Bush Tax Cuts

GOP: Bechtel, PricewaterhouseCoopers And Other 'Small Businesses' Will See Tax Hike (CHARTS)

Brian Beutler | September 20, 2010, 11:28AM

Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Rep. John Boehner (R-OH) and Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA)

As the fight over the expiring Bush tax cuts drags on, Democrats and Republicans are vying for public support by citing figures about business tax rates. According to President Obama and the Democrats, 97 percent of small businesses will see their tax rates remain the same. Republican counter that the remaining three percent of small businesses -- about 750,000 of them -- constitute half of all small-business income. There's only one way both of those statements can be true: Many of those 750,000 small businesses aren't small at all. Some, like Bechtel Corporation, are positively enormous.

The Democratic and Republican figures come from the non-partisan Joint Committee on Taxation. But numerous think tanks and government organizations have examined the data and come to similar conclusions: First, that letting the Bush tax cuts on the top two brackets of "small-business" income would impact a tiny percentage of those businesses; and second, that many of the "small businesses" that would be impacted are actually giant companies -- which explains why such a tiny fraction of them can account for half of small business income.

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Health Care

Taking Stock Of AHIP Report - Last 36 Hours Have Galvanized Both Sides

Christina Bellantoni | October 13, 2009, 12:36PM

Robert Zirkelbach, Press Secretary AHIP, Pricewaterhouse Coopers building, CEO Karen Ignagni

It's been called a "bombshell," but Democrats are saying the America's Health Insurance Plans report has helped unify the party around the health care bill(s). They say it's much easier to fight the big, bad insurance lobby that burned the White House than, for example, a Congressional Budget Office report showing increased costs and insurmountable debt as the American people are wary of skyrocketing deficits.

However, a key Democratic Senate leadership aide told TPMDC that while the report angered Democrats, it is highly unlikely to move any votes for the final bill. Another Democrat agreed the report "should" galvanize the party but doubted Democrats would take full advantage of the report, which left out some key elements in its analysis.

Responding to that news, the DNC's Brad Woodhouse referred to it as the "AHIP Hatchet Job" and warned that anyone using the "phony" report will be subject to one of the party's "Call you out" campaigns.

"This should lay to rest any notion that the AHIP report has any credibility whatsoever or that it should be used by members of Congress in their deliberations over health insurance reform," Woodhouse said.

Organizing for America, the spinoff of the Obama campaign housed at the DNC, hasn't planned any formal pushback yet but is making sure volunteers have the talking points so they can shoot the report down if they are asked while knocking on doors and making calls.

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Health Care

Accounting Firm Admits Cost Savings Left Out Of Report Prepared For AHIP Report

Christina Bellantoni | October 13, 2009, 10:12AM

Accounting giant PricewaterhouseCoopers has issued a statement about the audit it performed for America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) that we have been following closely.

Most notable about the statement, issued late last night, is an acknowledgment the cost savings from the bill weren't included, though PWC points out that is noted on page one of the report.

The statement in full after the jump.

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