Rush Holt's Taxpayer Thievery

WARNING: Do not break the law before, during, or after reading anything I mention.



Rush D. Holt, congressional representative of New Jersey's 12th district, has voted against several bills that let us keep more of our hard earned wages in our own pockets. Mr. Holt's voting record on taxes is horrendous. During his decade long occupancy of our congressional seat, Mr. Holt consistently sought taxpayer money to wastefully spend on misguided adventures. Rush Holt's contemptuous behavior toward our property is truly outrageous. Taxpayers and small businesses, and property rights in general, have been rudely pushed aside by Mr. Holt and his radical Democrat partisans. They have squandered our money, and denigrated our property rights, all for a multitude of utopian instruments that have only perpetuated the social maladies they intend to eradicate. Demagogues of ancient Greece would be very happy with Rush Holt, and the liberal menace now in control of Congress, because they wage a relentless battle against private property rights we retain as citizens of a free Republic. Let us turn back the liberal/progressive menace in November, because it seeks to subvert the best practices of free market capitalism, honest labor, and the sanctity of private property.



In H.R. 3090, the Job Creation and Worker Assistance Act of 2002, which passed by two votes in the House, Rush Holt voted against extending the net operating loss carry back period from two to five years for business losses; a temporary suspension of a specified limit on certain carryovers of such losses for purposes of an alternative tax deduction on them; allowing certain expenses of elementary and secondary school teachers to be taken into account in determining their adjusted gross income; extending a tax credit for qualified electric vehicles, and the availability of medical savings accounts.



In H.R. 3009, the Trade Act of 2002, which passed the House by three votes, Rush Holt voted against a refundable tax credit of 65 percent of the health insurance costs for coverage (including continuation coverage) of the individual, spouse, and dependents of a recipient of Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA), alternative TAA, or a pension benefit guaranty corporation (PBGC) pension; an increase from $400 to $800 the aggregate value of articles exempt from duty acquired abroad by U.S. residents; ensuring trade agreements afford small businesses equal access to international markets, equitable trade benefits, expansion of export market opportunities; and provided for the reduction or elimination of trade barriers that disproportionately affect small business.



In H.R. 1836, the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act 2001, Rush Holt voted against phased in income tax reductions, and increasing the standard deduction for married couples in the 15 percent income tax bracket. In H.R. 1308, the Working Families Tax Relief Act of 2004, Rush Holt was one of sixty-five that voted against extending various expiring tax credits and deductions for working families. Rush Holt also voted against H.R. 2, the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003, which accelerated previously enacted tax reductions for families, businesses, capital gains and dividends, and H.R. 4520, the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004, which provided tax credits and deductions for small businesses, and tax relief for agriculture and small manufacturers.



In H.R. 4, the Pension Protection Act of 2006, Rush Holt voted against strengthening single and multi employer defined benefit pension plans, and in H.R. 4297, the Tax Increase Prevention and Reconciliation Act of 2005, Mr. Holt voted against small business tax relief and increasing the alternative minimum tax exemption amount for individual taxpayers. Mr. Holt also voted against S. 1932, the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, which instituted deposit insurance reform, eliminated fraud, waste and abuse in Medicaid, and provided for flexible cost sharing and benefits for Medicaid. Rush Holt also joined the twenty-eight percent of public servants that voted against S. 256, the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005, which strengthened penalties for abusive creditor practices, discouraged bankruptcy abuse, required tougher disclosure standards for consumer credit extensions, defining more clearly FDIC guidelines, and provided for the protection of family farmers and fishermen facing bankruptcy.



Rush Holt voted for H.R. 1424, the Emergency Economic Stability Act of 2008, otherwise known as TARP, which increased the public debt to 11.315 trillion to purchase troubled assets, increased federal authority over financial institutions, provided taxpayer liquidity and assistance to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, extended the federal unemployment surtax, and provided tax incentives for investment in the District of Columbia. Mr. Holt also voted for H.R. 3221, the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, that established the Home Ownership Preservation Entity Fund that insured up to $300 billion to refinance loans for distressed borrowers, increased the national debt limit from $9.82 trillion to 10.62 trillion, provided a $7,500 first-time home buyer tax credit, and encouraged Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to securitize more mortgages.



Rush Holt voted for H.R. 5240, the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008, which reduced tax rebates by 5% of the amount that exceeds an adjusted gross income of $75,000 ($150,000 for joint returns), and to appropriate $215,590,000 to the Financial Management Service for salaries and expenses, and to the IRS for operations support. Mr. Holt was also one of the seven that pushed health care reform over the top for passage by voting for H.R. 3590, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2009.



H.R. 3590 was a legislative monstrosity that gave broad discretionary powers to the Secretary of Labor and Health and Human Services to determine what is an appropriate health care plan, added a multi layered bureaucratic regime of new agencies, commissions, and administrators to manage and study health care, imposed an annual fee on branded prescription drug sales exceeding $5 million, gross sales receipts exceeding $5 million of manufacturers, and importers of certain medical devices. Rush Holt also voted for H.R.1, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, which appropriated $50 million to fund art projects and activities, $1.2 billion for youth activities, $700 million for comparative effectiveness research conducted by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, and $300 million to support efforts toward health information exchange.



This record is only a snapshot of Rush Holt's career casting votes for us in Congress. It is a fiscally irresponsible record. Rush Holt has followed his partisan colleagues down a utopian path that denigrates property rights, increases our national debt, expands federal reach, authority, and discretion, all the while running up the federal budget deficit. We can limit more taxpayer distresses, economic uncertainties, and burgeoning federal debt and deficits, if we remove Rush Holt from our seat in Congress. In November, the wise citizens of New Jersey's 12th Congressional District will end Rush Holt's congressional reign, and free us from the radical agenda now being forced through Congress by an elitist cabal of progressive demagogues.