WASHINGTON - Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa today urged President Obama to adopt a definition of tax reform that would make U.S. employers more competitive worldwide and encourage job creation in the United States rather than impose scattershot tax increases that do not constitute reform and do not promote economic growth.
"Tax reform in a global economy is a serious task," Grassley wrote in a letter to the President. "There are complex issues to be considered. These include a comparison of the rates and incentives provided by the countries we are competing with for jobs. A serious task needs serious leadership. Demagoguery of tax incentives may provide good political sport but it does not provide the strong leadership needed for the serious task of reforming the tax code to secure America's competitiveness in the global economy."
Grassley noted that the President and others define "tax reform" as closing "tax loopholes" and the President said tax reform should "ask those who can afford it to pay their fair share." Grassley said tax reform in the sense of creating jobs involves simplification and making U.S. businesses more competitive with their counterparts worldwide.
Grassley urged the President to "... take responsibility for the tone and tenor of the tax reform debate you are setting." Grassley wrote, "With unemployment and growth rates where they are, the country cannot afford the kind of 'tax reform' you are promoting."
Grassley is former chairman and ranking member and currently a senior member of the Finance Committee, which has exclusive Senate jurisdiction over taxes and has been holding hearings on tax reform.
The text of Grassley's letter to the President is available here.
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