FLORENCE - Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Inez Tenenbaum visited Florence on Monday to decry Republican Rep. Jim DeMint’s support for a 23 percent flat tax.

Tenenbaum is running against DeMint for the seat being vacated by Sen. Ernest “Fritz” Hollings, who is retiring.

“It’s an alarming idea that my opponent has proposed in Washington,” Tenenbaum said to a crowd of about 20 people gathered at Sumter Street Grocery. “As middle-class families are struggling to make ends meet, the last thing you need is a new 23 percent in tax on everything you buy.”

DeMint supports legislation to create a “flat” tax, which is an income tax with only one tax bracket, and a 23 percent national sales tax. He also proposes abolishing the IRS and getting rid of federal income and payroll taxes.

At her Florence press conference, Tenenbaum displayed a board listing food, phone bills and diapers among the things that would be taxed at 23 percent under DeMint’s proposal. A study by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy found that 95 percent of South Carolinians individuals and families would pay higher taxes under DeMint’s plan, she said.

Tenenbaum said she wants to “cut taxes and make permanent President Bush’s tax cut.”

She said she believes working families pay too much in taxes.

In a release distributed at her press conference, Tenenbaum said she would extend the 10 percent tax bracket, double the child tax credit and make permanent the marriage penalty reduction.

Yvonne Peoples, a Sumter Street Grocery employee and Florence resident, said she liked what she saw in Tenenbaum and liked what she heard.

“I just met her today. I think she would make a good senator. I think she would be worth (voting for),” Peoples said. “I like that she talked about dropping prices on food.”

Wendall Sarvis, owner of Sumter Street Grocery, played host to Tenenbaum’s visit.

“A lot of my customers support her,” he said.

Sarvis said he likes Tenenbaum’s television commercials and that he is opposed to any tax increase.

Laura Best, a Horry County resident, was one of a handful of DeMint supporters who sat outside the store during Tenenbaum’s press conference. She said DeMint’s plan would reduce taxes overall.

Best said that when all taxes are added together, they total more than 23 percent. And, she said, DeMint’s plan promises a monthly rebate.

Tenenbaum said that “even DeMint’s fellow conservatives consider his tax plan radical.”

She listed Bruce Bartlett, a economic adviser to President Reagan, and former U.S. Rep. Dick Armey as critics of the plan.

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