Tax Cuts Should be Permanent and All Inclusive

Today President Obama implored Congressto extend the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts for the middle class, while simultaneously asking for a tax increase on small business owners and others – the very group our nation relies on to create jobs and is counting on to turn around this 40-month streak of over 8 percent unemployment.  To push his new plan, President Obama didn’t send out his economic advisor to the Today Show, he sent out Robert Gibbs, senior adviser to the Obama re-election campaign, a move that reeked of politics and more of a concern about the November election rather than getting the economy back on track. 

With Obama’s latest move, he hopes to cast his opponents as those who are only concerned about the wealthy and protecting their tax breaks.  The problem with this charge is simple: it’s flat-out false.  Just like when Obama said that an overall tax cut extension is “least likely to promote growth-we can’t afford to keep that up, not right now…” What Americans – and their pocketbooks – can’t afford “to keep up” is the reckless and out-of-control spending that this administration began on its very first day in office. 

For not the first time, President Obama insults and underestimates the intelligence of the American people.  The public knows and acutely understands that in a time of such fiscal uncertainty and high unemployment, tax increases on any American would be harmful and further entrench our dismal fiscal situation.  Time after time we hear business owners repeat that what they need most in this economy is certainty.  Not only are they already burdened by the avalanche of taxes and onerous regulations from Obamacare, many businesses must also contend with the regulatory uncertainty brought on by the multitude of pending rules from the Environmental Protection Agency.  Add these all to the uncertainty of a behemoth tax increase on every American by this year’s end.  This demonstrates that Obama is not only being irresponsible, he’s also cementing what his other policies have already begun, ensuring pitiful prospects of a quick recovery.

Fortunately, Congress can take the lead and implement common-sense tax reform.  Rep. Dave Camp (R-MI), Chairman of the House Ways and Means committee, wrote in a recent op-ed for The Hill newspaper why Americans need tax reform now more than ever.  He noted, “The tax code should be simpler, flatter and fairer. By eliminating lobbyist loopholes, we can lower rates and create a healthier, stronger economy with more jobs.” Rep. Camp also offered the specifics of his comprehensive tax reform proposal; his plan will “lower taxes for families and job creators to a top rate of 25 percent, eliminate the alternative minimum tax, transition America to a more competitive territorial tax system and keep revenue levels in the historic norm of 18-19 percent of gross domestic product.”

Unlike the uncertainty of Obama’s proposals, making permanent the tax reductions of 2001 and 2003, the American public and our businesses will be placed on a path of economic certainty and growth.