Not The Onion, the Wall Street Journal

The WSJ has an op-ed called “Corporate Cronyism Harms America,” written by Charles Koch.  Yes, that Charles Koch of the Koch Brothers.

I try to read the spectrum of political and economic views, but I can’t do this one.  I just wish I had a birdcage that needed lining….

From One Moron (Palin) to Another (Bachmann)

Like bad news, dumb ideas travel fast.  In her Iowa speech yesterday, Sarah Palin said that we should cut the corporate tax rate to zero.  Michele Bachmann, rapidly fading as Rick Perry ascends, quickly pandered to Palin’s supporters this morning on Face the Nation, saying “We certainly could get down to a zero percent corporate tax rate.”

I wonder where Mitt “I’m Also Unemployed” Romney is on all this.  After all, he’s the one who keeps saying that “corporations are people.”  Does that mean nobody should pay taxes?

Jon Huntsman has pointed out that a zero rate is ridiculous.  But speaking truth to Republican primary voters this year gets you 1% in the polls.  Be crazy or go home.

Right now, too many corporations have an effective zero rate because of the special treatment their lobbyists have won for them.  We need a lower corporate tax rate to be competitive with other countries, but we also need to eliminate all loopholes and subsidies, so that companies actually pay that lower rate.