Reach Out to Rangel

Right now, President Bush ought to hold a news conference and say that he is intrigued with Charlie Rangel’s idea of cutting the corporate tax—not all the other high tax bells and whistles, but the corporate tax cut idea.

Mr. Bush could say that now’s the time to insure continued economic growth in the face of soft spots like the housing recession and the subprime credit freeze. And since Europe has been cutting corporate taxes and the euro has been going up, its time for the US to cut its corporate tax to be more competitive, help the sagging US dollar, provide investment and worker wage boosts, and promote overall economic growth.

While he’s at it, the president could borrow an idea from Loews CEO James Tisch and cut the corporate capital gains tax.

Many economists believe that reducing corporate taxes on income and capital gains would be self-financing. Besides, it wouldn’t be hard to identify a number of corporate tax loopholes that would no longer be necessary if the tax rate were dropped to 25 percent from its current 35 percent level.

Reach out to Mr. Rangel. Don’t trash him. Take the good; leave the bad. Sure would make a good press conference. Sure would be good for the economy and the ailing greenback.