The Boehner Plan for Economic Growth, Jobs, and Rapid Recovery

Statement

Instead of raising taxes and "spreading the wealth around" through $300 billon in more spending on government programs, we should provide tax relief to families to help with costs of living and to small businesses to help them create more jobs.

Following is a summary of House Republican Leader John Boehner's (R-OH) plan for economic growth, jobs, and rapid recovery:

Giving Families Tax Relief: The Boehner plan will make the tax code fairer and friendlier for the middle class by doubling the child tax credit from $1,000 to $2,000 per child to put more money back in the pockets of working families.

Keeping American Jobs at Home: The American corporate tax rate is the second highest in the industrialized world. This onerous 35 percent rate is passed on to consumers with higher prices for goods and services. The Boehner plan immediately reduces the corporate tax rate to 25 percent to give American employers the incentive to keep good paying jobs in America and reduce prices for American consumers.

Rebuilding 401(k)s and Spurring Investment through a Zero Capital Gains Tax: At a time of economic uncertainty, Congress should do everything in its power to encourage investment to help spur economic growth. To that end, the Boehner plan immediately and completely suspends capital gains taxes for individuals and employers on newly acquired assets for the next two years. This will not only encourage investment, but it will boost the value of sagging 401(k) accounts on behalf of workers and retirees.

Providing Tax Relief So American Businesses Create More Jobs: The Boehner plan increases the Section 179 limits that allow small businesses to expense new equipment. The plan also extends bonus depreciation for an additional year and increases its value so that 75% of equipment costs can be deducted in the first year. The Boehner plan also provides net operating loss relief for all employers by allowing them to "carry-back" losses for three years (five years for small businesses). Such common sense actions would encourage all U.S. companies to make new capital investments and create good jobs for hard-working Americans.

Creating Jobs through an "All of the Above" Energy Plan: While the ban on developing our nation's deepwater and shale oil and gas resources expired on October 1, 2008, fulfilling the onerous requirements under existing law to explore these resources will take at least two years. And lawsuits from anti-American energy extremists could delay development even longer. Congress should take steps necessary to allow Americans to begin exploring and producing new domestic energy in months, not years. Such a move should be the first step toward implementing the "all of the above" energy strategy House Republicans introduced last summer in the American Energy Act (H.R. 6566). The GOP plan would not only increase production of American energy, but also encourage the use of alternative and renewable fuels and promote more efficiency and conservation to reduce energy prices and create up to one million good-paying jobs.

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