Past and present Senate candidates from Montana: on Tax Reform


Jon Tester: Trump tax cuts were a disastrous handout for jet-owners

Q: Support President Trump's tax cuts?

Matt Rosendale (R): Yes. "Bigger paychecks & more jobs for Montanans. This is your money & you should be deciding how to invest or spend it--not the government."

Jon Tester (D): "Disastrous." "Need reform for hardworking Montanans, not a handout for jet-owners paid for by our kids & grandkids."

Source: 2018 CampusElect.org Issue Guide on Montana Senate race Oct 9, 2018

Matt Rosendale: Trump tax cuts mean more jobs for Montanans

Q: Support President Trump's tax cuts?

Matt Rosendale (R): Yes. "Bigger paychecks & more jobs for Montanans. This is your money & you should be deciding how to invest or spend it--not the government."

Jon Tester (D): "Disastrous." "Need reform for hardworking Montanans, not a handout for jet-owners paid for by our kids & grandkids."

Source: 2018 CampusElect.org Issue Guide on Montana Senate race Oct 9, 2018

Jon Tester: GOP tax plan saddles future generations with more debt

Republican Senate challenger Matt Rosendale said he's seen reports that there are hundreds of thousands of new manufacturing jobs in the U.S. because of the tax reform package. "That's one of the things that Jon Tester has voted against in opposition to the desires of the people of Montana," Rosendale said. Sen. Tester voted against the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, calling it a "disastrous plan" in a statement last December.

"This tax scheme not only, it also raises taxes on Montana families in the long run, forces cuts to Medicare, and caps deductions that allow Montanans to keep more of their hard-earned money in their wallets," Tester said. "This all takes place while corporate tax cuts remain permanent, inflating the bank accounts of big business and leaving the folks who do the hard work with smaller paychecks."

Rosendale said Tester's vote against the bill was one of the reasons he is motivated to run for U.S. Senate.

Source: The Missoulian on 2018 Montana Senate race Aug 9, 2018

Matt Rosendale: You deserve to keep more of your hard-earned money

TV ad voiceover: Matt Rosendale is the real deal.

[Photo on screen: Matt Rosendale]

[Text on-screen: Matt Rosendale shares our values]

Unlike Jon Tester he believes you deserve to keep more of your hard-earned money

[Text on screen: Matt Rosendale moves Trump's middle class agenda forward]

And unlike Tester.

[Newspaper headline on screen: Tester backs Iran deal; photo on screen: Iranian Ayatollah]

Matt believes it's wrong to hand overÿ$1.7 billion to the number one state sponsor of Terror

[Newspaper headline on screen: Iran deal: $1.7 billion to the #1 state sponsor of Terror]

Keep it real, Montana.

[Text on screen: keep it real Montana Matt Rosendale for US Senate]

Send Matt Rosendale to the US Senate

Restoration PAC is responsible for the content of this advertising

Source: OnTheIssues AdWatch on 2018 Montana Senate race Mar 23, 2018

Matt Rosendale: Get rid of tax on multimillion-dollar estates

Rosendale said he favors lowering federal income-tax rates for businesses and individuals, getting rid of the tax on multimillion-dollar estates, and Trump's agenda of peeling back regulations he says impedes business development and jobs.
Source: KPAX-8 Missoula on 2018 Montana Senate race Jul 31, 2017

Sam Rankin: Simplify to three tax brackets: 12%, 22%, 28%

Source: 2014 Montana Senate campaign website, SamRankin.com Jul 27, 2014

John Walsh: Tax cuts for the wealthy only seek to preserve privilege

Sen. John Walsh leveled his strongest attack yet against his likely challenger, Republican Steve Daines, calling Daines the purveyor of a "cruel ideology" that "only seeks to preserve privilege."

Walsh, speaking to the annual Democratic Mansfield-Metcalf Dinner in Helena Saturday evening, slammed Daines for votes to "privatize Medicare," cut tax rates for the wealthy, shut down the federal government last October and cut food stamps.

But Walsh saved his sharpest words for Daines, who national Republicans consider as one of their best chances to pick up a Democratic-held seat in the U.S. Senate.

He pointed to Daines' 2013 vote for the proposed House Republican budget, which would have converted Medicare to a system of subsidies to help the elderly buy private insurance or traditional Medicare, as well as reduced tax rates for the wealthy and most taxpayers.

Source: Ravalli Republic on 2014 Montana Senate race Mar 9, 2014

Dennis Rehberg: End the inheritance tax completely

[The debate] marked yet another tired back-and-forth on the estate tax, referred to by conservatives as the "death tax." Tester favors extending the Bush-era tax cut exemption for couples inheriting estates worth less than $10 million; Rehberg wants to deep-six the tax completely. The discussion between the candidates didn't, and never has, addressed the fact that, according to a study conducted by a trio of IRS researchers, only two to three percent of all deaths in the U.S. were subject to estate taxation even under the Clinton-era exemption of $1 million. In 1998, only 50,089 of the 103,892 people who filed estate tax returns actually paid any taxes. That's the type of fact we'd like to see dropped in a debate like this.
Source: Missoula News on 2012 Montana Senate debate Oct 22, 2012

Jon Tester: Extend Bush exemption for inheritance tax up to $10M

[The debate] marked yet another tired back-and-forth on the estate tax, referred to by conservatives as the "death tax." Tester favors extending the Bush-era tax cut exemption for couples inheriting estates worth less than $10 million; Rehberg wants to deep-six the tax completely. The discussion between the candidates didn't, and never has, addressed the fact that, according to a study conducted by a trio of IRS researchers, only two to three percent of all deaths in the U.S. were subject to estate taxation even under the Clinton-era exemption of $1 million. In 1998, only 50,089 of the 103,892 people who filed estate tax returns actually paid any taxes. That's the type of fact we'd like to see dropped in a debate like this.
Source: Missoula News on 2012 Montana Senate debate Oct 22, 2012

Dennis Rehberg: We need tax certainty ; make Bush tax cuts permanent

When asked about the so-called Bush tax cuts expiring on Jan. 1, a date that has been called "Taxmaggedon," Rehberg responded that he would vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act and make the tax cuts of 2001 and 2003 permanent. He cited a need for tax certainty in the country.

Tester didn't address the tax increases directly, but did say that that "House and Senate need to come together with a major proposal that reduces our debt."

Source: Daily Inter Lake on 2012 Montana Senate debates Oct 14, 2012

Dennis Rehberg: Eliminate the death tax entirely

Asked about an inheritance tax being reinstated on Jan. 1, Tester said he favors having an exemption for the first $5 million in inheritance. Rehberg said he favors eliminating the "death tax" entirely.
Source: Daily Inter Lake on 2012 Montana Senate debates Oct 14, 2012

Jon Tester: Limit inheritance tax to estates over $5 million

Asked about an inheritance tax being reinstated on Jan. 1, Tester said he favors having an exemption for the first $5 million in inheritance. Rehberg said he favors eliminating the "death tax" entirely.
Source: Daily Inter Lake on 2012 Montana Senate debates Oct 14, 2012

Conrad Burns: Bush tax cuts actually more progressive Clinton tax hikes

We got to make the tax cuts permanent. Because if we do not, in the year 2011, your tax obligation to the fed govt will go up, on a family of four making $64,000, it will go up 58%. The new tax cut was more progressive than Mr. Clinton’s tax increases. If you want to tax the rich-- that’s what they want to do, it’s class warfare! Those folks making $184,000 or more a year pay 84% of the income taxes paid into the national treasury. Under Mr. Clinton, they paid 82%. So we’re actually more progressive.
Source: 2006 Montana 3-way Senate Debate at MSU Oct 9, 2006

  • The above quotations are from Winners and Losers
    Senate candidates from Montana.
  • Click here for definitions & background information on Tax Reform.
  • Click here for other issues (main summary page).
Candidates and political leaders on Tax Reform:

Retired Senate as of Jan. 2015:
GA:Chambliss(R)
IA:Harkin(D)
MI:Levin(D)
MT:Baucus(D)
NE:Johanns(R)
OK:Coburn(R)
SD:Johnson(D)
WV:Rockefeller(D)

Resigned from 113th House:
AL-1:Jo Bonner(R)
FL-19:Trey Radel(R)
LA-5:Rod Alexander(R)
MA-5:Ed Markey(D)
MO-9:Jo Ann Emerson(R)
NC-12:Melvin Watt(D)
SC-1:Tim Scott(R)
Retired House to run for Senate or Governor:
AR-4:Tom Cotton(R)
GA-1:Jack Kingston(R)
GA-10:Paul Broun(R)
GA-11:Phil Gingrey(R)
HI-1:Colleen Hanabusa(D)
IA-1:Bruce Braley(D)
LA-6:Bill Cassidy(R)
ME-2:Mike Michaud(D)
MI-14:Gary Peters(D)
MT-0:Steve Daines(R)
OK-5:James Lankford(R)
PA-13:Allyson Schwartz(D)
TX-36:Steve Stockman(R)
WV-2:Shelley Capito(R)
Retired House as of Jan. 2015:
AL-6:Spencer Bachus(R)
AR-2:Tim Griffin(R)
CA-11:George Miller(D)
CA-25:Howard McKeon(R)
CA-33:Henry Waxman(D)
CA-45:John Campbell(R)
IA-3:Tom Latham(R)
MN-6:Michele Bachmann(R)
NC-6:Howard Coble(R)
NC-7:Mike McIntyre(D)
NJ-3:Jon Runyan(R)
NY-4:Carolyn McCarthy(D)
NY-21:Bill Owens(D)
PA-6:Jim Gerlach(R)
UT-4:Jim Matheson(D)
VA-8:Jim Moran(D)
VA-10:Frank Wolf(R)
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Page last updated: Feb 23, 2019