The Upcoming Republican Tax Agenda (guest post
From economist, columnist Robert Reich today---and it's not good for you or me or America:
Corporate tax "reform" is high on the Republican agenda because the GOP's corporate patrons are demanding payoff from their investments in the 2014 election. Watch your wallets. Here are the four biggest right-wing whoppers about corporate taxes:
1. The U.S. corporate tax rate of 35% is one of the highest among advanced countries. True but misleading. The effective corporate income-tax rate – what corporations actually pay after all deductions, credits, and loopholes – is 27.7%, close to the average of all rich countries (27.2%). 2. Today's corporate tax rate is high by historic standards. Baloney. In the 1950s it was over 50%. 3. The corporate tax reduces corporate profits, which makes it harder for corporations to hire. Wrong. Corporate profits today are the highest they've been since World War II as a percentage of the economy. 4. Lowering the corporate income-tax would spur economic growth. Baloney. There's no relation between corporate tax rates and growth. In the 1950s and 60s, when the corporate tax was over 50%, the economy grew faster (at an annual average rate of 3.9%) than it has since the rate was reduced.
Once more, the Republicans make it clear they're for the wealthy and corporations, not the middle and lower classes, not for working America. In short, then, not for America, overall.
