The following is a press release from Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold.
Cutting Business Taxes for Job Creation
Senator Russ Feingold has worked with businesses here in the state, and with both parties in Washington, to create jobs and put people back to work.
Feingold supported a bipartisan initiative (HIRE Act) to help small businesses grow through tax breaks for job creation and he wants to build on it with a payroll tax credit for all businesses.
Feingold’s aggressive payroll tax credit for companies big and small would cut taxes for businesses that hire new employees, increase wages, or provide part-time employees full-time work. Earlier this year, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office analyzed a tax break similar to Russ’s proposal, and found it would be among the most efficient and effective ways to spur employment.
“We need to help Wisconsin businesses that want to expand their payroll by extending a payroll tax credit for companies to hire new employees, increase wages, and provide part-time employees full-time work. My plan will help save jobs, increase hiring, and create new jobs to move our economy forward,” Feingold said.
Feingold sent a letter to the White House yesterday encouraging the president to support his plan.
Feingold also supported the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which cut taxes for 95 percent of working Americans and included $2.3 billion in 48C tax credits for advanced energy manufacturing projects to help restore Wisconsin’s manufacturing heritage, as well as money for other projects around the state to put Wisconsin back to work. He also backed tax credits for small businesses so they don’t have to choose between health care and hiring. More than 77,000 Wisconsin small businesses are eligible to receive tax credits starting this year to help purchase health insurance for business owners and their employees.
To date, Feingold’s opponent, Ron Johnson, has offered only empty slogans and partisan attacks instead of putting forward any plans to tackle the challenges people face.
But today, on Charlie Sykes’s radio program, Johnson came out in support of extending the Bush Administration’s tax cuts for the wealthy that have increased the deficit and added to our debt without targeting those cuts toward actual job creation.
Johnson offered no plan to pay for the tax cuts.
Ron Johnson Offers No Solutions to Put Wisconsin Back to Work
Republican U.S. Senate candidate Ron Johnson has no proposals of his own to cut taxes or spur job creation:
He believes our economy would be better off without any economic recovery efforts, including projects currently underway and employing Wisconsin citizens around the state. [Jerry Bader Show, WTAQ, June 7, 2010]
Johnson vocally opposes economic recovery proposals that cut taxes for 95 percent of working Americans – instead supporting tax cuts for only his extremely wealthy friends. [Sykes Show¸ WTMJ, June 17, 2010]
•Johnson opposes tax credit programs to help restore Wisconsin’s manufacturing base and told Wisconsin Eye that his “single biggest issue” is to repeal the tax cuts for over 77,000 Wisconsin small businesses to help them focus on creating jobs and fueling our economic recovery without having to choose between health care and hiring. [Wisconsin Eye, May 26, 2010]
•Johnson announced during a recent debate that he even opposes continuing unemployment benefits for displaced workers. [Chamber of Commerce Debate, June 21, 2010]
•When discussing recovery efforts with WisPolitics, Johnson offered no specific plans to spur job growth, saying only, “I think freedom and the free market are the solutions for most things.” [WisPolitics, June 14, 2010]
•In an interview with UpFront’s Mike Gousha, Johnson also admittedly failed to read a key, nonpartisan study showing that recovery efforts are indeed, helping to turn the economy around. [UpFront with Mike Gousha, WISN, May 30, 2010]
As the Wall Street Journal reported in May, the Recovery Act:
“Has had a slightly bigger effect on the U.S. economy than was projected when it was passed more than a year ago…Through the first quarter of 2010, the stimulus boosted employment by an estimated 1.3 million to 2.8 million jobs, about a quarter or half million more than projected. Gross domestic product was 1.7 to 4.1 percentage points higher than it would have been without the stimulus.”
The Center on Wisconsin Strategy (COWS) also released a report that showed:
“With the addition of 16,400 jobs between March and April 2010 — the largest monthly increase in employment in more than a decade — Wisconsin’s economy may have finally turned a corner. After the job devastation wrought by this recession, the robust increase in jobs is welcome news and continues an upward trend for 2010. As of April, the state has gained 32,000 jobs this year.”
Wisconsin’s Small Businesses Support Feingold’s Jobs Tax Credit Plan
Here’s what a couple Wisconsin small businesses have said in support of Feingold’s jobs payroll tax credits.
Michael Retzer, CFO and controller of Strohwig Industries Inc. in Richfield, says of Feingold’s proposal, “It would be very helpful to employees as well as employers.”
Richard Reichertz, president of ATACO Steel Products Corp. in Cedarburg, states, “We had some wage freezes in place. This will help us get over the wage freezes, which I think will help the economy in general, because our employees will feel confident and start spending money, as well. It also frees up some cash. The banks have tightened their lending standards. We need to continue to invest in our business, in capital equipment, which also will create jobs locally, as well.”
