Compromise on Tax Cuts
Click here to read Senator Warner's proposal on tax cuts in the Financial Times
What Others Are Saying about Senator Warner's tax cut compromise proposal
Friday, Nov. 19, 2010
“Sen. Mark Warner Seeks Influence at the Center”
Michael Shear
The New York Times
“Warner’s efforts are in line with the prescriptions being urged by Third Way, a centrist think tank with ties to the Obama administration. [Matt] Bennett of Third Way praised Mr. Warner’s proposal as ‘very smart. If there’s some kind of compromise that doesn’t kick the can down the road, it will be something like that. Genuinely, both sides are giving up something and both sides are getting something.’”
Friday, Nov. 19, 2010
“Bare Necessities”
Columnist Ronald Brownstein
The National Journal
“Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., is applying similarly refreshing logic to the tired and stalemated debate over the federal tax cuts approved under President George W. Bush. Congressional Republicans want to extend the tax cuts on all earnings; President Obama and Democrats want to extend just the cuts on earnings of $250,000 or less. .. He persuasively questions whether the best way to spend that money is to continue the existing tax cuts… [and] he is wise to try to shift the debate from a theological argument for or against the Bush tax cuts toward a practical comparison of what mix of tax cuts would produce the most economic stimulus. The question, he says, should be ‘How can we best use this [money]?’”
Wednesday, Nov. 17, 2010
"GOP to jobless: Drop dead"
Columnist Steve Pearlstein
Washington Post
"... If Republicans were truly interested in reducing the deficit while stimulating private-sector job creation, they would have jumped to embrace the idea floated last week by Sen. Mark Warner, the centrist Democrat from Virginia: let high-end tax rates return to where they were during the Clinton years and use the $65 billion in additional income over the next two years for tax breaks for businesses that increase investments or hire new employees. After that, the extra revenue would go toward deficit reduction. And how many of Warner's Republican colleagues have called to express interest in his idea? So far, not a one."
Wednesday, Nov. 17, 2010
"Warner pivots to center"
Columnist Jeff Schapiro
Richmond Times-Dispatch
"The senator is floating a possible compromise on an extension of Bush-era tax cuts that expire next month. Warner has proposed scrapping tax relief for the wealthiest Americans in return for breaks for business, which lobbyists -- left and right -- say would generate jobs. Even the politically besieged White House is taking notice."
Wednesday, Nov. 17, 2010
The Financial Times
Professor Danny Leipziger, Department of Int'l. Business, The George Washington University
"Senator Mark Warner’s proposal to recharge the US economy using investment tax credits and a deal on Bush era tax cuts is a move in the right direction... Perhaps Senator Warner can get colleagues from both parties to buy into this type of growth package that has eluded the White House so far."
Wednesday, Nov. 17, 2010
"Let's Make a Deal"
The Miami Herald
"Republicans say they might agree to a temporary extension for all for two or three years. Hmmm. That just kicks the can of worms down the road until the 2012 election, or later. Better ideas: An offer by Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., to limit extensions to incomes below $1 million instead of $250,000; or another by Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., to keep the lower income cutoff and use $65 billion of the savings to cut taxes deeper for small businesses. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle may balk, but that's the nature of a deal. Neither side gets everything it wants. Let the horse-trading begin."
Sunday, Nov. 14, 2010
"Obama is open to compromise on tax cuts"
The Associated Press
'Democratic Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia said in a separate Bloomberg Television interview that he favored allowing tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans to lapse and using the additional revenue for "targeted business-tax cuts" to encourage companies to hire more workers.'Democrats are right' that a permanent extension of tax cuts for the highest-income Americans would add $700 billion to the deficit, said Warner, a former businessman who started a cellular telephone company. 'Republicans are right' to argue that 'if you take that money out of the economy you could perhaps stall the recovery,' he said."
Saturday, Nov. 13, 2010
"Obama seeking compromise on Bush tax cuts"
The Washington Post
"One idea gaining attention is a proposal from Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) to let the cuts for the rich lapse and replace them with $65 billion worth of targeted tax cuts for business. Instead of being shaped in Washington, the tax cuts would be designed by business leaders.'That would be a wonderful short-term incentive to get them to move cash off the sidelines' and into the struggling economy, Warner said in an interview."
Friday, Nov. 12, 2010
"TARP 2: No Way To Create Jobs And Help Our Nation’s Economy Grow And Prosper"
ThinkProgress blog
John Podesta, President & CEO, Center for American Progress White House chief of staff for President Bill Clinton
"As the White House staff settles on a strategy for the tax cut debate, they should consider an idea put forward by Sen. Mark Warner.
He has suggested that rather than extending the tax cuts for the top two percent, Congress consider a number of business tax cuts that would be far more likely to spur job creation and more sustained economic growth. He proposed a range of possible business tax cuts to create jobs, but my favorite is a temporary tax credit against payroll taxes... The kinds of ideas put forward by Sen. Warner combined with middle class tax cuts and extending unemployment insurance are far sounder as temporary measures to aid economic recovery compared to Republicans’ push to make all the Bush tax cuts permanent. We obviously cannot afford to do that, but as a temporary measure to help American workers and our economy there are better measures than TARP 2 bonuses for millionaires."
