(Jim Young/Reuters)
Who'd have thunk you'd ever
hear these words out of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's mouth?
I'm sure you've been watching this mess in Washington.
I'd like you to know how I feel about it.
I haven't voted for one of these lousy budget packages for years and I won't vote for this one.
It would raise taxes on the wrong people.
Unlike some folks around here I think everyone should pay their fair share. Including the rich.
We need to protect our seniors from Medicare cuts too.
I don't care if the President or Congressional leaders twist my arm. I won't support any deal that isn't a fair deal for the working families of Kentucky.
If you were around in 1990, you would have heard that from McConnell. This was from an ad titled "Fair Share" created for McConnell's 1990 reelection campaign.
A November 5, 1990 Roll Call article, found via Lexis-Nexis, reveals that the producers of the ad were Greg Stevens, a longtime GOP operative, and Roger Ailes, currently the president of Fox News Channel, an outlet that has provided a fairly large megaphone for the anti-tax-increase, pro-Medicare reform crowd. For good measure, the man who managed McConnell's '90 campaign, Steven Law, is currently President and CEO of American Crossroads, a conservative group that has routinely chastised Democrats for trying to soak the rich with tax hikes.
McConnell's staff now says that what he was really talking about in the ad wasn't raising taxes on the wealthy, but tax reform, closing loopholes and getting rid of deductions. That's a better defense than calling it a youthful indiscretion, I guess.