Pat Meehan’s Jobs Plan: A $1.75 Trillion Bailout for the Nation’s Wealthy

Springfield, PA – Today, Representative Bryan Lentz, the Democratic nominee for Congress in Pennsylvania’s 7th Congressional District, released figures showing the stunning impact that Pat Meehan’s jobs plan would have on the nation’s deficit. According to an analysis using tax data available from the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, Meehan’s plan to cut taxes on wealthy individuals and corporations would blow at least a $1.75 trillion dollar hole in the nation’s budget over the next decade.

The scope of the budget hole comes as a shock considering that Meehan has been calling to reduce the nation’s deficit for months along the campaign trail. Meehan’s jobs plan offered no proposals to offset the significant drop in government revenues caused by the range of tax cuts he was proposing. The tax breaks that form the heart of Meehan’s plan disproportionately benefit the nation’s wealthiest individuals, including reinstating Bush-era tax cuts for the highest income brackets, and eliminating a tax on estates.

During the next decade, Meehan’s giveaway to the wealthiest Americans would add at least an additional $1.75 trillion shortfall to the nation’s budget, according to figures available from the Congressional Budget Office and other sources (see table below).

“Pat Meehan’s jobs plan is a slap in the face to hard-working families in the 7th District and across the nation,” said Kevin McTigue, Bryan Lentz’s campaign manager. “The benefits of his $1.75 trillion dollar giveaway to the wealthy leaves the rest of the country footing the bill to get the deficit under control. The hypocrisy of a plan like this coming from a person who is trying to label himself a ‘fiscal conservative’ is staggering.”

Following is a breakdown of the cost of Meehan’s tax cut proposals (all figures are in billions, except where indicated otherwise)
                                                                                       One-year cost         10-year cost
Tax cuts for wealthy                                                                $34                         $680
Elimination of Estate Tax                                                        $15                          $511
15% Reduction in Corporate Income Tax                               $40                          $554
                                                                      Totals               $89 billion            $1.75 trillion

Lentz has made saving and creating jobs the cornerstone of his campaign for Congress. He is the only candidate with a published plan to get our economy moving while erasing the deficit and the only candidate who supports Wall Street reform and the creation of a consumer financial protection agency to ensure another collapse does not happen. Lentz has also pledged to end tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas while his opponent Pat Meehan has signed a pledge that has bound him to oppose legislation that has been introduced to end those tax breaks.

A former Airborne Ranger, criminal prosecutor and Iraq War veteran, Bryan Lentz currently serves in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from Delaware County. He was awarded both the Bronze Star for Service and the War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal for his military service. He lives in Swarthmore with his wife Jennifer and their son Thomas.

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