Mission: Bring jobs back to the district through tax cuts for the middle-class, not the wealthiest one percent. Ensure a fair minimum wage. Update our outdated labor laws to match the 21st Century workforce, including taking health care off the backs of employers, especially small business, better social planning for child care for working parents, and improving wages to rebalance what is now out of whack employee/CEO ratio.
- Build an internet infrastructure connecting every farm, home, school, and business that will bring 21st century jobs to the district and boost economic development by 40%.
- The U.S. should participate in treaties that include fair trade principles, protect American workers and encourage businesses in the U.S.
- Stem the tide of hunger in the district through Federal-state alignment. 35-45% of constituents across the 23rd Congressional district use free and reduced lunch programs, a sign that wages are insufficient and families do not have enough to eat.
Fair Tax Reform Proposal
The recently passed Republican tax bill ensures that the wealthiest Americans will get a lower tax rate than the hardworking American middle-class. It involves a $1.5 trillion tax hit to the deficit and Republican lawmakers have already said they plan to cut back vital programs like SSI, Medicaid, and Medicare to pay for it. On top of that, it repealed the individual mandate, which will eliminate access to affordable healthcare to millions of Americans. The corporate tax cuts are indefinite, while any tax benefit the average American might see will expire in just a few years. Under this plan, the rich only get richer, while the poor will get poorer, creating an even greater income inequality divide than ever before.
We need responsible tax reform that benefits the middle-class because it is the middle-class that drives the economy.
To counterbalance the benefit that the 1% have received for over 40 years now, I propose:
- Lower rates for working and middle classes indefinitely;
- Creation of a new tax bracket, for those with incomes above 1.5 million;
- Maintain the current tax rate of 39.6% for those with incomes between 500k and 1.5 million;
- For those making more than 1.5 million, a tax increase to 45%.
A thorough Congressional review of current deduction schedules is in order. In short, the 1% cannot be allowed so many or certain kinds of deductions that regardless their tax bracket, people in that bracket somehow find the means not to pay those taxes, such as by creating “pass-throughs.”
Estate Tax: We must reset the Estate tax from the current rate of 40% to 25% (N.B. Estate taxes do not kick in until the estate reaches 5.45 million, and is always waived for a spouse.)
Corporate Tax: Corporate taxes present a more complicated picture. U.S. corporations, those that have headquarters here and gain significant profit from the U.S. market, either offshore their earnings or reincorporate in countries that have lower tax brackets. Perhaps the most noted example is Apple, Inc., the most capitalized company in the world (its assets nearing 1 trillion USD) and with its headquarters in Cupertino, California, but incorporated in Dublin, Ireland, where taxes have been minimal to non-existent.
- I propose a lowering of the current tax rate of 35% for corporations to 20-25% if those companies would pay U.S. taxes. If a company’s work, administration, and profits take place in the U.S., that company should pay U.S. taxes.
