Political Quotes

“I am going to take just a little time this morning to make some remarks with respect to the issue of tax reform and particularly try to lay out why the naysayers, those who say tax reform is not going to make any difference anytime soon or there has not been a lot of groundwork laid--those are the two major arguments they are making--I am going to try to lay out why those arguments are wrong. To start with, they reflect a misunderstanding about markets, about free enterprise and about what drives the American economy. One of the major reasons consumers are not spending and businesses are not hiring workers is uncertainty about taxes. Enacting fundamental tax reform that encourages the use of free enterprise and markets would start changing consumers' behavior very quickly and business would be in a position in West Virginia and Oregon and everywhere else to start making judgments with respect to investment. They cannot make judgments right now when we have these piecemeal tax changes that might last 1 year or even less. That is not the way the American economy works. Businesses in West Virginia and Oregon are thinking about investments that can last 5, 10 years and even longer and they need some certainty. I am going to spend some time talking about permanent tax reform, enacted early next year, and making a start at it with our supercommittee. We have the good fortune of having Chairman Baucus on it. I serve on the Finance Committee with him.…”