Businesses ready ... aim ... hold their fire

[Lone_Star_Dem]

Source: The Hill

Some prominent members of the business lobby came out swinging against the giant tax overhaul Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) introduced last week, but the legislation may ultimately attract its share of K Street backers.

“The business community is going to be somewhat divided about the Rangel bill. There will be some that will be attracted to the bill because of the rate cuts,” predicted Robert Leonard, a lobbyist for Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld who served as tax counsel to the Ways and Means Committee during the 1986 tax reform.

The last time Congress tackled fundamental tax reform, a strong business coalition threw its force behind the legislation, eventually clinching its enactment in 1986. Back then, Rangel was a senior member of the Ways and Means Committee, which he now heads.

The New York Democrat has mimicked parts of the 1986 reform, which broadened the base of taxpayers, while cutting the corporate tax rate and rates on individuals.


Read more: http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/businesses-ready-...-aim-...-hold-their-fire-2007-10-30.html

[Trillo]

1. First time I've seen it mentioned.

The article seems sparse on details, more generalized broad brushes than much else. The portion about a corporate tax cut in exchange for elimination of some loopholes could be a good thing, if a significant amount of corporate welfare is eliminated.

I'm reminded once again of the PDF by Citizens for Tax Justice, emphasis added:

Eighty-two of America’s largest and most profitable corporations paid no federal income tax in at least one year during the first three years of the George W. Bush administration — a period when federal corporate tax collections fell to their lowest sustained level in six decades.
read more of PDF...