Monday, October 09, 2006
Another day, another Northup attack ad....
Anne continues her attacks on John Yarmuth's positions while not telling us her own. This time she uses the flip-flop card, calling John out for claiming he didn't make certain statements.
According to the Courier-Journal (a paper that Anne regularly dismisses, unless she needs to use it for her ads):
Yarmuth said he had mentioned in his comments at the debate that he wanted to double only the Medicare portion of the tax, which is 1.45percent. That would expand Medicare coverage to everyone and end private health insurance and its premium costs.
He said yesterday that the doubling of the tax would cost taxpayers on average about $600 a year, not the $2,600 a year Northup's campaign claims. He said their use of the quote and figure was a deliberate distortion.
In other words, he has an idea beyond Anne's belief that we can keep putting in less than we take out and somehow make the numbers work out right.
As for John's quote about gas tax, the heavily edited blurry video on the ad appears to have John saying "The single most significant thing I could do as a member of Congress would be to try to promote a tax on larger engines."
Again, this is a quote with no context. Without context, it sounds like this is the first thing John wants to do if elected. But it was delivered at a March forum of the Coalition for the Advancement of Regional Transportation. And as I've pointed out earlier, this is not without precident. The existing Gas Guzzler tax on cars does not apply to trucks and SUVs. John's merely suggesting closing a loophole that might force automakers and consumers to start paying attention to fuel mileage and keep us from having to depend on foreign oil from terrorist breeding grounds. Wonder why she has a problem with that.
He says her ads
are far-fetched
By Kay Stewart
kstewart@courier-journal.com
The Courier-Journal
Democratic congressional candidate John Yarmuth says in a new campaign ad that Republican claims about his positions are as far-fetched as him playing golf with Saddam Hussein or snatching toys from youngsters.
Yarmuth aired the new ad on major stations and cable yesterday to rebut claims made by U.S. Rep. Anne Northup, R-3rd, that he has taken positions favoring legalizing marijuana, lowering the drinking age and abolishing Social Security.
He also accused Northup of dodging "the real issues."
Last week, Northup held a press conference and ran ads quoting excerpts from columns Yarmuth wrote for LEO, an alternative weekly newspaper he founded, and from comments he's made at public appearances. She said those quotes show that some of Yarmuth's positions were "goofy."
Yesterday, Yarmuth's campaign struck back, accusing Northup in an e-mail to supporters of abandoning "truth and logic."
He denied saying one of the quotes Northup's camp attributed to him from a primary debate: that by "doubling the employee payroll tax, and the employer contribution, that we can make Medicare solvent into the foreseeable future."
But Northup's campaign manager, Patrick Neely, produced a video yesterday showing Yarmuth making the statement, which was an issue in the Democratic primary campaign. And the congresswoman's campaign said it had accurately reflected Yarmuth's positions on that and other issues.
Yarmuth said he had mentioned in his comments at the debate that he wanted to double only the Medicare portion of the tax, which is 1.45percent. That would expand Medicare coverage to everyone and end private health insurance and its premium costs.
He said yesterday that the doubling of the tax would cost taxpayers on average about $600 a year, not the $2,600 a year Northup's campaign claims. He said their use of the quote and figure was a deliberate distortion.
Yarmuth also said he didn't recall advocating a tax on "large engines" in SUVs and pickup trucks, another claim in Northup's ad. But Neely produced another videotape from a March forum of the Coalition for the Advancement of Regional Transportation. Yarmuth said: "The single most significant thing I could do as a member of Congress would be to try to promote a tax on larger engines."
Yarmuth said in the interview that at some point, a surcharge on vehicles that get around 12 miles per gallon might be feasible, with the tax proceeds used for incentives to encourage people to buy high-mileage vehicles.
Jason Burke, Yarmuth's campaign manager, said other statements made by Northup about Yarmuth's positions from his LEO columns are either out of context, draw inaccurate conclusions or are no longer relevant because they were made years ago.
Neely, however, said Northup stands by the accuracy of the ad. Yarmuth's "words are what we used in the ad and they are clear," he said.
At one point in Yarmuth's new ad, a picture of Northup with President Bush flashes on the screen, as the voiceover says: "The fact is Northup and Bush have failed our country, and we need to make a change."
Northup, the ad says, "won't discuss the real issues. In fact, she won't discuss issues at all."
It concludes with Yarmuth saying: "We can't change Washington unless we change the people we send there."
Reporter Kay Stewart can be reached at (502) 582-4114.
Edition: METRO
Section: News
Page: 1B
Dateline: louisville, ky
Copyright (c) The Courier-Journal. All rights reserved. Reproduced with the permission of Gannett Co., Inc. by NewsBank, inc.
Record Number: lou34842507
OpenURL Article Bookmark (right click, and copy the link location):
According to the Courier-Journal (a paper that Anne regularly dismisses, unless she needs to use it for her ads):
Yarmuth said he had mentioned in his comments at the debate that he wanted to double only the Medicare portion of the tax, which is 1.45percent. That would expand Medicare coverage to everyone and end private health insurance and its premium costs.
He said yesterday that the doubling of the tax would cost taxpayers on average about $600 a year, not the $2,600 a year Northup's campaign claims. He said their use of the quote and figure was a deliberate distortion.
In other words, he has an idea beyond Anne's belief that we can keep putting in less than we take out and somehow make the numbers work out right.
As for John's quote about gas tax, the heavily edited blurry video on the ad appears to have John saying "The single most significant thing I could do as a member of Congress would be to try to promote a tax on larger engines."
Again, this is a quote with no context. Without context, it sounds like this is the first thing John wants to do if elected. But it was delivered at a March forum of the Coalition for the Advancement of Regional Transportation. And as I've pointed out earlier, this is not without precident. The existing Gas Guzzler tax on cars does not apply to trucks and SUVs. John's merely suggesting closing a loophole that might force automakers and consumers to start paying attention to fuel mileage and keep us from having to depend on foreign oil from terrorist breeding grounds. Wonder why she has a problem with that.
He says her ads
are far-fetched
By Kay Stewart
kstewart@courier-journal.com
The Courier-Journal
Democratic congressional candidate John Yarmuth says in a new campaign ad that Republican claims about his positions are as far-fetched as him playing golf with Saddam Hussein or snatching toys from youngsters.
Yarmuth aired the new ad on major stations and cable yesterday to rebut claims made by U.S. Rep. Anne Northup, R-3rd, that he has taken positions favoring legalizing marijuana, lowering the drinking age and abolishing Social Security.
He also accused Northup of dodging "the real issues."
Last week, Northup held a press conference and ran ads quoting excerpts from columns Yarmuth wrote for LEO, an alternative weekly newspaper he founded, and from comments he's made at public appearances. She said those quotes show that some of Yarmuth's positions were "goofy."
Yesterday, Yarmuth's campaign struck back, accusing Northup in an e-mail to supporters of abandoning "truth and logic."
He denied saying one of the quotes Northup's camp attributed to him from a primary debate: that by "doubling the employee payroll tax, and the employer contribution, that we can make Medicare solvent into the foreseeable future."
But Northup's campaign manager, Patrick Neely, produced a video yesterday showing Yarmuth making the statement, which was an issue in the Democratic primary campaign. And the congresswoman's campaign said it had accurately reflected Yarmuth's positions on that and other issues.
Yarmuth said he had mentioned in his comments at the debate that he wanted to double only the Medicare portion of the tax, which is 1.45percent. That would expand Medicare coverage to everyone and end private health insurance and its premium costs.
He said yesterday that the doubling of the tax would cost taxpayers on average about $600 a year, not the $2,600 a year Northup's campaign claims. He said their use of the quote and figure was a deliberate distortion.
Yarmuth also said he didn't recall advocating a tax on "large engines" in SUVs and pickup trucks, another claim in Northup's ad. But Neely produced another videotape from a March forum of the Coalition for the Advancement of Regional Transportation. Yarmuth said: "The single most significant thing I could do as a member of Congress would be to try to promote a tax on larger engines."
Yarmuth said in the interview that at some point, a surcharge on vehicles that get around 12 miles per gallon might be feasible, with the tax proceeds used for incentives to encourage people to buy high-mileage vehicles.
Jason Burke, Yarmuth's campaign manager, said other statements made by Northup about Yarmuth's positions from his LEO columns are either out of context, draw inaccurate conclusions or are no longer relevant because they were made years ago.
Neely, however, said Northup stands by the accuracy of the ad. Yarmuth's "words are what we used in the ad and they are clear," he said.
At one point in Yarmuth's new ad, a picture of Northup with President Bush flashes on the screen, as the voiceover says: "The fact is Northup and Bush have failed our country, and we need to make a change."
Northup, the ad says, "won't discuss the real issues. In fact, she won't discuss issues at all."
It concludes with Yarmuth saying: "We can't change Washington unless we change the people we send there."
Reporter Kay Stewart can be reached at (502) 582-4114.
Edition: METRO
Section: News
Page: 1B
Dateline: louisville, ky
Copyright (c) The Courier-Journal. All rights reserved. Reproduced with the permission of Gannett Co., Inc. by NewsBank, inc.
Record Number: lou34842507
OpenURL Article Bookmark (right click, and copy the link location):
