In an effort to broker a deal so that stalled budget talks can resume President Barack Obama is planning to offer congressional Republicans a cut in corporate taxes in exchange for a one-time investment in programs aimed at creating jobs, according to the Wall Street Journal.
President Obama has supported cutting corporate tax rates for quite some time but has always insisted that any such cut be accompanied by an overhaul of the individual tax rates as well. In order to try and reach a compromise the president is willing to drop that demand as long as a significant job creation program is invested in, according to the Associated Press.
"As part of his efforts to focus Washington on the middle class, today in Tennessee the president will call on Washington to work on a grand bargain focused on middle-class jobs by pairing reform of the business tax code with a significant investment in middle-class jobs," Dan Pfeiffer, a senior advisor in the Obama administration, said.
Tuesday's speech at an Amazon fulfillment center is the second in a series of speeches the president has planned to kick-start his new approach to economics. Moving forward the Obama administration is hoping to create economic policies where prosperity will come from the "middle out." The idea is that a strong middle-class is essential for economic growth.
It's unclear whether the offer will appeal to Republicans or not. While both President Obama and Republican leaders want to cut corporate taxes lowering the rate from 35 percent to 28 percent might not be a deep enough cut for Republicans. In order to offset the reduction in revenue President Obama wants to eliminate many corporate benefits such as breaks on purchasing private planes, Republicans would rather cut spending elsewhere in the budget, according to the Associated Press.
Michael Steel, a spokesman for the Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-Ohio, rejected the proposal saying that it doesn't actually represent any sort of concession from President Obama, according to the Washington Post.
"The president has always supported corporate tax reform. Republicans want to help families and small businesses, too," Steel said. "This proposal allows President Obama to support President Obama's position on taxes and President Obama's position on spending, while leaving small businesses and American families behind."
