ASPEN, Colo. — President Bill Clinton says the nation’s corporate tax rate is “uncompetitive” and called for a lower rate as part of a “mega-deal” to raise the debt ceiling.
“When I was president, we raised the corporate income-tax rates on corporations that made over $10 million [a year],” the former president told the Aspen Ideas Festival on Saturday evening. “It made sense when I did it. It doesn’t make sense anymore — we’ve got an uncompetitive rate. We tax at 35 percent of income, although we only take about 23 percent. So we should cut the rate to 25 percent, or whatever’s competitive, and eliminate a lot of the deductions so that we still get a fair amount, and there’s not so much variance in what the corporations pay. But how can they do that by Aug. 2?”
Clinton also said Grover Norquist, who as president of Americans for Tax Reform is the GOP’s unofficial enforcer of no-new-taxes pledges, has a “chilling” hold on the nation’s lawmaking.
The former president said it has seemed like Republicans need any revenue concessions to be “approved in advance by Grover Norquist.”
“You’re laughing,” he told the crowd of 800. “But he was quoted in the paper the other day saying he gave Republican senators permission … on getting rid of the ethanol subsidies. I thought, ‘My God, what has this country come to when one person has to give you permission to do what’s best for the country.’ It was chilling.”
Betcha didn’t see that coming.
People have to listen to all of what he says, which makes perfect sense – cut corporate taxes but also close the damn loopholes.
“close the damn loopholes”
Yep, sounds good, I’m all for it. Good luck with that.
This headline is pretty misleading, isn’t it? It might as well say “Bill Clinton: We need to eliminate a lot of the tax deductions.” His point is, the nominal tax rate may seem high, but in practice we take much lower amounts because of loopholes and deductions. We need to lower the rates *while* eliminating loopholes and deductions.
> “We tax at 35 percent of income, although we only take about 23 percent. So we should cut the rate to 25 percent (…) and eliminate a lot of the deductions (…) and there’s not so much variance in what the corporations pay.”
I know, I know… the tax-cut fetish is strong, and people are blinded by it. But again, we don’t have a spending problem. We have a revenue problem, when the top earners pay (when you factor in the temporary cuts, loopholes and deductions) a lower effective rate than the bottom earners.
# 3 arpie said, on July 5th, 2011 at 11:37 am
> I know, I know… the tax-cut fetish is strong, and people are blinded by it. But again, we don’t have a spending problem. We have a revenue problem….
————
Bwahahahahahaha! What a jolt of refreshing comedy. I am literally roftl! We…don’t… have… a… spending… problem….
Oh my. let me get my wits again. Phew!
Okay, I’m better now.
Well, at least until bobbo, Greg Allen, and the lot start talking about how it’s all the fault of Bush or Cantor or Gingrich or some other ‘puke’.
The laughter never ends a DU!
Clinton no longer needs the die hard support of the left to avoid impeachment or to vote for his wife(or to get women), so he is willing to say a few more reasonable things now.
Alternatively, he is now on the boards of many corporations, so he wants lower rates. This doesn’t make as much sense, as you can bet his corps are getting lots of loopholes.
@#4 LotsaLuck: Never mind the fact you make no arguments for your point… Or that any sane projections into how to fix the budget and deficit require fixing the government revenue problems… I’ll just leave here a quote from (conservative) columnist David Brooks:
“The members of this movement have no economic theory worthy of the name. Economists have identified many factors that contribute to economic growth, ranging from the productivity of the work force to the share of private savings that is available for private investment. Tax levels matter, but they are far from the only or even the most important factor.
But to members of this movement, tax levels are everything. Members of this tendency have taken a small piece of economic policy and turned it into a sacred fixation. They are willing to cut education and research to preserve tax expenditures. Manufacturing employment is cratering even as output rises, but members of this movement somehow believe such problems can be addressed so long as they continue to worship their idol.”
(http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/05/opinion/05brooks.html?_r=2&ref=davidbrooks)
And to prove the point, Paul Ryan (tea-party darling and the guy responsible for that ridiculous budget) responds to that that any tax cut savings will not be used to reduce any deficits, but rather to… create even more tax cuts. Ah… I guess if you’re a tax-cut-fetishist that makes total perverted sense.
(http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2011/07/05/260523/paul-ryan-david-brooks-loopholes/)
1st and 10…. The game of political football continues and the banksters still own both teams
Bush IS greatly responsible for where we are right now but that is irrelevant to what we do to get out of it. Regurgitating “Don’t Blame Bush” when its irrelevant is as intelligent as saying “We have a spending problem not a revenue problem.” Dogmatic Chants of no substance.
Word for the Day: “Comparative Government”
Look around the world and see what governments are doing and what the outcomes are. Yes: compare and contrast, weigh the elements, choose the best, legislate change. Repeat.
I heard last night USA has the “worlds” second highest corporate tax. In a vacuum, that sounds like it should be lowered. But I also here the effective tax rate is much lower. Seems like if we are going to copy the world on its Nominal Corporate tax rate, we should also follow the world on its deductions and credits as well? I think so. The federal governments income from corporate tax over the past few decades as gone from around 30% to 8%.
The trend is clear: starve the beast and repeal the New Deal. And its working all too well when the voters like paying less to the government AND they have short memories.
Obama has ZERO record of standing up to the Pukes. Looks like billions of cuts to MediCare ((all from the providers?—docs and hospitals?)) have been put on the table. Obama may be willing to cave again instead of stand up to the Hostage taking of the Pukes.
Which would be better? Cave and let the Pukes cut all the social programs? Wall Street goes thru the roof and it would take a few months for people to start complaining about lack/cut in services===those whiny worthless too lazy to work scum. I do so remember that lady complaining to Bush that she had to hold two jobs to get by and his response was “Good for you.” Ha, ha.
-or- Hold the line against CRAZY and Wall Street tanks while services are cut back “until” the Pukes fold and agree to raising the debt cieling to pay for all the debt that was in each and every case agreed to by our government===and all too much of it benefitting our blessed Corporations.
Some societies are sick for various reasons. You can pick them out throughout history. Our own USA born with the sin of Slavery. England with its Protestant/Catholic conflict. Germany with its racial theories. And now, the USA is back on the list with its constant religious anti-science recidivism but more importantly the anti-society notion that free markets can govern complex social interaction so that taxation and regulations are not needed, even that lowering taxes will create jobs and prosperity.
Yes, more evil ideas are afoot. Pragmatism and reality to knock us sidewise as it always does.
Silly Hoomans.
New Age Psychotherapy: “be what you want, and it will come to you.”
Surprisingly, it works with government. Elect leaders who say government doesn’t work and thats exactly what you get.
Amusing?
So now with 30 years of government doesn’t work let the unregulated corporations rule our society, can we all agree indeed “that” doesn’t work? Let’s again compare ourselves to other advanced western nations. Higher tax rates but better everything else as well. USA falling/trailing on almost every measure of societal success including (Horrors!) such things as business entrepreneurialship and innovation.
How about another 30 year experiment where we elect people dedicated to the notion that government CAN work?
Too Sy-Fy ((spelled correctly for the sarcasm intended)) for you? FARK!!!!!!
Obama is luring the Rublicans in for a kill, and they’re walking right into it.
Me tipe guud. Republicans.
The Teabagger sheeple don’t quite get the part that reads “we tax at 35 percent of income, although we only take about 23 percent”.
Corporations want it both ways, lower tax rates and keep the loop holes. If a deal is cut, it’s because corporations feel confident the loopholes are ENORMOUS.
The result of deal is they WILL get it both ways and the deficit continues to grow. Having said that, Republicans will continue to hold the country hostage to raising the debt ceiling because their corporate donors have them by their little balls.
What’s 35% of nothing?
BP won’t be reporting any profits (in the US) for the foreseeable future. The oil spill was the best thing that ever happened to them.
Someone should tell Bill (and President Obama) that profits and income are different things.
All those new regulations that the EPA are preparing are great news to the energy companies – it keeps out the competition, keeps prices (and income) high will allowing them to claim no profit.
#1, smartalix, “cut corporate taxes but also close the damn loopholes”
We would be good to do that across the entire tax code – reduce rates while eliminating deductions and exemptions. Would result in the same (or more) revenue coming in while greatly reducing the complexity and burden of compliance for taxpayers.
#14, Dallas, most people don’t understand the concept of marginal vs. effective tax rate; which I would make the claim is a large part of the problem with the over-complexity of the existing tax code.
So, let’s see.
We drop the marginal rate to 25%. Drop some deductions and the effective tax rate is still around 23%?
Or leave it alone and the effective rate is 23%
What are we gaining here?
Exxon Mobile made 30 Billion in profit in 2010 and paid zero taxes in 2009. sorry can’t post links with Comcast down again.
chuck–your bias is showing. Would you rather pay zero taxes because you made zero profit, or would you rather pay taxes on 30 Billion in profit?
This mania against taxes is truly corrosive. Make good men falter.
#17, if even you reform the tax code to be exactly revenue neutral but are able to remove a great deal of its complexity, you will be eliminating significant waste in the resources spent each year in tax compliance.
Good little puppets…you’re doing exactly as you were all expected to do. Keep fighting with each other over what the paid spokesmen of the two party fraud are saying while what’s left of your freedoms are stolen from you and your children are sold into peonage. Keep up that ouch-quit-it, hair pulling, bitch fighting with each other. You all deserve what is about to happen to you.
#17–LL==supposedly the gain is that more entities will start paying taxes at the lower rates. Theoretically it could be true–or not. Facts are hard to come by in these contested issues filled with spin, bias, and outright lying for purposeful effect.
To a too great degree–we indeed must fall back somewhat on ideology. This calls forth just what the natural consequences of any given ideology is. Ruin or Salvation. If your ultimate goal is to do away with MediCare and Social Security, is THAT in a vacuum a good or bad outcome? If bad, its hard to see arguing for positions that drive towards that objective—the lies and spins becoming somewhat irrelevant in such a base analysis.
Actions/Inactions have consequences. Real world consequences. Sad so many want to champion ideologies for the feel good individual fantasies they stroke with not a heed at all to their real world consequences.
Does your ideology really make sense when pushed to its applicable limits? Who benefits and who is harmed. What kind of society do you really want to push for? Remember your history.
#18 – as a shareholder I’d rather they distribute the profits to me, but instead management pays themselves a big bonus.
BTW, I’m in favor if eliminating tax deductions. And I don’t consider the elimination of a deduction or subsidy to be a “tax hike”.
#20–nosenseatall==and your solution is?
Another tax that should be eliminated is the tax on dividends. As long as shareholder equity is already being taxed through the corporate income tax, the disbursement of that equity in the form of a dividend shouldn’t be getting double-tapped with another tax.
Sigh, Why is it Bill Clinton is talking like a President trying to work something out in the best interest of the country and Obombast is talking like what John D. called him on No Agenda.
#23: You easily led simps get played for fools while the republic is plundered and now you want *me* to fix it?! If it were in my power to do so, I wouldn’t. Stupid should come with a price. Yours’ will be enduring the collapse.
#26–nosenseatall==I’ll add you to the surprising short list of people posting here who have no solution at all and are left only baying at what is obvious to everyone here.
You could not be more irrelevant.
Who’s for a very simple thing with massive repercussions?—-require all stock to be held a minimum of xxxxxxx. Pick your own time frame. More than 1/10th of a second might even through the hugh computerized traders off their profit algorhythms.
Or maybe even a per stock transfer fee–when millions of stocks are bought and sold within a nanosecond for hundreths of a cents profit, even a 5 cent tax could stop this SKIMMING OF RATIONAL CAPITALISM. Its not gambling at all which is another crime going by way of “free market no regulation capitalism.” This is NAKED SKIMMING on the face of it.
Simple common sense solutions. Never heard. Never talked about. Never considered.
The solutions are not “out there.” They are right in front of us.
Silly Hoomans.
“#26–nosenseatall==I’ll add you to the surprising short list of people posting here who have no solution at all and are left only baying at what is obvious to everyone here.
You could not be more irrelevant.”
Had to stop there before you went off into weeds like you do on any post of more than 20 words.
Yes, and you, self absorbed jackass, are soooo much more relevant.
You and yours do not deserve a “solution” to this mess and you’re not going to get one. Stupid never does. Have fun chewing on the ashes that your narcissism is going to provide you. Now go on with posting another boring tome that no one is going to read.
#28–nosenseatall==why there’s your problem right there. You stopped reading before you got to only one of many solutions. You have to read more than the first few sentences of any critiques if you are ever going to learn to have any ideas of your own.
Silly child.
Don’t confuse mindless bitching with insight. They aren’t the same thing at all. And that fudge in your pants is not chocolate ice cream no matter how satisfying you think it is.
And your solution is?
JCD: Seriously, how much cash to have an “ignore poster” feature built into the site? Really…I’ll pay to be able to enjoy the site without having to take the time to page down past self important shits like bobbo. I know every site has it’s resident troll, but come on…
#16 Agreed and sure you know your stuff.
The fact remains corporations are paying less taxes now than ever and compared to other rich countries, we rank amongst the bottom on a gdp basis..and by a HUGE difference.
Large US companies are experts at hiding profits in tax havens and small ones pass it their owners who then report on the personal tax returns.
Since they’ve heard it long enough by Fox News, the sheeple are convinced the problem is of course the middle income cheaters and spending the $2M spent by Planned Parenthood on killing babies.
Get rid of all subsidies.
Tell the public how much it was subsidied.
Make the playing truly level.
That should kill corn (which is killing you,) oil and a whole lot of other products.