President Obama issued a challenge to Republicans on Monday to pass his plan for creating jobs and jump-starting the economy by raising taxes. Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says the president’s $447-billion proposal, which was unveiled last week, would “raise taxes a great deal” on job creators, something Grassley says Republicans and many Democrats have already rejected.
Grassley says, “He’s spending money and having these tax increases to fill the void for a period of this one bill, which is probably within a year or at most two (years), but these tax increases are going to be forever.” Grassley says it’s widely believed that taxes should not be raised in a “fragile” economy when private sector job creation is the ultimate goal.
“The reason you wouldn’t want to raise taxes is because the whole philosophy is, you tax something, you get less of it, so why would you want to tax employment if you want to increase employment,” Grassley asks, “particularly among small businesses, where 70% of the new jobs are created?”
Grassley, a Republican, says he wants to help the president and the nation’s economy, but he says more government spending and higher taxes won’t generate more jobs.
He says, “Job creators want the government to get spending under control, stop being a drag on the economy and people’s confidence in the future and they need lower employment costs if they’re going to hire people, both in taxes as well as the regulations.”
Obama’s proposal promises to raise billions of dollars by getting rid of certain tax deductions for wealthier Americans, including deductions on charitable contributions.