Mr. Shaman
Senior Member
- May 4, 2010
- 23,892
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"Just when House Republicans are about to provoke a new budget war, one of their own members has broken ranks and proposed a tax increase on the rich. Representative Rick Crawford, a freshman Republican from Arkansas, says the only serious way to begin cutting the deficit is to combine new tax revenue with spending cuts. On Thursday, he introduced a bill calling for a 5 percent surtax on incomes exceeding $1 million.
Mr. Crawford was immediately vilified by Grover Norquist, the antitax vigilante, who said the plan would violate a no-new-tax pledge he signed when running for office. Mr. Crawford faces significant Democratic opposition in the fall and is clearly betting that agreeing to a widely popular tax increase will be more important to his voters than sticking with a foolish, lockstep pledge."
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"Crawford was born in the Homestead Air Force Base in Florida, the son of Ruth Anne and Donny J. "Don" Crawford. Crawford grew up in a military family. His father served in the United States Air Force. He graduated from Alvirne High School in Hudson, New Hampshire. He enlisted in the Army, where he served as a bomb disposal technician for four years, while advancing to the rank of Sergeant. After his service, he attended Arkansas State University and graduated in 1996 with a B.S. in Agriculture Business and Economics."