In its latest report on the public debt, the U.S. Treasury Department now projects that the U.S. debt will exceed GDP by the end of this year.  This is three years earlier than the date projected in the same report last year. This is simply another in a long list of reasons why any increase in the debt limit must be paired with significant spending reductions… Read more

Executives from Boeing Co. (BA) and Emerson Electric Co. (EMR) told lawmakers they will struggle to compete with overseas rivals if Congress doesn’t lower maximum corporate tax rates. Testifying today before the House Ways and Means Committee, the executives said the current 35 percent top corporate tax rate hampers job creation. Walter Galvin, the vice chairman of St. Louis-based… Read more

As President Barack Obama pushes to raise income taxes on high earners, opponents are seizing on data that indicates these U.S. households already pay a large and growing share of taxes, even compared with high-tax European countries. And a new congressional study concludes that the percentage of U.S. households owing no federal income tax climbed to 51% for 2009. Republicans are… Read more

After two years of dithering, it is good to see the Obama administration championing freer trade. Last week, the United States and Colombia announced a deal that will improve, and we hope finally win passage of, a 2006 trade agreement signed during the Bush administration. The amended version will strengthen worker protections in Colombia while boosting American exports. Republicans and… Read more

Small companies such as Arc Abrasives Inc. in Troy, Ohio, may end up as a roadblock to President Barack Obama’s drive to revamp the corporate tax code. A manufacturing business with 82 employees, Arc changed its tax status from a standard C corporation to a hybrid S corporation about a decade ago. The reason, says the company’s president, Anthony H. Stayman: to avoid paying taxes twice,… Read more

President Obama will welcome a bruised American ally to the White House on Thursday and take a step toward mending relations. For the past decade, Colombia has been a strong and steady U.S. friend at a time when leftist demagogues — including the presidents of two of its neighbors — have dedicated themselves to turning Latin America against the United States. Colombia’s reward was to be… Read more

The U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement is not a partisan political issue. It is an accord in our national economic and foreign policy interests. After the two sides quickly conclude the current negotiations to address outstanding issues, it will be time for Congress to move the agreement without further delay. Let's be clear: Trade is critical to American innovation and economic… Read more

House Republicans seek IRS probe of AARP March 30, 2011  WASHINGTON (AP) — AARP lobbied for the new health care law and now it stands to profit, Republican lawmakers charged Wednesday as they called for the IRS to investigate whether the powerful interest group deserves to keep its federal tax exemption. Three veteran GOP representatives released a report that estimates the… Read more

The chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee wants to cut the top U.S. tax rate to 25% for individuals and corporations, and cut or eliminate many popular deductions. The odds of quick action appear slender. But the move, from Rep. Dave Camp (R., Mich.), is significant as a marker in what will likely be a multiyear debate over revamping the tax code. The plan also provides… Read more

Everyone knows that the U.S. budget is being devoured by entitlements. Everyone also knows that of the Big Three - Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security - Social Security is the most solvable. Back-of-an-envelope solvable: Raise the retirement age, tweak the indexing formula (from wage inflation to price inflation) and means-test so that Warren Buffett's check gets redirected to a… Read more