President Barack Obama won praise from business groups that have criticized his labor, health and financial regulatory policies after he agreed to extend tax cuts for all Americans and cut workers' payroll taxes.
Obama's deal with Republicans in Congress to maintain for two years the Bush-era tax cuts that are to expire this month and give businesses more write-offs on research and machinery costs will boost the economy by removing uncertainty that led to the complaints from business executives, Bruce Josten, chief lobbyist for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said today.
The agreement "is one of the best steps Washington can take to eliminate the uncertainty that is preventing our employers from hiring, investing, and growing their businesses," Josten said in an e-mail. It will "go a long way toward helping our economy break out of this slump and begin creating American jobs."
The Chamber, the largest Washington lobbying group, spent more than $30 million on political advertising in this year's election, mostly to support Republican candidates. The Chamber said a "tsunami" of regulations from Obama on health care, labor and the environment have undercut economic growth and cost the American economy jobs.
The tax deal is the second administration overture in a week praised by the Chamber and business executives. They also said that a deal on Dec. 3 to push ahead with a South Korean free-trade agreement will help the economy.
"Expanding trade and investment flows is a key driver of economic growth," Vikram Pandit, chief executive officer of Citigroup Inc., said in a statement Dec. 3.
Democratic Critics
After almost a week of negotiations with lawmakers led by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and budget director Jack Lew, Obama announced last night he'll accept a deal that would keep current tax rates for high-income taxpayers for two years in exchange for extending federal unemployment insurance for the long-term jobless and cutting the payroll tax by $120 billion for one year.
"It's a good thing," AT&T Inc. Chief Financial Officer Rick Lindner said in an interview today. "You need to incent businesses to grow."
Obama sought to maintain the lower tax rates on the first $200,000 of an individual's annual income and first $250,000 in yearly earnings for married couples filing joint returns. The president now faces criticism for abandoning his pledge to extend tax cuts only for middle-income Americans. The tax cuts were adopted during the George W. Bush administration.
Representative Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, a member of the Democratic leadership, said today on Bloomberg Television that he had "serious reservations," and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi faulted extending the top tax rates.
rest at http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-12-07/tax-deal-draws-praise-from-business-groups-that-criticized-obama-policies.html
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