Following is the statement from Brandon Lorenz of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee on tonight’s debate in Iowa’s 3rd Congressional District:
“Whether it’s his willingness to eliminate the Department of Education and raise costs on Iowa students or his support for a budget that raises taxes on the middle class and gives more tax breaks to the wealthy, Washington insider David Young could not escape the fact that he has spent 20 years in the Beltway standing with the special interests and the wealthy over the middle class.”
BACKGROUND:
Young: I Would Get Rid Of The Department Of Education “As We Know It.” In 2013, when asked if he would get rid of the Department of Education Young responded:“I’d get rid of it as we know it, of course, but, you know, I would.” [Polk County GOP Picnic, Des Moines, IA, 9/7/13]
- Young: Federal Government in Education Should Only Enforce Discrimination. In 2013 when asked in what role should the government play in education Young responded, “I would say that really the only role I see would be to just enforce any discrimination in education, and that could be done, really sort of lies with the Department of Justice.” [YouTube, 9/5/13]
- Eliminating the Department of Education Would Cut Almost $4 Billion in Funds to Iowa. According to the Department of Education, they gave almost $4 billion in funds to Iowa in Fiscal Year 2013 and had requested over $4 billion in funds for Fiscal Year 2015. In 2013, Iowa received $83.5 million in Title I Grants to Local Education Agencies from the Department of Education to prepare low-income students for college and careers. [Department of Education, 7/14/14]
Young Embraced Republican Budget, Saying it was a “Good Thing.” In 2014, at fundraiser with Congressman Paul Ryan, Young said the Ryan Budget “moves the ball down the field […] and that’s a good thing.” [Associated Press, 4/11/14]
- Citizens for Tax Justice: Republican Budget Would Give Millionaires a $200,000 Tax Cut. “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.” [Citizens for Tax Justice, 4/02/14]
- CBPP: Reducing Top Tax Bracket to 25 Percent Would Cost $1.1 Trillion Over 10 Years. “The costliest of the new tax cuts in the House budget would shrink the top individual tax rate to 25 percent, its lowest level since before the New Deal (see Figure 2). TPC estimates that eliminating the tax brackets above 25 percent would cost $1.1 trillion over ten years. (This would be in addition to the $700 billion cost of extending the Bush tax cuts for those in the top brackets.)” [CBPP, 5/26/11]
- New York Times: Republican Budget Would Lower Taxes for the Wealthy While Raising Taxes on the Middle Class by $2,000. “The budget lowers the top tax rate to 25 percent for the wealthiest taxpayers, down from the current 39.6 percent, while raising taxes on middle-class families with children by an average of $2,000.” [New York Times Editorial, 4/01/14]