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Published Tuesday, October 27, 2009 in Opinion

A job creation idea

President Obama has stated he is willing to try any good idea to create jobs. If Washington leadership wants to create more jobs, they need to examine the U.S. tax rate. It is among the highest overall corporate rate for industrialized countries.

This is especially challenging because it has remained largely unchanged since 1986, while other countries have aggressively lowered their rates. High-tax environments discourage capital investment. Taxes can play an important role in encouraging companies to expand in the U.S. The U.S. needs to adopt tax policies that encourage domestic investment in capital and labor.

Currently, policy debates in Washington are focused on raising taxes, health care, cap and trade and reinforcing the current system rather than on new approaches to business taxation. This continuing debate over proposed patches to the current system means businesses, both domestic and international, experience the U.S. tax code as inherently unstable and unreliable.

Congress has an opportunity in the next few years to strengthen U.S. manufacturing and job creation by converting the conversation about raising business taxes into a serious conversation about fundamentally reforming business tax rules to encourage investment in labor and capital here in the United States.

I am skeptical though. After just achieving a record deficit I bet the ability to focus long term instead of the flawed knee jerk traditional "increase taxes to increase revenue" mentality will be virtually impossible. I like to be proven wrong.

Terry Pitts

Newnan