Congressman Gibbons Pushes Billions in Tax Breaks for Corporate Giants as Nevadans Suffer, Sends National Debt Skyrocketing

New Titus Television Ad Offers Truth: Congressman Gibbons Just Doesn't Get It

September 15, 2006

Health care costs have gone through the roof and millions of Americans are uninsured. Congressman Gibbons offers no solutions.

Gas prices skyrocket past $3.00 per gallon during the busy summer travel season, and mysteriously lower as elections approach. Congressman Gibbons offers no solutions.

The Federal deficit soars to an all-time high, burying the next generation in debt. Congressman Gibbons offers no solutions.

Congressman Jim Gibbons boasts about tax cuts, but as Dina Titus' new ad reveals, the truth is that the congressman offered billions in tax breaks to corporate giants and the very wealthiest Americans - and those cuts came at our expense.

Gibbons handed out $140 billion in corporate tax breaks in 2004, paying for these giveaways by cutting services like Medicare for seniors, student loans and homeland security funding. In 2005, the congressman doled out another $14.6 billion in tax breaks and incentives for big oil and other energy companies while average Nevadans saw pump prices soar.

"Congressman Gibbons just doesn't get it," said Titus. "He has sold out to special interests, and Nevadans have suffered for it. He is completely out of touch with our state and our values. In the meantime, fibbin' Jim Gibbons is lying about my record. I've stood with Nevadans as he has undermined our state's interests. Nevadans are too smart to fall for his lies and distortions."

Where Nevada has a constitutional requirement for a balanced budget, the Federal government does not, which is why Gibbons was able to vote in 2002 to increase the national debt limit by $450 billion to $6.4 trillion (the largest increase in history at that time) - allowing the Federal government to borrow more money from China and others to finance its operations.

Congressman Gibbons cast the deciding vote to raise the debt limit (final vote: 215-214), allowing the Republican-controlled administration to resume deficit spending after four previous years of balanced budgets.

While Congressman Gibbons was in Washington, squandering the surplus and saddling future generations with astronomical debt - now topping a staggering $8.5 trillion, Senator Dina Titus was fighting in Nevada for lower property taxes.

Her bill to freeze Nevada's property tax was the basis for a bipartisan tax cap of 3 percent, and her leadership was praised by legislators on both sides of the aisle. Republican Senator Randolph Townsend stated, "She has helped bring about the level of relief we have today. She has shaped this argument."

Two television ad spots debuting statewide today enumerate the difference: Jim Gibbons stands for Washington waste and big corporate interests, while Dina Titus stands with the people of Nevada. Gibbons just doesn't get it.

The ads are posted on the Titus for Governor campaign website, at www.dinatitus.com

http://www.dinatitus.com/index.php?section=news&id=849