Don Young claims he received non-existent award from tax watchdog group.
Don Young claims he received non-existent award from tax watchdog group.
Rep. Don Young (R-AK) has launched a new radio campaign ad claiming that he received a “Hero of the Taxpayer” award from the watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense (TCS). However, TCS Vice President Steve Ellis pointed out that the award doesn’t exist:
We don’t even have a ‘Hero of the Taxpayer’ award to start out. But we did scrub through our records and we found out that we had given him an award– the ‘Golden Fleece’ award in 2003 for the Bridge to Nowhere.
Taxpayers for Common Sense has told Young “that we have no such award,” and told Young to “immediately stop using it in advertisements and publicly issue a correction.” Perhaps Young is confusing it with his “Hero of the Taxpayer” award from Americans for Tax Reform, Grover Norquist’s right-wing anti-tax organization.
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Sounds McStupid like to me…
July 25th, 2008 at 3:22 pmit’s official–the Republicans are idiots and criminals.
July 25th, 2008 at 3:23 pmOh, Young has an imaginary “Hero of the Taxpayer Award”? That’s a great idea! I was recently awarded the “Hero of the Imaginary Awards” award myself. My third year in a row too, honest!
July 25th, 2008 at 3:24 pmHey, if it’s OK to claim to have received non-existant awards, can I claim I was given the “Hero of Troll Whacking” award from TP?
July 25th, 2008 at 3:25 pmHow about “Hero of the Golden Fleece”?
July 25th, 2008 at 3:28 pmWell, to be fair, the gist of this post should focus on his not knowing who gave him the award, since he *did* actually get an award called Hero of the Taxpayer…
July 25th, 2008 at 3:29 pmHeh. Can a Medal of Freedom be far behind???
July 25th, 2008 at 3:30 pmYoung is just following the McCain/bush/g.o.p. mantra: “We Just Make Things Up”.
July 25th, 2008 at 3:32 pmIt must have been the MSU Hero award, (Make Shit Up), because that’s all Young has ever done or contributed during office.
July 25th, 2008 at 3:34 pm“Perhaps Young is confusing it with his “Hero of the Taxpayer” award…”
Perhaps he is confusing it with the “Fickle Finger of Fate” award from someone that really doesn’t give a crap–me and 75% of the American voters.
July 25th, 2008 at 3:36 pmAlong with his ‘partner in crime’, Sen. Teddy Boy Stevens, these guys have stolen more taxpayer money and taken more bribes than about any duo Congress. Now there is an award that they both have earned.
July 25th, 2008 at 3:39 pmTaxpayers for Common Sense has told Young “that we have no such award,” and told Young to “immediately stop using it in advertisements and publicly issue a correction.”
Yeah — I’m sure Young will get right on that correction thingy…right after he finishes his tour of the Bridge to Nowhere also brought to you by the Alaska congressional delegation…
July 25th, 2008 at 3:41 pmThere’s only one person with the personal insights necessary to get a fair and balanced interview with Young: the winner of the prestigious Peabody award for journalism, Bill O’Reilly – oh, wait, that was a Polk, and not a Peabody, his staff won, right?
My mistake.
July 25th, 2008 at 3:56 pmTo be fair, Young is just another idiot Republican.
July 25th, 2008 at 4:00 pmDoes one have to check one’s sanity at the door in order to be a Republican now? Somebody should check seismographs in Springfield, Illinois. Abraham Lincoln’s spinning in his grave Must be kicking off some Incredible seismic disturbance.
July 25th, 2008 at 4:03 pmIt’s truly disturbing to watch the lemming-like way Republicans are rushing to destroy themselves. One could sit back and laugh, but these are the Lunatics in charge.
Impeach Pelosi, Cheney and Bush and Save the Constitution!
option 1) Republicans are doing drugs
Option 2) to Don “Bridge to Nowhere” Young, “Golden Fleece” is the same as “Hero of the Taxpayer”.
July 25th, 2008 at 4:22 pmHe was just having a “McSame Moment”….funny, I have heard this several times now, when someone forgets something or misspeaks they call it a McCaine Moment.
Nice to be remembered by your memory, or lack there of.
July 25th, 2008 at 4:23 pmYou should check out the hubbub the award has caused in the conservative blogosphere.
July 25th, 2008 at 5:34 pmhttp://www.thenextright.com/jon-henke/responding-to-americans-for-tax-reform
Youareatotalidiot, there’s something to be said for not having one’s entire LIFE consist of McSame moments, yanno…?
July 25th, 2008 at 5:36 pmStatement from Alaskans for Don Young
Anchorage, AK – In recent radio ads, we mistakenly credited the wrong organization with giving Congressman Young the Hero of the Taxpayer Award. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. Please be assured that the ads are being corrected to reflect that Americans for Tax Reform awarded the Congressman with this award for his commitment to the American taxpayer and his support of legislation to decrease taxes.
__________________________________________________________
Not good enough. In your advertisement, you implied that Taxpayers for Common Sense, a respected group with a following, endorsed congressman Young. The only way to correct this is to run ads specifically admitting the error in exactly the same media and with the same volume and frequency that you ran the erroneous ones.
We’ve seen too many political tricks where lies are thrown about and then when it’s time for the “oops!”, a quiet correction is released that comes nowhere near the magnitude and coverage of the original lie. This has got to stop.
July 25th, 2008 at 5:37 pmTo the trolls — there’s a difference between a simple misspeak and maligning a person or organization. There’s also a difference between making an error in a live speech and making an error in a recorded advertisement, which supposedly has been proof-read, checked, and re-checked before release to the media.
Taxpayers for Common Sense would never endorse Young for Congress, yet his ad implied they did. This is generally grounds for a libel suit.
July 25th, 2008 at 5:46 pmDid he also get the Heart of Ahriman from Conan?
July 26th, 2008 at 1:26 am