JEFF FLAKE RESPONDS TO WIL CARDON AD ABOUT TAXES, CAP AND TRADE

posted by Andrea Kelly

Republican Wil Cardon is airing a television ad calling out his main opponent, U.S. Rep. Jeff Flake, for supporting a bill that Cardon says would increase carbon taxes.

Cardon's airing a TV ad, a radio ad, and sending emails to reporters about the legislation Flake sponsored in 2009.

Now Flake is responding, saying the bill he sponsored did not do what Cardon says it does, and was intended to counter a Democratic Party effort to raise carbon emission taxes in a Cap and Trade bill.

"Flake's plan to tax energy will cost an Arizona family of four more than $1,000 a year in increased taxes on electricity, oil and gasoline. The Flake energy tax will also mean higher energy costs for every Arizona business -- and increase costs for the coal and fuel industries," a news release from the Cardon campaign says.

Watch Cardon's ad here:

In a letter to supporters, Flake responds, "You may have seen an ad running on television from my opponent claiming that I want a massive energy tax and suggesting that I support cap and trade. This, of course, is untrue."

He goes on to say the bill he sponsored was a "a revenue-neutral tax swap" meant to replace the Democrats' efforts in a Cap and Trade bill.

"The legislation stipulated that any carbon tax revenue raised by the government would go directly into the Social Security Trust Fund, and at the same time the payroll tax would be lowered by the same amount. This way, there was no incentive for politicians to raise the tax, since they wouldn't get their hands on the money to spend. It was used as a way to call the Democrats' bluff. I should note that in the end, we succeeded -- cap and trade failed," Flake writes in the letter to supporters.

He says prominent conservatives supported the effort, and that he never supported raising taxes or spending.