Congressman
Henry E. Brown, Jr.

Posted by: Brown Staff (April 20, 2009, 12:04 PM)

A Detailed Analysis of President Obama's Budget Prepared by U.S. House Committee Republicans

Posted in Economy, Taxes | View Full Posting

Posted by: Brown Staff (April 15, 2009, 01:08 PM)

Tax Day, April 15th, has historically been a dreaded date for many, but even more so today, as Americans are facing some of the most trying economic times in years. We are reminded on this day, that most things in life are taxed, and this trend only seems to be increasing with the recent passage of the 2010 budget, as it could bring the largest tax increase in U.S. history.

Our current economic crisis will not be solved through tax increases or massive government spending. Instead, we must reform the broken tax code by offering Americans progressive alternatives like the Fair Tax. As the only member of the South Carolina Delegation to support the Fair Tax Act, I continue to stand firmly behind this legislation as it would actually simplify our tax system by repealing the current income tax, abolishing the Internal Revenue Service and enacting a national sales tax.

Read more of my thoughts on The Sun News Opinion Blog.

Posted in In the News, Taxes | View Full Posting

Posted by: Brown Staff (April 06, 2009, 10:47 AM)

As the Ranking Republican Member of the Veterans Affairs’ Subcommittee on Health, I was extremely pleased to be able to offer my support for provisions of the Federal Reform Act that will decrease the burden placed on military survivors by the ‘widow’s tax.’

Read more of my comments on this essential veteran's legislation.

As a continuous and ardent supporter of all veterans, I have worked hard to draft and sponsor legislation to enhance the lives of our nation’s heroes and their families. Read my remarks on this legislation from this week’s the Veterans’ Affairs Committee Meeting. Learn more about the my efforts for all veterans.
   

Posted in Taxes, Veterans | View Full Posting

Posted by: Brown Staff (April 03, 2009, 10:52 AM)

Last night the President's Budget passed the House and Senate with NO Republican votes in either chamber.
Read about my support of the alternative GOP budget plans that offered reasonable solutions for middle class families, focused directly on creating jobs, tax relief and empowering small businesses to survive and grow.

Posted in Defense, Economy, Energy, Environment and Wildlife, Health Care, Homeland Security, Retirement, Taxes | View Full Posting

Posted by: Brown Staff (March 31, 2009, 10:13 AM)

Susan from Little River writes:
I think a lot could be done with the resources the government already has on its payroll.

Anthony from Charleston writes:
This guy is a pure socialist; we need to block any and all efforts to his idea of socialism. His whole party thinks government is the answer to our current problems. I myself have served this country for over 30 years so we the people can have a free and democratic form of government. I support your efforts and the Republican Party in not standing by and letting our nation fall into a socialist state. Remember we the people run the government; the government need not rule us.

Linda from Townsend writes:
I think my grandchildren will be paying for this.

Marjorie writes:
It’s CRAP!

George from Little River writes:
Rep. Brown, it’s hard for me to comprehend the size of this proposed budget. There is so much pork and waste in it that it would choke a horse and then some. When do we ever see a savings for the tax payers? When does the government reduce their operating budget...I see a great deal of overhead and little progress. When do we evaluate their purpose and is it worthwhile to continue to fund them… We need to reduce and eliminate all the pork projects from the budget.

Russ writes:
Porculus!!

Karen from Pawley’s Island writes:
The President does not understand what he is doing to the Americans who work and have worked to get ahead!! He is punishing anyone with a business or anyone who makes more than $250,000! You cannot tax your way out of this. I was just recently laid off due to the President’s proposals. Increasing entitlements to those that have been on the dole for years is not the answer! … We are taxing our children and our grandchildren to death… By electing Obama-others feel the government will buy their groceries, pay their taxes, buy their house, put gas in their tank and give them spending money! This is incredible-we need oversight on the spending bill and the Budget. Obama is pushing this agenda down our throat.

Glen writes:
The President’s budget is very bad for our country, everything he has done takes us further away from capitalism.

Richard writes:
I am concerned about the budget…The economy needs tax relief. I am ready to give the feds less control.

Marsha writes:
I am definitely against the proposed budget. It will help to destroy America.

William from Summerville writes:
The Budget is not good; spending money to get out of debt is not the answer. The government needs to do less and let the people take care of people we have far too much government spending as it is and this will only help to bring down what has made the USA a great nation.

Stan writes:
The budget is a joke. Why and 8% increase and why 9000 earmark pork projects?

Janet from Mt. Pleasant writes:
This is a disaster. What is happening to our country and what can we do to stop it?

Wendy from Moncks Corner writes:
I think that President Obama’s budget is going to do more harm than good.

Johnny from Goose Creek writes:
Dear Congressman, I hope you stand firm against this President’s agenda, or we will most likely end us as a Third World Society. The Democratic Party has gone completely insane with these Socialist spending policies. I believe our very Liberty and Freedom are at stake. I am a history buff and we are headed in the wrong direction.

Frances writes:
The budget is way over the top. You guys need to shut him down, keep up the good fight!

Rosemary writes:
This is very bad for our country.

Gail writes:
Obscenely irresponsible and socialist in nature.

Stan writes:
I do not believe in entitlements at any time, but with the economy where it is today, they definitely must be eliminated. The non-defense spending should be reduced at least in half. Now is not the time to raise taxes.

Kenneth from Aynor writes:
I feel that both the budget and the stimulus package are more about welfare than progress. Too many of Obama’s proposals wreak of socialism. It is very unnerving to think about the direction we are headed as a nation. The stimulus pack and bailout programs are nothing more than blank welfare checks.

Michael from Goose Creek writes:
It’s back to tax and spend, which has never worked. It is a killer to small business. The private sector will suffer, job loss will continue, it’s an awful budget, and Obama's plan is socialism and will further deteriorate America.

Gretchen from Summerville writes:
The budget is out of control…just like everything else in Washington.

Craig from Summerville writes:
Disaster for the people who have followed the rules.

William from Hilton Head writes:
My family and employer have had to tighten our financial belt, so should our federal government regarding entitlements spending and earmarks.

Bill Bleakley writes:      
Again'st! Please support the Govenors stance on stimulus.

Harry Dawson writes: 
I think it is the height of stupidity and arrogance...The people who are in charge have no clue as to what they are doing...The change that is happening shouldnt happen to a third world country....Unless Republicans unite and take back control of the Congress, this is only a sample of the woes yet to befall America...Stand tall and defend us against these attackers of freedom and the free enterprise system...

Unanimous writes:  
It is outrageous. My Grandchildren will be paying for it for many years. That is if it hasn't seriously eroded our currency before then.

James Kirk writes:    
OVER the MAX.
   
Donald Goldsmith writes:     
Stinks like every thing he proposes

Dennis Space writes:     
We are very selfish as we continue to spend and pass these massive debts on to future generations. we would not do this to our family why do we let our government do it for us? we definitely have our values confused, especially the party and administration proposing this latest budget.

Posted in Economy, Taxes | View Full Posting

Posted by: Brown Staff (March 16, 2009, 05:38 PM)

From the Office of the Republican Leader, John Boehner

Get a state by state analysis on the following aspect of President Obama's Budget:

•  Job-Killing Tax Increases
•  Health Care Cuts
• Record Borrowing

Posted in Economy, Taxes | View Full Posting

Posted by: Brown Staff (March 06, 2009, 02:00 PM)

The President's Fiscal Year 2010 Budget Proposal includes some $1.4 billion in tax increases - tax increases that will hit every single family in the country at a time when our economy is in the middle of a painful recession.  The Republican Staff of the Budget Committee broke down the tax increases in this handy chart:

You can read the Budget Committee's full analysis of the President's Budget Proposal here.

Posted in Economy, Taxes | View Full Posting

Posted by: Henry E. Brown (March 06, 2009, 01:36 PM)

At a time when the American people are hurting and calling on Congress and the White House to take action to get this economy moving, higher taxes and massive increases in federal spending are not the cures for what ails this economy.  Unfortunately, the President's Fiscal Year 2010 Budget offers us just that - even though the American people know we cannot tax, spend, and bail our way back into economic growth.

The President's budget will raise taxes on almost every American during a time when we all are feeling the impact of this recession.  While small businesses are the engine of our nation's economy, this Budget will directly target them with tax increases.  Given continued slump in the job market, we should providing incentives for small business to grow - not throwing a tax increase at them.  

While families are struggling to make ends meet, the President's budget calls for increasing utility rates on every single household in America. While charities such as higher education, health research foundations, and religious organizations are struggling under reduced support and higher demand for their services, the President's budget calls for cutting the tax deduction on donations to these important parts of our community.  While middle class families saving for retirement have seen their 401(k) significantly reduced by the challenges facing the stock market, the President's budget means a tax increase for them as well. 

I am proud to stand on the side of American people and of the First District in support of a responsible budget that  helps get our economy back on track without piling more debt on future generations and increasing taxes on American families and small businesses.  With family budgets tightening, nest eggs shrinking, and job security weakening for far too many across the country, the last thing Congress should be considering is a budget that combines a trillion-dollar tax hike with a historic increase in government spending.  

Posted in Economy, Taxes | View Full Posting

Posted by: Katie McKinney (February 03, 2009, 04:14 PM)

Posted in Economy, Taxes | View Full Posting

Posted by: Brown Staff (November 16, 2008, 01:33 PM)

Targeting Your 401(k)
Congress has an eye on the tax break for your retirement.
The Wall Street Journal

November 14, 2008

You may have heard about Argentina's plan to nationalize private retirement accounts. Some Democrats on Capitol Hill are inspired, and with their big election victory they may get the chance to test Peronist ideas in America.

Meet Congressmen George Miller and Jim McDermott, who are eager to change the way Americans save for their golden years. They'll also be powerbrokers in the next Congress. Mr. Miller, who came in with the Class of 1974 from California, chairs the House Education and Labor Committee. Mr. McDermott, who has represented Seattle the past two decades, runs a House Ways and Means subcommittee on income security and family support.

Before Election Day, the Congressmen began to target the $3 trillion in 401(k) accounts held by about 60% 0f Americans. Mr. Miller called the system "an inadequate vehicle" that "has not been terribly successful" in encouraging retirement savings. He wants a "wholesale re-examination" of pensions.

Just what alternative these Democrats support is unclear, and nothing has been formally proposed beyond Mr. Miller's plan to make the system "more transparent," reduce fees charged by the money managers, and suspend the tax penalty for seniors over 70 who don't take the "required minimum" withdrawal from their account, regardless of the market situation.

But the Chairman has also signalled greater ambitions. At a hearing last month, Mr. Miller put the 401(k) system into play. Under the current system, employers match employee contributions that aren't taxed until redeemed, an indirect subsidy worth some $80 billion today. "We have to start to think about in Congress . . . whether or not we want to continue to invest that $80 billion for a policy that's not generating what we now say it should," Mr. Miller said. "For a taxpayer investment of this size, we must ensure that the structure of 401(k)s adequately protects the nest eggs of participating workers."

His committee listened to possible reform proposals. Most eye-catching was an idea from Teresa Ghilarducci at New York's New School for Social Research. Her plan would end the tax breaks for 401(k)s; she proposes instead to give all workers an annual $600 inflation-adjusted tax credit for retirement and force them to invest 5% of their pay into a government-run retirement account managed by the Social Security Administration. She called the 401(k) "a failed experiment." A McDermott spokesman called her proposals "intriguing" and "part of the discussion." Mr. Miller hasn't so far endorsed the plan.

The main liberal objection to 401(k)s seems to be that they let average Americans control their own investment decisions for retirement. As Shlomo Benartzi, a professor at UCLA's Anderson business school, told Mr. Miller's committee, "Individuals have a tendency to buy at the peak, and then panic when the markets drop and sell at the bottom." Better to have the government do this instead.

It is certainly true that retirement plans have lost, on paper, some $4 trillion in the past 15 months -- half in 401(k) and IRAs and half in company defined-benefit plans. Average 401(k)s are down a quarter this year. But assuming sensible policies and a normal economic recovery, those asset values should rise again over time. In any case, investment returns on stocks and bonds over extended periods far exceed the paltry returns on Social Security that for some workers are a mere 1% to 2%

Tax breaks alone hardly explain the popularity of 401(k)s. Over the past 30 years, the number of individuals covered by them nearly trebled, up to 65 million accounts, while the number under defined-benefit pension fell 30%.  People are attached to their 401(k)s because it is their property, which they can carry with them to new jobs (unlike traditional pensions), manage as they see fit and bequeath to heirs.

Before entertaining dreams of state-managed retirement accounts, Congressional Democrats might ask why Europe and Latin America have tried so hard in recent years to move in the opposite direction. Their pension systems are debt-ridden, can't easily adjust for demographic shifts and show a historically lower return.

If Democrats want to improve the prospects for American retirees, their first priority should be removing barriers to economic growth. Anger over the drop in 401(k) balances is one reason that voters who belong to the "investor class" swung to Democrats in greater than usual numbers this year. Their mandate is for policies that improve those returns, not strip them of tax benefits.

Posted in Economy, Retirement, Taxes | View Full Posting