http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/12/AR2009011203298.html
Tuesday, January 13, 2009; A04
Washington Post
Obama Shelves Jobs-Credit Proposal
Democrats Said $3,000 Tax Incentive Could Be Abused by Businesses
By Shailagh Murray
Staff Writer
Bowing to widespread Democratic skepticism, President-elect Barack
Obama will drop his bid to include a business tax break he once touted
in the economic stimulus bill now taking shape on Capitol Hill, aides
said last night.
Obama suggested the $3,000-per-job credit last week as one of five
individual and business tax incentives aimed at winning Republican
support. He proposed $300 billion in tax relief in a bill that could
reach $775 billion, and he resurrected the jobs-credit proposal from
the campaign trail as one of his main provisions.
Republicans reacted favorably to the higher-than-expected ratio of tax
breaks to spending for road projects, alternative energy production,
health-care technology and unemployment benefits. But they offered
mixed reviews of his specific tax proposals and floated their own,
including cuts in corporate and capital gains taxes.
Stronger opposition came from Democrats, who dismissed the $3,000
credit to employers for every job created or saved as ripe for abuse
and difficult to administer. When no champion for the proposal came
forward, the president-elect decided to sideline the incentive.
"We've always said we're open to other ideas. This was never set in
stone," said a senior Obama adviser of the decision.
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Michael