Unlike his 2016 campaign, Senator Russ Feingold sought to collect money from Wisconsinites during his eighteen years in Washington…By voting in favor of higher taxes more than 270 times.
On his way in the door back in 1993, Senator Feingold cast the deciding vote for a $241 billion tax increase – which Democratic Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan ridiculed as “the largest tax increase in the history of public finance in the United States or anywhere else in the world.”
Fittingly, on his way out the door after spending two decades in DC, Senator Feingold cast the deciding vote for ObamaCare – a parting gift that will saddle Wisconsinites with more than $1.8 billion in additional taxes over the next decade.
Fortunately for Senator Feingold, this year’s extended deadline has turned his favorite day of the year into his favorite weekend of the year – giving him an additional three days to bask in the glow of his votes in favor of higher taxes.
The American people dread the arrival of April 15th almost as much as Senator Feingold must look forward to it. Almost.
Feingold kept the tax man busy during his Senate tenure
Wisconsin Watchdog
By M.D. Kittle
April 13, 2016
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You can be sure that voters will have those tax obligations on their minds as they head to the polls this November.
In Wisconsin, taxes, spending and the $19.2 trillion national debt will be key issues in the closely watched contest between conservative U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Oshkosh, and liberal Russ Feingold, D-Middleton, the long-time former senator who Johnson beat in 2010.
As the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel put it on Sunday, “Johnson and his Republican allies are expected to harp on Feingold’s record as a U.S. senator.”
There’s a reason for that.
As Johnson and his allies like to point out, Feingold supported more than 270 tax increases during his 18-year tenure in the Senate.
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In his first year alone, Feingold voted at least 25 times in support of higher taxes, according to a review of Congressional Quarterly vote tallies.
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A further review of the Congressional Quarterly records found that the senator also that year voted against exempting small businesses or family farms from increased taxes on income that is reinvested in the business. The costs would have been offset by cutting discretionary spending. Feingold backed a 1994 budget reconciliation bill that raised $241 billion in revenue through tax hikes.
In 2001, Feingold voted at least 30 times to raise taxes, including voting against the adoption of a concurrent resolution to implement a 10-year budget plan calling for $1.8 trillion in tax cuts over the period, according to CQ.
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Two years later, the senator voted for tax increases 41 times, the review found.
Between 2007 and 2008, Feingold supported hiking taxes at least 45 times, including voting against an amendment to provide an employee payroll tax holiday over a six-month period.
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