Big Business Poised To Score Huge Victory In Tax Reform Talks

[marmar]

from HuffPost:



WASHINGTON -- As Congress grinds closer to shutting down the federal government and the White House floats proposals to cut social services for working families, big business is gearing up to try to win yet another budget battle: overhauling the corporate tax code. However the current budget tussling between President Obama and congressional Republicans ends, corporate titans and their lobbyists appear poised for a big victory at the expense of the American middle class.

President Obama said he hopes to eliminate many corporate tax loopholes during his State of the Union address, but he also pledged to cut the overall corporate tax rate -- a joint policy the White House has billed as "revenue neutral," meaning it will neither increase or decrease overall corporate tax receipts. The administration has not yet outlined which loopholes it wants to close or how far it wants to push down the tax rate.

Buoyed by the prospect of a business-friendly tax overhaul, however, the Business Roundtable and other high-powered corporate lobbyists are using tax reform negotiations to push for more offshore tax breaks and official federal forgiveness for tax avoidance schemes. They got a big boost on Tuesday when House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) pledged to actively reduce corporate taxes in his fiscal 2012 budget proposal, which would also do away with or fundamentally change key social services, including Medicare.

Ryan's sweeping budget plan generated fierce opposition from congressional Democrats. But it may spark renewed enthusiasm for using the December released bipartisan deficit commission report as a starting point for long-term budget negotiations. The corporate tax reform proposed by the commission would permanently push popular offshore tax shelters beyond the reach of Uncle Sam -- very bad news for legislators, economists and average citizens hoping to see big companies play a bigger role in helping to narrow the budget gap. A bipartisan group of senators is already engaged in talks based off the report, and, in the wake of Ryan’s budget proposal, Third Way, a centrist Democratic think tank with close ties to Wall Street, is pressing lawmakers to hammer out a compromise largely based on the commission’s recommendations. ............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/06/big-business-dominating-t_n_845558.html

[villager]

1. There is *no* fixing the system within the system anymore. Those options are over.

n/t

[gratuitous]

2. Cut the corporate tax rate? It's less than zero now!

GE not only didn't pay any taxes on $14 billion in profit, they scored a $3.2 billion credit. That's about -23% tax rate. And urged on by our old pal Tim Geithner, the administration thinks that's too high.

Really, guys?

[girl gone mad]

3. Sell the dollar.

It's not coming back.

[Autumn]

4. This make no sense to me

"President Obama said he hopes to eliminate many corporate tax loopholes during his State of the Union address, but he also pledged to cut the overall corporate tax rate -- a joint policy the White House has billed as "revenue neutral," meaning it will neither increase or decrease overall corporate tax receipts. The administration has not yet outlined which loopholes it wants to close or how far it wants to push down the tax rate."

So whats the fucking point? How much more can he push down their fucking tax rate?

[hifiguy]

5. And guess who will be more than happy to

"accommodate" them in the name of "bipartisan compromise."

[bahrbearian]

6. Its called Pragmatism now.