Gary Clyde Hufbauer
| July 31, 2013, 12:48 p.m.
In a Washington that has been defined for years by die-hard partisanship and stark policy differences, conceptual support for a sweeping reform of our tax code has been a rare point of agreement. And this is with good reason. Drastic reforms are necessary to ensure American growth in the years ahead — especially since the U.S. corporate tax system is among the worst in the world.
By
Meredith Shiner
| July 30, 2013, 6:26 p.m.
Lawmakers regarded President Barack Obama’s latest attempt to engage them on an economic proposal as largely irrelevant Tuesday, with neither Democrats nor Republicans viewing it as an actual step forward toward breaking their ongoing budget impasse.
By
Steven T. Dennis
| July 30, 2013, 4:22 p.m.
1. It’s not particularly grand. Nor is it necessarily a bargain. Or even new. It’s mostly a repackaged offer of proposals the president has offered before.
By
Niels Lesniewski
| July 29, 2013, 5:39 p.m.
LAWRENCEVILLE, N.J. — Give them credit for this much: The top congressional tax writers are doing their level best to push for an overhaul of the nation’s outdated tax code.
By
Philip Brasher
| July 26, 2013, 1:18 p.m.
Scientists started working back in the 1990s to genetically engineer a soybean that’s oil would be free of artery-clogging trans fats, a product farmers think will appeal to consumers as well as food-makers and fast-food chains.
Sen. John Cornyn
| July 25, 2013, 5 a.m.
The scandals surrounding the Internal Revenue Service continue to grow. We now know that President Barack Obama’s handpicked chief counsel of the IRS was aware of his agency’s malfeasance. With this revelation, the shaky narrative originally pushed by the administration — that all blame lies with a few meddling staffers in the Cincinnati office — has come crashing down around them. This scandal implicates officials at the very highest levels of the IRS.
Claire Buchan Parker
| July 25, 2013, 5 a.m.
The Senate Finance Committee is slated to receive comments on Sens. Max Baucus’ and Orrin G. Hatch’s “blank slate” approach to tax reform later this week. No doubt many senators will share their views about which provisions of the tax code must be preserved and which should be eliminated.
Reid Cramer
| July 24, 2013, 1:13 p.m.
What’s the first step to revising America’s low saving rate? Cut out all the current incentives for savings enshrined in the tax code. It’s not as crazy as it sounds. Recently, Senate Finance Committee leaders Max Baucus and Orrin G. Hatch endorsed this radical approach to tax reform by vowing to wipe the code clean and start over with a blank slate.
Susan N. Dreyfus
| July 19, 2013, 1:09 p.m.
As lawmakers take on the gargantuan task of reforming our tax code, teams of lobbyists have already begun to line up to defend tax credits and exemptions that support special interests. There is one group of Americans, however, who do not have access to lobbyists and lawyers. They are the 1 in 5 American children who currently live below the poverty line. And a vital source of support for them may be in serious jeopardy.
Eric Wang
| July 12, 2013, 5 a.m.
As Congress and the Department of Justice continue investigating the IRS scandal, there is growing recognition in Congress of the need to fix the laws or regulations that facilitated the agency’s targeting of ideological nonprofit groups. Recently, a panel of experts calling itself the Bright Lines Project presented a 32-page recipe for reform (“Finding Congressional Solutions to the IRS Scandal,” June 14). Despite its apparent good intentions, in practice, the proposal would insulate elected officials from public opinion and pressure. Members of Congress committed to the First Amendment should reject this guidance, which would make a bad situation worse.
By
Paul M. Krawzak
| July 1, 2013, 5 p.m.
Senate Budget Chairwoman Patty Murray wants Republicans to engage in budget negotiations to replace the sequester before the August recess, saying bipartisan talks provide the only way for the parties to agree on higher defense spending levels.
Michael A. Andrews and Abraham N.M. Shashy Jr.
| June 21, 2013, 3:03 p.m.
In his 2013 State of the Union address, President Barack Obama championed our nation’s energy policy and reaffirmed his goal of cutting net oil imports in half by the end of the decade. He said, “Today no area holds more promise than our investments in American energy. After years of talking about it, we’re finally poised to control our own energy future. ... We produce more oil at home than we have in 15 years. ... We produce more natural gas than ever before and nearly everyone’s energy bill is lower because of it.” Three months later, the president released his budget proposal, which eliminates tax incentives for the oil and gas industry, calling them “tax giveaways.” The president might achieve his goal of ending what he calls “oil subsidies that keep us trapped in the past,” but he will do so at the expense of sound energy policy.
By
Paul M. Krawzak
| June 14, 2013, 3:39 p.m.
The aging of the American population is a decidedly different story from region to region.
By
Paul M. Krawzak
| June 14, 2013, 3:37 p.m.
When Congress created Medicare in 1965 to handle the health care needs of the older population, less than 10 percent of Americans were old enough to collect Social Security and the new medical benefit.
Sens. Rob Portman and Maria Cantwell
| June 13, 2013, 3:29 p.m.
From the Buckeye State to the Evergreen State, Americans want their elected officials to focus on supporting economic growth. And, wouldn’t it be nice if Democrats and Republicans worked together for a change?
Rep. Charles B. Rangel
| June 12, 2013, 3:27 p.m.
The recent problems at the IRS have been characterized in many ways and criticized across the political spectrum. Some of this criticism has been fair (and necessary), but this situation has also been used to demonize an entire agency for action taken by a small number of employees. These employees acted not out of malice or partisanship, but in an effort to do a job the public should never have asked them to do in the first place. Let me continue to be clear about one thing: Any kind of IRS inquiry, scrutiny or harassment based on political ideology has no place in this nation and some of the IRS employees acted wrongly. Rather than continue a worthless political witch hunt, however, we should be asking why this happened and searching for solutions to prevent it in the future.
By
Alan K. Ota
| June 12, 2013, 5 a.m.
Speaker John A. Boehner of Ohio, pushing back against White House demands for no-frills legislation on the federal borrowing cap, is calling for another round of spending cuts beyond the sequester as part of any agreement to raise the debt limit.
By
Steven T. Dennis
| June 11, 2013, 11:52 a.m.
With the Senate voting Tuesday afternoon to begin consideration of its immigration overhaul measure, President Barack Obama pushed Congress to send him a bill to sign into law by the end of the summer and not miss an opportunity to deal with a problem that has festered for decades.
Dan Epstein
| June 11, 2013, 5 a.m.
Three congressional committees were authorized to (and seemingly did) begin investigations in 2010 of the IRS’ political targeting, yet none of them were able to reveal what the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration reported last month.
Douglas Holtz-Eakin and Laura Tyson
| June 10, 2013, 3:07 p.m.
The U.S. last reformed its business tax code in 1986, when Forbes reported that 218 of the world’s largest 500 companies were based in the U.S. Since then, the world economy has become larger and more competitive, and production and employment have become more globalized. Today, the U.S. is home to only 137 of the world’s largest 500 companies by sales and is competing with many countries for the production, research and jobs of global businesses. The current corporate tax code is a major impediment in this competition; it makes the U.S. less attractive as a place to do business and disadvantages American multinational companies.
