Des Moines, IA - Today, Braley for Iowa released the following statement on the clear contrast between Bruce Braley and Joni Ernst when it comes to keeping Iowa jobs here in Iowa and where tax cuts should be directed, key issues as Iowans focus on this race and make their decisions in the final days.
"Keeping Iowa jobs where they belong - here in Iowa - is one of the most important issues in this race. While Bruce is working to cut taxes for the middle class and build a strong economy that works for all of Iowa's hardworking families, Joni Ernst puts millionaires, billionaires, and special interests first. Ernst's plans to protect tax breaks for outsourcers and cut taxes for millionaires and billionaires stands in stark contrast to Bruce's strong record of fighting to end tax breaks for corporations that ship jobs overseas and close loopholes that allow big multinational corporations to avoid paying their fair share of taxes," said Braley for Iowa spokesperson Sam Lau.
Bruce will continue traveling the state and talking to Iowans about his plans to fight for all of Iowa's hardworking families, while Joni Ernst favors millionaires, billionaires and special interests that ship Iowa jobs overseas. In a
new ad released yesterday by Braley for Iowa, Bruce tells Iowans directly that as their next U.S. Senator, he'll fight to eliminate tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas, and instead cut taxes for companies that hire American workers.
Background on the contrast between Bruce Braley's plan to protect American jobs and Joni Ernst's pledge to protect tax breaks for corporations that ship jobs overseas:
ERNST OPPOSED RAISING TAXES ON OUTSOURCERS
Ernst Opposed Raising Taxes On Companies That Outsourced Jobs. "[QUESTIONER]: Joni, would you support raising taxes for companies that outsource jobs? [ERNST]: No, no." [IA State Fair RFS Press Conference, 8/8/14] (video)
ERNST SIGNED PLEDGE TO PROTECT TAX BREAKS FOR COMPANIES THAT SHIP JOBS OVERSEAS
July 18, 2013: Ernst Signed The Taxpayer Protection Pledge. "State Senator Joni Ernst has signed the Taxpayer Protection Pledge in her bid for Iowa's U.S. Senate seat. The Pledge, sponsored by Americans for Tax Reform, commits signers to "oppose any and all efforts to increase the marginal income tax rates for individuals and/or businesses ... and oppose any net reduction or elimination of deductions and credits, unless matched dollar for dollar by further reducing tax rates." [Americans for Tax Reform,
7/18/13]
Claim That Ernst Pledged To Protect Tax Breaks For Companies That Shipped Jobs Overseas Rated "Mostly True" KCRG reported: "ATR announced July 18, 2013, that Ernst had joined the list of candidates and office holders ? almost exclusively Republicans ? who have signed the pledge. The ad claims the pledge 'protects tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas.' As an example of this, NextGen said ATR opposed the Education Jobs and Medicaid Assistance Act of 2010 because the measures were funded, in part, with $9.8 billion saved by restricting ways multinational companies could claim the foreign tax credit. In an Aug. 9, 2010, statement, ATR described the funding of the bill as 'tax increases on U.S. employees doing business overseas' and called on lawmakers who signed the Taxpayer Protection Pledge to vote against the legislation. 'Because this bill is a NET INCOME TAX HIKE, it violates the Taxpayer Protection Pledge that 174 Congressmen have made to their constituents and the American people,' the 2010 statement said. Ernst wasn't in federal office in 2010 and she didn't sign the pledge until three years later. But she has promised to vote with ATR on similar issues in the future, should she win a seat in the U.S. Senate. Conclusion Several Democrat-leaning organizations have used similar attack ads in recent years, attempting to link Taxpayer Protection Pledge signers to jobs leaving the United States. PolitiFact made a good argument in 2010 that because the pledge allows lawmakers to come up with another tax reduction to offset a closed loophole or discontinued tax break, signing the pledge doesn't prevent a lawmaker from opposing a tax break for an offshore company. Part of the stated purpose of the pledge is to keep signers from eliminating tax breaks. While it's possible for a lawmaker to swap out one tax break for another, the intended result is no net increase in taxes for individuals or businesses -- including companies that may move some operations overseas. There's at least one example of pledge signers being pressured to oppose legislation that restricted tax breaks for multinational companies. We score this claim mostly true." [KCRG,
8/1/14]
ATR Called American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act of 2010 a Taxpayer Protection Pledge Violation. In May 2010, Americans for Tax Reform issued a Tax Pledge Alert to announce that HR 4213, the American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act of 2010, was a Taxpayer Protection Pledge violation. The bill would eliminate $14.451 billion of foreign tax credit loopholes [Americans for Tax Reform, Press Release,
5/20/10; House Committee on Ways and Means, "American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act of 2010, HR 4213, 5/28/10]
ATR Opposed Reid-Murray Amendment to Close Tax Loopholes for Employers Doing Business Overseas. In August 2010, the Americans for Tax Reform called the Reid-Murray amendment to HR 1586 a violation of the Taxpayer Protection Pledge. According to a press release issued by the Americans for Tax Reform, "The Reid amendment violates the Taxpayer Protection Pledge. ATR will be key-voting against cloture. The tax increases in question are all tax hikes on U.S. employers doing business overseas..." [Americans for Tax Reform, Press Release, 8/3/10]
Denver Post: Signers of ATR Pledge Protect Tax Breaks for Companies Outsourcing Jobs Overseas. According to The Denver Post's "Political Polygraph" series, a Republican candidate's continuing support for the ATR pledge effectively protected tax breaks for companies outsourcing jobs overseas. As reported by the Denver Post, "The pledge Buck made was through Americans for Tax Reform, which circulates a pledge to 'oppose any and all tax increases' for legislators and candidates to sign, and then contacts them when a bill comes up that increases taxes. Ken Buck signed that pledge. In the last year, that organization has opposed legislation to that would eliminate a $14.45 billion loophole for foreign tax credits and increase government school funding and Medicaid through tax increases. So, yes, essentially, Buck has pledged to vote the ATR line, he's reiterated that support since then, and that would mean he's protecting tax breaks for companies outsourcing jobs overseas." [Denver Post, Political Polygraph,
10/31/10]
FACT: THE KOCH BROTHERS AND AFFILIATES SHIPPED AMERICAN JOBS OVERSEAS
LA Times' Tim Rutten: "Organizations That Monitor Employment Practices Also Cite Koch Industries As One Of The Most Ruthless Exporters Of American Manufacturing Jobs To Foreign Countries." "California, birthplace of the modern environmental movement, remains one of the greenest of blue states, even while it struggles to cope with levels of unemployment unseen since the Depression. That makes the budding relationship between Republican senatorial candidate Carly Fiorina and billionaire industrialists David and Charles Koch all the odder. The Kochs own and run America's second-largest privately held company, Koch Industries ? an amalgam of oil, gas, pipeline, chemical, fertilizer and wood products companies, including Georgia-Pacific. Lump them together, and the Koch brothers have the country's third-largest fortune ? $35 billion ? after Bill Gates and Warren Buffett. [...] For years, according to the New Yorker article, the brothers and their company funded organizations promoting 'environmental skepticism,' including the notion that acid rain is 'a myth.' Charles Lewis, founder of the nonpartisan Center for Public Integrity, told Mayer that when it comes to the amount of money they donate to politics, 'the Kochs are on a whole different level.... They are the Standard Oil of our times.' Organizations that monitor employment practices also cite Koch Industries as one of the most ruthless exporters of American manufacturing jobs to foreign countries. Before she was ousted as chief executive of Hewlett-Packard, Fiorina laid off 30,000 workers and outsourced thousands of positions abroad, so perhaps the Kochs sense a kindred spirit." [Tim Rutten, LA Times,
9/25/10]
Koch Industries Affiliate Laid Off 150 People In North Carolina, Outsourced Jobs To Mexico. In 2003, Koch laid off 150 employees at a KoSa plant in Shelby, North Carolina. In 2004, the Department of Labor certified that a portion of 150 employees who had been laid off at a plant in Shelby, NC, were eligible for TAA as a result of outsourcing to Mexico. [Department of Labor, Trade Adjustment Assistance Petition 53343,
1/12/04; Charlotte Business Journal,
10/10/03]
Koch Industries Affiliate Laid Off 260 Workers In California, Outsourced Jobs To China. In 2007, following an increase in importation of cutlery from China, Dixie Consumer Products, a GP subsidiary, closed a facility that made cutlery in Los Angeles, California, laying off all 260 workers. The Department of Labor certified that workers who lost their jobs were victims of outsourcing to China. [Department of Labor, Trade Adjustment Assistance Petition 62268,
10/23/07; California Employment Development Department, Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act Notices, 2007]
Koch Industries Affiliate Laid Off 400 Employees In Delaware, Outsourced Jobs To Canada. In 2008 and 2009, Invista laid off 400 employees at a facility in Seaford, Delaware. The Department of Labor certified that the employees' jobs had been outsourced to Canada. [Department of Labor, Trade Adjustment Assistance Petition 64931,
2/6/09; Department of Labor, Trade Adjustment Assistance Petition,
1/13/09; AP,
10/14/08]
Koch Industries Affiliate Laid Off Workers In Wisconsin, Outsourced Jobs To China, Taiwan And Canada. In 2009, after beginning to import Angel Soft tissue products from a company with facilities in China and Taiwan Georgia-Pacific laid off workers at a plant in Green Bay, Wisconsin. In 2010, the Department of Labor verified that their jobs had been outsourced to China, Taiwan, and Canada. [Department of Labor, TAA Decision 73539,
7/12/10; Department of Labor, Trade Adjustment Assistance Petition,
9/19/12; Department of Labor, Trade Adjustment Assistance Petition,
11/6/12]
BRALEY BACKED LEGISLATION TO END TAX BREAKS FOR CORPORATIONS THAT SHIP JOBS OVERSEAS
Braley Supported Legislation to End Tax Breaks for Corporations that Ship Jobs Overseas. Rep. Braley is a co-sponsor and supporter of legislation to end tax breaks for corporations that ship jobs overseas. Specifically, the bill would close tax loopholes for companies that are incorporated overseas but managed and controlled in the United States. This proposal would raise $6.6 billion in revenue over the next 10 years. [HR 3793, 12/19/13;
Rep. Maffei Press Release, December 18, 2013; Syracuse Post-Standard,
12/18/13]
BRALEY SUPPORTED TAX BREAKS FOR COMPANIES THAT HIRE UNEMPLOYED WORKERS
Braley's Back To Work Act Became Law As Part Of The HIRE Act, Encouraged Hiring By Exempting Employers From Paying Payroll Taxes If They Hired An Unemployed Worker. In February 2011, The Waterloo-Courier reported, "A bill that provided a 'simple tweak' to the tax code has helped more than 100,000 Iowans get back to work and should be extended, said U.S. Rep. Bruce Braley, D-Waterloo Tuesday. Braley pushed renewal of his Back To Work Act, which he introduced in 2010, while touring the MetoKote Corp. plant in Cedar Falls Industrial Park. The coating and painting company hired a dozen workers using the act statewide, company officials said. 'This is one of the things we can do to get the economy back moving again and get people back to work,' Braley said... The law, which was passed as part of the larger HIRE Act, exempts employers from paying Social Security taxes if they hire a person who was unemployed for more than 60 days. That employer also gets an additional tax credit if it keeps the new hire on the payroll for a year." [Waterloo Courier, 2/2/11]
