Jeffrey Immelt, CEO of General Electric and President Obama’s “jobs czar,” criticized the current American tax system while apparently opposing President Obama’s call for tax increases to pay for jobs spending.
According to a preview of his interview with “60 Minutes” on CBS, airing this Sunday, Immelt recommended a tax code like that found in some European countries
By mentioning the “mid-20s” tax rate, Immelt seems to endorse former President Bill Clinton’s suggestion that the United States corporate rate be cut. “We should cut the [corporate tax] rate to 25 percent, or whatever’s competitive, and eliminate a lot of the deductions so that we still get a fair amount,” Clinton said in July.
Immelt’s company, General Electric, has drawn criticism for avoiding taxation. Elizabeth Warren, Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, has cited GE as her prime example of a “one of the big corporations that can hire an army of lobbyists and an army of lawyers . . . [and] get an army of lobbyists, to get a complicated tax code that has just those little special openings for it.” General Electric spent $39 million on lobbyists in 2010, according to OpenSecrets.org, and over the years it has been the top lobbying corporation in dollar terms.
Immelt added, “Personally, I think [lowering taxes] will create jobs.” That remark would seem to put him at odds — at least in principle — with the White House. Jay Carney, Obama’s Press Secretary, defends Obama’s proposed tax increases as a way to pay for layoff-preventing jobs spending.
Immelt also said, of the White House and Congress on both sides of the aisle, “We’re not spending enough time on [creation of] jobs.”
