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Jon Corzine on Tax ReformDemocratic Jr Senator (NJ) |
He has also consistently lowered the statewide increase in school tax levy during his time in office, and created the Live-Where-You-Work program to provide low-interest mortgages to homebuyers in towns where they are employed.
All of this adds up to a comprehensive plan that aims to keep New Jersey's middle class going strong during this global recession, and beyond.
A: This month, [my opponent] Congressman Franks proposed that we eliminate the capital gains tax. He talked about across-the-board tax cuts. He talked about the marriage penalty proposal that he’s talked about, which actually is a new way of providing tax cuts for high-income folks, in addition to the folks that do deserve marriage penalty relief, and an elimination of the inheritance tax. If you add all those up and just divide by two what Governor Bush’s proposal is with regard to tax cuts on an across-the-board basis, you come up to 1.8 trillion in tax cuts. That will foreclose anyone from having the ability to invest in our education, protect our environment, our health care, shore up Medicare, all of the things that I think people want to see us invest in.
I want to fight for laws that ensure that our workplaces are safe, and the right to organize is secure. I will stand with labor in proposing a trade policy that is free, but fair.
Every year National Taxpayers Union (NTU) rates U.S. Representatives and Senators on their actual votes—every vote that significantly affects taxes, spending, debt, and regulatory burdens on consumers and taxpayers. NTU assigned weights to the votes, reflecting the importance of each vote’s effect. NTU has no partisan axe to grind. All Members of Congress are treated the same regardless of political affiliation. Our only constituency is the overburdened American taxpayer. Grades are given impartially, based on the Taxpayer Score. The Taxpayer Score measures the strength of support for reducing spending and regulation and opposing higher taxes. In general, a higher score is better because it means a Member of Congress voted to lessen or limit the burden on taxpayers. The Taxpayer Score can range between zero and 100. We do not expect anyone to score a 100, nor has any legislator ever scored a perfect 100 in the multi-year history of the comprehensive NTU scoring system. A high score does not mean that the Member of Congress was opposed to all spending or all programs. High-scoring Members have indicated that they would vote for many programs if the amount of spending were lower. A Member who wants to increase spending on some programs can achieve a high score if he or she votes for offsetting cuts in other programs. A zero score would indicate that the Member of Congress approved every spending proposal and opposed every pro-taxpayer reform.
The nation's governors urge you to include state countercyclical funding as part of your legislation to stimulate the economy. This would include $6 billion in Medicaid assistance by freezing scheduled federal FMAP reductions and increasing all states' F Congress approved $20 billion in assistance to states, including $10 billion in Medicaid and $10 billion in block grants. The governors' current stimulus proposal is essentially the same, with the exception that it is a total of $12 billion as opposed to $20 billion. This proposal can be enacted quickly, as there is precedent and it is timely, temporary and targeted.
Additionally, governors appreciate federal efforts to use tax policy to get additional money into the hands of consumers and businesses to stimulate the economy. When considering tax changes to spur economic growth, governors urge Congress and the Administration to follow the maxim of "Do no harm" by avoiding changes at the federal level that would diminish state tax revenues or force state actions that would undermine the effectiveness of federal efforts.
We look forward to working with you to enact the appropriate stimulus program.