Parsing Kyrillos

Reading The Bergen Record’s top of the page headline this past Thursday (Aug. 16), was enough to set any Tea Party Conservative’s hair on fire:

“GOP hopeful open to tax hikes”

Underneath that headline, reporter Herb Jackson’s sub-header read:  “Menendez foe would consider closing some loopholes, deductions”

“Taking an extremely rare stance for a Republican Senate candidate in 2012, New Jersey nominee Joe Kyrillos said he is willing to support “smart” tax increases on wealthier residents, trying to distance himself from the budget philosophy of presumptive GOP vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan.”

That’s what Herb Jackson, Washington Correspondent for the Bergen Record, said.  In his lead, there’s only one actual quotation-marked word:  “smart.”  None of this is what Kyrillos said.  Or what smart, conservative economists say.  Kyrillos and the “smart” economists agree.

“Analysts and consultants who track races around the country could not name another Republican Senate candidate who has gone as far as Kyrillos has on taxes.”

No, because they all pretty much agree on closing tax loopholes and deductions.  The question is, can you name another reporter who has gone as far as Jackson has in distorting a candidate’s position?  If you can, e-mail me, and I’ll publish their names in another post.

Just to make sure that Kyrillos is alienated from the Conservative base, Jackson continued on to say:  “A long-time ally of Governor Christie, Kyrillos may be seeking to capitalize on the popular Republican governor’s reputation for forging compromises with the Democratic-controlled Legislature, which has kept Trenton from being as gridlocked by divided rule as Washington is.”

Although in the beginning, Christie was definitely a moderate, by his own admission, he’s gone to the mat for Conservatives, vetoing a number of Liberal issues such as the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.  Any friend of Christie’s is a friend ours.  Forging deals with the Democrats hasn’t kept us from being gridlocked; Christie’s vetoes have kept us from becoming the Communist Commonwealth of New Jersey.  He may be socially moderate, but Christie is most definitely a fiscal Conservative.  Thereby, so is Joe Kyrillos.

Jackson quotes Kyrillos in an interview on Aug. 14, 2012, as saying, “I understand over time we’re going to have to raise more revenue.”

One local Tea Party group was quite alarmed at this point, although a guest speaker urged them to take the Bergen Record with a grain of salt.  This group is hoping to invite the Senate candidate to speak to them and clarify his stance on these issues.  Raising taxes isn’t the same as raising revenue.

According to Jackson, “Kyrillos said he would not sign the anti-tax pledge promoted by Americans for Tax Reform, as has every Republican New Jersey House incumbent and the past two candidates for Senate.  “I want to do things differently than we have done.”

Quotes can be taken out of context, and often are by Liberal reporters.  Yet, when the report continues on page 8, at which point most readers would have thrown down the newspaper in disgust, Jackson tells us “Kyrillos was vague about what taxes he’d support, other than increases for hedge fund managers.”

Jackson then gets to the bottomline (too late for most readers):  Kyrillos states, “There are dumb ways to raise [revenue] and smart ways to raise it.  Bob Menendez wants to raise income tax rates, which I think is wrong in this economy.  I’m for simplifying the tax code [as is Paul Ryan] and getting rid of deductions and loopholes, much of which are enjoyed by upper-income Americans.”

He then quotes Democrat Senator Robert Menendez who claims, “In Trenton, he voted against middle class property tax relief to protect tax breaks for the wealthiest.”  To translate, apparently that bill that would have lowered middle class property taxes while unfairly raising upper income taxes, driving the wealthy (and their businesses and our jobs) out of the state.

It’s always best to go straight to the source, if you want to know a candidate’s view on a particular issue.  The same day the article was published, Kyrillos’ campaign put out this press release, which it’s unlikely anyone got to read:

Aug. 16, 2012 - press release

Raising Revenue the Smart Way: Lowering Taxes

Let's be clear: there’s a big difference between increasing revenue by raising taxes and increasing revenue from lowering taxes while closing special interest loopholes. Raising tax rates continues to be Bob Menendez’ solution, but after voting in favor of higher taxes more than 70 times it has yielded nothing but higher unemployment and crushing debt placed squarely on the shoulders of small businesses and middle class families. Throughout my career,

I have never voted for a broad-based tax increase, and in fact have saved New Jerseyans $11.9 billion in new or higher taxes.

My position continues to be what I outlined in my comprehensive jobs plan – cut income tax rates for every family and small business, reduce our job-killing corporate tax and close the special interest tax loopholes favored by Bob Menendez’ lobbyist pals, including management fees that get treated as capital gains rather than personal income. A simpler, more efficient tax code will reward hard work, boost job creation, and raise revenue by growing the economy.

Contact Information                         

Contact Name:

Meaghan Cronin

Contact Phone Number:

(732) 221-1162

Contact E-Mail Address:

meaghan@joekyrillos.com

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New Jersey Tea Parties should invite Joe Kyrillos to their meetings to speak to them (his campaign office phone number is right under the press release); it’s the only way they’re going to know what he really stands for.