WHY QUIT NOW? Levin to Focus on Tax Loopholes, Revenue in Finale
March 8, 2013
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Carl Levin -- Michigan Senator
Carl Levin, Michigan's senior senator, is giving up the fight.
Or is he?
Levin says he actually is gearing up to battle even harder for his crusades: tax fairness, Michigan manufacturing rebirth, honesty in campaign funding, military readiness and withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan.
In an extraordinary jeremiad, Levin explains his decision not to seek re-election after 35 years in the U.S. Senate and nearly 60 years in public life:
"This decision was extremely difficult because I love representing the people of Michigan in the U.S. Senate and fighting for the things that I believe are important to them.
Levin, 78, is a graduate of Detroit Central High School, Swarthmore College, and Harvard Law School. He was named assistant attorney general and general counsel of Michigan Civil Rights Commission, 1964; elected to Detroit City Council, 1969; elected to U.S. Senate, 1978; re-elected in 1984, 1990, 1996, 2002 and 2008.
The first Senate bill he sponsored aimed at abuse by credit card companies. That set him on a populist path unseen in Michigan since Woodbridge Ferris who served 1922-1928 and helped establish the U.S. Department of Education.
"He's honest to a fault, trustworthy, blunt, carries the torch for Michigan and the auto industry and has an impeccable political reputation," wrote the Saginaw News of Levin during one campaign.
Levin has posted his tax returns for the past 10 years on his website.
Why would announcing he aims to quit the Senate help him achieve his He goals? He continues:
"As Barbara (nee Halpern) and I struggled with the question of whether I should run again, we focused on our belief that our country is at a crossroads that will determine our economic health and security for decades to come.
"We decided that I can best serve my state and nation by concentrating in the next two years on the challenging issues before us that I am in a position to help address; in other words, by doing my job without the distraction of campaigning for re-election."
"Years of bipartisan work by the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations that I chair have shed light on tax avoidance schemes that are a major drain on our treasury. The huge loss of corporate tax receipts caused by the shift of U.S. corporate tax revenue to offshore tax havens is but one example of the egregious tax loopholes that we must end. Thirty of our most profitable companies paid no taxes over a recent three year period although they had over $150 billion in profits."
Senator Levin has led investigations of the 2008 financial crisis, abusive credit card practices, the Enron collapse, speculation in energy and food markets, abusive offshore tax havens and money laundering by corrupt foreign leaders. He established an investigative team on the Armed Services Committee that has probed treatment of detainees in U.S. military custody and abuses by security contractors in Afghanistan.
He says: "Tax avoidance schemes that have no economic justification or purpose other than to avoid paying taxes may be legal but they should not be. These schemes add hundreds of billions of dollars to the deficit. They lead to cuts in education, research, national security, law enforcement, infrastructure, food safety and other important investments in our nation. And they add to the tax burden of ordinary Americans who have to pick up the slack and accelerate the economic inequality in our country. I want to fight to bring an end to this unjustified drain on the Treasury.
"Second, I want to ensure that the manufacturing renaissance that has led Michigan's economic comeback continues. We've made progress in building the partnerships we need to help U.S. manufacturers succeed, but the next two years will be crucial to sustaining and building on that progress.
"A third item I want to tackle is a growing blight on our political system that I believe I can help address: the use of secret money to fund political campaigns. Our tax laws are supposed to prevent secret contributions to tax exempt organizations for political purposes.
Levin says his Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations needs to look into the failure of the IRS to enforce our tax laws and stem the flood of hundreds of millions of secret dollars flowing into our elections, eroding public confidence in our democracy.
"Finally, the next two years will also be important in dealing with fiscal pressures on our military readiness. As Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, I am determined to do all I can to address that issue.
"I also believe we need to pursue the rapid transfer of responsibility for Afghan security to the Afghans. And, as our troops come home, we must do a better job of caring for those who bear both the visible and invisible wounds of war."
We applaud his decision, wish him luck in his last two years and hope Michigan finds another senator who can measure up to Carl Levin's dedication to the people of Michigan and the nation. ###
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