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NEW DSCC AD: Congressman Joe Heck Votes with the Koch Brothers, Not Nevada Families

The DSCC released a new ad highlighting how Congressman Joe Heck puts his corporate special interest backers like the Koch Brothers ahead of hard-working Nevada families. Billionaires like the Kochs have spent millions of dollars supporting Congressman Heck, and in return he pushes their extreme and out-of-touch agenda. Congressman Heck has voted to protect tax breaks for corporations shipping jobs overseas, even though it meant cutting education funding and raising taxes on Nevada’s hard-working middle class.

 

The ad, “Opening Doors” can be viewed HERE.

 

“Time and time again, Congressman Joe Heck puts his special interest backers like the billionaire Koch Brothers ahead of hard-working Nevada families showing that he’s exactly what’s wrong with Washington,” said Sadie Weiner, DSCC Communications Director. “Congressman Heck prioritizes tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas that he pays for by raising middle class taxes and cutting education spending. Maybe the Kochs will be able to help Congressman Heck find a job after the election because he certainly won’t be heading to the Senate.”

 

BACK UP:

 

AD CONTENT DOCUMENTATION
 

V/O: You spend a lot of time opening doors for these little guys. But Congressman Heck opens them for these guys –special interests and the billionaire Koch Brothers.

 

GFX: Congressman Joe Heck

Washington, DC

 

V/O: They spent millions supporting Heck.

 

GFX: Corporate Special Interests

And Billionaire Koch Brothers Spend Millions Supporting Congressman Heck

New York Magazine, 8/30/16; Las Vegas Review Journal, 6/17/16

 

V/O: And Heck supports their agenda — special tax breaks. Even for corporations shipping jobs overseas.

 

GFX: Congressman Heck

Tax Breaks For Corporations

Shipping Jobs Overseas

Vote 456, 7/10/12

 

CORPORATE SPECIAL INTERESTS, INCLUDING THE KOCH BROTHERS & U.S. CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, HAVE SPENT MILLIONS IN SUPPORT OF HECK

 

Four Koch Network Organizations Had Spent Over $5 Million On Heck’s Behalf. “Four separate Koch Network organizations are active in the Cortez Masto–Heck race, spending (so far) over 5 million smackers on Heck’s behalf and engaging in door-to-door canvassing, not just TV ads. One Koch-backed group focused on ‘education’ of Latino voters, the Libre Institute, is working to undermine Cortez Masto’s base; if elected she would become the first Latina in the Senate.” [New York Magazine, 8/30/16]

 

  • Koch Network Had “At Least Four Groups Working To Defeat Ms. Cortez Masto,” Koch’s “Preferred Candidate” Was Heck. “Nevada’s Senate race could not get much bigger. It is the only real chance Republicans have to flip a Democratic seat. The outcome could seal control of the Senate. […] This is an epic proxy war, with Catherine Cortez Masto, a Democrat and a former Nevada attorney general, and Representative Joe Heck, a Republican, serving as surrogates in a clash to see who gets the last word in this brutal rivalry. […] For their part, leaders of the Koch network, which has at least four groups working to defeat Ms. Cortez Masto, do not disguise the fact that they would sorely like to knock off Mr. Reid’s chosen successor to exact a bit of revenge and to help Republicans hold the Senate. […] With polls showing the Nevada race close, Mr. Reid has become pretty caustic with his own speech when it comes to the Kochs and their preferred candidate, Mr. Heck, a three-term House member and a former state lawmaker.” [New York Times, 8/30/16]

 

  • Freedom Partners Action Fund Had Spent Over $4.5 Million And Concerned Veterans For America Spent $700,000. “But Mr. Heck is receiving help from outside the state as well. Freedom Partners Action Fund, which relies on considerable Koch funding, reports that it has spent more than $4.5 million against Ms. Cortez Masto. Concerned Veterans for America, another part of the Koch network, earlier ran more than $700,000 in ads on behalf of Mr. Heck, a military veteran.  Mark Holden, the chairman of Freedom Partners and general counsel to Koch Industries, said the Koch network was backing Mr. Heck because he supported policies that would ‘help drive a free and open society.’” [New York Times, 8/30/16]

 

  • Koch-Affiliated Groups Americans For Prosperity And LIBRE Initiative Were Working In Nevada.  “It’s true that the network remains active. Through a combination of their affiliates, the Kochs have run ads in four Senate races: Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. […] There are plans to streamline the network’s communications and fundraising operations by merging them across offices and divisions. Similar measures are being mapped out in states where multiple Koch affiliates are stationed. In Nevada, for example, Americans for Prosperity, Concerned Veterans for America, and The LIBRE Initiative, a Hispanic outreach group, have until now worked from separate offices, but that is likely to change soon.” [National Review, 5/16/16]

 

U.S. Chamber Of Commerce Spent Over $2 Million On Heck’s Race. “The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has its sights set on expanding the Republican majority in the U.S. Senate.  The group has put more than $2 million so far into efforts supporting U.S. Rep. Joe Heck, R-Nev., in his run for the open seat of outgoing U.S. Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev. It’s one of a few Senate seats nationwide that Republicans believe could switch in their side, and it’s being closely watched well outside Nevada.” [Las Vegas Review-Journal, 6/7/16]

 

  • As Of September 2016, U.S. Chamber Of Commerce Had Spent Over $2.6 Million On Nevada Senate Race. “As of September 6, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce had spent $1,984,637 supporting Joe Heck and $665,587 opposing Catherine Cortez Masto. [Center for Responsive Politics, Accessed 9/6/16]

 

HECK VOTED WITH USCOC TO PROTECT TAX BREAKS FOR OUTSOURCERS

 

HECK VOTED AGAINST BILL OPPOSED BY U.S. CHAMBER OF COMMERCE THAT WOULD HAVE ENDED TAX BREAKS FOR COMPANIES THAT SENT JOBS OVERSEAS

 

Heck Blocked Bring Jobs Home Act To Eliminate Tax Incentives For Companies Moving Jobs Overseas. In July 2012, Heck voted for a: “Sessions, R-Texas, motion to order the previous question (thus ending debate and the possibility of amendment) on the rule (H Res 724) that would provide for House floor consideration of the bill to repeal the 2010 health care law.” “The Previous Question would amend the rule to allow for consideration of H.R. 5542 – To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to encourage domestic insourcing and discourage foreign outsourcing.” The motion was agreed to by 238-184.  [CQ, 7/10/12, H.R.5542, Vote 456, 7/10/12; 112th Congress Previous Questions]

 

  • The Bill Would Provide A 20 Percent Tax Credit For Businesses That Bring Jobs Back To The United States, Paid For By Closing Tax Loopholes For Companies That Send Jobs Overseas. “Ways and Means Committee Democrats today introduced legislation to provide tax credits to businesses that brings jobs and business operations back to America from another country. H.R. 6152: The Bring Jobs Home Act, introduced by Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-NJ), provides a 20 percent tax credit for businesses that ‘insource’ jobs back to the United States and is paid for by closing tax loopholes for companies that ‘outsource’ jobs overseas and treat distributions of debt securities in a tax-free spin-off transaction in the same manner as distributions of cash or other property.” [House Ways and Means Committee, Press Release, 7/19/12]

 

·        The Hill: The Bring Jobs Home Act “Would End Tax Breaks For Companies That Send Jobs Overseas.” “Senate Republicans blocked a bill that would end tax breaks for companies that send jobs overseas. On Wednesday, the Senate voted 54-42 to end debate on S. 2569, the Bring Jobs Home Act — 60 votes were needed to advance the measure. Sens. John Walsh (D-Mont.) and Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) introduced the bill, which would give companies incentives to bring jobs back to the United States, including a tax write-off for the relocating costs and an additional 20 percent credit. Currently, U.S. companies can deduct from their corporate taxes some expenses of moving facilities overseas. Democrats said 2.4 million jobs have been outsourced in the past 10 years.” [The Hill, 7/30/14]

 

  • Bring Jobs Home Act Was Opposed By The U.S. Chamber Of Commerce. “The Bring Jobs Home Act would provide a 20% tax break for the costs of moving jobs back to the United States and would rescind business expense deductions available to companies that are associated with the cost of moving operations overseas. […] In addition, Republican aides called attention to opposition by business groups like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers, who generally support Republicans. In a letter to senators this week, the Chamber of Commerce called the bill ‘misguided’ and said it ‘would hamper American worldwide companies’ competitiveness, increase complexity in the Internal Revenue Code, and threaten economic growth.’” [CNN, 7/19/12]

 

HECK VOTED WITH THE KOCH BROTHERS TO PROTECT TAX BREAKS FOR BIG OIL

 

KOCH – BACKED AMERICANS FOR PROSPERITY FOUGHT TO PRESERVE OIL INDUSTRY TAX BREAKS…

 

Americans For Prosperity Called Changing Section 199 As It Relates To Oil Producers An “Attack.” “Americans for Prosperity opposes changing these rules only on the oil and gas industries. Changing these provisions to attack a politically unpopular industry is an inappropriate use of the tax code. Section 199 Domestic Production Activities Deduction provides all qualified domestic manufactures with a 9 percent deduction in their taxable income. The oil and gas industry are already singled out under this rule and are only allowed to use a 6 percent deduction. This rule was put in place to support domestic production and it is ironic that the same people who claim to want to ‘reduce our dependence on foreign oil’ would seek to further isolate oil and gas companies from tax deductions design to support domestic production.” [Energy Tax Policy, Americans For Prosperity, archived 3/6/12]

 

  • Politico: Americans For Prosperity Was “The Main Political Arm” Of The Koch Brothers. “The Koch brothers’ main political arm intends to spend more than $125 million this year on an aggressive ground, air and data operation benefiting conservatives, according to a memo distributed to major donors and sources familiar with the group.” [Politico, 5/9/14]

 

  • Koch Lobbyists Have “Successfully Fought To Preserve The [Oil] Industry’s Tax Breaks And Credits.” “Oil is the core of the Koch business empire, and the company’s lobbyists and officials have successfully fought to preserve the industry’s tax breaks and credits, and to defeat attempts by Congress to regulate greenhouse gases.” [Center for Public Integrity, 4/6/11]

 

  • Koch Lobbied To Protect Section 199 Domestic Manufacturer Deduction. “Koch lobbies to protect the Section 199 deduction to help U.S. manufacturers; the subsidy for energy firms cost the Treasury $14 billion over 10 years.” [Center For Public Integrity, 4/6/11]

 

  • Koch Industries Had Companies That Were Involved In Crude Oil Supply And Refining, And Well As Oil Pipelines. “Koch Industries, Inc. owns a diverse group of companies engaged in trading, investment and operations. […] Koch Industries is based in Wichita, Kan.   Petroleum and Chemicals: Koch subsidiaries are involved in crude oil supply and refining, chemical production, exploration and production, and wholesale marketing of fuel oil, base oils, chemical intermediates, petrochemicals, gasoline, asphalt and other products. […] Pipelines: Koch Pipeline Company, L.P. owns or operates about 4,000 miles of pipelines that transport crude oil, refined petroleum products and natural gas liquids.” [Summary of Koch Industries’ Industry Facts, SEC, Accessed 6/29/16]

 

…WHICH HECK VOTED TO PRESERVE

 

Heck Voted Against Requiring Oil Companies To Forego Certain Tax Benefits, Including Percentage Depletion Allowance, Before Receiving New Drilling Leases. In June 2012, Heck voted against “Slaughter, D-N.Y., motion to recommit the bill to the House Natural Resources Committee and report it back immediately with an amendment that would prohibit the major integrated oil companies from receiving new drilling leases authorized under the bill unless they agree to not claim certain tax benefits, including the percentage depletion allowance.” The motion was rejected by a vote of 166-243. [CQ, 6/21/12, H.R. 4480, Vote 409, 6/21/12]

 

  • Percentage Depletion Allowance Let Oil Companies Deduct About 15% Of Oil Generated From Wells From Their Taxes. “President Obama repeated his call Tuesday for an end to $4 billion in oil industry tax breaks as gas prices approach $4 a gallon and after a top lawmaker indicated a possible shift in Republican policy.  In a letter to congressional leaders, the president said the oil industry is profitable enough without the tax incentives and that the money should be spent on alternative energy sources and conservation. […] The percentage depletion allowance: This lets oil companies deduct about 15% of the money generated from a well from its taxes. Eliminating it would save about $1 billion a year.  The deduction essentially lets oil companies treat oil in the ground as capital equipment. For any industry, the value of that equipment can be written down each year.  But critics say oil in the ground is not capital equipment, but a national resource that the oil companies are simply using for their own profit.” [CNN Money, 4/29/11]

 

  • Obama Proposed Eliminating $4 Billion In Oil Industry Tax Breaks, Eliminating Percentage Depletion Allowance Would Save $1 Billion A Year.  “President Obama repeated his call Tuesday for an end to $4 billion in oil industry tax breaks as gas prices approach $4 a gallon and after a top lawmaker indicated a possible shift in Republican policy.  In a letter to congressional leaders, the president said the oil industry is profitable enough without the tax incentives and that the money should be spent on alternative energy sources and conservation. […] The percentage depletion allowance: This lets oil companies deduct about 15% of the money generated from a well from its taxes. Eliminating it would save about $1 billion a year.” [CNN Money, 4/29/11]

 

 

V/O: Worse, Heck pays for them by cutting education and raising taxes on us.

 

GFX: Congressman Heck

Cutting Education

Raising Taxes on the Middle Class

Vote 151, 3/29/12; Center on Budget & Policy Priorities, 3/22/12; ABC News, 8/14/12

 

V/O: Congressman Heck is what’s wrong with Washington.

 

GFX: Congressman

Joe Heck

Washington DC

What’s Wrong with Washington

 

 

HECK VOTED FOR RYAN BUDGETS, WHICH CUT TAXES FOR CORPORATIONS & THE WEALTHY WHILE INCREASING THEM FOR THE MIDDLE CLASS & CUTTING EDUCATION FUNDING

 

Heck Voted For FY 2013 Ryan Budget. In March 2012, Heck voted for the: “Adoption of the concurrent resolution that would provide $2.793 trillion in new budget authority for fiscal 2013, not including off-budget accounts. It calls for limiting discretionary appropriations to $1.028 trillion in 2013 and for major cuts in non-defense discretionary and mandatory spending over the next 10 years. It would assume significant future savings by restructuring Medicare into a “premium support” system beginning in 2023, converting Medicaid and the food stamp program into block grants to states, and repealing the 2010 health care overhaul. It calls for an overhaul of the tax code, under which the alternative minimum tax would be repealed, the six current individual income tax brackets would be consolidated into two, tax credits and deductions would be eliminated or curtailed, and the corporate tax code modified to reduce the top rate to 25 percent from 35 percent and converted into a “territorial” tax system where U.S. companies would pay tax only on income earned in the United States. It also would direct the Budget Committee to report a bill that would repeal the sequestration of discretionary spending set for January 2013 by the 2011 debt limit law and direct six House committees to find substitute savings from mandatory programs.” The concurrent resolution was adopted by a 228-191 vote. [CQ, 3/29/12; H.Con. Res. 112, Vote 151, 3/29/12]

 

 

  • Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: Ryan Budget Would Cut Corporate Income Tax Rate By 10% And Eliminate Taxes On Foreign Profits Of U.S. Multinational Companies. “Despite warning that the nation faces the ‘perils of debt,’ House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan introduced a budget on March 20 whose tax proposals would be extremely costly and would disproportionately favor the nation’s highest-income households and large corporations. His budget would cut the top marginal income tax rate, now 35 percent but scheduled to rise next year to 39.6 percent, to 25 percent.  It would cut the corporate income tax rate from 35 percent to 25 percent and eliminate taxes on the foreign profits of U.S.-based multinationals.” [Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 3/22/12]

 

  • Joint Economic Committee Released A Report Showing That The FY2013 Ryan Budget Would Raise Taxes By $1,358 For Jointly-Filing Households Earning Between $50K And $100K A Year. “Ryan proposed two tax rates, 10 and 25 percent, instead of the current six. The House Republican budget for the 2013 fiscal year, passed by the House in June, would raise taxes by $1,358 for jointly-filing households earning between $50,000 and $100,000, assuming the additional income is taxed at a 10 percent rate, according to a report published earlier this summer by the Joint Economic Committee of Congress, authored by its chairman, Casey. Households with incomes between $100,000 and $200,000 would see their taxes increase by $2,681, the Joint Economic Committee said.” [ABC News, 8/14/12]

 

    • Headline: “Paul Ryan Tax Plan Could Raise Middle Class Taxes, Said Panel.” [ABC News, 8/14/12]

 

  • Newark Star-Ledger Editorial: Ryan Budget Gave “Giant Tax Breaks” To The Rich And Made “Punishing Program Cuts For The Middle Class And The Poor.” “Imagine looking across the American landscape today and concluding that the best medicine for its ills is a mixture of giant tax breaks for the rich and punishing program cuts for the middle class and the poor. That is the Republican manifesto. The latest incarnation was presented this week by U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.), chairman of the Budget Committee, and it promptly won praise from leading GOP presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum.” [Newark Star-Ledger, Editorial, 3/22/12]

 

  • Ryan Budget Would Give Millionaires Average Of Nearly $300k In New Tax Cuts On Top Of $129k Through Bush Tax Cuts That The Budget Extended. “Even as House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan’s budget would impose trillions of dollars in spending cuts, at least 62 percent of which would come from low-income programs,[1] it would enact new tax cuts that would provide huge windfalls to households at the top of the income scale. New analysis by the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center (TPC) finds that people earning more than $1 million a year would receive $265,000 apiece in new tax cuts, on average, on top of the $129,000 they would receive from the Ryan budget’s extension of President Bush’s tax cuts. [Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 4/12/12]

 

  • Tax Policy Center’s William Gale: Ryan Budget Was “Essentially, An Effort To Have Low- And Middle-Class Households Bear The Entire Burden Of Closing The Fiscal Gap And Bear The Costs Of Financing An Additional Tax Cut For High Income Households.” According to a March 2012 post by William Gale, co-director of the Tax Policy Center, on the organization’s blog: “The budget proposal House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) released last week is, essentially, an effort to have low- and middle-class households bear the entire burden of closing the fiscal gap and bear the costs of financing an additional tax cut for high income households.” [Tax Policy Center, TaxVox, William G. Gale, 3/27/12]

 

  • Ryan Budget Would Have Meant $9.6 Million Students Would Have Seen Their Pell Grants Fall By More Than $1,000 In 2014 And More Than 1 Million Students Would Completely Lose Access To Pell Grants. “The Department of Education would be cut by more than $115 billion over a decade.  9.6 million students would see their Pell Grants fall by more than $1000 in 2014, and, over the next decade, over one million students would lose support altogether. This would derail bipartisan education reforms and deeply undermine K-12 education and college opportunity.” [Office of Management and Budget, Blog, 3/21/12]

 

  • Office of Management And Budget Blog: Ryan Budget Would Cut “More Than $115 Billion” From The Department Of Education And “Deeply Undermine K-12 Education And College Opportunity.” “The Department of Education would be cut by more than $115 billion over a decade.  9.6 million students would see their Pell Grants fall by more than $1000 in 2014, and, over the next decade, over one million students would lose support altogether. This would derail bipartisan education reforms and deeply undermine K-12 education and college opportunity.” [Office of Management and Budget, Blog, 3/21/12]

 

Heck Voted For FY 2012 Ryan Budget. In April 2011, Heck voted for: “Adoption of the concurrent resolution that would allow $2.859 trillion in new budget authority for fiscal 2012, including up to $1.019 trillion in non-emergency discretionary spending. It calls for $659 billion in security spending and $360 billion in non-security spending. It proposes converting the federal share of Medicaid to a block grant to states. It calls for converting Medicare for persons currently younger than 55 into a “premium support system” through which the government would pay private insurance companies directly for each enrollee. It also proposes consolidating the current six tax brackets and cutting the corporate tax rate and the top individual tax rate to 25 percent. It assumes the extension of the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts beyond 2012 and projects that the budget deficit would be reduced to $391 billion by fiscal 2021.” The resolution was adopted 235-193. [CQ, 4/15/11; H Con Res 34, Vote 277, 4/15/11]

 

  • Center On Budget And Policy Priorities: Ryan Plan Would Have “Large Tax Cuts For The Wealthy But Tax Increases For The Middle Class.” “With House Budget Committee Chair Ryan scheduled to deliver the Republican response to the President’s State of the Union address tomorrow, this is an appropriate time to take another look at the major budget plan Rep. Ryan announced last year. […] Large tax cuts for the wealthy but tax increases for the middle class. The plan would give the most affluent households a new round of large tax cuts by reducing the top income tax rates; eliminating income taxes on capital gains, dividends, and interest; and abolishing the corporate income tax, the estate tax, and the alternative minimum tax.  To offset some of the cost, the plan would place a new consumption tax on most goods and services, which would increase taxes on most low- and middle-income families. The richest 1 percent of Americans would see their taxes cut in half, and households with incomes above $1 million would receive a $502,000 tax cut each year, on average, according to the Urban Institute-Brookings Institution Tax Policy Center. In contrast, about three-quarters of Americans — those with incomes between $20,000 and $200,000 — would face tax increases.  Households with incomes between $50,000 and $75,000 would pay an extra $900, on average.” [Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 1/24/11]

 

  • Center On Budget And Policy Priorities: Ryan Budget Placed “A Top Priority On Cutting Taxes For High-Income People.”  “We released a report today examining the tax proposals in House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan’s budget plan, which the House approved on April 15.  As it explains, those proposals:  place a top priority on cutting taxes for high-income people, while doing nothing to reduce budget deficits, themselves.  In addition to making the Bush tax cuts permanent and continuing to provide relief from the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) at a cost of nearly $4 trillion over ten years, the House budget advances a series of additional tax cuts that would primarily benefit high-income households at a cost of nearly $3 trillion over that period, most of which is assumed to be offset by reductions in tax expenditures that are left unspecified.” [Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, 4/26/11]

 

  • Ryan Budget Reduced Corporate Tax Rate By 10%. “Rep. Paul Ryan, the Republican chairman of the House Budget Committee, unveiled a highly-anticipated and sweeping 2012 budget proposal Tuesday that would cut entitlements and rearrange the tax code with the goal of reducing federal spending and reducing national debt. The plan represents the first serious attempt by either party in Congress to tackle the country’s long-term debt problem, even as the House Republican leadership and the White House spar over the relatively tiny cuts proposed in a short-term budget for the rest of the fiscal year. Ryan’s budget would cut $6.2 trillion in spending over the next decade and reduces the corporate tax rate to 25 percent.” [PBS, 4/5/11]

 

  • FY 2012 Ryan Budget Contained Largest Reduction In Pell Grants In History. “The budget lays out little in terms of cuts to specific programs, instead simply decreeing caps on levels of spending. But one cut is explicitly proposed in the document — a cut to the Pell Grant program, which provides college tuition assistance to low-income students. […] If implemented, this would be the largest reduction in Pell Grants in history, more than eight times higher than the previous record, which was a $100 reduction in the maximum award in 1994. These cuts ‘will reduce the number of low income students receiving Bachelor’s degrees each year by about 61,000.’” [ThinkProgress, 4/5/11]

 

    • Headline: “House GOP Budget Slashes Billions From Pell Grants, Bumps Millions Of Students Out Of The Program” [ThinkProgress, 4/5/11]

 

  • Center For American Progress: Ryan Budget Would “Cut Investments” From “Kindergarten Through 12th Grade” Nationally And Would “Take Resources Away From “Career And Technical Education, Community Colleges, Postsecondary Education.” “This proposal would cut investments away from kindergarten through 12th grade education nationally, including education for children with disabilities and investments in educational innovation. It also would take resources away from programs investing in promote adult education and literacy, career and technical education, community colleges, postsecondary education, and student aid. Cutting investment like this will mean fewer people will have access to the education and skills training they need to fuel economic productivity and compete for good, secure jobs in labor market.” [Center for American Progress, 4/14/11]

 

 

Heck Voted For FY 2015 Ryan Budget. In April 2014, Heck voted for: “Adoption of the concurrent resolution that would provide for $2.842 trillion in new budget authority in fiscal 2015, not including off-budget accounts. It would assume $5.1 trillion in reductions over the next 10 years in both discretionary and mandatory spending. The proposal would assume the repeal of the 2010 health care overhaul. It also would propose extending the 2013 law that withheld the pay of members of Congress unless the House and Senate each approve a budget resolution. It would propose changing the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program into a block grant program and call for a decrease of $125 billion in SNAP funding over five years. The proposal would call for expanded work and job training requirements in order to receive aid from the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families Program and would propose preventing beneficiaries from receiving unemployment insurance and disability insurance concurrently. It would call for the creation of a block grant program for Medicaid run by individual states. It also would include a proposal for a 10-year “doc fix” to prevent a 24 percent cut in Medicare payments to doctors. It would assume the enactment of legislation to consolidate the current seven individual tax brackets into two, allowing for the reduction of the top individual rate from 39.6 percent to 25 percent and the corporate rate from 35 percent to 25 percent and call for repeal of the alternative minimum tax. It also would call for a maximum-income cap to qualify for Pell Grants and the elimination of eligibility for less than half-time students.” The resolution was adopted 219-205. [CQ, 4/10/14; H.Con.Res.96, Vote 177, 4/10/14]

 

  • Citizens For Tax Justice: Ryan Budget Included “Enormous Tax Cuts” For Millionaires. “As in previous years, House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan has released a budget proposal that includes some specific, enormous tax cuts with a vague promise that the amount of revenue collected by the federal government would somehow be unchanged. There is no way the plan could be implemented without providing millionaires with tax cuts averaging at least $200,000. There is no way the plan could be implemented without providing millionaires with tax cuts averaging at least $200,000.  The language in Ryan’s budget plan makes clear that he expects Congress to limit or eliminate tax expenditures (special breaks or loopholes in the tax code) in order to offset the cost of his proposed tax cuts, which include reducing personal income tax rates to 25 and 10 percent, repealing the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) and reducing the corporate income tax rate to 25 percent, among other tax cuts.  For taxpayers with income exceeding $1 million, the benefit of Ryan’s tax rate reductions and other proposed tax cuts would far exceed the loss of any tax expenditures. In fact, under Ryan’s plan taxpayers with income exceeding $1 million in 2015 would receive an average net tax decrease of over $200,000 that year even if they had to give up all of their tax expenditures.” [Citizens for Tax Justice, 4/2/14]

 

  • Center For American Progress: Ryan Budget Would “Raise Taxes For Middle- And Working-Class Families.” “At the same time that it would give tax cuts to those who need them least, Rep. Ryan’s budget would raise taxes for middle- and working-class families. A Tax Policy Center analysis of identical tax proposals in last year’s House Republican budget found that they cost nearly $6 trillion over 10 years. Rep. Ryan claimed that this will not increase the deficit because his policies will be included in a larger ‘tax reform’ that includes offsetting revenue increases. House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp’s (R-MI) tax reform legislation already revealed this to be a fantasy—as the Center for American Progress said last year—meaning there is no way to enact Rep. Ryan’s tax policies in a deficit-neutral tax reform without including big tax increases for low- and middle-income taxpayers.” [Center for American Progress, 4/1/14]

 

  • Inside Higher Ed: Ryan Budget Proposed “Steep Cuts” To Programs Including Pell Grants And In-School Interest Rate Subsides For Undergraduate Federal Loans. “House Republicans on Tuesday unveiled their 2015 fiscal year budget, which proposes steep cuts to many domestic social programs, including reductions to Pell Grants, student loans, and research funding. The proposal, by Representative Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, the House Budget Committee chairman, seeks to bring the federal budget into balance by 2024 and would cut spending by $5 trillion over the next decade.  […] Under the proposal, the maximum Pell Grant award would be frozen at the current $5,730 amount for the next 10 years. The budget would also leave all of the Pell Grant program’s funding up to the discretion of Congress each year, eliminating the mandatory funding stream that currently funds part of the program. In addition, the budget would impose an unspecified income cap on students who receive a Pell Grant and eliminate the grant for students attending college less than half time. […] The Ryan budget also calls for changes to federal student loans. It would eliminate the in-school interest rate subsidy for undergraduate federal loans and would also trim the benefits of the Obama administration’s income-based repayment program, Pay As You Earn.” [Inside Higher Ed, 4/2/14]

 

  • Ryan Budget Would Reduce Corporate Tax Rate To 25%. “The Ryan budget would cut spending by $5.1 trillion over the next decade to achieve balance by what the government spends to what it collects in revenue by 2024. […] This fiscal year 2015 budget is the last that will be authored by Ryan, who is stepping down as chairman of the budget panel and intends to seek the gavel at the House Ways and Means Committee in the next Congress. That panel has jurisdiction over the federal tax code. In his budget, Ryan calls for cutting the corporate tax rate to 25%, and reducing the current seven tax brackets for individuals to two: a 25% and 10% bracket.” [USA Today, 4/1/14]

 

 

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GFX: PAID FOR BY DSCC WWW.DSCC.ORG AND NOT AUTHORIZED BY ANY CANDIDATE OR CANDIDATE’S COMMITTEE. DSCC IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE CONTENT OF THIS ADVERTISING.

 

 

 

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