Subject: [big campaign] FW: WONK ROOM: Conservatives Beat the Drum for Permanent Corporate Tax Cuts
From: Adam Jentleson <[email-masked]>
To: big campaign <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 15 Jan 2009 15:21:01 -0500
List-Id: <bigcampaign.googlegroups.com>

In case you missed the RSC hearing today featuring Romney and Whitman -- House conservatives seem to think that more Bush-style tax cuts for corporations and the very wealthy are the way to recovery.  Some people never learn.

-Adam

________________________________
From: Wonk Room, Center for American Progress Action Fund [mailto:[email-masked]]
Sent: Thursday, January 15, 2009 3:11 PM
To: Jason Rahlan
Subject: WONK ROOM: Conservatives Beat the Drum for Permanent Corporate Tax Cuts

[http://images1.americanprogress.org/il80web20037/dia/John/wonk%20room.bmp]

For Immediate Release
January 15, 2009

Contact
Adam Jentleson, 202.247.8614
[email-masked]<mailto:[email-masked]>

WONK ROOM: Conservatives Beat the Drum for Permanent Corporate Tax Cuts

Conservatives Beat the Drum for Permanent Corporate Tax Cuts
<http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/2009/01/15/tax-cut-drum/>

WASHINGTON, D.C-As the LA Times reported today, conservative support in Congress for President-elect Barack Obama's proposed economic stimulus plan is "peeling off<http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/washingtondc/la-na-obama-stimulus15-2009jan15,0,3980514.story>" in favor of "alternative ideas that rely even more heavily on tax reductions<http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/washingtondc/la-na-obama-stimulus15-2009jan15,0,3980514.story>." Leading this charge, the Republican Study Committee, or RSC, released its preferred stimulus outline<http://rsc.price.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=108590> yesterday<http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/2009/01/14/rsc-stimulus/>, which Matthew Yglesias noted is a "barrel full<http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/archives/2009/01/stimulus_vs_permanent.php>" of permanent tax cuts.

Today, Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA) convened a hearing<http://www.starexponent.com/cse/news/local/article/cantor_announces_more_economic_experts_to_testify/27893/> to further discuss the ideas that the RSC laid out, with testimony provided by former Gov. Mitt Romney (R-MA), former Ebay CEO Meg Whitman, and Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform. During the hearing, all the witnesses continued to beat the drum for permanent tax cuts, especially for corporations:

ROMNEY: The best medicine for a sick economy is permanent tax relief... [corporate tax cuts] would remove fear and replace it with confidence and prosperity.

WHITMAN: The number one thing that I would look at for this group is: can we lower business taxes?...I would argue that permanency and clarity are what to look for.

NORQUIST: I would argue for permanent tax cuts...That would create real and permanent stimulus.

Cutting corporate taxes is a tired conservative solution to just<http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/2008/09/29/irish-tax/> about<http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/2008/10/28/boehner-tax/> everything<http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/2009/01/07/chamber-stimulus/>. Remember, it was a centerpiece<http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/2008/09/05/mccain-jobs/> of Sen. John McCain's (R-AZ) presidential campaign, even before the economic crisis hit. But as the Center for American Progress' Will Straw wrote, permanent corporate tax cuts simply fail<http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2009/01/case_econ_stimulus.html> to provide stimulus:

The track record for such steps is poor in general, but they are particularly ill-suited for a recessionary period. After all, the reason that businesses and individuals are not investing at the moment has little to do with the taxes they may pay in the future and everything to do with a fear of losing money because there is no demand in the economy, asset prices are highly volatile, and credit is hard to come by.

Citizens for Tax Justice noted that "every dollar lost from cutting the corporate income tax would increase real GDP by just 30 cents<http://www.ctj.org/pdf/recession.pdf>." That's hardly the sort of stimulative effect that would justify slashing the corporate rate.

###

If you would rather not receive future email messages from Center for American Progress Action Fund, let us know by clicking here.<http://vocuspr.vocus.com/VocusPR30/OptOut.aspx?513917x24389x0x1x0x24000x6>
Center for American Progress Action Fund, 1333 H St. NW, Washington, DC 20005-4707 United States

--~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~
You received this message because you are subscribed to the "big campaign" group.

To post to this group, send to [email-masked]

To unsubscribe, send email to [email-masked]

E-mail [email-masked] with questions or concerns
 
This is a list of individuals. It is not affiliated with any group or organization.
-~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---