Hatch slams White House, President on small business tax hike

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch, ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, slammed the White House for siding with the desires of big corporations over small businesses.

It was reported that the latest so-called “offer” by the White House yesterday to House Speaker John Boehner on the Fiscal Cliff included not only the insistence that the top marginal tax rates shoot up to levels not seen in over a decade – hitting nearly one million businesses, most of them small – but also an offer on corporate tax reform. This comes after a call by a group of major corporation CEO’s who have also advocated for these same small business tax hikes in exchange for lower taxes on corporations.

“What kind of message does this send to every mom-and-pop business across America, that the White House is fine with giving corporations a tax cut while jacking up taxes on the little guys who are the engine of America’s economy?” Hatch said. “Why should corporations get tax reform but not the average American family or small business owner? Choosing Wall Street over Main Street is what the President is doing and it is wrong and unfair.”

With the President and congressional Democrats focused solely on this group for future spending offsets, the anxiety and uncertainly adversely affected small business owners. The monthly small business optimism survey plunged to near-record lows. A November survey by the National Federation of Independent Business said, “Nearly half of small business owners are certain that things will be worse next year than they are now. Washington does not have the needs of small business in mind.”

According to the Joint Committee on Taxation, 53 percent of all flow-through business income would be subject to the President’s proposed tax hikes on the top two rates. This is especially harmful to small businesses, because the vast majority of small businesses are flowthrough business entities, such as partnerships and S corporations. That same committee analysis showed that nearly one million businesses would be hit with the President’s tax hike plan, facing a top marginal rate hike of up to 24 percent. Another study by Ernst & Young found that the coming tax increases that would potentially hit on Jan. 1, 2013, would put 700,000 jobs at risk.

Hatch has repeatedly called for comprehensive tax reform, both on the corporate and individual sides. The Finance Committee had held nearly 25 hearings examining every aspect of America’s tax code, which was last overhauled under President Reagan in 1986.

In a speech on the Senate floor Tuesday, Hatch further outlined how President Obama’s tax hike plan will cripple small businesses and hinder their ability to invest, grow and hire new workers.

“Instead of acknowledging that marginal rate hikes would have an outsized impact on small businesses, the President has decided instead to demagogue this issue, paint Republicans as out-of-touch and put political points ahead of jobs,” he said. “It is well past time for a grown-up conversation about tax policy. Our door remains open and we look forward to having the President walk through it.”

A full transcription of the speech is available below.

Orrin Hatch speech Dec. 12, 2012

Submitted by: The Office of Sen. Orrin Hatch

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2 Comments

  • Buster December 18, 2012 at 5:22 pm

    Why do you keep re-electing this guy?

  • Tom Smith December 21, 2012 at 11:33 pm

    The President has decided to “paint Republicans as out of touch”? Let me see, Orrin, your party has said “no” to everything that has been proposed, even by your own party. I think the republican party and all its members who suddenly “realized” they were conservatives, have been “out of touch” for quite a while. You haven’t had a fresh idea in 30 years. Time to retire.

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