“Desperate Danny” Carroll Grasps at Straws, Libels Eric Palmer

Today’s onslaught of autocalls and mailings proves it conclusively: Desperate Danny is in all-out attack mode. Automated phone calls paid for by the the Danny Carroll committee have been falsely claiming to voters that Eric Palmer has failed to pay his property taxes in Oskaloosa, and mailings paid for by the Republican Party of Iowa are making the same claim. They cite an office called the “Mahaska County Recorder of Deeds Office” — an office that, to the best of our knowledge, does not exist at all — for their proof.

It is the Mahaska County Treasurer’s office that handles property taxes, and their records clearly prove that Eric Palmer has paid every tax that he has been asked to pay. In a campaign press release, Eric’s response is quoted as follows:

For the record, I resent the implication that I have failed to pay property taxes in the community where I grew up, went to school, and raise my children… I’m a tax-paying member of this community who runs a business on the square downtown in Oskaloosa. I have copies of the property tax records from the Mahaska County Treasurer if there is any question. If Speaker Rants and Representative Carroll want to come back from Des Moines and personally show the people of House District 75 the documents showing otherwise I would welcome their visit.

It is very important that we make clear that there are absolutely no grounds for the claims made in the mailing and the autocall that Eric hasn’t paid his taxes. The Speaker Pro Tem of the Iowa House knows this is his only shot. He is so desperate to win that at this point he is willing to open himself to charges of libel. But the Republican smear machine remains a force to be reckoned with, even if they have nothing but lies to spread. That’s why Eric needs your money now more than ever.

1 comment October 23rd, 2006