Corporate America has been complaining that Obama is antibusiness and that because they don’t know what evil, job killing plans he’s going to unleash next, the economy isn’t reviving because of this “uncertainty.” Stan Collender blows away this silly argument:
The more you hear about the business community being worried about the future because it is “uncertain” about federal income taxes, the more you realize that it actually is the one pushing for increased uncertainty.There already is absolute certainty about the tax cuts enacted in the early 2000s: Under existing law they expire at midnight December 31, 2010. Do nothing and we can all be absolutely certain that rates will go up. Somehow, however, that certainty is being defined as creating uncertainty.
By contrast, the changes to the existing law the business community is saying are so important to economic growth will require new legislation and, especially these days, the legislative process is about as unpredictable as you can get. So pushing for the three changes the business community says are so important to the economic recovery — keeping the current rate on upper income individuals and the existing rates on capital gains and dividends — has nothing to do with certainty and everything to do with lowering taxes compared to what they would be under current law.
The most certainty would be provided not just if there were no changes at all, but also if there were no discussion about whether there should be any changes. You can’t demand certainty and change at the same time. When you do that, the only thing that’s really certain is that certainty is not what you’re seeking.
