Congressman didn’t select the background color or font style, but I’m pretty sure he approved of that incorrect and deceitful message.
Adam - First off thanks for responding to me in a constructive fashion. FYI, I’m not a Burns staffer (maybe you’ll actually believe me); just a simple person interested in politics who values my own privacy but wants to voice my opinion.
A couple of quick points on the Fair Tax:
First off, your logic would be correct except for a few key points:
1. The poor do spend a higher percentage of their income than do the rich, however, they spend that higher percentage on items (as you put it “that they need to survive”) that would be exempt from the Fair Tax; therefore, on a proportional and absolute basis, they would pay substantially lower (or perhaps zero) in taxes. Those with low income obviously cannot buy extravagant items that would be taxed at the full rate, so the rich would pay substantially more taxes than the poor.
2. The Fair Tax would be adjustable (if you need less, you can turn down the %), just as current day income taxes are adjustable from year to year. Also, when Congress makes their budget today, they don’t know how much they are going to take in, so that argument does not hold water. They make their budget based off of expected revenues estimated off of what they think people’s incomes are.
3. The primary form of collection on statewide taxes is via a sales tax on retail items. Don’t see any major problems there, and I don’t think you’d have any more major problems if you did this at a national level.
As a society, we should debate the pros and cons of the Fair Tax (I think there are more pros than cons, but let’s talk about it). Can you offer what Barrow’s solution to our IRS problem is?
On the EFF issue, it would be against campaign finance law (changed in 2002) for the Burns campaign to coordinate with the EFF (an independent, outside group). Therefore, I’m going to guess that there has been zero contact between EFF and the Burns campaign.
In regards to the Economic Freedom Fund, they’re what’s called a 527 Group. A 527 is a private, tax exempt organization created to influence elections. The Bipartisan Campaign Finance Reform Act of 2002 (BCRA) forbids the coordination of a 527 with a campaign. However, it’s not to unusual for them to sound like an actual campaign as they share a common objective with at least one candidate running.
In this case, the EFF is an organizations of fiscal conservatives. The tend to support businessmen and oppose trial lawyers. They’ve targeted Barrow as well as several other Democrats accross the country for similar reasons. There is no coordination between Max Burns and the EFF. The groups are seperate but do share common objective: to unseat John Barrow. Go Max!!