Profile in Courage: Former Senator Pat Toomey

In today’s political climate, it’s easy to vote based on the letter next to someone’s name rather than have original ideas. Fortunately, some lawmakers are willing to think critically about which ideas would help taxpayers and consumers deal with a swelling tsunami of costs. Former Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) has thought deeply and critically about a wide array of issues ranging from tax reform to tariffs to postal policy. His fresh perspective made Capitol Hill a better place, and he continues to be a force for good even in his political retirement. For helping Americans keep a growing federal bureaucracy off their backs, Sen. Toomey is most definitely a Profile in Courage.

Toomey was born in Providence, Rhode Island to a working-class family. His father was a union worker who laid cable, while his mother was a parish secretary, giving him an early appreciation for hard work and perseverance. After graduating from Harvard University in 1984, Toomey worked in the financial services industry before co-founding a chain of restaurants and nightclubs in the Allentown, Pennsylvania, area with his brothers. This was an exceedingly tough time to own a small business in Pennsylvania. Then-Governor Bob Casey Sr. squandered budget surpluses and brought what he liked to call an “activist government” to the Keystone State. This tax-and-spend philosophy made crystal clear to Toomey the value of two words — fiscal discipline. He seized the moment and jumped into politics, handily defeating state Senator Roy Afflerbach to become a U.S. representative for Pennsylvania’s 15th congressional district.

While on the campaign trail, Toomey spoke passionately about a promising idea, the “flat tax.” Of course, he had many detractors because the idea upended the status quo. Toomey argued that the “flat tax” — or a single income tax rate for all earners — would greatly simplify the U.S. tax code while still ensuring the top earners paid far more than middle and bottom earners. While Pennsylvania voters responded enthusiastically to this message, it largely fell on deaf ears in Washington, D.C. Toomey faced significant pressure from his Republican colleagues to not rock the boat too much and go along with high (albeit lowered) tax rates, earmarks, and bailouts. Things came to a head when Bethlehem, Pennsylvania mayor Don Cunningham asked Rep. Toomey to secure taxpayer dollars to revitalize the town as Bethlehem Steel was going bankrupt. Toomey bravely replied, “Look, that runs counter to what I believe in. This would be a spending project, and we’d have to bring money back from the federal government to open this up, and I don’t do that.”

The moment wasn’t right for Toomey to bring reform in Washington, D.C., and he left Congress in 2005. Fast forward five years, and the national mood had changed considerably. The U.S. government was on a misguided mission to bail out big banks while Americans faced high taxes, out-of-control regulation, and soaring unemployment. Toomey took a shot at a Senate seat, ousting unpopular Republican incumbent Arlen Specter (who had voted for bailouts). Sen. Toomey hit the ground running, castigating then-President Obama for historically-high spending and holding firm against irresponsible debt ceiling proposals. During the first Trump administration, he led the charge for tax reform and made sure that businesses and healthcare consumers also felt relief. He also fought hard for getting rid of earmarks.

Sen. Toomey also rightly slammed tariffs as taxes by any other name. In 2019, the lawmaker correctly claimed that tariffs on Mexico, “would directly diminish the value of the tax reform that we did by raising taxes on consumers. It would disrupt supply chains for American companies, thereby making them less competitive.” The evidence was on Sen. Toomey’s side. According to a 2019 study by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, President Trump’s tariffs imposed during his first term cost households more than $400 per year on average. Unsurprisingly, President Trump’s current round of tariffs could easily cost families triple that figure.

One of his most courageous fights was for reforming the U.S. Postal Service (USPS), which has lost more than $100 billion over the past fifteen years. When the Biden administration and lawmakers proposed bailing out the USPS, Sen. Toomey could have simply registered a “no” vote with his Republican colleagues. Instead, he took the extra step of introducing an amendment clarifying that the bankrupt and irresponsible agency should not provide banking services. As strange as it sounds, lawmakers such as Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Ma.) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) believe that the USPS is somehow capable of managing Americans’ finances even when it cannot manage its own. While the USPS bailout went through and the agency continues to unsuccessfully pilot banking services, Sen. Toomey deserves praise for fighting to protect taxpayers.

Unlike many in Congress, Toomey decided to bow out gracefully from public service. Even though Toomey’s time in Congress is over, he continues to advocate for taxpayers and consumers. He has continued to speak out against costly tariffs, even when it’s his own party pushing for these import taxes. Toomey can be counted on to do the right thing even when his stance isn’t popular or likely to win the day. For standing firm on what he believes in, Pat Toomey is a Profile in Courage.