As he draws closer to running for the presidency in 2016, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., has teamed up with one of his favorite partners in the Senate to call for more tax reform.
Rubio paired with U.S. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, to push a bill lowering the highest corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 25 percent while ending the current individual income tax brackets and replacing them with two tiers: 15 percent or 35 percent.
The two senators took to the pages of the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday to make their case.
Restoring the shared prosperity that comes from a strong economy requires reforming the most antiquated and dysfunctional government policies, beginning with the federal tax system, the senators wrote. The tax codes failures are manifold i mpeding growth, discouraging investment, and restricting freedom on the business and the individual side -- but they are all rooted in the same fundamental unfairness and inequity of a government that picks winners and losers.
A tax code that works for, not against, American businesses, families and individuals must be built on the twin pillars of equal opportunity and fair treatment for all, they added. That was precisely our objective when we joined together to design a comprehensive tax-reform plan. We built our plan on the simple, yet powerful, truths at the heart of the free-enterprise system: that economic growth is a function of economic freedom, and that economic freedom depends on equal opportunity and fair treatment under the law.
The need for tax reform is most acute on the business side of the Internal Revenue Code," the senators wrote. The current system inhibits businesses from expanding, creating jobs and investing in the American economy by taxing them too much and taxing them unfairly. In addition to imposing a higher corporate-tax rate than any other developed country in the world, the U.S. taxes businesses across two separate and complex regimes -- the corporate code and the pass-through portions of the individual code. Moreover, the current Internal Revenue Code is riddled with special-interest carve-outs that discriminate against the kind of economic choices that drive long-term growth.
Rubio and Lee insisted their plan would end double taxation of capital gains and dividends, and establishes parity among large and small businesses and would lead to more capital investment.
The senators have worked together on tax reform before. Back in September, they called for reforming income tax along much the same lines in regard to individuals and families.The plan had been a year in the making. Rubio appeared on the Fox Business Network last March and said he and Lee were working on tax reform.
Rubios and Lees proposal drew the fire of U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., the chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee (DNC). Wasserman Schultz is expected to run for the Senate in 2016 if Rubio enters the presidential race.
At every opportunity, Marco Rubio jumps at the chance to pander to the extreme base of the Republican Party, Wasserman Schultz said. Rubios tax plan shifts the burden onto working Americans and those hurting the most while propping up the very rich and offering tax breaks for corporations. To top it off, Rubios plan would increase the annual deficit. Rather than propose a serious fiscal plan that aims to grow the middle class and expand opportunity for all Americans, Marco Rubio has assembled what amounts to a GOP donor wish list. Marco Rubio isnt fooling anyone. If he seriously intends to be a fresh face for the Republican Party, then Rubio needs to go back to the drawing board and try again.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN
