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Aurora man to challenge Rep. Smith
McCOOK, Neb. — An Aurora High School graduate and small business owner, Kirk Penner, plans to challenge U.S. Rep. Adrian Smith next year.
Penner shared his vision for Nebraska’s 3rd Congressional District during a visit with the Gazette Wednesday. At the top of his priority list is leveling the playing field for small business when it comes to taxes and getting rid of the oversized mega-bills he says provide all the opportunity needed for Washington D.C. corruption.
Penner said he was eager to see the Republican tax reform plan scheduled to be released today on the national level, but indicated he was concerned it would continue a popular trend of protecting the larger corporations without providing needed relief for small business. He said he expressed his lack of confidence in establishment Republicans back in March and, unfortunately, was correct. “Even though Republicans have all three branches, they’re not getting it done.”
Tax reform isn’t as difficult to achieve as some make it sound, according to Penner. “Tax reform could easily be achieved if everyone was of my mind and looking to help the middle class and small business,” he said.
A solution Penner offered was reducing payroll taxes to 4.2 percent, which would instantly provide roughly $1,000 in savings for everyone making $50,000. He said it would have a major impact on Nebraska, where small business makes up some 95 percent of all business.
His plan to replace the lost revenue? A high-frequency trade transaction tax on Wall Street which he says would generate billions and billions by simply placing a penny tax on stock transactions. “No one is going to bat for us, the middle class, the small businesses,” said Penner, inferring he would fill that role.
Penner cited recent data which indicated 15 of America’s largest businesses, with some $107 billion in profit, carried an effective tax rate of zero. “Whereas small business has an effective tax rate around 30 percent. The tax reform talk is about taking the top tax rate from 35 percent to 20 when most [larger corporate businesses] aren’t even at 20. Small business doesn’t have the ability to take its money overseas to hideaway. We don’t have anybody representing us,” said Penner.
Penner indicated that D.C. politicians serious about spurring economic growth have to do it through small business. “We have to extend small business the same tax benefits large, multinational, businesses are getting. Instead of reducing it to 25 percent it needs to be in the single digits,” he said.
Penner plans to rail against regulation that is hampering small businesses today but, all things considered, said he’s really running against D.C. corruption. “Politicians protect the multinational corporations because they have lobbyists. If we solve corruption in D.C. we would solve 99 percent of the problems,” he said.
Penner believes the key to ending corruption is ending the practice of unnecessarily lengthy legislation. “Getting rid of the large mega-bills, where they hide everything. Dodd-Frank is 14,000 pages. What are they hiding in there? A lot,” said Penner.
Penner believes his experience as a small business owner will yield results for the third district, results he indicated incumbent Adrian Smith has failed to produce.
“I’m a small business owner. I understand how to bring something, from scratch to 49 states and all of Canada. We started with one tub in Holdrege, Nebraska, in 2001,” he said, referencing his role in launching Penner Spas, a bathing system primarily distributed to nursing homes and assisted living facilities. The business grew from the basement of his home into a 30,000 square foot manufacturing facility now employing 17.
In contrast, Penner likened Adrian Smith’s background to that of a career politician, with a resume including roles on City Council and with the state legislature prior to becoming a member of Congress. As a small business owner Penner plans to approach civil service in a similar fashion and, much like an entrepreneur pitching his vision to potential partners, has made detailed plans and solutions available on his website.
“Which you can go to and vote on. Nobody else has that, my opponent [Adrian Smith] has nothing close,” said Penner. The website is: www.kirkpenner.com