John Carney on Tax Reform

Share sacrifice of budget cuts and tax hikes

I've proposed an operating budget that grows government spending less than 3/10 of 1%. It contains a 50-50 mix of spending cuts & new revenue. It's built on the principle of shared sacrifice.

Our north star in building this budget was making Delaware more competitive. While we went line by line, deciding which programs to cut and which to preserve, which taxes to raise and which to leave untouched, we asked ourselves the same question over and over again: "How will this decision impact our ability to grow our economy and compete?"

It would be easy to get lost in the doom and gloom of budget cuts and tax hikes. There is something in our budget for everyone not to like.

Raising estate tax to 1990s level means $448B in new revenue.

Heritage Action Summary: This bill would repeal the estate and generation-skipping transfer taxes, as well as cut the top gift tax rate.

Heritage Foundation recommendation to vote YES: (4/16/2015): Collectively, these measures repeal the pernicious double tax known as the `death tax,` and result in a tax cut of $269 billion over 10 years. The death tax hurts economic growth and therefore limits the ability of Americans to prosper. Repealing the death tax would generate an average of 18,000 jobs annually and increase the overall net worth of American households by $300 billion a year. The federal government should encourage, not punish, Americans who work and pay taxes their whole lives, save enough to support themselves through retirement, and retain the ability to fulfill the American Dream by passing along a better life to their children.

Secretary of Labor Robert Reich recommendation to vote YES: (robertreich.org 6/4/2015): At a time of historic economic inequality, it should be a no-brainer to raise a tax on inherited wealth for the very rich. Yet there`s a move among some members of Congress to abolish it altogether. Today the estate tax reaches only the richest 2/10 of 1%, and applies only to dollars in excess of $10.86 million for married couples or $5.43 million for individuals. That means if a couple leaves to their heirs $10,860,001, they now pay the estate tax on $1. The current estate tax rate is 40%, so that would be 40 cents. Yet according to these members of Congress, that`s still too much. Our democracy`s Founding Fathers did not want a privileged aristocracy. Yet that`s the direction we`re going in. The tax on inherited wealth is one of the major bulwarks against it. That tax should be increased and strengthened.

Legislative outcome: Passed by the House 240-179-12; never came to vote in Senate.

Click here for definitions & background information on Tax Reform. Click here for a summary of all issue stances of John Carney. Click here for a Wikipedia profile of John Carney. Click here for a Ballotpedia profile of John Carney. Click here for VoteMatch responses by John Carney. Click here for issue positions of other DE politicians. Click here for DE primary archives. Click here for DE secondary archives.
Other governors on Tax Reform:			John Carney on other issues:
DE Gubernatorial: Bethany Hall-Long Matt Meyer Mike Ramone DE Senatorial: Chris Coons Eric Hansen James DeMartino Jessica Scarane Lauren Witzke Lisa Blunt Rochester Mike Katz	Gubernatorial Debates 2023: KY: Incumbent Andy Beshear(D) vs.State A.G. Daniel Cameron(R) vs.Ambassador Kelly Craft(R) vs.State Auditor Mike Harmon(R) LA: Incumbent John Bel Edwards(D,term-limited) vs.Jeff Landry(R) vs.Shawn Wilson(D) vs.John Schroder(R) vs.Sharon Hewitt(R) MS: Incumbent Tate Reeves(R) vs.Bill Waller(R,withdrew) vs.Brandon Presley(D) Gubernatorial Debates 2024: DE: Gov. John Carney (D, term-limited); vs. Lt. Gov. Bethany Hall-Long (D) vs. County Exec. Matt Meyer (D) vs. State Rep.Mike Ramone (R) IN: Gov. Eric Holcomb (R, term-limited); vs. Sen. Mike Braun (R) vs. Suzanne Crouch (R, lost May 7 primary) vs. Eric Doden (R, lost May 7 primary) vs. Attorney General Curtis Hill (R, lost May 7 primary) vs. Jennifer McCormick (D) MO: Gov. Mike Parson (R, term-limited): vs. Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft (R) vs. State Senator Bill Eigel (R) vs. Lt.Gov. Mike Kehoe (R) vs. House Minority Leader Crystal Quade (D) MT: Gov. Greg Gianforte (R) vs. Ryan Busse (D) vs. State Rep. Tanner Smith (R, lost June 4 primary)	Gubernatorial Debates 2024 (continued): NC: Gov. Roy Cooper (D, term-limited); vs. Lt.Gov. Mark Robinson (R) vs. Attorney General Josh Stein (D) vs. Treasurer Dale Folwell (R, lost March 5 primary) vs. Justice Michael Morgan (D, lost March 5 primary) vs. State Senator Andy Wells (R,withdrew) ND: Gov. Doug Burgum (R, retiring) vs. State Rep. Rick Becker (R) vs. U.S.Rep. Kelly Armstrong (R) vs. State Sen.Merrill Piepkorn (D) NH: Gov. Chris Sununu (R, retiring) vs. U.S.Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R) vs. Mayor Joyce Craig (D) vs. Acting Gov.Chuck Morse (R) vs. Exec.Councilor Cinde Warmington (D) UT: Gov. Spencer Cox (R) vs. State Rep. Phil Lyman (R) vs. Minority Leader Brian King (D) VT: Gov. Phil Scott (R) vs. Lt.Gov.David Zuckerman (D, withdrew) vs. Selectman Peter Duval (D) vs. Commissioner Esther Charlestin (D) WA: Gov. Jay Inslee (D, retiring); vs. Attorney General Bob Ferguson (D) vs. U.S.Rep.Dave Reichert (R) vs. State Sen. Mark Mullet (D) vs. County Chair Semi Bird (R) vs. Hilary Franz (D, withdrew to run for U.S.Rep.) WV: Gov. Jim Justice (R, term-limited) vs. WV Attorney General Patrick Morrisey (R) vs. Huntington Mayor Steve Williams (D) vs. WV State Auditor JB McCuskey (R, withdrew) vs. WV Secretary of State Mac Warner (R, lost May 14 primary) vs. State Del. Moore Capito (R, lost May 14 primary)	Abortion Budget/Economy Civil Rights Corporations Crime Drugs Education Energy/Oil Environment Families/Children Foreign Policy Free Trade Govt. Reform Gun Control Health Care Homeland Security Immigration Infrastructure/Technology Jobs Local Issues Principles/Values Social Security Tax Reform War/Iraq/Mideast Welfare/Poverty [Title9]