TAX NEWS - 2010

New Jersey Tax: Runyan calls for substantial tax cuts to boost economy

MOUNT LAUREL — Jon Runyan, the Third District Republican congressional candidate, held his first news conference as his party's nominee Tuesday, using the occasion to call for several substantial tax cuts that he hopes will spur the economy but not add to the nation's mounting deficit.

"More spending is not going to work," Runyan said Tuesday at his Mount Laurel campaign headquarters on Church Road, where he unveiled an eight-point tax plan.

"It's people that are going to get us out of this (recession), so we have to put money back in the people's hands," he said.

The former Philadelphia Eagles lineman's proposal calls for across-the-board tax cuts of 15 percent as well as a flat 25 percent corporate tax rate, the elimination of taxes on Social Security benefits, a moratorium on taxing unemployment benefits, an increase in the child tax credit, and the repeal of the alternative minimum tax and death tax.

His plan also calls for slashing the capital gains tax and dividends taxes in half and easing restrictions on contributions to tax shelters such as 401(k) plans and IRA investments.

"No one saves anymore," Runyan said. "This would be an incentive and a tool to encourage that."

He said his campaign hasn't calculated how much the tax cuts would cost, if approved, but he was adamant that they should be balanced by corresponding spending cuts by the federal government. He was critical of former President George W. Bush for not cutting spending along with taxes.

Runyan has proposed creating a "Red Ink Task Force" to review all federal spending for potential savings and waste.

He said that the task force's recommendations should be voted on by Congress before the 2012 election and that Congress should pass a balanced budget amendment to end federal deficit spending.

Runyan declined to name any specific programs he would like to eliminate. Instead, he said the task force should closely review non-defense-related discretionary spending and government jobs and noted that a return to spending and employment levels before President Obama took office would save the country more than $950 billion.

"Anyone who believes there's not a lot of discretionary spending out there is foolish," he said. "Less taxes and smaller government is the way to get this country back."

Runyan, a township resident, is seeking the seat of Rep. John Adler of Cherry Hill, a first-term Democrat who voted against the health care reform law and some of his party's spending proposals.

In April, Adler introduced federal legislation that would allow all homeowners to take a 100 percent property tax deduction as well as double the child care tax credit for children under 6, and would expand the dependent tax credit to families that care for an elderly parent.

Runyan noted that Adler voted in favor of the $1 trillion federal stimulus package, which he said ballooned the nation's debt but did not solve its unemployment woes.

He said Adler also voted in favor of tax increases during his tenure in the New Jersey Legislature.

"If people want higher taxes, more spending and bigger government, then vote for career politician John Adler," Runyan said. "If they want lower taxes, less spending and a smaller government, then vote for me and let's move our country in a different direction starting next January."

Adler campaign manager Geoff Mackler criticized Runyan's tax plan, saying it largely would help the rich rather than middle-class taxpayers, senior citizens and small businesses.

"Jon Runyan has just proposed a reckless tax plan that primarily benefits millionaires like himself. That's not surprising from someone who has exploited loopholes to save himself thousands in taxes and still can't seem to pay them on time," Mackler said, referring to previous disclosures by Runyan that he was late in making several property tax payments and that he pays a farmland assessment on part of his land in Mount Laurel.

"The middle class, seniors and small business deserve real tax relief and lower deficits, not Jon Runyan's plan that will explode the national debt in order to provide the wealthy and special interests with tax cuts," Mackler said.