Statement

U.S. Senate Republican Whip Jon Kyl made the following statement today in response to President Obama's announcement that he supports raising taxes on 940,000 business owners across America:

"President Obama's push to raise taxes on those earning more than $250,000 -- including 940,000 business owners -- could not come at a worse time. Friday's disappointing jobs numbers and the continuing crawl of economic recovery indicate that job creators are still struggling; yet, the president would have these business owners pay more in taxes to pay for more government spending. The proposed tax increase on 53 percent of all flow-through business income would be especially harmful to small businesses. Instead of continuing the divisive politics of class warfare, President Obama should work with Congress to extend the current tax rates and avoid the looming fiscal cliff."

In a recent study, the nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) found that the amount of flow-through business income that would be subject to President Obama's proposed tax hike increased from 50 percent in 2011 to 53 percent in 2013, with the number of entities subject to the tax increase going up from under 750,000 in 2011 to approximately 940,000 in 2013.