by Javier Manjarres

Florida Today’s Senior Editor Matt Reed has penned a column charging that Congresswoman Sandy Adams(R-FL) and Congressman Bill Posey (R-FL) have both broken  the Americans for Tax Reform (ATR) pledge that both members of Congress  signed off on in April of this year. The problem with Reed’s assertion is that it is categorically false- Adams and Posey have not broken their tax pledges.

Mr. Reed does not hide the fact that he is a proponent of  a ‘healthy tax raising apparatus’ and openly states his left-leaning policy prescription in his column- and that’s perfectly acceptable for him to do so.  However, Reed is clearly crossing the line of  journalistic integrity by making an assertion that is demonstrably false in order to score political points on behalf of his tax-hiking cronies in Congress.

Americans for Tax Reform released a statement debunking Mr. Reed’s charge, and they also take a swipe at Reed’s reporting ethics for not doing his due diligence on this issue before reporting on it.

You can read the Matt Reed’s editorial here in Florida Today.

 

Here is the Americans for Tax Reform statement regarding the editorial:

 

Just to answer a quick accusation made against some Pledge signers in Florida (N.B., the reporter in question never bothered to reach out to Americans for Tax Reform):

1. Congressman Bill Posey (R-Fla.) and Sandy Adams (R-Fla) are Taxpayer Protection Pledge signers.  They each promised their Congressional district constituents and the American people that they would not vote to raise marginal income tax rates, nor to vote for tax base-broadening (on net) without a dollar-for-dollar reduction in income tax rates.
2. They each have kept this Pledge, and we fully expect them to do so going foward.
3. The House GOP budget does not contain a tax increase.  It calls for revenue-neutral tax reform.  It instructs the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee to craft a tax proposal with two characteristics–first, top personal and corporate tax rates of no higher than 25 percent; second, a revenue target of 18-19 percent of economic output, which happens to be the tax revenue-neutral historical average.
4. ATR full-throatedly supported the House budget.  The budget calls for a better tax system with lower marginal rates, a broader tax base, and a revenue-neutrality target.  Not only is that great policy, it’s what ATR was founded to do.

Maybe next time Reed will reach out to ATR and get the facts before rushing to press with erroneous facts and coming out looking somewhat foolish.