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TechWonk Blog
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In a report that would have made Casablanca鈥檚 Captain Renault blush, this morning鈥檚 Marketplace Morning Report discovered the 鈥渟hocking鈥� news that U.S.-headquartered multinational companies keep their foreign earnings in foreign markets, and by doing so, they are able to defer any U.S. taxes on those earnings until it is invested in the U.S.聽 This isn鈥檛 new -- tax deferral been a feature of U.S. tax [...]
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The President鈥檚 nominee to be the next U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, Jack Lew, testified at the Senate Finance Committee today and faced questions from Democratic and Republican Senators on the importance of corporate tax reform to job creation.聽 (You can watch the archived hearing on the committee鈥檚 site.) Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., set the tone with his opening statement, underscoring that the [...]
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As they analyze the two speeches tonight 鈥� the President鈥檚 State of the Union Address and Senator Marco Rubio鈥檚 Republican response, pundits are focused on the evening's political theater. 聽Who applauded when? 聽Was the tone fair or fractious? 聽But those questions ignore the ones that are most important: 聽What are the areas of agreement? 聽And how do we get them done? When there is bipartisan agreement, [...]
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There are critical choices facing Congress as members work to find solutions to the urgent fiscal challenges facing the nation.聽 But, as they work toward answers, they should not sacrifice the foundation of America鈥檚 innovation economy 鈥� science, R&D, and education.聽 And when it comes to 鈥渞aising revenues鈥� 鈥� Washington-ese for higher taxes 鈥� Congress needs to adopt a competitive, market-based approach [...]
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It鈥檚 been interesting to follow the back and forth today on corporate tax reform between the Business Roundtable (BRT) and the White House.聽 It鈥檚 important to understand what was -- and wasn鈥檛 -- said. First, the BRT鈥檚 President, Governor John Engler, today put forward his organization鈥檚 2013 policy priorities -- a plan titled, 鈥淎ct for America鈥檚 Future.鈥澛� In response to a question about what he has [...]
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Today鈥檚 Wall Street Journal looks at a reality facing major U.S.-headquartered multinationals and our economy -- namely, the U.S. tax system is a barrier to new jobs and investments here at home.聽 Given the significant attention Congress will give to tax reform, it鈥檚 important to give context to the Journal article. The article focused on the fact that many U.S.-based global companies keep a significant [...]
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In his Inaugural Address today, President Obama combined poetry and prose as he spoke about the priorities that he will bring to his second term in office. 聽For many of these issues,聽the technology sector has put forward ideas with聽backing from both Democratic and Republican Members of Congress.聽 The challenge consistently has been building broader support to move policies from good proposals to new [...]
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Living in the nation鈥檚 capital, it is easy to be caught up on the wonkiest aspects of the tax reform debate.聽 Terms like 鈥渢ransfer pricing鈥� and 鈥渢ax deferral,鈥� which would generate understandable looks of confusion from most people, are parts of the everyday lexicon for those of us making the case for tax reform.聽 That said, even in a sea of policy complexity, the case for policy solutions can be quite [...]
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Sparky Anderson, who managed World Series-winning teams in Cincinnati and Detroit, once remarked, 鈥淲e鈥檙e getting close to opening day.聽 I don鈥檛 know if that鈥檚 a good or bad thing.鈥澛� January 3rd, 2013 marked American policymaking鈥檚 opening day:聽 the start of the 113th Congress.聽聽 We in the tech industry see the start of a new season of policymaking as a good thing because ours is an industry rooted [...]
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In what was certainly a tortured process, the Congress and the White House have completed work on legislation to avoid the so-called 鈥渇iscal cliff鈥� and what economists predicted could have been a relapse into a national, if not global, recession.聽 Importantly, this bill goes beyond recession avoidance and takes an important step toward stronger economic growth and job creation by renewing three key [...]
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