Just days after proposing new tax breaks for millionaires like himself, Congressional Candidate Tom MacArthur is in Washington, D.C. today for a fundraiser at an exclusive club for right wing insiders. Tom MacArthur’s special interest allies are boosting his campaign because they know he will stack the deck in their favor. Last week MacArthur called for a “flatter” tax code that would give millionaires huge new tax breaks and pay for them by shifting the burden onto hardworking middle class families.
“Just a few days ago Tom MacArthur proposed new tax breaks for millionaires, and today his special interest allies are rewarding for him it,” said Marc Brumer of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. “Tom MacArthur called for a ‘flatter’ tax code that would give millionaires huge new tax breaks and pay for them by shifting the burden onto hardworking New Jersey families. Now he’s in Washington getting a boost from the ultra-wealthy special interests who know MacArthur will have their back instead of the middle class.”
BACKGROUND:
MacArthur Called for a “Flatter” Tax Code. In September 2014, MacArthur unveiled a jobs plan calling for a “simpler, flatter tax code.” [tmac4congress.com, 9/19/14]
Flatter Tax Lowers Tax Rate for High-Income Earners. In 2011, Alan Binder, former vice chairman of the Federal Reserve, wrote in the Wall Street Journal, “Eliminating the biggest deductions and exclusions is extremely unlikely, and flatter rates alone won’t make the tax system any simpler. It would, however, make it far less progressive.” [Wall Street Journal, 11/14/11]
Flat Taxes Lower Taxes on Millionaires and Shift the Burden to the Middle Class. Multiple analyses of flat tax plans such as the one proposed by Texas Governor Rick Perry have shown that these plans will lower taxes on millionaires at the expense of tax increases for the middle class. [Economic Policy Institute, 11/2/11; Citizens for Tax Justice, 2/19/10;New York Times, 10/25/11]