Giuliani Campaign Press Release - Tales from the Beltway: Thompson's Taxing Record

"Fred Thompson needs a fiscal makeover to conceal a Senate record that shows he never championed tax cuts, was a member of the Centrist Coalition who fought against the Bush tax cuts, and doesn't know the meaning of supply-side economics. It's no wonder he wishes Rudy Giuliani would stop talking about his own record of cutting taxes 23 times, slashing runaway spending and saving New Yorkers $9 billion."

– Katie Levinson, Communications Director

Thompson Refuses To Rule Out Raising Taxes To Address Entitlement Reform. "The former senator from Tennessee, who is expected to enter the race next month, wants to be the conservative alternative … but refused repeated requests yesterday to rule out raising taxes. 'We are in the process of gradually bankrupting future generations in this country,' Thompson said of Social Security and other entitlement programs that will plunge the federal government deeply into debt over the next decade." (Charles Hurt, "Not-Yet-Running Thompson Stumps In Iowa," New York Post, 8/18/07)

And Thompson Has Not Ruled Out Raising Gas Tax To Address Dependence On Foreign Oil. FOX NEWS' CHRIS WALLACE: "[Y]ou have talked about the fact that we need to end our dependence on foreign oil. Would you impose a gas tax to push us in that direction?" THOMPSON: "Well, you're getting a little bit further down in the weeds than I want to go right now. I don't know. I'm studying it. … We can't ever be totally independent of it, but we can do some things to make it a lot better. We're going to have to look at fuel emission standards and things of that nature, things that we don't like to look at. And things have got to be on the table." (Fox's "Fox News Sunday," 3/11/07)

Thompson Was Member Of Senate Centrist Coalition From 1997 Until He Retired From The Senate In 2003. (Ken Foskett, "Moderate Senators Taking On Stalled Budget As Bipartisan Force," Atlanta [GA] Journal-Constitution, 4/25/97; Sen. John Breaux's Website, Accessed Via The Internet Wayback Machine, breaux.senate.gov, Accessed 9/22/07)

Coalition Was "Cool" to Tax Cuts. "The group will be cool to tax cuts, [Sen. Lincoln Chafee] said, noting, 'There are precious few tax cuts that don't make our budget deficit solution more difficult.'" (Ken Foskett, "Moderate Senators Taking On Stalled Budget As Bipartisan Force," The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 4/25/97)

Coalition Forced $300 Billion Reduction In President Bush's 2001 Tax Cuts. "The Senate… approved a budget that would allow the largest tax cut in 20 years, but which still fell far short of the $1.6 trillion in relief sought by President Bush while calling for billions in extra spending. Republican leaders decided to end six days of debate and bring the budget and its now $1.28 trillion tax cut to a vote when it became clear that they and the administration had failed … to sway enough conservative Democrats and liberal Republicans to go any higher in supporting Mr. Bush's tax-cut proposal. … In the end, Mr. Jeffords and Mr. Chafee joined other members of their Centrist Coalition, led by Sen. John B. Breaux, Louisiana Democrat, in forming a bloc that accepted the $1.28 trillion figure." (John Godfrey, "Senate Passes Budget Short Of Bush's Goal," The Washington Times, 4/7/01)