WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--With a midnight deadline looming for Americans to pay their taxes, President Barack Obama pledged to rewrite the "monstrous" U.S. tax code, which he said is "far too complicated" for most people to grasp.
"We will make it quicker, easier, and less expensive for you to file a return, so that April 15 is not a date that is approached with dread each year," Obama said in remarks prepared for delivery at the White House.
The comments, which coincided with a series of tax day "tea party" protests around the country, focused on the cuts implemented in this year's economic recovery package, including Obama's signature Making Work Pay credit.
But the president also honed in on longer-term changes he says are necessary because the tax code has been thrown "out of balance."
"We need to stop giving tax breaks to corporations that stash profits or ship jobs overseas so that we can invest in job creation at home," Obama said. "And we need to end the tax breaks for the wealthiest 2% of Americans, so that folks like me are paying the same rates that the wealthiest 2% of Americans paid when Bill Clinton was President."
Obama has asked former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker to lead a new task force on tax reform, with recommendations due to the reported by Dec. 4. The panel will look specifically at tax simplification, closing tax loopholes and reducing tax evasion and cutting corporate welfare. One of the group's goals will be to narrow the so-called tax gap, the estimated $300 billion in uncollected revenues every year. -By Henry J. Pulizzi, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-9256; henry.pulizzi@dowjones.com
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 15, 2009 12:02 ET (16:02 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2009 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.- - 12 02 PM EDT 04-15-09
2 comments:
If they want to narrow the gap maybe they should check all of the people offered a job by Obama. Timmy G., Daschele, probably just the tip of the iceberg because they can get away with it.
Yes, the tea parties are for real. I hate bigger government.
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