Economy & Budget

President Barack Obama formally unveiled the administration’s fiscal 2014 budget on April 10, 2013 with some familiar proposals for tax reforms. Among other proposals, President Obama is proposing to extend 100-percent first year depreciation into 2013, giving firms an incentive for investing in plants and equipment now. 

A parochial issue -- one which was discussed vigorously during the U.S. 2007 – 2009 economic contraction -- is how does corporate Federal income tax policy affect incentives for businesses to undertake new investments in capital goods? Read more...

It's a familiar narrative: President Obama pushes for higher taxes, while Republicans remain steadfastly opposed to bigger levies on personal income. However, recent statements from some GOPers hint at a temptation to go along with the idea of hitting the larger oil and natural gas companies with new exactions. Who wants to be seen on the side of “Big Oil”? Congressional resolve will be tested now that the White House has released its budget which, true to political form, raises taxes on a subset of the largest American oil and gas companies. Rather than offering a solid plan for across-the-board tax reform, President Obama -- in his unwavering opinion that these companies are making too much money -- is sacrificing jobs, energy production and the very government revenue he's seeking to generate.

You’re paying more for gasoline. The oil industry’s pocketing the profits. And they don’t want you to know it.
 
Complaints about biofuels this year are the latest shiny ball for the oil industry, meant to distract the public from what’s really biting into their household budgets. Refining margins this year have been at record levels. Oil companies are making more money, even as gas prices for February and March were the highest in history. If you want to know why you’re paying more at the pump, look no further than oil executives’ pockets. How they keep a straight face while espousing concern for American drivers is beyond me.

Today, the White House’s Joining Forces initiative will celebrate its second anniversary. Finding employment for our nation’s veterans and military spouses is a cause that First Lady Michelle Obama has embraced during her time in the White House. Both she and Second Lady Dr. Jill Biden have provided unprecedented leadership and we have begun to see positive change.
 
But we are at a critical juncture. Over the next five years, more than one million servicemen and women are expected to leave the military. All of them are post-9/11 veterans and many will be under 25 years old. With unemployment rates sitting near 10 and 20 percent for these two populations respectively, it is time for renewed focus and a change in approach.

This week marks my 100th day in Congress. After working in state and local government and owning a small business myself, I am shocked at the lack of attention this Congress has paid to job creation and the needs of small business.

Every time I am back in my district, my constituents let me know that the economy is their number one concern. While unemployment has steadily decreased, it is still too high, particularly in Latino communities like my district. Far too many small business owners are shutting their doors and workers are being left with fewer opportunities to support their families and further their skills.

There’s plenty to criticize in the new White House budget. But President Obama’s move toward entitlement reform is a positive step, so it’s only fair to give credit where it’s due: to House Republicans for forcing the president to face reality.
 
Starting with the continuing resolution debate in April 2011 when Republicans succeeded in shaving $80 billion from the president’s budget request, conservatives have kept up a steady drumbeat signaling the end of the tax-and-spend status quo. It continued in the August 2011 debt ceiling agreement that included an unprecedented $1 trillion in matching spending cuts, through even the fiscal cliff deal when we saved the majority of the Bush tax cuts and ultimately preserved the sequester spending cuts. We’ve gone on record with major entitlement reforms, passing three groundbreaking budgets while our friends across the aisle lobbed criticism from the sidelines. In budget after budget and speech after speech, President Obama has scrupulously avoided publicly proposing any specific reforms to entitlement programs – even running away from the proposals of his own bipartisan debt commission.  As recently as the State of the Union address, the president offered only vague endorsement for policies to achieve “the same amount of health care savings” as the reforms recommended by the Simpson-Bowles commission.

What does it take to get Congress to listen?
 
On April 10, more than 100,000 people from 31 states descended on the nation’s Capitol to send a strong message that now is the time for immigration reform.
 
Thousands of immigrant families knocked on Congress’ door and met with policymakers while in Washington, telling their stories about the urgent need for compassionate, comprehensive legislation.

Ever since the Virginia Company was founded in Jamestown in 1607, America has been the land of opportunity for generations of immigrants, who often risked everything to strive for their American Dream. America must continue to be a magnet for the best minds in the world to come here for the freedom to compete, innovate and grow our economy.

A recent survey of over 1,100 manufacturing executives by the National Association of Manufacturers’ Manufacturing Institute and Deloitte shows that 67 percent of manufacturing companies face a “moderate to severe” shortage of qualified workers. Four major high-tech companies – IBM, Intel, Microsoft and Oracle – say they have a combined 10,000 job openings in the United States alone. In Congressional testimony, Rick Stephens, senior vice president at Boeing, related that fewer than 5 percent of graduates from American colleges and universities attain engineering degrees, compared with about 20 percent in Asia.

An opportunity to pass comprehensive immigration reform doesn’t come along every day. More than 25 years have passed since President Ronald Reagan signed the last major reform into law, and leaders of both parties have tried unsuccessfully to adopt new legislation since. Reforming immigration is hard to do because passing a truly comprehensive bill requires national consensus — bipartisan political will in Congress and the White House paired with an American public that believes reform is important and necessary.
 
Today, the political stars have aligned once more. After a flurry of activity over the past few weeks, comprehensive immigration reform legislation will likely be introduced in both houses of Congress this week. Yet at this once-in-a-generation moment, we shouldn’t attach the label “comprehensive” to a bill that leaves people out simply on the basis of who they are or who they love.

It’s that time of year again – tax time – when Americans are reminded of everything that’s wrong with the federal tax system. It is fiendishly complicated. It is riddled with regressive breaks and loopholes and doesn’t actually raise enough revenue to finance the government. It distorts economic decisions and puts U.S. firms at a disadvantage against foreign competitors who pay lower rates.

What it needs is a comprehensive overhaul. Radically streamlining the tax code is the right way to make our government more user-friendly and to reduce the time and money citizens spend on filing their taxes