DCCC takes aim at Schweikert

In a move that seems to confirm former Maricopa County Treasurer David Schweikert's front-runner status in the AZ-5 Republican primary, even as it seeks to hurt him, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee today took aim at Schweikert and accused him of believing in tax policies that would increase to price of gasoline.

The criticism centers around a point of policy on Schweikert's campaign website where he suggests: "A flat tax or a national consumption tax needs to be considered." The DCCC asked pointedly whether it meant Schweikert supported a 23 percent increase in the price of gas.

"At a time when skyrocketing gas prices are already causing pain at the pump for Arizona’s struggling middle class families, why would David Schweikert consider a plan to raise them by another $0.94 per gallon?" said Jennifer Crider, a spokeswoman for the DCCC.

The DCCC is basing their figures on H.R. 25, a bill introduced by U.S. House Republicans in January of 2007, which, according to the Congressional Research Service summary, "imposes a national sales tax on the use or consumption in the United States of taxable property or services" and "sets the sales tax rate at 23 percent in 2009."

"With Arizona’s middle class families already taking a hit from George Bush and Dick Cheney’s failed energy policies for America, the Schweikert plan to raise gas prices by another $0.94 per gallon is the last thing they need from Washington,” concluded Crider.

Schweikert has not publicly endorsed H.R. 25, but he has styled himself a champion of cutting taxes. No one from the Schweikert campaign returned a PolitickerAZ.com request to clarify his stance on the issue.