Bill Clinton Calls for Corporate Tax Cut

Former President Bill Clinton is calling for a corporate tax cut – a move he says will help lower a current tax rate that is “uncompetitive” and hampers American business.

But Clinton stresses that it should be part of a “mega-deal” to raise the debt ceiling, according to Politico.

“When I was president, we raised the corporate income-tax rates on corporations that made over $10 million [a year],” the former president told the Aspen Ideas Festival on Saturday evening.

“It made sense when I did it. It doesn’t make sense anymore – we’ve got an uncompetitive rate. We tax at 35 percent of income, although we only take about 23 percent," Clinton said. "So, we should cut the rate to 25 percent, or whatever’s competitive, and eliminate a lot of the deductions so that we still get a FAIR amount, and there’s not so much variance in what the corporations pay. But how can they do that by Aug. 2?”

Clinton also said Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, has a “chilling” hold on the nation’s lawmaking, according to remarks reported by Politico.

Asked by moderator Ron Brownstein what President Obama’s position should be in debt negotiations, Clinton replied: “Well, look, there are some spending cuts [Republicans] agree on, … and apparently they run it by a fair number of people in the Democratic caucuses …

“I don’t think you can agree to some mega-deal on [the Republicans’] terms. … If they get closer, I believe they will agree on a more modest package of cuts. And the Republicans, if I were in their position, I’d say, ‘OK, this only counts for six months’ or eight months, or whatever. ‘But we don’t want to let the American people’s credit go under, let our credit get downgraded, let interest rates get up, and slow down the recovery.’”