Federal Tax Code

In Congress, I will focus on restoring fairness in the tax code through bipartisan comprehensive tax reform that works to:

• Simplify the tax code – at over 77,000 pages our tax code is written for the connected, the lawyers, and the lobbyists. It must be dramatically simplified.

• Eliminate loopholes and giveaways – as an independent candidate, not taking a penny of special interest funding for my campaign, I will work to finally eliminate unneeded subsidies for commodities like ethanol and sugar which cost taxpayers billions and benefit politicians more than our citizens.

• Lower tax rates for all individuals paying taxes – the federal government taxes too much and spends too much. It’s time to reduce spending and return those savings to taxpayers.

• Make corporate tax rates competitive – today at 35%, the US has the highest corporate rates in the industrialized world. More competitive rates will help us create more jobs here at home rather than overseas;

• End double taxation – encourage US companies operating overseas to bring back the $2 trillion in corporate earnings that are being stashed abroad, instead of being reinvested in the US economy. Shifting from a global to a territorial tax system will relieve American companies from double taxation and harmonize our tax system with the majority of the developed world;

• Establish a National Infrastructure Bank Capitalized by a One Time Repatriation Tax Holiday – from clean water, to broadband to bridges and highways, Upstate infrastructure is in need of investment. In Congress, I would support a bipartisan effort to establish a National Infrastructure Bank (capitalized with the proceeds from a onetime repatriation tax holiday).

• Eliminate the ObamaCare penalties – the $2,000 per employee penalty for not having health insurance is a job killing tax that must be eliminated. In addition, the $695 penalty on adults who choose not to have health care is another unnecessary tax that conflicts with principles of individual choice that our country is built on. We must eliminate these penalties and create competitive alternatives to ObamaCare;

• Support bipartisan legislation to “Empower Employees Through Stock Ownership” – broad based stock ownership for employees in a company aligns company and employee interests in powerful ways which include setting the stage for future company creation and job growth. As current tax policy interferes with more companies taking advantage of this, I support bipartisan legislation sponsored by Mark R. Warner (D-VA) and Dean Heller (R-NV), members of the Senate Finance Committee, and would seek to move a similar bill through the House.

Regulations

According to a new report released by Sen. John McCain, regulations issued under the Obama administration could cost taxpayers roughly $350 billion. In 2012 alone, the total cost of all federal regulations on American business is estimated at over $2 trillion.  If we want more jobs, we cannot continue the regulatory onslaught that shackles business growth, especially in our smaller companies which have limited resources to devote to administration that is so frequently required by these regulations. I would advocate for:

• An immediate moratorium on new regulations – with exception for instances involving risks to health and safety;

• Repeal job-killing regulations that are little more than political punishments on successful businesses and industries.  With a long track record in building companies and supporting other entrepreneurs growing companies, I bring a seasoned view on the impact of regulations that affect job growth;

• Require a cost benefit analysis to ensure that any proposed new  regulations are actually necessary and do not harm job growth;

• Reform Dodd-Frank which at over 22,000 pages of new regulations is costing taxpayers $36.2 billion and tilting the playing field too much in favor of the larger banks to the detriment of our local banks who can lend to our small businesses.

State & Local Property Taxes

• Work to adopt the Faso Plan – New York imposes the highest burden in the nation on property taxpayers to support Medicaid.  That is why I have endorsed John Faso’s plan to pass federal legislation that would prohibit the state from imposing a local government share of Medicaid costs.

• Use my Congressional “bully pulpit” to call on state lawmakers to enact much needed state tax and regulatory reform.

Government taxes too much, regulates too much and is too involved in our lives. Lowering taxes and repealing job-killing regulations will improve our economy and force government to spend and meddle less. As a member of Congress, I will work to ensure this happens so Americans can keep more of their money, and businesses are unshackled to expand, succeed, and create jobs.