So, I went outside and looked around. As near as I can tell, the recession is not over. People are still losing jobs and fighting for their homes. Now, what is the absolute worse thing the government could do right now? That’s simple. Pass tax raising regulation that drives more jobs overseas:
Microsoft Corp. Chief Executive Officer Steven Ballmer said the world’s largest software company would move some employees offshore if Congress enacts President Barack Obama’s plans to impose higher taxes on U.S. companies’ foreign profits.
“It makes U.S. jobs more expensive,” Ballmer said in an interview. “We’re better off taking lots of people and moving them out of the U.S. as opposed to keeping them inside the U.S.”
Obama on May 4 proposed outlawing or restricting about $190 billion in tax breaks for offshore companies over the next decade. Such business groups as the National Foreign Trade Council, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Business Roundtable have denounced the proposed overhaul.
There is a coalition out there fighting hard against this latest hairbrain scheme. And, less you think this won’t affect New Mexico, because after all we don’t have any large corporations headquartered in our own backyard, think again. Just look what former New Mexico Governor Jerry Apodaca, a strong President Obama support, warns:
The new U.S. tax proposal would eliminate the policies that were put in place to protect our global companies from these differences in tax burden and make us less competitive. The U.S. would stand alone with one of the highest burdens in the world.
The end of these traditional tax policies would essentially amount to a $200 billion new tax on U.S. companies operating overseas. This new expenditure would mean less money to invest in expansion, less money for research and development, and less money for new jobs.
Is now really the time to pass policies that eliminate jobs? Yeah, I don’t think so either.