All the Facts

We understand that media outlets have limited column inches, limited air time and short deadlines to meet, and therefore are not able to provide the entire story around the news and events they are covering. This page is designed for people from the 3rd District to get the full story around what they read and see in the media about Congressman Fleischmann.

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Statement: "Republican Rep. Diane Black led Tennessee's House delegation with between $5 million and $51 million in income that included capital gains. Including Black, five of Tennessee's nine representatives reported capital gains income, ranging from a few hundred to a few million dollars. Fleischmann himself reported an investment portfolio valued between $500,001 and $1 million that included capital gains income."

"Fleischmann made capital gains the central issue of his seven-point job creation plan, but his 'Growing Jobs Through Capital Act of 2011' lacks a requirement to spend potential savings on jobs."

–        “Congress's richest would benefit under Fleischmann bill”, Chattanooga Times Free Press, 11/23/2011

Fact: This bill is aimed at helping Americans from all walks of life, whether it helps those with smaller investments to have more of their own capital to put back into the economy or those with larger investments who can invest in other businesses or start their own.

A January 2008 National Center for Policy Analysis study of the 2003 reduction in the capital gains tax found:

• “The capital gains tax cut did not only benefit wealthy Americans; more than half of all tax filers with capital gains had incomes of less than $50,000 in 2005 and more than two-thirds had incomes of less than $100,000.”

Gallup poll numbers from April of this year show that 54% of Americans have investments in the stock market which means they could be directly impacted by an elimination of the capital gains tax.

Stephen Moore, an economist and writer for the Wall Street Journal editorial board, had this to say about the “‘lock-in’ effect” on capital gains:

• “The same phenomenon occurred with the capital gains tax, which is essentially a voluntary tax because asset owners can avoid it by simply holding onto their stock, home, or business. This ‘lock-in’ effect, as it is called, can be economically inefficient, since owners have a tax incentive to keep poor investments, rather than drawing out the cash and putting it into assets that are more productive. When the capital gains tax is cut, people unlock their assets and reinvest in other enterprises.

   

  “The 1997 tax reform, passed under President Clinton, reduced the capital gains tax rate from 28 percent to 20 percent, and taxable capital gains nearly doubled over the next three years. The 2003 reform brought the rate down to 15 percent, and between 2002 and 2005 there was a 154 percent increase in capital gains reported as income.”

Chuck will not include a provision to force people to spend their own money in a certain way. The entire point of his “Less Government, More Jobs” plan is to get the government out of the way and let Americans use more of their own resources. Having run a business for 24 years, he understands the benefits of being able to have more of your own capital available to put back into the economy or grow a business.

This bill is one point of the seven in his jobs plan. It is important to understand that it is about putting all of the pieces together. An elimination of the capital gains tax combined with overall tax reform, stability in the marketplace, tort reform and fewer regulations on American businesses will create a friendly environment for job creation and economic growth in this country.

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Statement: "Fleischmann pulled out a copy of his jobs plan...and urged drilling in the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge, saying such action would create jobs and attract additional revenue without raising taxes.

"Fleischmann did not mention that the energy portion of his jobs plan heavily cites a study financed by the American Petroleum Institute, the lead lobbying outfit for the oil and gas industries."

–        “U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann warms Bradley County tea party hearts”, Chattanooga Times Free Press, 10/19/2011

Fact: While Congressman Fleischmann's jobs plan references many different sources, including a study done by API, his referenced comments in this article about drilling in ANWR were prefaced by him recounting testimony he had heard in the Natural Resources Committee from many individuals, including Republicans, Democrats, a union member and a business person, who were advocating for drilling in ANWR, not the API study.

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Statement: “During his first year as a representative, Fleischmann has introduced one piece of legislation that was his own, a bill to roll back an unfunded mandate on road sign retro-reflectivity standards. The bill remains in House subcommittee.”

–    “In midst of fundraising efforts, Fleischmann tells Obama to ‘pay attention and quit campaigning’”, Nooga.com, 10/17/2011

Fact: Congressman Fleischmann’s bill does still remain in a House subcommittee. However, soon after he introduced his bill, the Obama Administration’s Department of Transportation took steps to rollback the unfunded mandates being put forth by the Federal Highway Administration. Rolling back those mandates is the centerpiece of Congressman Fleischmann’s bill.