• Press Release

Tax and Spender Threatens to Take Open Seat in Michigan

  • By: FW Staff
  • 08/02/2004

Don’t say we didn’t warn you.

The Republican primary for Michigan’s 7th District U.S House seat is shaping up to be a real “horse race” and because of the presence of several high quality conservative candidates splitting the vote, it means a liberal tax-and-spender could win this seat with just 25 percent of the primary vote.

A liberal like candidate Joe Schwarz.

After watching Joe Schwarz during his time in the state legislature and during the Michigan gubernatorial campaign in 2002, many observers think he will become the worst tax-and-spend Republican in Congress.

Consider this laundry list of statements on tax issues from Joe Schwarz, as quoted in the Detroit News:

  • “Prop A was the biggest tax increase in the history of the state. . . I helped write it; it was a great idea.”
  • “I read the recent Detroit News editorial about not raising any taxes. I don’t agree.”
  • “I probably would have paused the income tax cut for two years.”

    • The Detroit News also reported that when Schwarz ran for governor, “only one of the three Democrats running for governor, U.S. Rep. David Bonior, went as far as Schwarz on advocating tax increases.”

    In a campaign debate a few weeks ago, Schwarz also said that he opposes Social Security personal accounts and would instead favor raising the payroll tax: “Social security is on very shaky ground right now. There are only three things you can do or a combination to make sure Social security is not on shaky ground. You either raise the pay-in, you cut the pay-out, or you raise the age of eligibility. My guess, unfortunately, is that young people are probably going to have to be doing more pay in.”

    Schwarz is also actively courting Democrat support in the GOP primary. According to reporter Chad Livengood of the Daily Telegram:

    “It hasn’t happened in recent memory: A moderate Republican, in a district that historically sends a conservative GOP candidate to Congress, courting Democrats to his side in the primary to defeat his more conservative opponents. But that’s just what former state Sen. Joe Schwarz is doing, with the help of former Adrian mayor and state senator Jim Berryman, a Democrat who has endorsed and campaigned for Schwarz in the past months of the hotly contested race for Congress.”
    http://www.lenconnect.com/articles/2004/07/25/news/news02.txt

    FreedomWorks has sent its 2004 Candidate Survey to all candidates running for the 7th District seat. Seeking to pin down candidates’ positions on key issues like Social Security reform with Personal Retirement Accounts (PRAs), fundamental tax reform, tort reform, and school choice, it’s no wonder a closet liberal like Joe Schwarz has refused to answer.

    Hmmmm…

    As a member of CSE/FreedomWorks, you should know that Joe Schwarz has a terrible record on taxes and Social Security, and we hope that this information helps you make an informed choice on Tuesday, August 3rd.

    From now until November, we’ll be working to give voters the facts in critical race this year, including the race for the White House. Our 2004 Battle Plan includes distributing educational materials, regular voter communications, as well as exciting opportunities to get involved and help plan Get Out The Vote (GOTV) activities including rallies, strategy conference calls, door-to-door literature drops, and phone canvassing.

    If you would like to help us in this important election year, click here and sign up to be a Volunteer Field Coordinator for our campaign.

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