NASHVILLE, TN - The Tennessee Republican Party would like to extend condolences to the hard-working people of Tennessee on April 15, the day their federal income taxes are due.

“April 15 is always a tough day and it is likely to be even more painful next year if either Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton wins the White House,” said Tennessee Republican Party Chairman Robin Smith, “because either of those two are hell-bent to raise taxes on the average Tennessean by thousands of dollars per year by allowing the Bush tax cuts to expire.”

A working single mother earning $40,000 a year could see her federal tax bill rise by $1,800 a year with Obama or Clinton in the Oval Office, while Republican presidential nominee John McCain intends to extend the Bush tax cuts.

For Tennesseans, the Democrats’ tax increase would be a double whammy - Democrats who currently control Congress have already allowed to expire the law that permitted Tennesseans to deduct their state sales tax payments from their federal income tax return.

“Republican members of Congress have pushed for more than a year to renew the sales tax deduction, but Democrats in Congress have fought back, and Tennessee’s Democrat members of Congress have been ineffective or simply AWOL on the issue,” Smith said.