Bass Signs Tax Pledge [VIDEO]

U.S. Rep. Charles Bass, R-NH-2, held a press conference with two sons of former Gov. Meldrim Thomson Jr., officially taking “The Pledge” and saying he would be voting for a constitutional ballot question to ban any future state income tax.

Bass charged that his opponent, Ann McLane Kuster, the Democrat running in the race, was “a passionate, bold, pro-tax activist, for most of her political career” was “dancing around the issue for quite some time.”

Bass claimed that in the past, Kuster was a point person for a state income tax. Bass said since as far back as 1999, when she was on the board of the Courage and Leadership PAC, an organization that supported pro-income tax candidates, Kuster has been a supporter of the tax and was attempting to elect candidates who would support a state income tax. As proof, Bass pointed to Kuster's support of gubernatorial campaign of Mark Fernald, a champion of the state income tax, first when he challenged then-Gov. Jeanne Shaheen in the primary that year and later, when Fernald was the Democratic nominee against Gov. Craig Benson (Fernald was shellacked in both contests).

The income tax issue came to a head recently at an event in Nashua when Bass was making his closing statements and accused Kuster of supporting an income tax. Kuster reportedly pulled the mic away from Bass and accused him of lying about her record.

The next day, during a debate, Bass said Kuster stated she did not support a state income tax, at least now, and later, “dodged the question” about supporting the constitutional amendment. Bass claimed that Kuster later said she wouldn’t support an income tax unless the economy was bad.

“Just remember that for her whole public life, she has been an advocate of an income tax,” he said. “And if she is elected to Congress, one of the first votes she’ll cast is to raise income taxes at the federal level.”

Bass then signed a check box on a sign next to the word Yes, pledging to vote for Question 1, something Kuster won’t do, he said.

After checking the sign, Peter Thomson called Bass “a favorite of his mom and dad for many years,” inviting him up to Orford for pancakes. He stated that Kuster once called his dad “a worm” in a recent newspaper article but Peter Thomson said he would admired that attack since “he spent a lot of time in the garden with the worms.” If his parents were alive though, Peter Thomson said they would be supporting Bass for another term.

Rob Thomson, another son of the former governor, said Bass deserved re-election because he was working to fix the deficit and rein in government spending, something Kuster would make worse, he alleged. He worried about the debt being passed onto his three grandchildren.

“The private sector, led by innovative small business, create jobs,” he said. “New Hampshire is a state of small business.”

Kuster, he said, wanted more stimulus spending “which doesn’t create jobs” but creates more debt.