Fighting for Taxpayers

I’m committed to keeping taxes low, making government accountable to taxpayers, and cutting wasteful spending. 

In recognition of these efforts, I recently was named a “Taxpayer Hero” by the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste and a “Defender of Freedom” by the Club for Growth.  I was also honored to receive the Small Business Council of America’s Special Congressional Appreciation Award, which has been given only a handful of times over the last 26 years. 

Economists have noted that the uncertainty of tax rates has made businesses hesitant to invest and create new jobs.  Congress must prevent the tax increases that will strike small businesses and American families next year if the 2001 and 2003 tax measures that I authored for small businesses and American families are allowed to expire at the end of 2010. 

If these tax measures are not preserved, taxpayers will see the largest tax increase in terms of dollars in the history of the country.  The nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation stated just last month that 50 percent of all the flow-through business income in America will get hit with these tax increases.  In addition, data from the National Federation of Independent Business, which consists of small businesses from around the county, as well as data from the Small Business Administration, indicate that 20 million Americans work for businesses that face these increases.  Higher taxes will put these jobs in jeopardy.

Congress also must preserve the tax incentives that I authored for renewable energy, including biodiesel and ethanol.  Tens of thousands of green-energy jobs have already been lost nationwide because Congress hasn’t renewed the biodiesel tax credit, which expired at the end of 2009. 

Government must be accountable to the public it serves.  Toward this end, I continually work to safeguard and strengthen a law I updated in 1986 by empowering whistleblowers.  With my whistleblower updates, the federal False Claims Act has recovered more than 22 billion in tax dollars that otherwise would have been lost to fraud. 

Those whistleblower provisions were the model for my successfully enacted 2006 legislation to fight tax fraud.  A 2009 report by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration highlights how successful the revisions have been in encouraging whistleblowers to come forward.  According to this report, almost 2,000 claims were filed with the Internal Revenue Service in calendar years 2007 and 2008, alleging more than $70 billion of underreported income.

I’ll continue to advocate for taxpayers by strengthening independent oversight of government programs, conducting my own oversight, and getting value for each tax dollar.

More information on the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste “Taxpayer Hero” award is available here.

More information on the Club for Growth “Defender of Freedom” award is available here.

More information on the Small Business Council of America’s Special Congressional Appreciation Award is available here.