Business

Lew Says Congress Should Turn Efforts Toward Business Taxes

Published

10 years ago

January 22, 2015

In this Feb. 13, 2013, file photo, Jack Lew testifies at his confirmation hearing to be the new Treasury Secretary in Washington. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

STEPHEN OHLEMACHER, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration is pushing Congress to simplify federal business taxes after Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew said Democrats and Republicans are too far apart to agree on sweeping changes to taxes paid by individuals and families.

Lew said the Obama administration has no interest in lowering the top income tax rate paid by individuals, a key goal for Republicans. He said there are more areas of agreement on business taxes.

“I don’t think that there’s any advantage in pretending that there aren’t big disagreements on the individual tax side,” Lew said at a forum hosted by the Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank. “We had a national debate just two years ago about the top rate. We’re not looking at the kind of negotiation to go back to lower the top rate.”

“While our views on individual tax reform may be far apart,” Lew added, “there is a broad set of business tax reforms on which we should be able to agree.”

Lew’s comments came after President Barack Obama proposed raising taxes on the rich and using some of the revenue to finance tax breaks for the middle class. In his State of the Union address this week, Obama called his approach “middle-class economics.”

Congressional Republicans panned the speech, saying there is no way they would use their majorities in the House and Senate to enact tax increases.

“This White House is more about redistribution and populist class warfare than about actual bipartisan tax reform,” said Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee.

Congressional Republicans said they were disappointed the Obama administration isn’t pushing to simplify taxes for individuals. They noted that the vast majority of small business owners report business income on their individual tax returns.

Still, key Republicans said they would welcome more talks about business taxes.

“We’re going to keep talking. We’re going to exhaust the possibilities of seeing where the common ground exists and see if we can get something done,” said Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., chairman of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee.

“We do have big differences of opinion and our next step is to explore the areas of common ground if and where they exist,” Ryan said. “I’d like comprehensive tax reform and I think it’s important that you make sure that small businesses don’t fall by the wayside. And that is very important to us, and so we’ll see if we can complete the circle.”

Hatch and Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, the top Democrat on the Finance Committee, have formed five bipartisan working groups to work on various aspects of the tax code, with the goal of developing comprehensive legislation by the end of the year.

“I don’t want to just release a framework or a proposal that doesn’t go anywhere,” Hatch said in a speech this week. “My only goal when it comes to tax reform is to make new law.”

Democrats and Republicans alike agree that the nation’s tax laws are too complicated for businesses and individuals, filled with too many exemptions, deductions and credits. The tax code is so complex that most Americans pay someone to do their taxes or they buy commercial software to help them file.

There is also widespread agreement that lawmakers should eliminate some targeted tax breaks and use the extra revenue to lower tax rates for everyone. However, there is no consensus on which tax breaks should go and whose tax rates should be cut.

The top federal income tax rate for individuals and families is 39.6 percent. Some Republicans in Congress would like to lower it to 25 percent.

“I don’t think lowering the top individual rate is the way to grow our economy or create a better future for middle-class workers or for the country at large,” Lew said.

Obama released a framework for business tax reform in 2012. In it, he called for lowering the top corporate income tax rate from 35 percent — the highest in the industrialized world — to 28 percent. Obama would finance the cut by eliminating dozens of targeted tax breaks for corporations.

The corporate income tax, however, only affects a small percentage of American businesses. More than 30 million tax returns a year report business income. But in 2013, only 2.2 million were traditional corporations that paid the corporate income tax.

The overwhelming majority were sole proprietorships, partnerships and other corporations in which the owners report their business income on their individual tax returns. These businesses, known as pass-throughs, would not benefit from a cut in the corporate income tax rate.

Lew said Obama’s plan would help these businesses in other ways, such as easing accounting rules and enabling them to more quickly write off business expenses.

Key Republicans in Congress, however, are skeptical that Obama’s proposals would do enough to help small businesses.

“Let’s start the discussion on businesses, but it’s difficult to follow that all the way through without having a real adult conversation about individual rates because so many of our businesses are filing over there,” said Rep Kevin Brady of Texas, a senior Republican on the Ways and Means Committee.

___

Follow Stephen Ohlemacher on Twitter: http://twitter.com/stephenatap

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Air Quality Board Rejects Two Rules Written to Ban Gas Water Heaters and Furnaces

The proposal would have affected 17 million residents in Southern California, requiring businesses, homeowners, and renters to convert to electric units. “We’ve gone through six months, and we’ve made a decision today,” said SCAQMD board member Carlos Rodriguez. “It’s time to move forward with what’s next on our policy agenda.”

Published

41 minutes ago

June 17, 2025

Oakland Post

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By Antonio‌ ‌Ray‌ ‌Harvey‌
California‌ ‌Black‌ ‌Media‌

Two proposed rules to eliminate the usage of gas water heaters and furnaces by the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) in Southern California were rejected by the Governing Board on June 6.

Energy policy analysts say the board’s decision has broader implications for the state.

With a 7-5 vote, the board decided not to amend Rules 1111 and 1121 at the meeting held in Diamond Bar in L.A. County.

The proposal would have affected 17 million residents in Southern California, requiring businesses, homeowners, and renters to convert to electric units.

“We’ve gone through six months, and we’ve made a decision today,” said SCAQMD board member Carlos Rodriguez. “It’s time to move forward with what’s next on our policy agenda.”

The AQMD governing board is a 13-member body responsible for setting air quality policies and regulations within the South Coast Air Basin, which covers areas in four counties: Riverside County, Orange County, San Bernardino County and parts of Los Angeles County.

The board is made up of representatives from various elected offices within the region, along with members who are appointed by the Governor, Speaker of the Assembly, and Senate Rules Committee.

Holly J. Mitchell, who serves as a County Supervisor for the Second District of Los Angeles County, is a SCAQMD board member. She supported the amendments, but respected the board’s final decision, stating it was a “compromise.”

“In my policymaking experience, if you can come up with amended language that everyone finds some fault with, you’ve probably threaded the needle as best as you can,” Mitchell said before the vote. “What I am not okay with is serving on AQMD is making no decision. Why be here? We have a responsibility to do all that we can to get us on a path to cleaner air.”

The rules proposed by AQMD, Rule 1111 and Rule 1121, aim to reduce nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions from natural gas-fired furnaces and water heaters.

Rule 1111 and Rule 1121 were designed to control air pollution, particularly emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx).

Two days before the Governing Board’s vote, gubernatorial candidate Antonio Villaraigosa asked SCAQMD to reject the two rules.

Villaraigosa expressed his concerns during a Zoom call with the Cost of Living Council, a Southern California organization that also opposes the rules. Villaraigosa said the regulations are difficult to understand.

“Let me be clear, I’ve been a big supporter of AQMD over the decades. I have been a believer and a fighter on the issue of climate change my entire life,” Villaraigosa said. “But there is no question that what is going on now just doesn’t make sense. We are engaging in regulations that are put on the backs of working families, small businesses, and the middle class, and we don’t have the grid for all this.”

Rules 1111 and 1121 would also establish manufacturer requirements for the sale of space and water heating units that meet low-NOx and zero-NOx emission standards that change over time, according to SCAQMD.

The requirements also include a mitigation fee for NOx-emitting units, with an option to pay a higher mitigation fee if manufacturers sell more low-NOx water heating and space units.

Proponents of the proposed rules say the fees are designed to incentivize actions that reduce emissions.

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IN MEMORIAM: Legendary Funk Pioneer Sly Stone Dies at 82

Sly Stone’s musical approach radically reshaped popular music. He transcended genre boundaries and empowered a new generation of artists. The band’s socially conscious message and infectious rhythms sparked a wave of influence, reaching artists as diverse as Miles Davis, George Clinton, Prince, Dr. Dre, and the Roots.

Published

2 hours ago

June 17, 2025

Oakland Post

Sly and the Family Stone play the Opera House in Bournemouth. Mojo review. Photo by Simon Fernandez.

By Stacy M. Brown
BlackPressUSA.com Newswire

Sylvester “Sly” Stewart—known to the world as Sly Stone, frontman of the groundbreaking band Sly and the Family Stone—has died at the age of 82.

His family confirmed that he passed away peacefully at his Los Angeles home surrounded by loved ones, after battling chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and other health complications.

Born March 15, 1943, in Denton, Texas, Stone moved with his family to Vallejo, California, as a child. He began recording gospel music at age 8 with his siblings in a group called the Stewart Four. By his teenage years, he had mastered multiple instruments and was already pioneering racial integration in music—an ethos that would define his career.

In 1966, Sly and his brother Freddie merged their bands to form Sly and the Family Stone, complete with a revolutionary interracial, mixed-gender lineup.

The band quickly became a commercial and cultural force with hits such as “Dance to the Music,” “Everyday People,” and “Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)”—all penned by Stone himself.

Their album “Stand!” (1969) and live performances—most notably at Woodstock—cemented their reputation, blending soul, funk, rock, gospel, and psychedelia to reflect the optimism and turmoil of their era.

As the 1970s progressed, Stone confronted personal demons. His desire to use music as a response to war, racism, and societal change culminated in the intense album “There’s a Riot Goin’ On” (1971). But drug dependency began to undermine both his health and professional life, leading to erratic behavior and band decline through the early 1980s.

Withdrawn from the public eye for much of the 1990s and early 2000s, Stone staged occasional comebacks. He was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1993, received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Grammys in 2017, and captured public attention following the 2023 release of his memoir “Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)”—published under Questlove’s imprint. He also completed a biographical screenplay and was featured in Questlove’s documentary “Sly Lives!” earlier this year.

His influence endured across generations. Critics and historians repeatedly credit him with perfecting funk and creating a “progressive soul,” shaping a path for racial integration both onstage and in the broader culture.

“Rest in beats Sly Stone,” legendary Public Enemy frontman Chuck D posted on social media with an illustrative drawing of the artist. “We should thank Questlove of the Roots for keeping his fire blazing in this century.”

Emmy-winning entertainment publicist Danny Deraney also paid homage. “Rest easy Sly Stone,” Deraney posted. “You changed music (and me) forever. The time he won over Ed Sullivan’s audience in 1968. Simply magical. Freelance music publicist and Sirius XM host Eric Alper also offered a tribute.

“The funk pioneer who made the world dance, think, and get higher,” Alper wrote of Sly Stone. “His music changed everything—and it still does.”

Sly Stone is survived by three children.

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Activism

Congress Says Yes to Rep. Simon’s Disability Hiring and Small Biz Support Bill

“As the first congenitally blind person to serve in Congress, I am incredibly honored to lead and excited to celebrate the House passage of the ‘ThinkDIFFERENTLY About Disability Employment Act,’” said Simon.

Published

2 hours ago

June 17, 2025

Oakland Post

U.S. Rep. Lateefah Simon (D-CA-12). File photo.

By Bo Tefu, California Black Media

The House of Representatives unanimously passed the “ThinkDIFFERENTLY About Disability Employment Act” on June 3, marking a major win for U.S. Rep. Lateefah Simon (D-CA-12) and co-sponsor Rep. Pete Stauber (R-MN-08) in their bipartisan effort to promote inclusive hiring and boost small business accessibility.

The legislation establishes a federal partnership between the Small Business Administration (SBA) and the National Council on Disability to help small businesses across the U.S. hire more individuals with disabilities and provide resources for disabled entrepreneurs.

“Small businesses are the lifeblood of cities, making them accessible for all will maximize local economic activity and broaden the job market to everyone who is seeking to contribute to their communities,” she continued. “Investments in business and talent in our communities shouldn’t be limited to just those who are not disabled. Full stop, period.”

Since taking office in January 2025, Simon has introduced six bills. The House has approved two of them: this measure and the “Assisting Small Businesses, Not Fraudsters Act.”

Simon, a lifelong disability rights advocate and former BART board member, has focused her career on improving access, from public transit to the job market.