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Jon Huntsman on Corporations

Republican UT Governor


Wipe clean all corporate welfare loopholes and deductions

Q: Do you support the flat tax?

HUNTSMAN: We need something that's doable, doable, doable. And what I have put forward is a tax program that is doable. It actually wipes clean all of the loopholes and the deductions. This is right out of what the Simpson-Bowles commission recommended--a bipartisan group of people that took a thoughtful approach to tax for corporate and individual, and on the corporate side, phase out all of the corporate welfare, all of the subsidies because we can't afford it any longer; in a revenue-neutral fashion, buy down the rate from 35% to 25%, leveling the playing field for businesses big and small, allowing us to be a whole lot more competitive in the second decade of the 21st century.

Source: 2011 GOP debate at Dartmouth College, NH , Oct 11, 2011

Phase out all of the corporate welfare subsidies

Q: Is it a good idea to raise taxes on millionaires, as Obama proposes?

HUNTSMAN: We're not going to raise taxes. This is the worst time to be raising taxes. We need to grow. We need to be reminded of what Ronald Reagan told us so beautifully, that which is great about America: freedom. We need to re-establish freedom in the marketplace. We need to address our underlying structural problems that we have. And in order to do that, we're going to have to fix our taxes. And we put forward a program that phases out for individuals all the loopholes, all the deductions, and creates three rates, 8%, 14%, 23%. On the corporate side, it phases out all of the corporate welfare, all of the subsidies, and it gets it from 35% to 25%. This is exactly where we need to be. We need to grow; we need to create jobs. This is not a point in time where we should be raising taxes. We're not going to provide the confidence to businesses who are looking to deploy capital in the marketplace and hire people.

Source: 2011 GOP Google debate in Orlando FL , Sep 22, 2011

Clean out corporate welfare and subsidies from the tax code

I put forward a program that the Wall Street Journal has come out and endorsed. It basically calls for stripping out the loopholes and the deductions and lowering the rates for individuals, cleaning out corporate welfare and subsidies on the corporate side and lowering the rate, leaving us a whole lot more competitive for the 21st century. That's the first item of business I'd drop on the doorstep of Congress.
Source: 2011 GOP Tea Party debate in Tampa FL , Sep 12, 2011

Utah was best state for businesses AND for jobs

Look at what we have done in terms of proposing job creation measures under tax reform in our state that is totally applicable to what this country needs: looking at regulatory reform; creating the most business-friendly environment in the entire United States; creating health care reform without a mandate.

The great state of Utah was number one in job creation at 5.9 percent during my years as governor. We were the best managed state in America. We were the best place in America for business.

Source: 2011 GOP Tea Party debate in Tampa FL , Sep 12, 2011

EPA's regulatory reign of terror prevents building in USA

Q: You said that you helped create thousands of jobs via the Huntsman Corporation. But of the 12,000 workers employed by the company, almost 10,000 were hired in China and India and other places outside the US. Isn't it accurate to say that you've got more experience creating jobs overseas?

A: Huntsman Corp. is a wonderful example of a family entrepreneurial success story: created jobs; left communities a whole lot better than they found them; created a wonderful Huntsman Cancer Institute. But let me tell you the real problem of what we're up against. If you want to build a facility in the US, you can't because of the EPA's regulatory reign of terror. We don't make things anymore in this country. We need to start making things in this country. And in order to do that, we need serious regulatory reform, [including] ending the EPA's regulatory reign of terror. We need to create a more competitive environment that allows our businesses to expand our economic base and create jobs.

Source: Iowa Straw Poll 2011 GOP debate in Ames Iowa , Aug 11, 2011

Aggressively pro-business agenda as governor

While serving as governor of Utah, he pursued an aggressively pro-business agenda--including targeted tax cuts and foreign-trade missions--that helped create the nation's second-fastest-growing economy over the last five years. And his current post provides him with the street cred of a fully converted deficit hawk. After all, who could preach more passionately on the dangers of fiscal recklessness than the U.S. ambassador to China?
Source: Newsweek magazine, "The Manchurian Candidate" , Jan 4, 2011

Other candidates on Corporations: Jon Huntsman on other issues:
Incumbents:
Pres.Barack Obama
V.P.Joe Biden
GOP Candidates:
Gov.Mitt Romney(MA)
Rep.Paul Ryan(WI)
Third Party Candidates:
Mayor Rocky Anderson(J)
Roseanne Barr(PF)
Rep.Virgil Goode(C)
Gov.Gary Johnson(L)
Jill Stein(G)
Andre Barnett(Ref.)

GOP Withdrawals:
Rep.Michele Bachmann(MN)
Herman Cain(GA)
Rep.Newt Gingrich(GA)
Gov.Sarah Palin(AK)
Rep.Ron Paul(TX)
Gov.Tim Pawlenty(MN)
Gov.Rick Perry(TX)
Gov.Buddy Roemer(LA)
Sen.Rick Santorum(PA)
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Page last updated: Mar 24, 2013