Congress candidates try to score points with voters on tax day

On the same day a new poll showed Americans still don’t think much of Congress, several California candidates tried to show their solidarity with people on taxes.

Some, including Republican congressional candidates Doug Ose, Tony Strickland and Paul Chabot, took Tuesday’s state and federal income tax filing deadline to criticize government spending.

“Tax Day is a stark reminder of just how much the government is over-taxing our country,” Strickland said in a statement released by his campaign, while Ose and Chabot signed the “Tax Protection Pledge” to oppose all tax increases.

Los Angeles spiritual teacher and bestselling author Marianne Williamson, who recently dropped her Democratic affiliation to become an independent, took corporations to task, saying many “dodge their taxes, sending their profits offshore or finding loopholes to avoid their obligations.”

Colton attorney Eloise Gomez Reyes joined a nationwide call of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee for requiring wealthy individuals and corporations to pay higher taxes to provide more money for schools and such services as Social Security and Medicare.

Reyes said she would “ask the wealthy and big corporations to pay their fair share.

And Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Sherman Oaks) used the day to reprise his annual campaign to help Los Angeles County taxpayers figure out if they are owed refunds.

“Does the IRS owe you money?” Sherman asked in a news release directing taxpayers to his website www.BradSherman.house.gov or advising them to contact the IRS directly on its Where’s My Refund hotline, (800) 829-1954.

A Field poll released Tuesday showed that 13% of California voters viewed Congress favorably; 79% said they disapproved of the way federal lawmakers are handling the job.

jean.merl@latimes.com

Twitter: @jeanmerl