Squandering yet another opportunity to side with working families over special interests, Elizabeth Dole today voted against sensible tax cuts and investments in renewable energy that would help spur our economy and wean the United States off of its dependence on foreign oil.

“Last week Elizabeth Dole sided with Big Oil, wealthy offshore hedge fund managers and multinational corporations, and when she had the chance to at least try to pretend she was advocating on behalf of working families, she chose to side with the special interests yet again,” said State Senator and U.S. Senate Candidate Kay Hagan (D-Guilford). “My question, and the question I get from the people I talk to when I’m traveling across the state, is this – when is she going to side with working families? We should be doing more, not less, to help them make ends meet, particularly in an economy that can be described as tenuous at best. North Carolinians desperately need a U.S. senator who knows investments in our families, our education system, and in renewable energy are worth more than investments in special interests’ coffers.”

The tax bill helps families pay for college by extending tuition tax deductions, expands the child tax credit, and makes a sizeable investment in renewable energy that would promote energy independence and create new jobs. These investments would be paid for by closing a tax loophole that currently allows hedge fund managers to delay paying taxes on offshore investments until those funds are brought back into the United States, and by delaying the implementation of tax breaks for multinational businesses scheduled to go into effect in 2009.

“While carrying the water for offshore hedge fund managers and multinational corporations may be looked upon favorably at the Watergate in Washington, D.C., it is certainly not in Watauga and Warren and Washington counties here in North Carolina,” Kay said. “It’s outrageous that Elizabeth Dole continues to play the Washington game at the detriment of families here in my state.”