NH GOP - Is this what Cilley wanted?

Good Morning,

As you scan the headlines and coverage today from Jackie Cilley’s gubernatorial announcement yesterday, you’d be hard-pressed to say she had a smooth rollout.  James Pindell, writing for WMUR’s Political Scoop, noted that much of Cilley’s platform, specifically on an income tax, has been “widely rejected” and that “this past year was particularly tough” for those on the far edge of the Democrat Party.  And, in what will prove to be a self-inflicted wound, Cilley re-affirmed her flip-flopping stance on a statewide income tax. 

Included below you will find key excerpts from news reports covering Cilley’s stance on an income tax, comment from the NHGOP and additional coverage of the Democrat’s latest tax-and-spend candidate to enter the race.

Reports Covering Cilley’s Latest Income Tax Stance

Concord Monitor: “Cilley's refusal to take an anti-income tax pledge could rally support within the state's Democratic base, but her stance will be a tougher sell to the wider electorate.” (Matthew Spolar, “Cilley Vows No Pledges As Governor, Concord Monitor, 2/8/2012)

N.H. Public Radio: “Cilley also she won’t be taking a pledge to veto a sales or income tax.” (NHPR, “Cilley Declares for Governor,” 2/7/2012)

NHGOP Comment

“It should come as no surprise to New Hampshire voters that both candidates in the Democrat primary for governor have flip-flopping records on a statewide income tax.  The hard truth is that in order to spend more tax dollars and grow the size of government, Democrats need to leave open every option to tax individuals, tax businesses and tax anything else they can get their hands on.” – Tory Mazzola, New Hampshire Republican State Committee Executive Director

Additional Coverage of Cilley’s Announcement

Foster’s Daily Democrat: “In the GOP response to Cilley’s gubernatorial announcement, Republican State Committee Chairman Wayne MacDonald said in a statement, ‘Jackie Cilley and Maggie Hassan both fit into the narrow ideology of the Democrat Party – higher taxes, increased spending and more government control. I’m confident that the Republican Party will retake the governor’s office in November because there’s a sharp contrast between the two sides,’ he stated.” (Liz Markhlevskaya, “Cilley Announces Bid for Corner Office: Barrington Democrat has Plans to Lead State as Next Governor,” Foster’s Daily Democrat, 2/8/2012)

N.H. Union Leader: “But before Cilley even arrived at an event announcing her candidacy on Tuesday morning, she was facing criticism from Republican operative Patrick Hynes, who questioned her position on a statewide income tax. Hynes sent out an email early Tuesday morning calling the state senator ‘Slippery Cilley.’ He accused her of refusing to directly answer questions about her stance on an income tax, ‘saying only that she will respect the wishes of her state senate district.’” (Beth LaMontagne Hall, “Former state Sen. Cilley Enters Race for Governor,” New Hampshire Union Leader, 2/8/2012)

AFPNH - House Bill Prohibits State Income Tax!

Granite State Gatherings November 3 – Durham/Lee/Madbury GOP Committee Meeting at Durham Police Station at 7PM. Click here for more information. November 5 – Buddy Roemer at Cheshire County GOP Meeting at Keene Public Library at 9:30AM. Click here for more information. November 5 – Deval Patrick at annual NH Democratic Party’s Jefferson Jackson Celebration at 6PM. Click here for more information. November 8 – Deerfield GOP Town Club Meeting at Library Church Street at 6PM. Click here for more information. November 8 – Barnstead-Alton Republican Committee Meeting at JJ Goodwin's Restaurant at 6:30PM. Click here for more information. November 8 – Southern NH 9.12 Project Meeting at Windham Senior Center at 7PM. Click here for more information. November 8 – Chris Hill at Bedford GOP Monthly Meeting at the Bedford Public Library at 7:30PM. Click here for more information. November 9 – Belknap County GOP Meeting at Shang Hai Restaurant at 6:30PM. Click here for more information. November 10 – Granite State Patriots Liberty PAC Debate at Exeter High School at 6PM. Click here for more information. November 12 – Rye Republican Town Committee Meeting at Rye Public Library at 9AM. Click here for more information. November 12 – Ovide Lamontagne at Hillsborough County GOP Meeting at Merrimack Town Hall at 9:30AM. Click here for more information. November 14 – Corey Lewandowski at Contoocook Valley Republican Committee Meeting at Deering Town Hall at 7PM. November 15 – Corey Lewandowski at Rochester Republican City Committee Meeting at Country Tire on Route 11 in Rochester at 6PM.

I wanted to update you on several legislative issues in Concord. First, a report was released earlier this week detailing the failure of the flawed cap-and-trade scheme known as the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). As you know, AFP-NH strongly supports removing New Hampshire from this initiative and we will continue to work to ensure that New Hampshire ratepayers no longer have to carry the burden of this failed green scheme. Second, last week the New Hampshire House Ways and Means Committee endorsed HB 593 by a vote of 14 to 7. This legislation would allow for the state controlled introduction of video lottery and table gaming in New Hampshire. The committee’s endorsement of HB 593 is an important first step towards policy that could bring increased jobs and revenue to our state while allowing for a reduction in business taxes. The State House likely will vote on the legislation early next year. We will continue to monitor the bill’s progress and keep you informed. Third, also last week, the House Ways and Means Committee approved CACR 13 by a vote of 15-5 which would prohibit an income tax in the state. This legislation also will likely be voted on next year by the House and Senate with the goal of placing it on the 2012 ballot for approval by the people of the Granite state. We will keep you posted on the status of this legislation as well. Finally, as the countdown to January 10, 2012 begins, please review our Granite Gatherings Section for other events around the state you might want to attend. Sincerely, Corey R. Lewandowski State Director Americans for Prosperity New Hampshire  P.S. Please remember that you can follow us on Facebook and Twitter or check out the In The News section of our website for updates on AFP-NH activities and events.

NH House Majority Leader Statement on Hassan Announcement

House Majority Leader Statement on Hassan Announcement, Pledge Against Sales and Income Tax

CONCORD – House Majority Leader D.J. Bettencourt (R-Salem) today released the following statement in response to former state Sen. Maggie Hassan’s announcement that she is seeking the office of Governor in New Hampshire. Media reports stated that Hassan referred to Republican leaders as extremists and took the pledge that she would veto any sales or income tax if she became Governor.

Majority Leader D.J. Bettencourt

“On a sales or income tax, I wholeheartedly agree with the sentiment. However, Hassan’s so called pledge is ridiculously  disingenuous given that she refused to sign it in 2002 when she ran and was defeated by Sen. Prescott for the state Senate. Further, the labeling of the Republican’s pro-job, pro-economic, less spending, smaller government agenda as ‘extremist’ is no surprise  coming from a far leftist like Hassan who oversaw two state budgets that increased spending by a remarkable 25%, attempted to implement ‘MaggieCare,’ raised 100 job-killing taxes and fees, advocated for the disastrous LLC tax that Granite Staters repudiated and levied a $30 car registration surcharge fee on the working families of New Hampshire. Frankly, I’m not sure how she plans to support her tax and spend compulsion if she has pledged to reject a sales or income tax. Then again, perhaps she’ll just flip-flop on the pledge again when it suits her political best interest.”

PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE GARY JOHNSON CALLS FOR FAIR TAX WHILE VISITING NH

August 4, 2011, Manchester, NH – Meeting Thursday with small business owners at the Amoskeag Business Incubator in Manchester, NH, Presidential candidate and former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson called for abolishing the current income and payroll tax system and replacing it with a consumption-based tax, known as the FairTax.

Endorsed by many U.S. economists, the FairTax Plan is designed to collect the revenue needed for the federal government from a broader tax base at a lower effective rate than the current system of taxing income. Taxpayers and businesses would pay no federal income or payroll taxes, but would pay a 23% tax on goods and services they buy. A “prebate” would be granted to all taxpayers, regardless of income, to offset payment of the FairTax on purchases of necessities up to the federal poverty level.

Johnson said, “There are many ways to describe our current 70,000 page tax code, but ‘fair’ is not one of them.

“It is simple economic common sense that the most equitable and sustainable system for providing the tax revenues we need is one which places the burden on the broadest base at the lowest possible rate.  Taxing income runs fundamentally counter to that goal, and it creates perverse incentives that stifle economic growth and kill jobs.  Changing to a system which taxes consumption, rather than earnings, will encourage savings and investment, provide American families more freedom to spend their hard-earned money as they choose, and put people back to work.”

Johnson continued, “With the ‘prebate’ provision of the FairTax, no one will pay taxes on expenditures for basic necessities, and the average taxpayer will pay a smaller portion of their income in federal taxes than they are now.  The result is an equitable tax that is progressive on the basis not of income, but lifestyle and spending choices.

“Likewise, as we watch the politicians in Washington haggle over whether or not various tax credits and loopholes should be closed, I would strongly suggest that it is time that we simply do away with all of them, and get the government out of the business of picking winners and losers and otherwise using the tax code to manage our behavior.  By treating every taxpayer and business equally, the FairTax will do just that. In fact, the FairTax proposal would abolish the IRS, and provide incentives for the states to actually collect the tax, using their own systems and experience with administering sales taxes.

“And, as the Administration and Congress wring their hands over our unacceptably and persistently high unemployment and talk about reducing the corporate income tax rate and adopting other half-measures, I say we do away with corporate income taxes altogether – which the FairTax would do.  That alone will foster more real job creation than all the stimulus and tax code tinkering that is currently being discussed, and would immediately move the U.S. to the head of the class in terms of global competitiveness.

“Rather than exporting jobs and losing employers to more friendly tax environments overseas, America would become a magnet for job-creating investment both by businesses who are already here and those who would come here.”

The FairTax and its 23% rate are designed to be revenue neutral, generating sufficient revenue to fund all government operations and existing benefits, including Social Security, Medicare and other entitlements.


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About Presidential Candidate Gary Johnson: Gary Johnson, a Republican and two-term Governor of New Mexico from 1994-2002, has been a consistent and outspoken advocate for limited, efficient government and personal liberty.

DNC - Politico: A taxing problem: Republican 2012ers not rushing to release returns

A taxing problem: Republican 2012ers not rushing to release returns

Politico // Andy Barr
Posted at 2:55 PM EDT

Donald Trump says he will release his tax returns — when President Barack Obama coughs up his birth certificate, that is — but the other potential 2012 candidates aren’t committing to that much financial disclosure.

A POLITICO survey of the major GOP hopefuls found that none are promising to making their tax returns public, as then-candidate Obama did in 2008.

While the presidential candidates are required to file financial disclosure forms by May 15th of this year or within 30 days of announcing their candidacy — which list sources of income and assets held, as well as ballpark figures of the value of those assets and income — there is no such legal requirement that any tax returns see the light of day.

In a field filled with millionaires — including Sarah Palin, Mike Huckabee, Jon Huntsman, Mitt Romney, Rudy Giuliani, Newt Gingrich and Haley Barbour — the tax documents could provide interesting fodder for Democrats and the press.

“There are too many unanswered questions surrounding the provenance of the significant income most of the candidates in the Republican field are taking in — and the taxes they paid or didn’t pay on that income — for them not to release their returns to public scrutiny,” said a senior Democratic strategist.

John McCain Republican released his 2006 and 2007 tax filings after he’d won the Republican nomination, but he didn’t disclose the separate tax filings of his wealthy beer heiress wife.

The financial disclosure forms Mitt Romney filed during his 2008 presidential run showed the former Massachusetts governor was worth as much $250 million at the time. But Romney has never released any tax returns — neither during his campaigns for president and Senate nor his time as governor — and would not commit to doing so this time around.

“He’ll make all the financial disclosure that is required by law. Going further than that will be an issue for us to consider if and when he becomes a formally declared candidate,” said Romney spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom.

Other Republican camps declined to comment or told POLITICO the same. In addition to Romney, POLITICO reached out to representatives of Palin, Huckabee, Tim Pawlenty, Huntsman, Barbour and Gingrich.

There is, of course, little incentive for a presidential candidate to open themselves up to further scrutiny — or mockery — by voluntarily releasing their tax documents.

Sarah Palin made public her 2006 and 2007 tax returns while campaigning as McCain’s vice presidential nominee after significant prodding from the Obama camp. And though the disclosure did not provide any glaring headline material, it did prompt further questions about state-approved per diems totaling $17,000 — as well as other questions about whether she properly paid taxes on services she received as governor.

Huckabee meanwhile, was once a crusader for public officials to release their tax returns, saying “the single most effective way for the public to be assured of the financial integrity of a candidate is for personal tax returns to be released.” Backing up his position in 1997, Huckabee released tax information going back to 1981.

But Huckabee was dogged during his time as governor by discrepancies between the 15 years of tax returns he provided and the financial disclosure returns he filed. Under pressure from barraging Democrats and a critical press corps, Huckabee ended up having to file amended returns for 1994 and 1994.

And after experiencing the political consequences of disclosing his tax returns, Huckabee told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette in 2001 that he regretted having provided the press and his political enemies that kind detailed information.

“I was naïve enough to think that if I provide everything beyond what is legally required that I would be applauded,” Huckabee said at the time. “What I found was all I did was hand over fodder for people in the print media and political opponents who like to file ethics complaints.”

Tax returns also might reveal how much Huntsman — whose financial disclosure ahead becoming ambassador to China put his net worth between $15 and $90 million — collects from a blind trust created with the proceeds from his sale of shares in the publicly traded company founded by his father. A spokesman for Horizon PAC, the campaign-in-waiting started by Huntsman’s supporters, did not return a request for comment.

The source of Haley Barbour’s total income too is somewhat unclear, as he collects much of his funds from a blind trust that handles interest and profit sharing from his stake in BGR, the lobbying firm he founded.

Barbour’s spokesman Jim Dyke told POLITICO that Barbour is prepared to make the required financial disclosures, but did not specifically say the Mississippi governor would be providing copies of his tax return when asked. “If he decides to run, there will certainly be disclosure at the appropriate time,” Dyke said.