In a recent opinion page article in the Neosho Daily News, Missouri Republican Representative Bill Lant published a list of recent state legislation changes, and concluded his column with a plagiarized word for word repetition of an internet chain letter begun in 2014, vetted by both Snopes and Politifact as false and misleading.
The letter attempts to put the blame for tax increases on the Affordable Care Act when in fact they are the result of the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 which in turn was the result of the "fiscal cliff" scare. The letter claims that no Republicans voted for the increases when the actual GOP vote was 40 of 51 in the Senate (89-8 total). The fake letter goes on to say that the estate tax went from zero to 55% and grossly misrepresents other tax changes that apply mostly to upper (>$400,00) incomes.
We are used to seeing creative spam on the internet, but it is inexcusable for a district state representative like Mr. Lant to use false information from plaigerized unvetted sources and publish in a local newspaper as legitimate news. This is a clear effort to fabricate conservative arguments against tax policy while blaming those of the opposing party, hoping no one will call him on it. Not all of us out here are hayseeds.