Largest Tax Increase in History? "Marlarky," Says Boyda Camp

We've been hearing it for months- "The Democrat [sic] controlled Congress has passed the largest tax increase in history, blah blah blah..." We've all heard it, and, hopefully, everyone on both sides knows it's nothing more than partisan lies.

Even though it is just partisan lies, that certainly doesn't prevent both Jim Ryun and Lynn Jenkins for repeating it- often. There lack of integrity isn't new or so much surprising, but, still, holding their fee to the fire is the calling of this particular blog, so we're glad to again oblige.

Today, however, we have the help of the mainstream media.

Former Congressman Jim Ryun's campaign spokeswoman told Harris News Service on Monday that Boyda's first term as Kansas' 2nd District congresswoman included her vote for "the largest tax increase in American history."

But Boyda's spokesman, Thomas Seay, refers to a national nonpartisan organization's conclusion that the claim, oft-repeated by Republican candidates, simply isn't true.

"It's, frankly, malarkey," Seay said.

Why, oh wise Mr. Seay, is it malarkey? The article provides a narrative of how this persestent falsehood came into being.

The tax hike claim, first promoted by the National Republican Congressional Committee, surfaced in March after House Democrats, including Boyda, passed a budget resolution, a non-binding proposal to map out budgets for coming years.

Republicans opposed it and issued press releases decrying it as a $683 billion tax hike, or a $2,863 annual increase for the average Kansan.

The resolution laid out a plan to balance the federal budget by ending tax cuts put in place by the Bush administration in 2001 and 2003.

But, wait...so the Democrats do want to increase our taxes? Ah, but there is more:

However, Democrats say they want to change the law to extend the middle-class tax cuts indefinitely beyond 2010.

"Of course, the congresswoman strongly opposes allowing the middle-class Bush tax cuts to expire," Seay said. "She believes that marriage penalty tax relief, the 10 percent tax bracket, and the increased child tax credit should all be made permanent.

Ah ha. So, really, in the end, we're just talking about the Republicans trying to protect the tax cuts for their base- multimillionaires and billionaires.

But wait, Boyda has sympathy for those good folks, too.

"She's also willing to consider extending cuts for the super-wealthy if Congress can find a responsible way to pay for it."

That could occur if lawmakers opt to, say, cut billions in funds elsewhere, such as by scaling back subsidies to big oil companies and major health insurers, Seay said.

"That alone could save more than $70 billion tax dollars over the next five years."

So...there you go. Boyda doesn't support increasing taxes on average Americans, and she doesn't support increasing taxes on the vast, vast majority of Kansans. And she'll even consider keeping the cuts in place for the super-rich if we can eliminate tax breaks for, say, Big Oil.

But there is one final bit to all of this that the Republicans always conveniently ignore: The "largest tax increase in history" that the Democrats supposedly passed...never did. No budget, not one line of any bill, has contained any of the language the House approved in the above mentioned non-binding resolution. Nada. None of it.

"The truth is that Congress has yet to vote either way on extending the Bush tax cuts," he said. "The sunset clauses don't take effect until 2011, and Congress won't pass a 2011 budget for another two years."

So, is that the end? Can we finally put this mess behind us? Have we fully and completely discredited the Republicans by now?

We should only be so lucky.

However, Seay said he expected to continue to hear Republicans repeat the tax hike claim.

"They're going to keep on making it until Election Day."

Nothing more than a skipping record, those dang Republicans.

Jenkins is Correct: Ryun's New Ad Overstates His Recrod on BRAC

Lynn Jenkins spokesman little Joshie Hersh and this blog has agreed on so very little these many months, but his statements, made to AP reporter John Hanna yesterday, are right on the money regarding Jim Ryun's new "not only did it save all the military bases in Kansas from certain closure, but I also single-handedly beat the Russians" campaign ad.

In 2005, Kansas did well compared with other states as the federal government picked military installations to be shut down, even gaining an estimated 3,600 military and civilian jobs as changes were made. Only the Parsons Army Ammunition Plant was targeted for closing.

Jenkins spokesman Josh Hersh said the work of others, including Sens. Sam Brownback and Pat Roberts and 1st District Rep. Jerry Moran, was crucial.

"The whole Kansas delegation had a big part in that process," he said. "No one of them single-handedly saved those bases."

Absolutely right- every member of the Kansas delegation was insturmental to keeping the bases open in Kansas, and it's disingenuious of Ryun to claim he was any more important than any other member.

But Mr. Hersh wasn't done:

Hersh also said the ad raises questions about Ryun's true position on earmarks because in it, the colonel praises Ryun for "setting up the infrastructure" at Forbes Field and Fort Riley and an unidentified supporter adds, "Jim came through for us."

Ryun has said previously that he will not support new funding earmarks in the budget. Jenkins has pledged to support reforms of the budgeting process so that earmarks are limited to projects of national interest.

Hersh said Ryun is being inconsistent.

"That would kind of raise the question of what that is going to mean for the district," Hersh said.

Ah, indeed it does. When Jim Ryun did "deliver" for the military bases in his district when he used to be in Congress, he did it via earmarks. When Congresswoman Nancy Boyda has delivered, she's used earmarks, and, one would assume, Lynn Jenkins would indeed attempt to do the same thing. With Ryun's new found aversion to earmarks, he's going to be up a creek without a paddle.

And, of course, there's that whole disasterous vote Ryun cast to defund $300 million worth of BRAC projects in Kanas right after the 2006 election, too. Thank God Nancy Boyda was able to get the money reinstated, because Ryun obviously didn't care about the people of the district very much after they voted him out of office. All comes together to show a man who probably shouldn't be trusted to actually be in that position again.

Lynn Jenkins, you say? By her own admission, her training as a CPA has prepared her for many things (like straightening out the federal books...such a mess...let's pray we dont' get audited...), but the one thing she doesn't know a damned thing about our armed forces and the needs of our men and women in uniform. Trusting her with protecting our bases would be a lot like trusting Jim Ryun to rein in federal spending...

Oh, by the way- 'member the retired colonel Ryun features so prominently in his ad? As far as we can find, he's never ever served in Kansas and, now, he's a lobbyist in Virginia. We aren't questioning his previous service to our nation, but you would have though Ryun would have found someone from or who had served in, say, Kansas, to back up his story.

Ryun's New TV Spot Focuses on BRAC, Misleads Voters

For those of you watching television in the Topeka media market this morning you've probably already seen it, but Jim Ryun's newest campaign commercial takes credit for keeping Kansas military bases from being closed during the last round of the Base Re-Alignment and Closure program (BRAC).

UPDATE: And here's the ad:

Never mind Ryun & his old buddies in Congress dropped the ball at the very end of 2006 and refused to fund 2007 BRAC projects, specifically Kansas BRAC projects...never mind Ryun, because of his inaction, nearly lost Kansas military bases more than $300 million.

From the Topeka Capital-Journal:

Bottom line, the lame-duck Congress didn't pass a fiscal 2007 budget last fall. Instead, the 109th Congress approved a continuing resolution, financing the Base Realignment and Closure Commission at 2006 levels but eliminating money for projects at both Fort Riley and Fort Leavenworth.

That's money Ryun cut- and that Congresswoman Nancy Boyda put back in. She did better than just put back in, though:

By late January, with the second continuing resolution on the verge of expiring, the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives passed another resolution that actually raised BRAC funding by $1 billion.

Never mind that.

We try to teach, but they just won't learn

We've been around this bush with BounceBoyda before- the affable SOB's dedicated to lying and "she's so stupid"-ing their way to defeating Nancy Boyda in November. Beaten to Hell for refusing to be big kids and call a member of Congress by her actual name, they've finally been convinced it doesn't do their cause any good if they, you know, aren't talking about a real person in their posts.

While they're just so clever in calling this blog "BlocBoyda," "Boyda Blocheads," or some other deeply amusing junior high-caliber name, they do actually do one thing that's worth being upset about, and one thing that's worth giving them the time of day on this blog.

They lie.

Now, in the end, we expect Republicans to lie. We expect them to fear-monger (think the 2004 Jim Ryun for Congress ad that morphed Nancy Boyda's face into Osama bin Laden's and the current fight over FISA), and we expect them to misrepresent reality whenever reality doesn't suit them (again, think FISA currently).

This time, luckily, it's a little deal, but it speaks to the character of the people on the other side.

You've all seen the story we posted the other day- "Boyda: 'The New Center'"- about Boyda being on the cover of National Journal and being listed as one of the most centrist members of the House of Representatives- something all of our colleagues in ConservativeLand call preposterous because, well, I mean, she's voted with liberal Speaker of the House San Francisco Nancy Pelosi 93% of the time! (Which isn't true, of course, and if the italicized part of the sentence could be dripping blood it would better represent the vitriol being spewed when they mention Speaker Pelosi by name).

Anyway, the article did, indeed, just as Bounce pointed out, have an error in it...which Boyda's press staff noted when they sent out their press release announcing the article to the Kansas press. That release said, in part:

(Please note that the mention of the Blue Dog Coalition is slightly inaccurate. Nancy did apply for membership in the Blue Dog Coalition early last year, and at the time the Blue Dogs had reached their membership limit. Since then Nancy has found that not being a Blue Dog has helped to preserve her independence.)

So, the National Journal made a small reporting error- BounceBoyda would be all over them for that one, right? Seeing as they're already so horribly wrong about her being a centrist, it's just icing on the cake, right?

Oh, of course not. That'd just be coherent logic, and we know Republicans don't like logical flow to interrupt their viciousness.

In fact, they now say this about the esteemed publication:

Moreover, I tend to believe that the National Journal had the impression Boyda was trying to say she didn't apply to the Blue Dogs. It is a reputable publication with good reporters. What would they have to gain by making it up?

So, we have to ask: Which is it? Are they "a reputable publication with good reporters," and thus we should take them at their word Nancy Boyda is a centrist, or is it they don't know what they're talking about when it comes to Nancy Boyda's rating, but, oh, they're beyond reproach when it comes to the article?

We're certain they're a reputable publication, and equally certain that they weren't trying to "make it up," you dolt, they simply made a small error. And, you know what? Boyda's staff was stand-up enough to make sure the press release they sent out about it clarified the situation. You and the good folk from the NRCC that are feeding you your content are the only ones who see a vast conspiracy here.

One last snip:

Since Rep. Boyda's office didn't send me the press release she ... sent out clarifying the information she gave the National Journal that she did not apply to the Blue Dog Coalition, I'm under no obligation to do anything. In fact, if the National Journal was in error in reporting, then they should be the ones to issue a correction, not a retraction. Please, BlocBoyda [told you...aren't they mature?- BB], if you are going to pretend to be a journalist, at least know what you're saying.

Since you seem befuddled, let us help: National Journal should indeed issue a correction- that would be appropriate. You, though, should retract your post and apologize for calling a sitting member of Congress a liar, when she isn't the one who made the mistake. You've screwed up, and you should be a big enough person to admit that- publicly.

If you were a journalist, you would certainly apologize for printing a lie. But you aren't a journalist, you're a partisan blogger with no great desire to admit you were simply bashing an elected official without cause. This time, though, you've been caught playing a dirty game.

We've said it before, and we'll say it again: If you want to play ball with us, bring a bigger bat.



(We'd like to thank our new friends over at Left Brain Kansas for defending Congresswoman Boyda tonight, too. It's great to have another logical voice in the field that is the Kansas blogosphere).