On the recordNovember 18, 2011
But you ask the all important question, I say to my friend. Why not take the rate to zero? Why are we arguing about whether it ought to be 25 or 23? I just quoted the President of the United States. He said, let's make America the most competitive place in the world to do business. Well, if we were to lower it to 10, maybe somebody else is going to lower it to 9. If we lower it to 8, maybe somebody else lowers it to 7. What if we take it to zero? And I have voiced my concern that, well, if you take it to zero, that means I, as the American consumer, have to pay all the taxes because corporations won't be paying taxes anymore. And what my friend, who has years and years, decades and decades of experience in the private sector says is, there's no secret drawer where American businesses get the money to pay taxes. I go out and I buy a Coca-Cola. Where does Coca-Cola get the money to pay taxes? They charge it to me in the price of the product. My friend is saying that the only taxpayer in America today is the American consumer. There is no other taxpayer. Businesses don't pay taxes--people pay taxes, whether it's the CEO of that business who has a high salary and he pays taxes on his salary, whether it's the consumer of that business who pays in a higher price, or whether it's the shareholder of that business who pays through lower dividends and lower rates of return. Why not take the corporate tax rate to zero so we will be the most competitive economy in the world?…
