Washington Extra – Tax time
If President Obama did indeed schedule the release of his corporate tax revamp Wednesday to steal the spotlight from Mitt Romney’s tax plan rollout – as some critics charge – it just might have worked. The Obama plan was the top story of the day.
But perhaps more importantly, Obama neutralized corporate taxes as an election year issue by aligning himself with Republican positions.
Sure, there may be differences in the tax rates each candidate backs – Obama at 28 percent, Romney 25 percent, Santorum 17.5 percent and Gingrich 12.5 percent.
But the message is the same: cut taxes on our corporations and especially domestic manufacturers to make the United States more competitive. That’s all voters are likely to hear.
The president also showed Corporate America – not his biggest fan – that he’s willing to talk with them, at least on the tax issue. Cutting the corporate tax rate has been a top goal of big businesses for many years.
Not that it will add up to much more than political messaging, at least this year, with elections coming in November. The odds of meaningful tax legislation in 2012 are slim to none.
But come 2013, tax reform could be the big show and Obama’s plan puts him at center stage.
