Republican Rep. Tom Cole of Oklahoma favors lowering the corporate tax rate but not if it's the "false tax cut" proposed by President Barack Obama in his "grand bargain" economic plan.
"If it's a false tax cut —that is, it doesn't really reduce revenue but is done in a way to increase revenue — I think that's a nonstarter," he said Wednesday on CNBC's "Morning Joe."
Obama on Tuesday proposed reducing the corporate tax rate while investing in job-creation projects from revenues generated by a "simpler tax system."
Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss of Georgia, appearing on the same program, said, "If we take that money, and instead of taxing it again and spending it from a government perspective, if we invest that money through those corporate entities here in the United States, that's what will create jobs.
"The major difference between what the president said . . . and the Republicans believe — we believe the private sector should create those jobs, not the government," Chambliss said.
"I think tax reform needs to be largely revenue-neutral, as it was in '86, but then contribute to a rapidly growing economy," Cole said. "And that always generates extra money."
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