Democratic Sr Senator; previously Representative (OH-13)
Billionaires need to start paying their fair share
Raise or lower taxes on corporations and wealthier individuals?
Sherrod Brown (D): Raise. "Too many workers pay more in taxes than our country's wealthiest billionaires. Billionaires need to start paying their fair share." Opposed a
2017 $1.5 trillion tax bill to lower corporate and top-bracket tax rates.
Bernie Moreno (R): Lower. Supports making permanent the Trump tax cuts. Pledged never to raise taxes.
Source: Guides.vote candidate survey on 2024 Ohio Senate race
, Aug 8, 2024
Trump tax cuts apply to corporations that send jobs overseas
Q: Support President Trump's tax cuts?
Sherrod Brown (D): No. "Outrageous that Senators . would try to take health care away from working families . to cut taxes on corporations that send jobs overseas."
Jim Renacci (R): Yes. They enable Ohio companies "to invest in workers, innovation, & future generations."
Source: 2018 CampusElect.org Issue Guide on Ohio Senate race
, Oct 9, 2018
Help working families instead of millionaires & corporations
Last fall, Congress and the White House had a chance to come together and pass a bipartisan tax reform bill that put more money in the pockets of working families and created good-paying jobs in the United States. Instead, Washington leaders chose to
give handouts to millionaires and corporations that send jobs overseas.
While the typical pharmacy worker or restaurant cook or cashier or janitor in Ohio will see an average tax cut of just $33 a month, someone making more than $830,000 a year will
rake in $5,100 every single month in tax cuts. And the bill actually created a new set of incentives to reward corporations that outsource jobs.
We were promised that the corporate tax cuts would end up in workers' pockets in the form of higher wages.
Instead, corporations have used their tax cut to buy back more than $700 billion of their own stock since the law passed. Stock buybacks don't support workers--they are a financial sleight of hand to boost shareholder profits and CEO bonuses.
Brown criticized Mandel for signing a pledge not to raise taxes, saying it would handcuff him in making budget decisions to balance the budget and reduce the federal debt. He said it ran counter to
Mandel's pledge not to be beholden to any interest group.
"I'm proud to stand up for lower taxes," Mandel said, adding that he would do anything to "lower taxes across the board for the middle class and for job creators."
Source: Cincinnati.com coverage of 2012 Ohio Senate debate
, Oct 15, 2012
We borrow billions from China for tax cuts to millionaires
We are borrowing tens of billions of dollars every year now from the Chinese, and we are putting it on the credit cards of our children and grandchildren for them to pay off who knows when, and then we are giving these tax cuts to millionaires and
billionaires. In those simple terms, it doesn't make sense. It doesn't make sense in our relationship with China. It doesn't make sense in the lost jobs that come from that China trade policy. It doesn't make sense in undermining the middle class.
It doesn't make sense in terms of fairness in the tax system. It doesn't make sense for our children and grandchildren and the burden they are going to have to bear to pay off this debt.
Giving a millionaire a tax cut and charging it to our kids, who are paying taxes on, unfortunately, in the last few years, declining wages, is morally reprehensible.
In the 2006 campaign, Sherrod Brown, now the junior senator from Ohio, neatly checkmated his opponent's claim that Brown was a big taxer. Republican senator Mike DeWine, then the incumbent, built much of his campaign around his support for George W.
Bush's tax cuts & Brown's opposition. But Brown's TV spot hit DeWine right between the eyes with the rejoinder: "Did you get any of those tax cuts, or did they all go to Mike DeWine's wealthy friends?"--because it validated the experience of most voters.
In the 2006 campaign, Sherrod Brown, now the junior senator from Ohio, neatly checkmated his opponent's claim that Brown was a big taxer. Republican senator Mike DeWine, then the incumbent, built much of his campaign around his support for George W.
Bush's tax cuts & Brown's opposition. But Brown's TV spot hit DeWine right between the eyes with the rejoinder: "Did you get any of those tax cuts, or did they all go to Mike DeWine's wealthy friends?"--because it validated the experience of most voters.
DeWine's ads doctor WTC photos to distort my record on taxes
DeWINE: When it came time to help the middle class with tax cuts, a tax cut that has taken five million Americans off the tax rolls, that has given the average Ohioan $2,000 per year, Sherrod Brown voted no time and time again.
BROWN: Mike, you know
better than that, too. His whole ad campaign is fabricated on making up stuff about taxes.
DeWINE: My ad campaign is based on votes that you cast. You just want to run from your record.
BROWN: Mike ran an ad of the World Trade Center on fire.
The problem is, he doctored the ad.
DeWINE: Have you ever denied the facts in that ad? I said there was a mistake made in the picture, but there was no mistake in the facts.
BROWN: He didn't fire the ad agency.
Q: Was there any factual mistake?
BROWN: Well, other than doctoring a photo?
Q: Well, you made that point.
BROWN: That's a pretty important point.
DeWINE: He won't answer the question. The facts are correct.
American People's Dividend: Give $300 to every person.
Brown adopted the Progressive Caucus Position Paper:
The Problem
President Bush argues that upper income people pay a larger share of the taxes, therefore they should get a larger tax cut. We disagree. These people have significantly benefited from the economic boom of the 1990s, while those in the bottom range of incomes have received little benefit. It�s these folks that we must help. President Bush�s plan is �Reaganomics� revisited and it�s fiscally irresponsible. Despite spending $1.6 trillion or more, the President�s tax plan gives little to nothing for those with little income. In fact, anyone below 140% of the poverty line, will get a zero tax cut.
The Solution
The Progressive Caucus believes that tax relief must flow to those who need it the most, the working class and people with limited incomes. We have endorsed an idea called the American People�s Dividend. We�ll give a dividend to every American, because every American is an equal shareholder in America. We estimate the total cost to be about $900 billion
over 10 years. The plan will give to every person about a $300 refundable tax credit. A married couple with 3 children will receive $1500, $300 for each member of the family. This plan is simple, easy to administer, and progressive. The plan could provide an economic stimulus since it would put money in people�s pockets immediately. Unlike the Bush proposal, which reserves 40% of the tax benefits for the wealthiest 1% of the population, our proposal gives the wealthiest 1% exactly 1% of the tax relief. This makes the bulk of tax relief available for the bulk of the population. The American People�s Dividend is payable every year the federal budget is in surplus.
Comparison of Progressive Tax Plan & Bush�s Plan
The Wealthy
The Low Income
Progressive Caucus American Peoples Dividend
$300
$300
President Bush�s Tax Cuts
$$46,000
$0
Source: Progressive Caucus Press Release, "Tax Relief" 01-CPC2 on Feb 8, 2001
Rated 27% by NTU, indicating a "Big Spender" on tax votes.
Brown scores 27% by NTU on tax-lowering policies
Every year National Taxpayers Union (NTU) rates U.S. Representatives and Senators on their actual votes�every vote that significantly affects taxes, spending, debt, and regulatory burdens on consumers and taxpayers. NTU assigned weights to the votes, reflecting the importance of each vote�s effect. NTU has no partisan axe to grind. All Members of Congress are treated the same regardless of political affiliation. Our only constituency is the overburdened American taxpayer. Grades are given impartially, based on the Taxpayer Score. The Taxpayer Score measures the strength of support for reducing spending and regulation and opposing higher taxes. In general, a higher score is better because it means a Member of Congress voted to lessen or limit the burden on taxpayers.
The Taxpayer Score can range between zero and 100. We do not expect anyone to score a 100, nor has any legislator ever scored a perfect 100 in the multi-year history of the comprehensive NTU scoring system. A high score does not mean that the Member of Congress was opposed to all spending or all programs. High-scoring Members have indicated that they would vote for many programs if the amount of spending were lower. A Member who wants to increase spending on some programs can achieve a high score if he or she votes for offsetting cuts in other programs. A zero score would indicate that the Member of Congress approved every spending proposal and opposed every pro-taxpayer reform.
Citizens for Tax Justice, founded in 1979, is not-for-profit public interest research and advocacy organization focusing on federal, state and local tax policies and their impact upon our nation. CTJ`s mission is to give ordinary people a greater voice in the development of tax laws.
Against the armies of special interest lobbyists for corporations and the wealthy, CTJ fights for:
Fair taxes for middle and low-income families
Requiring the wealthy to pay their fair share
Closing corporate tax loopholes
Adequately funding important government services
Reducing the federal debt
Taxation that minimizes distortion of economic markets
Brown opposes the CC survey question on keeping tax cuts
The Christian Coalition Voter Guide inferred whether candidates agree or disagree with the statement, 'Make federal income tax cuts permanent'
Christian Coalition's self-description: "Christian Voter Guide is a clearing-house for traditional, pro-family voter guides. We do not create voter guides, nor do we interview or endorse candidates."
Source: Christian Coalition Surve 18CC-11a on Jul 1, 2018
Brown opposes the CC survey question on eliminating Death Tax
The Christian Coalition Voter Guide inferred whether candidates agree or disagree with the statement, 'Permanent Elimination of the "Death Tax"'
Christian Coalition's self-description: "Christian Voter Guide is a clearing-house for traditional, pro-family voter guides. We do not create voter guides, nor do we interview or endorse candidates."
Source: Christian Coalition Surve 18CC-11b on Jul 1, 2018