After the election, Republicans convened in Washington and voted to end all earmarks – period – and to go to work cutting the Obama deficits and wasteful spending.

But, yesterday, the Pelosi Democrats made it crystal clear to anyone who’s listening that they didn’t get the message on Election Day. In the closing days of the lame-duck Congress the Democrats are trying a trillion dollar end-run – with a 1,924 page ‘Omnibus Spending Bill’ cobbled in secret, which hardly anyone has read – to fund the federal government not for the next month or two months but to lock-in federal spending for the next year.

Senator John McCain has identified 6,488 earmarks costing over $8 billion in the bill, including earmarks for peanut research in Alabama, noxious weed management in Nevada and for the Polynesian Voyaging Society in Hawaii.  Plus, the bill also includes over $1 billion in Obamacare funding.

Senators Tom Coburn of Oklahoma and Jim DeMint of South Carolina are expected to insist the ‘Omnibus Bill’ be read in its entirety by the clerk on the Senate floor before a vote is held and according to Fox News, they’re going to seek open debate on all earmarks and any amendments – and I say more power to them.

America took a big step in the right direction in November. But this bill makes it clear to stop the Washington Political Class we have more work cut out for us.

Tomorrow (Sunday, October 24) the WTVD Debate between Rep. Bob Etheridge and Renee Ellmers will air at 12:00 p.m. Click here to watch online now.

Watch and compare what Bob Etheridge says in the debates to get reelected – to how he votes.

For example, when asked about the Bush tax cuts Etheridge said he wished they could have taken care of that before Congress adjourned. But he cast the key vote for adjournment. He voted to adjourn – and it passed by 1 vote.

He bragged about voting to balance the budget under Clinton, but he actually voted against final passage of the bill.

He bragged about voting to support Veterans, but did not mention how he voted against sending our troops reinforcements when they were fighting in Iraq. .

And he just completely dodged answering why he has voted with Obama-Pelosi 97% of the time.

Pay attention to these and all the other differences between what NC Bob says when campaigning at home and what DC Bob does when he is in Washington.

During the debate Congressman Etheridge (as he has done throughout the campaign) promised voters he shares their values and concerns – but then dodged explaining why he has voted with President Obama and Nancy Pelosi 97% of the time in Congress.

He also dodged defending the ad he is running against me – which even the News & Observer says is inaccurate and misleading. And he dodged explaining why he’s voted for over a trillion dollars of Obama’s tax increases.

Campaigning in North Carolina ‘NC Bob’ Etheridge talks the talk he thinks voters want to hear. He says he shares our values. Supports a balanced budget. Wants to cut spending. But in Washington ‘DC Bob’ doesn’t walk the walk. ‘DC Bob’ voted for the Obama bailouts, Obama stimulus bills and Obama’s trillion dollar deficit.

Watch the debate above or [click here] to view it at WTVD.com.

Help me combat Bob Etheridge’s misleading negative attacks by contributing whatever you can now.  Your contribution will help me get the word out and set the record straight.

Congressman Bob Etheridge is desperate – and he’s running a new ad smearing me. On taxes.

In Washington, Bob Etheridge voted for over a trillion dollars of Obama’s tax increases. He voted for the death tax, the cap and trade tax and the Obama-care taxes. But, now, he’s actually telling voters that I am the one who wants to raise taxes.

Even more cynical, Bob Etheridge started running his new ad the same day he stood up in Congress and cast the deciding vote to adjourn – without stopping the job-killing tax increases scheduled to go into effect on January 1.

Bob Etheridge’s smear ad is on the air now. And I need to answer it now!

I have already made an ad to set the record straight.

But I need your help to get it on the air.

Please contribute as much as you can immediately – right now – so I can air my response to Bob Etheridge’s negative ad.

And, in addition, if you can, help by sharing this link to the ad with your friends via email and Facebook.

Thank you for your continued support,

Renee Ellmers

When he went to Washington, Congressman Etheridge was against the death tax.  He said, “One of the largest obstacles to staying in business for families is Federal Estate taxes or death taxes. Before a family has even had the opportunity to properly mourn the passing of a loved one they must begin to face the task of settling the estate. Often a family must endure two deaths; the death of a loved one followed by the death of a business… People labor too long and hard throughout their lives to see the fruits of their work disappear into Uncle Sam’s pockets.” (Congressional Record, 6/10/97)

In his 2000 reelection campaign, Congressman Etheridge bragged about voting to repeal the death tax (News and Observer 10/24/00).

But after more than a decade in Washington, Congressman Etheridge now believes the money you worked to save over your lifetime or the business you built should be taxed when you die — last year, Congressman Etheridge voted to impose a 45% death tax.

And next year, thanks to the fact that Congressman Etheridge voted to adjourn Congress without addressing an automatic death tax increase scheduled for January 1, we will face a 55% death tax.

Right now, Bob Etheridge is running a tv ad claiming – falsely — I want to raise taxes.  This ad says, “You do everything right.  Work hard. Take responsibility. Pass it on to the next generation.”  But Bob Etheridge just voted to impose a 45% death tax and failed to stop an automatic 55% death tax scheduled for January 1 — making it impossible for many North Carolinians to “pass it on to the next generation.”

So how could Congressman Etheridge go from being dead set against taxing estates when he was first elected to supporting a 55% death tax? The answer is simple. He’s now part of the Washington establishment. When he went to Washington, Bob Etheridge was one of us. Now he is one of them.

Which means the death tax will keep killing jobs until we vote Congressman Etheridge out of Congress.

Here’s what happened: On January 1^st, every American income tax payer faces a tax increase. Millions of small businesses also face a tax increase and anyone who dies will have to pay a death tax of up to 55%.

All these tax increases are baked in the cake. They are on the books. Here’s the bottom line — according to independent number crunchers at the Tax Foundation, these tax increases will cost $1477 per middle class family in our district. In the middle of a recession. When families are struggling.

You might think Congress would cancel these huge tax increases – at least until the economy recovers. But this Pelosi Congress is tax crazy. When the Democratic leaders in the House moved to adjourn – without repealing the tax increase – a coalition of Republicans and Democrats said No and called for the House to stay in session and vote. They lost. By one vote.

By a vote of 210-209 Congress decided to quit, go home and adjourn — leaving a two thousand dollar tax increase in place.  And who cast the decisive vote to keep the automatic tax increase on track? Congressman Bob Etheridge.

Then he aired a new TV ad accusing me of wanting to raise taxes.

Bob Etheridge’s vote demonstrates how far he is from the mainstream.  Instead of joining thirty-nine of his fellow House Democrats who voted against adjournment so the tax issue could be settled before the recess, Etheridge once again voted with Nancy Pelosi.

In his fourteen years in Congress Bob Etheridge has voted for higher income tax rates, higher taxes on small business, marriage penalty taxes, against child tax credits and for higher taxes on dividends and capital gains.

Congressman Etheridge has voted to tax Social Security benefits and even tax unemployment benefits. Just last year, he voted for Obama’s eight hundred billion dollar national energy tax and six hundred billion in job killing taxes for Obamacare. And now he’s voted to adjourn Congress, leaving a $1477 tax increase staring working families in the face January 1^st.

I have signed a no tax increase pledge. Bob Etheridge has not. I would have voted to stop the tax increase. Bob Etheridge did not.

Taxes will go up an average of two thousand dollars per household on top of the six hundred billion in taxes associated with Obamacare.   These are costs families today cannot afford.

The outlook for American businesses is just as dim.  Capital gains taxes will increase from 15 percent to 20 percent, and the tax on dividends will more than double from 15 to 39.6 percent. These are job killing tax increases.

The death tax, which breaks up family farms and destroys America’s small businesses, will automatically be reinstated in 2011 at a crippling rate of 55 percent. (My opponent, Congressman Bob Etheridge, voted against permanently eliminating the death tax.)

The last thing our staggering economy and struggling families need right now is to be hit by these huge tax increases. Instead, we should make these tax cuts permanent in order to breathe life into our economy.

I have signed the Taxpayer Protection Pledge and vowed, if elected, I will oppose any and all efforts to increase the tax rate for individuals and/or businesses — that includes voting to continue President Bush’s tax cuts.

Congressman Etheridge, where do you stand? Do you support the Obama agenda? Or will you join me in cutting taxes?

For instance, in his email this week Congressman Etheridge said, “My top priorities in the U.S. House of Representatives have been jobs, jobs, and jobs.”

If he was really in touch with the economic situation in the district – and the nation – he would know the state of the job market has only suffered as a result of his votes for Obama’s so-called ‘Stimulus Plan,’ Obamacare and billions of additional Democratic spending on failed policies.   He would also know that the middle class – he claims to be working for – is suffering greatly in today’s economy.

Congressman Etheridge boasts in his email, “A tax credit that I proposed was made law and is already being used to support new jobs, like the new textile jobs at Parkdale Mills in Sanford.  According to the U.S. Treasury Department, it is supporting  4.5 million new workers across the country.”

But according to a USA Today report,  Assistant Treasury Secretary Alan Krueger told reporters,  ”I would say the jury is completely out on the number of jobs that will be created.”

According to the same report, Andy Warlick, CEO of Parkdale Mills in Sanford, N.C., said he recently hired 30 workers who qualify for the tax credits, but said the credit had no impact on those additions.

Bob Etheridge says he has been working to provide tax cuts to small businesses, but he does not mention the effect the huge additional tax burden the health care bill and record deficit spending will have on those small businesses.

Bob Etheridge says he is working to “promote an American Manufacturing Jobs agenda” to keep jobs from moving overseas, but  he voted for permanent most favored nation trade status for China even though the trade deficit with China equals 2.4 million lost jobs (6200 in our district).   He does not mention that the United States’ forty percent corporate taxes are third highest in the world, while Communist China’s is around twenty-five percent .  Bob Etheridge has been part of the jobs killing Washington establishment that has chased business away with their tax policies and unfavorable trade deals.

Bob Etheridge says he is proud of his work to “keep corporate special interests from preying on working families,” but he voted to use the tax dollars of hard working Americans to bailout those banks and Wall Street fat cats while the middle class continued to suffer and shrink.  Bob Etheridge did not suffer though.  He profited quite handsomely for the favors he showed to special interests.

Washington politician Bob Etheridge says we need budget discipline, but in Congress he’s voted for the largest deficit spending the country has ever seen.

Just like the taxpayer money Bob Etheridge voted to spend on highway signs praising the Obama stimulus plan, and the $700,000 he just defended spending on television ads defending Obamacare, Bob Etheridge has no problem spending tax dollars to try to justify his support of failed policies and record deficit spending.  But the facts are not on his side and no matter how many taxpayer funded letters he sends to district voters, he will not be able to run away from his record.