FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Erik Dorey, Communications Director press [at] dpo [dot] org (503) 239-8624
After nearly two years spent running for political office, Tea Party Republican Rob Cornilles tried a new gimmick today to convince Oregonians he has even a single good idea for job creation – but once again, he fell flat. At a sparsely attended press event in Hillsboro, Cornilles marched out a few supporters he’s calling his “Jobs Team,” but predictably he failed to offer anything resembling a specific proposal for reducing unemployment in Oregon’s 1st district.
Cornilles should have explained to attendees why he recently criticized a job-creating tax cut for the middle class, while continuing to insist that millionaires be exempt from paying their fair share. President Obama has called for an extension of payroll tax cuts as part of his signature jobs plan – and economists, business groups and the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office agree that reducing the payroll tax would benefit middle income individuals and create jobs. Rob Cornilles isn’t buying it.
"When Rob Cornilles calls himself the ‘original tea party candidate,’ Oregonians are right to be skeptical of a staged press event that offers no new ideas or explanations for why he supports millionaires' tax breaks over middle-class jobs,” said Trent Lutz, Executive Director of the Democratic Party of Oregon. “Just like the tea partiers in Congress he hopes to join, Rob Cornilles has nothing to offer job-seeking Oregonians but failed policies and empty rhetoric.”
Background:
Cornilles Announced “Jobs For Oregon” Team. At a press event today in Hillsboro, Cornilles announced his “Jobs for Oregon” team. [Cornilles press release, 10/10/11]
2010: Oregonian:Cornilles “Short on Specifics” on Job Creation. In 2010, the Oregonian noted that Cornilles was “short on specifics when it comes to saying precisely how he would apply his own job-creation skills” to a large, diverse district. [Oregonian, 10/14/10]
Cornilles Criticized President Obama’s Proposal to Extend Payroll Tax Break. In 2011, Cornilles criticized President Obama’s plan to extend lowered payroll tax rates for employers and employees. Cornilles said, “Another thing that the President mentioned which I think is something that should be discussed and debated in congress, he talked about putting a further holiday on the payroll tax. Now that’s good because it puts more money in middle class pockets, but the problem with this is that just doing a temporary tax cut extension for another twelve months is just going to create a bigger problem at the end of 2012.” [Ann Samuelson’s radio show, Part 2, 3:38, Posted 9/23/11]
Supported Extending Bush Tax Cuts. In a 2010 debate, Cornilles supported extending the Bush administration’s tax cuts for the wealthy. Cornilles said not renewing the tax cuts would be “demonizing certain classes of our society” and would discourage growth. [Oregonian, 9/11/10]
Obama Jobs Plan Proposed Cutting Payroll Taxes for Small Businesses to Avoid Another Recession. Bloomberg reported “President Barack Obama’s $447 billion jobs plan would help avoid a return to recession by maintaining growth and pushing down the unemployment rate next year, according to economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. The legislation, submitted to Congress this month, would increase gross domestic product by 0.6 percent next year and add or keep 275,000 workers on payrolls, the median estimates in the survey of 34 economists showed. The program would also lower the jobless rate by 0.2 percentage point in 2012, economists said […] Obama’s plan, announced on Sept. 8, calls for cutting the payroll taxes paid by workers and small businesses. [Bloomberg, 9/28/11]
Reducing Payroll Taxes on Firms Creates More Jobs Than Tax Cuts for the Wealthy. In January 2010, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office wrote that reducing payroll taxes for firms was among the policies that “would have the largest effect on output and employment per dollar on budgetary cost in 2010 and 2011. By contrast, policies that would temporarily increase the after-tax income of people with relatively high income, such as an across-the-board reduction in income taxes […] would have a smaller effects because such tax cuts would probably not affect the recipients’ spending significantly.” [Congressional Budget Office, 1/10]
National Federation of Independent Business: Payroll Tax Holiday Can Create Jobs. The National Federation of Independent Business has said that a payroll tax holiday for small businesses would help “struggling businesses reduce costs” and “can reduce unemployment and keep people working during a period of slowed economic growth.” [National Federation of Independent Businesses, accessed 9/16/11]
Cornilles Called Himself “The Original Tea Party Candidate.” In 2010, Cornilles called himself “the original Tea Party candidate” because he had been running the longest of any candidate running in Oregon and epitomized Tea Party values. [Executive Club forum, 5/5/10]
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