This is the first in a series highlighting the first primary of the Iowa political season, as candidate Branstad enters a desperate race against time to outrun the real-life record of Governor Branstad.

DES MOINES, IA – Candidate Terry Branstad says he wants Iowa’s tax climate to be more family friendly and business friendly. Wait until he meets his main opponent on the issue – Taxin’ Terry Branstad.

“Branstad’s record of raising the sales tax, gas tax and business taxes is not a record that Iowa fiscal conservatives including those who are active in the Republican Party are prepared to endorse,” Iowa Democratic Party Chairman Michael Kiernan said Tuesday.

No Governor in the last 40 years has made steeper tax increases on Iowans than Taxin’ Terry, who served four terms as Governor beginning in the early 1980s. The obvious response would be the Branstads are actually the same person. But candidate Branstad’s future depends on his ability to convince an increasingly restless GOP primary electorate that he is not the same man who repeatedly hiked taxes on hardworking Iowans to fund his mismanagement of the state budget.

This week, Kiernan launched a three-day tour to remind Iowans of the Branstad record. “It all begins with the multiple tax increases,” Kiernan said. “Iowa has a Governor now in Chet Culver who’s made tough choices, acted swiftly and decisively in meeting our challenges and led Iowa through a deep recession and the worst Iowa natural disaster ever – all without raising taxes.”

Kiernan said the Branstad tax record is among the most important issues in the 2010 campaign.
Here are just a few of the facts you can find at TerryLovesTaxes.com:

• Branstad raised the sales tax – twice! In his first year in office, Branstad raised the sales tax by 25%.[1] It would not be the last time. He went back to the tax well over and over, increasing the sales tax 67%[2] as Governor.
• Branstad raised the gas tax on Iowa drivers. Branstad wasn’t afraid to add to the pain at the pump for Iowans. During his tenure, he raised the gasoline tax by a total of five cents per gallon.[3]

TerryLovesTaxes.com links to a clearing house of information on the Governor’s race. The site will have new content posted on a regular basis with breaking news and important updates.

Sources:
[1] — http://www.iowa.gov/tax/taxlaw/TaxHistory.html#Sales
[2] — http://www.iowa.gov/tax/taxlaw/TaxHistory.html#Sales
[3] — http://www.iowa.gov/tax/taxlaw/TaxHistory.html#Motor

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