Edwards' Fiscal Policies Unlikely to Balance Kerry Ticket, Taxpayer Group's Analysis Finds 7/7/2004
From: Pete Sepp or Annie Patnaude, 703-683-5700, both of National Taxpayers Union; Web: http://www.ntu.org WASHINGTON, July 7 -- Some say Democratic Presidential candidate John Kerry may have selected running mate Sen. John Edwards to overcome a "charisma deficit" in his campaign, but how would his choice affect the federal budget deficit? According to an analysis from the non-partisan National Taxpayers Union (NTU), Edwards has earned "F" grades on NTU's comprehensive tax and spending scorecard for each year of his Senate service. And, he has supported legislation this year that would boost the federal budget by $92.1 billion. Among NTU's findings: -- For 25 years, NTU has conducted an annual Rating of Congress based on every roll call vote affecting federal taxes, spending, debt, and regulation (typically 100-300 votes in a Congressional session). In 2003 John Edwards posted a 22 percent "Taxpayer Score" on the NTU Rating, compared to John Kerry's 14 percent. However, both men turned in scores sufficient (under 25 percent) to earn "F" grades from NTU. -- Edwards' score last year was actually the highest he has ever achieved on NTU's Rating. Between 1999 and 2002, his scores ranged between 12 percent and 18 percent, thus earning him an "F" grade from NTU each year he has been in the Senate. -- Despite Edwards' being portrayed as a more moderate candidate, he and Kerry have never scored more than 8 percentage points apart on the NTU Rating. In the year 2000, Edwards' score tied that of Massachusetts Sen. Edward Kennedy (which in that year was also one point lower than Kerry's score). -- Since 1991, National Taxpayers Union Foundation's BillTally system has assigned a cost to the legislation that each Member of Congress sponsors or cosponsors -- even those bills that never come to the floor for a vote. In the First Session of the 108th Congress, Edwards supported legislation which, if enacted in its entirety, would increase federal spending by $92.1 billion per year. This is roughly half the total cost of John Kerry's legislative agenda ($182.0 billion), but would still be sufficient to increase the estimated budget deficit for FY 2005 by an equivalent of 25 percent. -- Since 1994, National Taxpayers Union Foundation's VoteTally system has tracked the spending at stake in votes cast by each Member of Congress. In 2003, Edwards cast votes whose effect would raise federal expenditures by $381.3 billion per year (or $318.3 billion when "mandatory" baseline spending is excluded). "The data on John Edwards offers little comfort to taxpayers seeking spending restraint from Washington," said NTU President John Berthoud. "There is scant evidence to suggest his fiscal policies would be more moderate than those offered by the man at the top of the ticket." --- NTU is a non-profit, non-partisan citizen group working for lower taxes, smaller government, and more accountability from elected officials at all levels. National Taxpayers Union Foundation is the research and educational arm of NTU. Note: For additional fiscal information on Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates, visit http://www.ntu.org. |