Charlie Dent’s Jobs Plan?

Tax Breaks for Companies that Ship American Jobs Overseas, More Bureaucracy for Small Businesses

BETHLEHEM, PA. – Congressman Charlie Dent doesn’t have a jobs plan, so he’s decided to focus on endorsing a $700 billion tax break for the super rich[1] and attacking Callahan’s jobs plan. While almost all of Dent’s attacks were false or misleading, one was so hypocritical even other Washington politicians must have been blushing.

Specifically Dent claimed that:

“Callahan endorsed the “1099 provision” of the health care law that the National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB) calls “another crippling paperwork mandate that unfairly targets small businesses,” costing employers an average $74 per hour for tax paperwork.”

Callahan has in fact come out against this provision and supported a recent effort to repeal this provision of the law.[2]

On July 30th, Congressman Dent had the chance to vote to fix the 1099 provision to help small businesses, but he stood on the side of corporate outsourcers.  H.R. 5982 would have removed this new paperwork requirement for small businesses before it even went into effect, and it was paid for by “eliminat[ing] loopholes which encourage companies to move operations offshore.”[3]

Even Dent’s supporters at the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) “urge[d]” Charlie to support the bill[4], but he put corporate outsourcers over small businesses.  This is the same NFIB that Dent cites in his attack on Callahan. 

“Congressman Dent voted against helping small businesses in July and now he’s saying the opposite because he doesn’t want to talk about his record of giving tax breaks to companies that ship our jobs overseas,” said John Callahan. “Congressman Dent keeps proving that he’s just a typical Washington politician that says one thing and does another.”

1 “Politicians split on extending tax cuts,” Itkowitz, Morning Call, 9/15/2010
2 “Callahan takes shot at Dent’s record on jobs,” Radzievich, Morning Call, 9/2/2010
3 H.R. 5982, Vote #514, 7/30/2010
4 National Federation of Independent Business, 7/30/2010

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