President Obama’s Tax Overhaul Hurts Companies ‘Stimulus’ Purported to Help (Rep. Michele Bachmann)

As a former federal tax attorney, I witnessed first-hand how the complicated tax code burdens families and small businesses. We simply can’t afford the hours of frustration and wasted dollars spent trying to comply with the more than 70,000 pages of the tax code. In fact, the Cato Institute estimates that Americans spend about $300 billion a year having their taxes prepared, in large part because they can’t maneuver through the cumbersome code.

So, I am more than happy to engage in the debate over simplifying the tax code. However, it appears that President Obama’s $190 billion tax hike on American companies is another fundraiser for his out of control spending agenda. Less than three months ago, President Obama stood before the employees of Caterpillar in Peoria, Illinois to tout the need for his trillion-dollar-plus ‘stimulus’ spending bill.  Now, President Obama is discussing closing loopholes in a supposed attempt at simplifying the tax code, which will actually hit the very same company and many others like it.

Companies like Caterpillar need a lower corporate tax rate to create jobs and grow the economy – the U.S. has the second highest in the world. As the Washington Post points out today, the Administration’s plan will hurt American competitiveness at a time when American workers can afford it least. Simplify the tax code, but don’t do it to demagogue and raise revenue; do it to help relieve the burden on American taxpayers and businesses.