Rand Denies Fair Tax Support

Via the AP:  Ky. Senate candidate won’t talk about ‘fair tax’.

No major point to make here.  It is just interesting that KY Senate candidate Rand Paul (R) apparently told a tax reform group that he was in favor of the Fair Tax, but then denied it in a question from the press.

An anti-tax group on Tuesday released to The Associated Press a written statement from Paul saying he would support changing the federal tax code to get rid of the Internal Revenue Service, and he would vote to repeal the 16th Amendment. Paul’s statement called the federal tax code "a disaster" and said he supports making taxes "flatter and simpler."

"I would vote for the FairTax to get rid of the Sixteenth Amendment, the IRS and a lot of the control the federal government exerts over us," Paul wrote in a statement verified by his campaign.

However, when asked about in on Wednesday:

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Rand Paul sidestepped questions Wednesday about revamping the federal tax code, a day after the tea party favorite took a stand to replace the income tax with a national sales tax.

Paul, a limited-government advocate, said he supports a "simpler tax code" but wouldn’t offer specifics about his written comments to an anti-tax group supporting repeal of the 16th Amendment that created the federal income tax.

"I haven’t really been saying anything like that," Paul told reporters following a speech in Henderson as part of his Kentucky bus tour. "I think it’s probably better to go … with what I’m saying on the campaign trail."

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Steven L. Taylor
About Steven L. Taylor
Steven L. Taylor is a retired Professor of Political Science and former College of Arts and Sciences Dean. His main areas of expertise include parties, elections, and the institutional design of democracies. His most recent book is the co-authored A Different Democracy: American Government in a 31-Country Perspective. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Texas and his BA from the University of California, Irvine. He has been blogging since 2003 (originally at the now defunct Poliblog). Follow Steven on Twitter