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Matt Maxwell of Newtown, who flips homes for a living, is trying to mount a challenge against Democratic incumbent U.S. Rep. Elizabeth Etsy in the 5th Congressional District.
Etsy, who lives in Cheshire, is currently serving her second term.
Maxwell, a 34-year-old Republican who grew up in Danbury, owns a business that rehabs and renovates distressed properties around the city and resells them.
In a Youtube video, Maxwell slams the fiscal climate, saying: “Our government taxes us to death, and then taxes us after death.”
Not only are jobs leaving Connecticut, he said, entire companies are as well.
Maxwell, on his campaign website, said that he supports a “simple flat tax plan,” that would, he promised, have “many benefits.”
Simplifying the tax code would, Maxwell said, mean “more money back to those who earned it, and less errors preventing the IRS from having to seek out numerous filers for back taxes.”
Maxwell is also calling for Congress to adhere to “zero base budgeting.”
He and his family stick to a budget every month and the country should as well, he said.
“Congress needs to live how the rest of America lives,” he said. “We need accountability.”
Maxwell’s platform also addresses regulatory reform.
“There is a stampede of regulations that has stifled capital investment, entrepreneurs, and opportunity for job growth,” he said.
Maxwell, calling for “a top to bottom review of every single regulation in the federal register,” said over-regulation is costly and harms the poor and middle-class more than it does the rich.
He also promised to fight for veterans, saying he supported “patient choice” at VA medical centers.
Pointing out that the American Legion supports “patient choice,” where veterans can see any doctor they choose, Maxwell asked: “Why shouldn’t the cost of taking care of veterans be considered part of the cost of war?”
Maxwell’s platform also addresses:
- National security: Saying the country’s “number one priority” should be the defeat of terrorism at home and abroad,” Maxwell said he supports Israel and considers a nuclear-armed Iran “an unacceptable threat.”
- Education: Maxwell says Common Core is not the solution and the federal government should leave curriculum in the hands of parents and local educators.
- Second Amendment: He believes in “common sense gun ownership” and calls for thorough background checks and preventing those with criminal records, or who have “gone under psychiatric treatment,” from owning a gun.
- Immigration: Maxwell says he welcomes legal immigrants, but calls for securing the borders and reforming the immigrant visa system. "We need to know if we are allowing in terrorists, criminals, or mentally unstable individuals into our home,” Maxwell said.
The 5th District includes Bethel, Brookfield, Danbury, Newtown, and 36 other communities.
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