Chandler One of Three Dems to Sign No-Taxes Pledge

We all know Ben Chandler is as conservative republican as it's possible to get and still get elected with a D beside your name. But now we see on top of that he's a coward and a liar.

David M.F. Shankula at Barefoot and Progressive discovers a little-known fact about Benny boy:

While you shouldn’t really need to pay attention to op-eds in newspapers outside Kentucky (and one could argue about op-eds in general, but… that is another story and shall be told another time), the Associate Editor of the Tulsa World over the weekend penned an editorial that is worth a read if for no other reason than our beloved Congressman Ben Chandler gets a shout out.

Evidently, there are some not-so-bad, maybe even good, special interest groups.

For instance, Americans for Tax Reform, the antigovernment, anti-tax group headed by Grover Norquist.

That’s the group that insisted that members of Congress sign a pledge that they not, under any circumstances, ever raise taxes.

The rational person might find that a ridiculous proposition.

That person might think that only the radicals in Congress would sign such a pledge. After all, no one particularly likes taxes, but if the bills aren’t paid, the lights go out.

That rational person would be wrong. More than 95 percent of the Republicans in the House and Senate have signed on.

SNIP

According to the ATR web site, 236 House members and 41 senators have signed.
Only three Democrats have signed — Reps. Robert Andrews of New Jersey, Ben Chandler of Kentucky and Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska.

SNIP

Let’s be frank. Hypocrisy and influence always have been and always will be a part of politics.

Wishing that the oath of office would be all that was needed for good governing is nothing more than just that, a wish.

Allowing secondary pledges to override that oath, however, is shortsighted and, in my opinion, violates the sworn promise to defend as well as swear true faith and allegiance to the very Constitution that they say they respect so much.

The next day, a B&P commenter caught a Chandler staffer lying about it.

Redistricting is likely to make Benny Boy's Sixth District far more Democratic. Where is the liberal to crush him in a primary?