Baltimore’s City Paper endorsed Dutch today. Read the short (but sweet) endorsement here and don’t forget to vote tomorrow!

Click here to find your polling place.

Dutch early voting.

Dutch is honored to receive another key endorsement, this time from the Alliance for Retired Americans, a nationwide organization of more than 3 million members focusing on issues affecting seniors.

Dutch is committed to improving the lives of Maryland seniors.  He has a 94 percent lifetime voting record with the Alliance. He opposes the privatization of Social Security, voted against raising the retirement age and is fighting to provide seniors with a one-time payment in lieu of a Social Security cost-of-living-adjustment this year. He supports fair Medicare physician payments and voted for legislation that eliminates the Medicare Part D coverage gap known as the “doughnut hole,” abolishes co-pays for preventive care and provides premium assistance for pre-Medicare eligible retirees. He also advocates for estate tax relief, a key Alliance issue.

Click here to read more.

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My new ad features a program I created to provide troops stationed in Iraq or Afghanistan or elsewhere around the world with free flights home. Everyday Americans donated their unused frequent flyer miles and troops were able to fly home for R&R or for an important family event at no cost to the taxpayers. It was a huge success and, today, the program enables the family members of wounded troops to fly free to see them while they are recovering at a military hospital.  I hope you like it!

Dutch is proud to have earned the endorsement of the Maryland Gazette and Annapolis Capital! The Gazette and Capital call Dutch a “proven and effective” incumbent and says there is no reason to replace him with “GOP candidates whose resumes aren’t remotely comparable.” The Annapolis Capital/Maryland Gazette are among a growing list of impressive endorsements for Dutch.

“Ruppersberger, now trying for his fifth term, has done excellent work on bringing jobs to his district and supporting shock trauma care and programs for the bay,” the endorsement goes on to say.

Click here to read the rest of the endorsement.

Dutch is honored to receive the endorsement from the Baltimore County Fraternal Order of Police Lodge #4. The vote was unanimous. Read more here.

The Aegis says Dutch each has been “understanding” and “well engaged.” Click here to read more.

I have released a new TV ad highlighting my love and passion for my hometown. The ad will be airing throughout the Baltimore area.  Be sure to check out my mom at the end!

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In this difficult economy, it simply is not the time to raise taxes on the American people by allowing the Bush-era tax cuts to expire.  The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) found that extending the tax cuts in the short-term will boost the economy by increasing the gross national product, which measures the size of the economy.  In the long-term, the CBO found that extending the tax cuts would increase the national debt.  That is why I support a 1-year extension of the tax cuts for all Americans.  In a year, we should take another look and decide what to do with the tax cuts for the long-term.

I support abolishing the estate tax. My great-great-grandfather started a farm in a Frederick County town called Myersville. My family also owned a meat market that is still operating on Pennsylvania Avenue in Baltimore. When a loved one passes away and the estate is passed down to the remaining family members, a large percentage of the estate is paid to the government in taxes.  The money goes into government coffers rather than being pumped back into the economy by the rest of the family who could have used it to pay for college tuition, new school clothes or other expenses. The estate tax forces people to hold onto their money because of the large tax burden they know their family will eventually face.

I also support permanently fixing the alternative minimum tax.  The AMT, as it is known, was established to make sure everyone pays taxes. Originally called the “millionaire’s tax,” it targeted only the wealthiest households, but it was not indexed for inflation.  Without Congressional intervention, nearly a quarter of U.S. taxpayers, especially middle class Americans, would be required to pay this tax that was never meant for them.  We must change this.

In addition, I believe we should make the research and development tax credit permanent.  The research and development tax credit shows great promise in encouraging the growth of new and existing companies, big and small. Small biotech firms and our research institutions like Johns Hopkins are great examples of possible beneficiaries of this investment.

For now, we need to expand tax credits and reduce taxes to help businesses grow. I believe the more money we keep in private hands, the faster our economy will recover.

In Congress, I have worked aggressively to help small businesses, which are our economic engines. In fact, they represent 99.7 percent of all employer firms and account for 2 out of every 3 jobs in Maryland. Today, too many are struggling to provide decent benefits to employees, make payroll, or even keep their doors open.

Last week, my office held a workshop for small businesses in the area who are struggling to access credit – a major issue right now that will continue to slow our recovery. We had a great turnout and the feedback was overwhelmingly positive. It was the second event I have hosted to help businesses thrive. We’ve worked one-on-one with many small businesses to address issues they are having and have partnered with companies like Cintas and Monster.Com to hold job fairs to connect Maryland jobseekers with hiring companies.

I am continuing these efforts in Washington. Whether it’s fighting to expand small business exemptions in the healthcare reform legislation or removing onerous paperwork provisions, we have to do whatever it takes to empower small businesses to move our economy forward. Congress has given small businesses 16 tax cuts in the last two years, including 8 in the Small Business Jobs Act passed last week. The bill was backed by many business groups including the National Small Business Association, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, National Restaurant Association and the National Retail Federation.

The bill will create 500,000 jobs and open up to $300 billion in private sector lending for small businesses. The bill is completely paid for, in part, by ending tax loopholes that encourage large corporations to ship American jobs overseas.

Among many other provisions, the bill  expands purchases that qualify as tax write-offs and allows businesses to write-off 50 percent of new equipment investments immediately. The bill also doubles to $10,000 the tax deduction for the start-up costs of new businesses and ends a tax inequity that requires self-employed Americans to pay an additional tax on the cost of their healthcare.

I will keep fighting for small business on the Hill and working closely with the small business owners in my district.

I want to thank the many people who came out and voted for me in yesterday’s primary election. I am humbled and honored to represent Maryland’s 2nd District and I hope I have the opportunity to continue doing so in the future.

We must keep up the hard work. Many American families are struggling. Creating jobs and restoring economic security for all generations are my top priorities. When I was Baltimore County Executive, I helped create 47,000 new jobs compared to 800 created under the administration of my predecessor. How did we do it? We aggressively recruited new businesses to the county, created tax incentives for expanding companies and relaxed development regulations where appropriate to encourage businesses to build. It wasn’t about ideology. It was about common sense.

The same is true today. There are many practical things we can do to get America back to work, and I’m doing them. I have secured funding to help seniors develop the skills to compete in today’s high-tech job market. I have sponsored several job fairs to connect unemployed Marylanders with hiring companies.  More are planned. I have introduced legislation to provide scholarships to retired math, science and engineering professionals who want to pursue teaching careers after retirement. These are just a few specific examples of what we can do to help struggling families find work.

Improving economic security is also about looking ahead on the macro level. We must reduce government spending and get the deficit under control. I have supported a balanced budget and pay-as-you-go rules that require new spending to be offset by cuts. We need to shore up Medicare. We need to strengthen Social Security, which provides a guaranteed, monthly payment to help seniors pay for everything from groceries to their power bill.  Now 75-years-old, Social Security has enabled millions of seniors to live their golden years happy and healthy. Without Social Security, nearly half of our seniors would live in poverty.

These issues aren’t Democratic or Republican. They are American and they require American solutions. I am confident that we can come together as a country and emerge from these difficult times stronger than ever.