FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Amy Wojcicki, Communications Director amy [at] dpo [dot] org (503) 239-8636
As Politifact says: “The Portland Tribune article clearly shows that Kitzhaber was not advocating a sales tax…”
And they call the Dudley editing “Very sneaky,” before awarding Dudley the only “pants on fire” of the Governors race.
Dudley who once stated in a radio interview that he wanted “to talk about policies, want to talk about about how we’re going to turn our state around and uh instead we have a negative ad talking about just uh well really talking about nonsense and uh uh it’s unfortunate…” and then stated “I believe Oregonians deserve better,” when talking about negative ads.
Now- down in all the polls, Dudley switched positions by launching a dishonest, negative ad – which has been proven false.
As this close race comes down to the wire, we’re learning a lot about Chris Dudley’s character and judgment.
Excerpts From Politifact and the Oregonian:
“Sometimes, a claim comes along that’s so juicy it makes PolitiFact Oregon salivate.
This is one: Republican Chris Dudley charges that his opponent in Oregon’s race for governor, Democrat John Kitzhaber, wants a sales tax so people without jobs pay taxes. He makes the claim in a new television ad, “Again,” which has audio and video footage of Kitzhaber from various events, including the Portland City Club in 2000 and a KGW/The Oregonian debate in April.
In the ad, the Dudley campaign pulls this from an Oct. 8 Portland Tribune article:
“Kitzhaber did not hesitate to use the ‘sales tax’ term…. As incomes shrink and the number of jobless remains high, he said, it illustrates more clearly why Oregon needs to stop depending so much on personal income….”
Squeezing taxes from the unemployed to prop up state spending? How mean!
But take a look at the words from the story left out of the ad: “Kitzhaber did not hesitate to use the “sales tax” term, though he said it’s just one of the options that should be under discussion so the state is not so reliant on income taxes. As incomes shrink and the number of jobless remains high, he said, it illustrates more clearly why Oregon needs to stop depending so much on personal income taxes to pay for the bulk of its general fund budget.” Very sneaky.
Kitzhaber has long advocated for a sales tax to help stabilize Oregon’s roller-coaster reliance on personal and corporate income taxes. The Portland Tribune article clearly shows that Kitzhaber was not advocating a sales tax as a means to get more money out of the out-of-work, but to increase the diversity of Oregon’s tax base. An August 2010 study by The Tax Foundation confirmed Oregon’s heavy reliance on individual income taxes, ranking the state No. 2, just after Maryland.
…
Kitzhaber never said anything about implementing a sales tax to make sure the unemployed pay into Oregon’s tax base. We rate this Pants on Fire: The statement is not accurate and makes a ridiculous claim.
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