We know where President Trump stands on the corporate tax rate. He wants it slashed to 15 percent from the current 35 percent in order to increase competition in the U.S.
“I’m calling on Congress to provide a level playing field for our workers and our companies," Trump said in August. "To put more money into the pockets of everyday hard-working people and also into the pockets of our companies so they can continue to grow and expand.”
Lawmakers may not want the rate as low as the president has suggested, but they want it lowered nonetheless - including Democrats. Some on the left, such as Nancy Pelosi's former challenger Tim Ryan (D-OH), made the case last month.
"I think we need to lower the corporate tax rate," he said. "We can’t just be the party of redistribution of wealth, we’ve got to be the party of creation of wealth."
Other Democrats have begun to adopt the typically Republican talking point.
Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE), in a Senate Finance Committee hearing Tuesday, said the corporate tax rate needs to be lowered, before laying out what sounded like a Republican platform.
"I'm all for reducing the corporate tax rate - we're not competitive with the rest of the world," he said. "There needs to be a reduction. I hope that as we address that concern, we will keep in mind four questions as we address more broadly comprehensive tax reform. Number one, the proposals that come before us, is it fair? Number two, does it foster economic growth or impede it? Number three, does it make the tax code more complex or less complex? And number four, what is the fiscal impact? We are six, seven years into the longest-running economic expansion in the history of our country, and usually at this point in time, we would, I would think we'd be interested in addressing corporate tax problems so we're competitive with the rest of the world, but do so in a way that is fiscally sustainable."
Tax reform is one of many items on Congress's agenda this fall.
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