Americans For Tax Reform Repeats Debunked Attack On Martha Coakley
On January 18, 2010, Americans for Tax Reform repeated a previously debunked attack on Massachusetts attorney general Martha Coakley. By using a misleading, out of context quote, ATR falsely claims Coakley favors increasing taxes. In reality, she said "get[ting] people back to work" would increase tax revenue and reduce the deficit.
Americans for Tax Reform Repeats False Attack On Coakley
Americans for Tax Reform:
As has been demonstrated by her vocal support for the Senate health care reform bill and her wish of "getting taxes up", Ms. Coakley has an extreme lack of concern for middle-income families. A vote for Martha Coakley is a vote for big government, increased taxes, and a loss of personal freedom. [Americans for Tax Reform, 1/18/10]
Coakley Was Referring To Increasing Tax Revenue By Decreasing Unemployment Rate
Boston Globe:
The ad against Coakley quotes her saying, "We need to get taxes up," a line that appears to have been taken out of context from a primary debate, during which Coakley seemed to suggest that the economy needed to improve so that tax collections would rise.
"We do need to get out of this recession, also, and that requires, I think, looking at a couple of things,'' she said during a debate at Suffolk University, in response to a question about lowering the federal deficit. "There's no magic bullet to this. We need to get people back to work, we need to get taxes up, and we'll start to chip away at that deficit." [Boston Globe, 1/8/10; emphasis added]
Boston Globe:
It highlights Brown's pledge to oppose tax increases and Coakley's recent comment that the country needs "to get taxes up." She was referring to tax collections from increased employment, and her aides immediately branded the commercial as an attack ad. [Boston Globe, 1/7/10; emphasis added]
