Taxes and Spending
Taxes and Spending issues affect us all and how they are dealt with is important to my work in Congress.
The issue of tax reform greatly affects us all. The tax code is so complex, many average Americans can no longer prepare their own tax returns. In addition, Congress has implemented so many loopholes and tax breaks that it now uses the tax code as a tool to pass out special assistance to favored interest groups. I believe tax reform must be implemented to stop these practices. I support real, broad based tax relief and reforms that lower taxes for all Americans and support simplifying the tax code so the average American can actually fill out their taxes.
I firmly believe our country has a spending problem, not a revenue problem, and government spending is closely linked with economic health. Regrettably, as the economy has gotten weaker and weaker over the past few years the government has increased spending. In order to move towards economic recovery, big spending cuts must be made soon. I have already voted to reduce spending and cut the budget proposed by President Obama. However, there is still much more to be done. The federal budget currently spends over three trillion dollars annually, two thirds of which consists of automatic spending programs and interest on our debt payments. I believe in automatic spending programmatic reforms and paying down our debt in order to get government spending under control and get the United States back on the path to prosperity.
I questioned Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke during his testimony before the House Budget Committee on February 9, 2011 regarding government spending. You can watch the video here.
Legislative Action
Sponsored H.R. 3576, the Spending Control Act (A national spending cap)
- As Mayor of Manchester, I fought for the city's municipal spending cap. I've taken that same fight to Washington in sponsoring H.R. 3576, the Spending Control Act - a national spending cap. This legislation would establish caps or binding limitations on federal spending and deficits - all enforced by a sequester of no more than 1 percent of programs - within each category if the program is growing faster than inflation.
- You can read my bi-weekly column, Frankly Speaking: It's Time to Cap Federal Spending where I discuss my sponsoring this legislation by clicking here.
Sponsored H.R. 3577 the Biennial Budgeting and Enhanced Oversight Act and a co-sponsor of H.R. 114, the Biennial Budgeting and Appropriations Act of 2011
- Both pieces of legilation would change the federal budget to cover two years instead of one. Twenty state budgets, including New Hampshire’s, are biennial. That approach would both save tax money and let Congress improve its oversight and make sure your tax dollars are being spent wisely. You can read more about H.R. 3557, the Biennial Budgeting and Enhanced Oversight Act by clicking here.
- I wrote a joint op'ed with House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan after introducing H.R. 3577, the Biennial Budgeting and Enhanced Oversight Act. Click here to read the op'ed.
Cosponsored and voted for H.J. Res. 2, A Balanced Budget Amendment to the Constitution
- H.J. Res. 2 would amend the Constitution to prohibit federal spending in any fiscal year from exceeding receipts for that year. The balanced budget requirement could be waived in a given year if three-fifths of both chambers approve a law to allow spending to exceed revenues. In addition, the amendment would require a vote of three-fifths of both chambers to increase the statutory debt limit. The language in that bill was the same as an earlier Balanced Budget Amendment that passed the House of Representatives in 1995 with 300 votes from Republicans and Democrats alike. On November 18, 2011, although I voted in favor, H.J. Res. 2 failed to receive the two-thirds necessary to pass; the final vote was 261 to 165.
- You can read more about the vote on H.J. Res. 2 by clicking here.
- You can also read my column on a Balanced Budget Amendment by clicking here.
Cosponsored H.R. 674, passed the House with a vote of 422-0
- This bill repeals the 3 percent withholding requirement on payments made to vendors by all levels of government (federal, state, and local). It also provides a tax credit to employers of up to $5,600 for hiring a veteran who has been seeking employment for more than six months, as well as a $2,400 credit for veterans who are unemployed for more than four weeks, but less than six months. Up to $9,600 of tax credits are available to employers who hire veterans with service-connected disabilities who have been seeking employment for more than six months.
Cosponsored H.R. 3029, the Reducing the Size of the Federal Government Through Attrition Act of 2011
- H.R. 3029 requires the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to ensure that the number of federal employees, beginning in FY2015, does not exceed 90% of the total number of such employees as of September 30th, 2011 and that agencies reduce their workforce through attrition by not appointing more than one employee for every three retiring.
Sponsored H.R. 3262, the Government Results Transparency Act (GRTA)
- Federal agencies have been required to track and publish their performance results for 18 years. In 2010, Congress also required them to publically list all of their programs and explain how those programs contribute to overall goals. But these laws do not require program-by-program performance data to be tracked against program-by-program spending date.
- The GRTA builds a bridge between performance data and spending date. Under GRTA, the government will publish all of its performance data spending data for each program on a public website in a format that makes it easy for anyone to search, download and analyze.
- You can read my editorial on the Government Results Transparency Act by clicking here.
- You can read my press release after I introduced the bill by clicking here.
- You can read my press release after the bill's bipartisan passage out of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee by clicking here and watch the video of the bills passage out of committee by clicking here.
Cosponsored H.R. 1259, the full repeal of the Estate “Death” Tax
- Family-owned small businesses, farms and ranches are the most vulnerable targets of this double tax because the law doesn't differentiate between people and their businesses. When the full value of a business' assets, such as equipment and property, are included in someone's estate, many are forced to sell needed assets just to write a check to the Internal Revenue Service. The Death Tax is still the number one reason family farms and businesses in America aren’t passed down to the next generation.
Helped craft (The Patch to Prosperity: A Blueprint For Renewal) - The Budget for the United States Government for Fiscal Year 2013
- The Path to Prosperity: A Blueprint for American Renewal, follows up on the budget House Republicans passed in 2011, which offered practical solutions to control government spending. That approach stands in sharp contrast to the U.S. Senate, which has not passed a budget in more than 1,000 days. The Path to Prosperity calls for:
- a bipartisan, practical approach to safeguarding Medicare for future generations;
- cuts to government spending to protect hardworking taxpayers;
- tackling and addressing the drivers of our debt;
- restoring economic freedom and ensuring a level playing field for all by putting an end to corporate welfare and special-interest favoritism;
- reforming our broken tax code to spur job creation and economic opportunity by lowering rates, closing loopholes, and putting hardworking taxpayers ahead of special interests.
- Click here to learn more about our budget for FY 2013.
Helped craft and voted for H. Con. Res. 34, the Path to Prosperity federal budget proposal for 2012.
- It simplifies the broken tax code, lowering rates and clearing out the burdensome tangle of loopholes that distort economic activity; brings the top rate from 35 to 25 percent to promote growth and job creation.
- It improves incentives for job creators to work, invest, and innovate in the United States by lowering the corporate tax rate from 35 percent (which is the highest in the industrialized world) to a more competitive 25 percent.
- The plan cuts $6.2 trillion in government spending over the next decade.
- It rings non-security discretionary spending to below 2008 levels.
- It brings government spending to below 20 percent of the economy.
- On April 14, 2011, I took to the Floor of the House to speak in support of "A Path to Prosperity," the Republican House budget proposal for 2012. You can watch the video by clicking here.