Bipartisan support builds for slicing corporate tax rate

[Kablooie]

Source: Los Angeles Times

U.S. corporations have enjoyed a two-year bull run on Wall Street. They are sitting on a record amount of cash and are back to paying bonuses that are the envy of executives around the world. And the icing on the cake for many of them might be just around the corner: a tax cut that has bipartisan support in Congress.
...
Supporters of the corporate tax cuts say they're needed to make U.S. companies more competitive with their foreign counterparts, and the administration and House Republicans say they want to offset rate cuts by eliminating unspecified loopholes and tax breaks. Yet despite complaints that they fork over too much money to Washington, U.S. corporations have been paying an increasingly smaller share of federal taxes over the last half-century. Nearly a third of all federal taxes came from corporations in 1952. Last year, they paid just 8.9%, according to government figures.
...
The top tax rate for corporations has dropped from 52% in 1952 to 35% today. That has led corporate taxes as a share of U.S. economic output to decrease from 6.1% in 1952 to 1.3% last year.
...
"Let's focus on getting a competitive tax rate and see what happens to revenue," said Business Roundtable president John Engler. "Lower tax rates would generate more investment and generate higher revenues."
In addition to wanting to lower the overall rate, Democrats and Republicans said they will consider a huge, one-time tax cut on corporate profits stashed abroad. Reducing the rate to about 5% from 35% for one year would lure back $1 trillion to boost the economy, businesses said.



Read more: http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-corporate-tax-20110420,0,4761108.story?page=1&track=rss

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BIPARTISAN!?

What the hell?

Who are the Dems that think that even MORE tax breaks for corporations is a dandy idea?

...



I feel sick.

[Hannah Bell]

1. oh bullshit.

[freshwest]

2. Nah, it's just the S.O.S.

[merwin]

3. "let's see what happens" seems to be catching on.

Same thing the republicans are saying about the idiotic Medicare voucher thing.

[dkf]

4. Depending on how they deal with loopholes, this could possibly raise more in corporate taxes.

We need to see what the expected revenue is to judge the idea.

[greymattermom]

5. since they are people

they need to subject to an alternative minimum tax of around 10% no loopholes

[HankyDubs]

6. We have to be completely sure that Reganomics doesnt work

The last 30 years were only a trial period.

Let me consult the Giggle Curve. Yup, it still says lower taxes = more revenues!

[Kablooie]

7. You're right. You need at least a millennium to see if it works.

[lonestarnot]

8. Are we going to sit back and take this again?

[Nihil]

9. It worked so well for them last time around, why change a winning strategy?

"Them" being "the corporations" and, subsequently, the corrupt
bunch of bought-out politicians that support the policy.

[blackspade]

10. WTF?!

There should be no cuts in the corporate tax rate.
Previous cuts have gotten us no where.

[Betty]

11. how do you pay less than zero?

oh that's right, we give them money from the suckers who actually do pay taxes.

[Lionel Mandrake]

12. Who are the Dems ...

that think that even MORE tax breaks for corporations is a dandy idea? According to the LA Times article,

"As part of their budget plan passed last week, House Republicans want to cut the corporate tax rate to 25% from 35%. The Obama administration and many Democrats also are looking to slice the current rate, but not as much."

So it seems that President Obama is one of those dems. He probably sees this more as a compromise than a dandy idea.

Still, I'm appalled. The president should take a look at the following chart, if he hasn't already.

[GeorgeGist]

13. But the SC says they're persons.

Therefore they should be paying PERSONAL income taxes. All it requires is an Executive Order to comply with the SC ruling.