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Rebuilding Economy Starts with Tax Cuts that Help Working People
Charleston, W.Va. - Anne Barth, the Democratic nominee for Congress in West
Virginia's Second Congressional District, outlined her plan today to help the middle class by targeting tax cuts to help put more money in the pockets of working families and boost the economy.
"In Congress I will vote to ensure that new tax cuts are targeted to help boost our working families and small businesses," Barth said. "This election is about changing the direction of our nation - and I support responsible tax cuts that put the middle class taxpayers first instead of always favoring the rich and privileged. As a Congresswoman, I'd have different priorities."
Anne Barth supports helping West Virginia's working families by:
Permanently repealing the marriage penalty tax
Reforming the estate tax
Extending the earned income tax credit
Limiting the amount Social Security benefits can be taxed
Barth would pay for these programs by:
Reintroducing statutory Pay As You Go (PAYGO) rules that mandate any new tax cuts be offset by spending cuts
Allowing the Bush/Capito tax cuts for the richest one percent of Americans to expire in 2010 as planned
Ending tax subsidies given to Big Oil companies (i.e. Conoco Phillips, ExxonMobil, Chevron, and Royal Dutch Shell Oil);
Closing the tax gap, which would shore up $290 billion in federal dollars
Instituting better management of acquisition and contracts and no-bid contracts *
Improving financial management oversight at the
Department of Defense, which could save billions of dollars annually
Improve the collection of royalties from oil and gas companies drilling on our federal lands
Shelley Moore Capito's Legislative Record on Taxes:
Capito voted against the FY08 Democratic budget, which included middle class tax relief, including an extension of marriage penalty relief, the child tax credit, and the 10 percent bracket. [SCR 21, Vote #377, 5/17/07]
Capito voted for a $70 billion tax cut package that the Washington Post called a "windfall for the rich, and a hole in the federal budget." [HR 4297, Vote #135, 5/10/06]
Capito voted against a move that would extend $38 billion in tax deductions for the middle class, including deductions for expenses teachers make out of their own pockets, because it didn't included an estate tax reduction for her wealthy friends and contributors. [Miller amendment to HR 5970, Vote #424, 7/29/06]
Capito voted against banning companies that use foreign tax shelters from receiving government contracts. [DeLauro amendment to HR 3058, Vote #351, 6/30/05]
Capito, who held about $200,000 in personal investments in oil and gas companies, opposed a bill that would have eliminated $6.1 billion in tax deductions for the sale of oil and gas to pay for more investments in renewable and alternative energies.
Barth shows leadership skills and NO learning curve!
Anne Barth has consistently been the adult in her campaign against SMC. Her call for accountability is refreshing in this age of blame and hide politics practiced mostly by the entrenched Republicans including SMC.
Shelley Moore Capito is running ads distancing herself from President George W. Bush after eight years of being joined at the hip. She voted in support of him for the past seven years 80 percent of the time, but like a rat fleeing a sinking ship, she's tried to distance herself from the man politically.
But the Bush administration was so appreciative of her being so blindly supportive of Bush, that they appear to have
The Bush administration was so determined to support their good friend Shelley Mooore Capito in previous elections that administration officials flaunted federal laws prohibiting the use of federal officials for partisan political purposes.
Appendix B: Events Recommended by White House and Attended by Agency Officials with Republican Candidates
(January 1, 2006 - November 7, 2006)
Rep. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV)
8/11/2006
Transportation Acting Secretary Cino
Official Transportation Event w/ Cong. Shelley Moore Capito
Martinsburg, WV
O
Rep. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV)
8/21/2006
ONDCP Director Walters
Meth Event w/ Cong. Shelley Moore Capito
Charleston, WV
O*
Rep. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV)
9/21/2006
Commerce Secretary Gutierrez
Luncheon FR w/ Cong. Shelley Moore Capito
Washington, DC
P*
Rep. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV)
10/9/2006
Commerce Secretary Gutierrez
Official Tour & Business Roundtable Event w/ Cong. Shelley Moore Capito
Belle, WV
O
Rep. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV)
10/18/2006
HUD Deputy Secretary Roy Bernardi
Official Housing Event w/ Cong. Shelley Moore Capito
Charleston, WV
O*
Now though Capito won that election in a rout, she ran scared through most of it. The White House - at tax payer expense - sent out cabinet officials to artificially boost Capito's standing, giving the appearance that one of the least effective legislators had clout when she's consistently one of the lowest on the nonpartisan Congress.org's power rankings.
From the report:
This report examines the operations of the White House Office of Political Affairs during the Bush Administration. It finds that the White House used the political affairs office to orchestrate an aggressive strategy to use taxpayer-funded trips to help elect Republican candidates for public office. From January 1, 2006, until the mid-term elections on November 7, 2006, cabinet secretaries and other senior officials traveled to over 300 events recommended by the political affairs office. All of these events were held with Republican candidates, and in most cases, the travel costs were paid for with federal funds.
President Bush's first director of the political affairs office was Ken Mehlman. In an interview with the Committee, he stated that "a big part" of his job was to "help elect allies of the President." He also said it was his view that "one legally could have, in the Office of Political Affairs, focused entirely on simply promoting ... the President's allies." He told the Committee that he consulted closely about "nearly all aspects of what I was doing" with the Office of White House Counsel under Alberto Gonzales.
That would be the same Alberto Gonzales behind the firing of U.S. attorneys for not turning their offices into partisan political tools.
Back to the report.
The view that White House officials could legally promote the election of Republican congressional candidates led to an extensive effort prior to the 2006 elections. From January 1 to November 7, 2006, Bush Administration officials participated in 326 events with Republican candidates suggested by the political affairs office, more than one per day.
Cabinet officials and agency heads personally attended 306 of these events. Of these 326 events, 303 required travel outside of Washington, D.C. Thirty-two officials from 12 cabinet agencies and three independent offices journeyed to 35 states to make appearances with 99 Republicans running for election in 2006. Even offices with statutory provisions prohibiting political activity, like the Office of National Drug Control Policy, were enlisted in the election effort.
This effort was coordinated by the White House Office of Political Affairs. Mr. Mehlman told the Committee that when he ran the political affairs office, he worked with Republican party committees to identify "vulnerable Republican members" as well as "battleground races, and States and places where they agreed the most help was needed." E-mails from the White House to agency officials in 2006 referred to "our top priorities going into November" and achieving "a good result on 11/7." Other e-mails exhorted agency officials: "Only 49 days left!" or "Only 19 days to go." The White House sent out memoranda with "suggested events" on a weekly basis to agency officials and tracked progress on a "surrogate matrix" that listed vulnerable Republican members and the dates cabinet secretaries and other officials would make appearances on their behalf.
So if Capito was so distant from Bush, why was she considered a key "ally" to receive the preferential, probably illegal assistance?
I'd like to see an enterprising West Virginia reporter ask her.
Here's a good story handed to them. Let's see if they run with it.
Incumbent Republican Has Clear Record of Failure to Enforce, Uphold the Law
Charleston, W.Va. - After sitting on her hands for eight years on the House Financial Services Committee, Shelley Moore Capito has decided that 15 days before the election, it's time to understand the concerns of the American people - too little, too late.
"Mrs. Capito is waking up after spending eight years doing nothing in Congress to control the reckless and abusive business practices by her friends on Wall Street," said Talley Sergent, spokesperson for the Anne Barth for Congress campaign.
"She's 'Shelley Come Lately'and her record proves it. Why is it that George Bush and Shelley Moore Capito have no idea what is going on in this country until the damage is already hurting people?
"Mrs. Capito has taken hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from Wall Street and has refused to hold them accountable. Shelley Moore Capito is no friend of Main Street West Virginia.
"If Mrs. Capito understood or cared about the taxpayers, then she would have done her job in the first place - she has failed to stand up for West Virginia taxpayers and now she will pay the price at the ballot box."
In one of her very rare appearances to the district, Capito recently took a tour of one of Martinsburg's main streets, Queen Street. She was shown around small businesses like a tourist in a foreign land and it was clear that outside of the country club, she's out of her realm.
In my opinion, Talley's being too kind to Capito. Capito didn't do her job because she was out of touch. Capito's lobbyists friends from Wall Street gave her big bucks to look the other way and she did, leaving our 401k and other retirement plans evaporating while the Wall Street tycoons (and Capito's husband) acquired even more wealth. The rich got richer while we got poorer. That was the GOP plan and it was no accident that a rubberstamp Republican like Capito - who's consistently roadblocked every Democratic effort for reform - was put on the committee.
Anne Barth Capito cannot distance herself from eight years of Bush failure
I am compelled to respond to Shelley Capito's commentary regarding the economic turmoil gripping our nation (Oct. 12). I believe West Virginians are rightly angry about what's happening in Washington.
In her effort to absolve herself from her failure to meet the responsibilities of the House Committee on Financial Services that she has served on for eight years, Mrs. Capito emphasized the need to "look forward" and not look back. West Virginians have heard that kind of rhetoric before, and we know it usually means somebody is trying to get away with something.
For eight years, Mrs. Capito supported the Bush administration's fiscal policies, which have led to the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. Wall Street corporations were allowed to run wild, many of them like Fannie Mae are major contributors to Capito's political campaigns, and Federal oversight agencies were held at bay so they could continue feasting on quick profits.
Meanwhile, the nation was being leveraged to the hilt, with the national debt reaching a staggering $10 trillion. The Bush-Capito budgets had us borrowing more and more from foreign nations like China.
Mrs. Capito repeatedly denied the federal oversight agencies the funding and mandate they needed to protect the American taxpayer. She consistently supported policies that have us borrowing more from foreign governments in order to finance more tax cuts for Wall Street.
Now Mrs. Capito is urging West Virginians not to look back at any of that.
This financial crisis started on Wall Street, but now it's threatening our economy, our communities, our savings and our jobs.
I want to hold the Wall Street speculators accountable. I want to bring those people to justice for what they did. They must not be allowed to get away with it this time - not the greedy Wall Street speculators, not the reckless financial institutions, not the irresponsible lenders and borrowers, not the lax oversight agencies, and not the Members of Congress who were supposed to protect taxpayers but instead sat on their hands and allowed this to happen.
I support extensive oversight hearings. Mrs. Capito sits on the House Financial Services Committee, and could be calling for those hearings, but continues to be silent. I support intensive law enforcement investigations to go after those who broke the law, and who now are trying to saddle the American taxpayers with their losses. If I am elected to Congress, I'll do everything I can to make sure those responsible for getting us into this mess are prosecuted and punished. If Mrs. Capito is elected, she's already made clear that their conviction would not be her top priority.
Our representatives in Washington ought to be calling for heads on a platter, but Mrs. Capito isn't. She talks about independence, but that appears to be all it is - talk and talk and talk. Since arriving in Washington, Mrs. Capito has voted for the Bush Administration four out of five times. Mrs. Capito takes campaign contributions from the institutions she's supposed to be regulating. That's not the record of someone who can show independence. It's a sad legacy for eight years in Washington.
West Virginians will soon decide if we can afford more of the same.
Barth, of Charleston, is the Democratic candidate for West Virginia's 2nd District Congressional seat.
Why am I not surprised Shelley Moore Capito is lying about her opponent?
From an email:
CAPITO CAMPAIGN DESCENDS INTO OUTRIGHT LIES
-
Frantically Flooding Airwaves With Falsehoods and Fabrications
CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Desperately trying to halt the steady leaking of support for her re-election bid for Congress, Shelley Moore Capito's campaign has taken to the airwaves to twist the truth and deceive West Virginians.
"As the political fallout from the current economic meltdown continues to drag down Republican incumbents like Shelley Moore Capito - who sat on her hands and looked the other way while her Wall Street contributors ran wild - voters can expect to see every dirty trick in the book thrown at them in the remaining three weeks of the campaign" said Talley Sergent, a spokesman for the Anne Barth for Congress campaign.
"Certainly no dirty trick is older or more despicable than simply spreading bald-faced lies about your opponent, and the Capito campaign has now arrived at that point. They have steadily lost support since January, while Anne Barth has consistently gained momentum. Now that the trend is growing even stronger, so is the Capito campaign's desperation. They are worried, they are rattled, and they are willing to throw any amount of mud at the wall to see if anything sticks."
A new radio ad approved by the Capito for Congress campaign claims that Anne Barth has taken money from "Big Oil" after stating publicly she would not.
"Big Oil" is defined by Wikipedia as the six largest "supermajor" non-state owned energy companies. Those are ExxonMobil, Royal Dutch Shell, BP, Chevron Corporation, ConocoPhillips, and Total S.A.
Anne Barth has taken no contributions from those or any other major oil companies, while FEC filings reveal that Shelley Moore Capito has taken money from at least half of the six "Big Oil" members - $24,000 from ExxonMobil PAC, $5,000 from ConocoPhillips PAC, and $2,500 from Shell PAC.
Capito's radio ad also claims falsely that Anne Barth has been unclear about her position on the bailout vote. Barth has stated in the press and in a public statement issued from her campaign that she would have voted for the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, citing a provision of the bill that requires the U.S. Treasury be reimbursed for the costs of shoring up failing Wall Street firms in order to protect taxpayers from total economic collapse.
"Capito is running away from George Bush and from the tarnished Republican brand, but she cannot hide from her voting record" Sergent said.
"Capito claims to be the champion of coal, but twice last month voted against increased funding for clean coal technology research and deployment. Meanwhile, Anne Barth is the candidate who has been endorsed by the United Mine Workers and worked alongside one of the chief architects of the Coal Act - Robert C. Byrd - for twenty-one years" Sergent said.
"Shelley Moore Capito takes money from the same corporations on Wall Street she is supposed to be regulating. She takes money from the Big Oil companies who gouged us at the pumps, and votes to award them with billions in subsidies and tax breaks. This is a great example of why the approval rating of Congress is so low right now - ordinary Americans don't trust government to act in their best interests.
"Voters in West Virginia will soon get to decide if they can afford more of the same."
Capito claims to be part of the faux Civility Caucus. Is lying about your opponent civil, Shelley?
Why do Republicans always accuse their opponents of doing what they do?
The last day to register to vote is Tuesday, Oct. 14. From an email:
SUBJECT: BEAT CAPITO! CANVASS FOR ANNE BARTH!
On Monday, October 13, Anne Barth volunteers will be doing a door-to-door canvass in each county of the 2nd Congressional District, and Anne herself will be coming to Berkeley County to knock on doors with us. Anne will be at Campaign for Change
Headquarters at 124 South Queen Street, in Martinsburg, at 5:00 pm; the canvass will take place from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm. Come down to Headquarters around 4:45 pm to meet Anne Barth and join her in canvassing Berkeley County.
For further information contact Ken Collinson 304-839-5795.
SUBJECT: DEBATE WATCH PARTY AT DEMOCRATIC HQ IN MARTINSBURG
Join your friendly fellow Democrats this Wednesday night as we watch the last of the three presidential debates on the big screen TV at Democratic HQ at 124 S. Queen Street in Martinsburg! The debate starts at 9:00 p.m., but we'll be start phone banking for change at 5:00 p.m., charging on towards our goal of 15,000 calls by October 17th (we're currently a little more than half way there!). Help us reach out to the undecided and independents, and motivate our fellow Democrats. Yes We Can!
Look for more event info this Monday. Let's keep up the great work!!! For more info, go to http://www.berkeleydemocrats.org BerkeleyDemocrats.org]
Bill Yearout, President
BERKELEY COUNTY DEMOCRATIC ASSOCIATION
We've seen worse poll results in other districts and states suddenly swing in our favor so it's not over yet. Anne Barth's commercials have just gone into heavy rotation and we can expect to see more heavy hitters come into the district to speak on Barth's behalf.
Update: Well shut my mouth! The Research 2000 poll is flawed. Lenny the Matador in the comments points this out:
A fellow named MichiganLiberal crunched some numbers:
It has Democrats with a 5% party registration advantage.... Using actual SOS county registration #s, I'm getting that the district is 49.5% Democrat, 33% Republican, 17.5% independent/other.
Rebalancing the poll for the ACTUAL #s:
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