Toms River protest attacks GOP tax reform

TOMS RIVER — Jim Tobias wore a cardboard mustache, cartoonish round spectacles and a top hat with his black tuxedo as he stood outside of Toms River town hall on Monday. The Matawan man, dressed up like Mr. Monopoly, held a protest sign as he joined marchers in a sing-along to The Beatles' "Taxman."

The protest was part of a statewide effort by the progressive group Action Together New Jersey, which urged elected officials to fight the Republican-lead tax overhaul winding its way through Washington.

"None of the Founding Fathers wanted wealth to concentrate generation over generation," said 68-year-old Tobias. "That's how things ended up so sour in Europe, and they didn't want that to happen here."

The protestors held signs along Washington Street that read "Vote no on the tax cut scam" and "This is tax warfare," among other slogans protesting the tax plans approved in two different versions in Congress.

The House tax plan eliminates the Estate Tax over time, while the Senate's version exempts estates worth less than $10 million. Both House and Senate plans lower the top corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 20 percent. The Senate's plan also repeals the Individual Mandate of the Affordable Care Act, which fines people who do not have health insurance.

AARP’s Public Policy Institute announced the elimination of the Individual Mandate would lead to soaring health insurance costs as younger, healthy people are expected to drop out of the insurance market and drive up the costs for higher-need and older individuals. The AARP study said insurance premiums for adults ages 50 to 64 could increase $1,500 in 2019 as a result.

The House-backed plan eliminates deductions for state and local taxes, which would hit high-tax states like New Jersey, New York and California. The Senate would Senate bill only retains a deduction for up to $10,000 in property taxes.

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The tax reform plans have Barbara Fischer, 63, of Toms River worried. Standing among the protestors, Fischer said she spends 36 percent of her income on health care, including premiums and long-term care insurance. She is not the only one in her family spending so much money on health care. One of her two adult daughters also struggles to afford health insurance, despite having two college degrees, Fischer said.

"I'm worried... that we're balancing the debt of America on the backs of young people," she said. "When I'm not here anymore, they are still going to be paying."

In early November, the Congressional Budget Office estimated the House tax plan could add $1.7 trillion to the nation's debt over 10 years. The Senate plan would boost the national debt by an estimated $1.3 trillion.

While Democrats have vocally opposed the tax plans, some of New Jersey's prominent elected Republicans have also voted against the measures.

For instance, Rep. Chris Smith, R, 4th District (Monmouth, Ocean and Mercer counties), voted against the House tax plan. In a November state, Smith said 47 percent of his constituents itemize their taxes and claim an average of $31,981 in deductions.

"The elimination – even modification – of the state and local tax deduction (SALT) will significantly increase taxes for many," he said in the statement. "That’s unacceptable, and reason enough to oppose the legislation."

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The tax plan also eliminates or reduces medical deductions, which would affect about 40,000 people in his congressional district, Smith said.

On Monday, Smith reiterated his "no" vote for the plan.

Rep. Leonard Lance, R. 7th District, also opposed the tax plan, saying in a statement that "the House-passed proposal would negatively affect too many hard-working constituents and small businesses in my congressional district and many other parts of New Jersey."

"This is the engine of our economy and they (elected officials in Washington) are going to destroy it," said Debra Russell of Toms River, who says the tax reforms could put small businesses like her own out of business.

The National Federation of Independent Business, while criticising the plans in early November for not going far enough for small business, applauded the Senate's version on Saturday saying it would provide tax relief to small business owners.

President Donald Trump, speaking before a Missouri crowd in late November, said the Republican tax plan will "usher in a thrilling new era of opportunity and growth for this nation that we love so much."

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"We cannot sit idly by and watch ourselves losing in competition to other countries as they continue to take away our jobs because their tax codes are more competitive and less burdensome than ours," the president said. "That's why we must cut our taxes, reduce economic burdens, and restore America's competitive edge."

Dave Williams of Brick disagreed. Williams said the tax plan amount to "a few crumbs to the middle class."

"It's going to hurt poor people. It's going to hurt working-class people. It's going to hurt middle-class people," said Williams, who helped organize the Toms River protest for Action Together. "The people who are going to see a big change are the people who are really rich, people who have like $50 million."

"It's just a massive travesty," he said.

Amanda Oglesby: @OglesbyAPP; 732-557-5701; aoglesby@gannettnj.com