奥巴马每日发言On International Tax Policy Reform(2009-5-4)

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REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
ON INTERNATIONAL TAX POLICY REFORM

Grand Foyer

11:39 A.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT:  All right.  Good morning, everybody.  Hope you all had a good weekend.

Let's begin with a simple premise:  Nobody likes paying taxes, particularly in times of economic stress.  But most Americans meet their responsibilities because they understand that it's an obligation of citizenship¹, necessary to pay the costs of our common defense² and our mutual³ well-being⁴.

And yet, even as most American citizens and businesses meet these responsibilities, there are others who are shirking theirs. And many are aided and abetted⁵ by a broken tax system, written by well-connected lobbyists on behalf of well-heeled interests and individuals.  It's a tax code full of corporate⁶ loopholes that makes it perfectly⁷ legal for companies to avoid paying their fair share.  It's a tax code that makes it all too easy for a number -- a small number of individuals and companies to abuse overseas tax havens⁸ to avoid paying any taxes at all.  And it's a tax code that says you should pay lower taxes if you create a job in Bangalore, India, than if you create one in Buffalo⁹, New York.

Now, understand, one of the strengths of our economy is the global reach of our businesses.  And I want to see our companies remain the most competitive in the world.  But the way to make sure that happens is not to reward our companies for moving jobs off our shores or transferring profits to overseas tax havens.  This is something that I talked about again and again during the course of the campaign.  The way we make our businesses competitive is not to reward American companies operating overseas with a roughly 2 percent tax rate on foreign profits; a rate that costs -- that costs taxpayers¹⁰ tens of billions of dollars a year.  The way to make American businesses competitive is not to let some citizens and businesses dodge¹¹ their responsibilities while ordinary Americans pick up the slack.

Unfortunately, that's exactly what we're doing.  These problems have been highlighted by Chairmen Charlie Rangel and Max Baucus, by leaders like Senator Carl Levin and Congressman¹² Lloyd Doggett.  And now is the time to finally do something about them. And that's why today, I'm announcing a set of proposals to crack down on illegal overseas tax evasion¹³, close loopholes, and make it more profitable for companies to create jobs here in the United States.

For years, we've talked about ending tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas and giving tax breaks to companies that create jobs here in America.  That's what our budget will finally do.  We will stop letting American companies that create jobs overseas take deductions¹⁴ on their expenses when they do not pay any American taxes on their profits.  And we will use the savings¹⁵ to give tax cuts to companies that are investing in research and development here at home so that we can jump start job creation, foster innovation, and enhance America's competitiveness.

For years, we've talked about shutting down overseas tax havens that let companies set up operations to avoid paying taxes in America.  That's what our budget will finally do.  On the campaign, I used to talk about the outrage¹⁶ of a building in the Cayman Islands that had over 12,000 business -- businesses claim this building as their headquarters.  And I've said before, either this is the largest building in the world or the largest tax scam in the world.

And I think the American people know which it is.  It's the kind of tax scam that we need to end.  That's why we are closing one of our biggest tax loopholes.  It's a loophole that lets subsidiaries of some of our largest companies tell the IRS that they're paying taxes abroad, tell foreign governments that they're paying taxes elsewhere -- and avoid paying taxes anywhere.  And closing this single loophole will save taxpayers tens of billions of dollars -- money that can be spent on reinvesting in America -- and it will restore fairness to our tax code by helping¹⁷ ensure that all our citizens and all our companies are paying what they should.

Now, for years, we've talked about stopping Americans from illegally hiding their money overseas, and getting tough with the financial institutions that let them get away with it.  The Treasury¹⁸ Department and the IRS, under Secretary Geithner's leadership and Commissioner¹⁹ Shulman's, are already taking far-reaching steps to catch overseas tax cheats -- but they need more support.

And that's why I'm asking Congress to pass some commonsense²⁰ measures.  One of these measures would let the IRS know how much income Americans are generating in overseas accounts by requiring overseas banks to provide 1099s for their American clients, just like Americans have to do for their bank accounts here in this country.  If financial institutions won't cooperate with us, we will assume that they are sheltering money in tax havens, and act accordingly.  And to ensure that the IRS has the tools it needs to enforce our laws, we're seeking to hire nearly 800 more IRS agents to detect and pursue American tax evaders abroad.

So all in all, these and other reforms will save American taxpayers $210 billion over the next 10 years -- savings we can use to reduce the deficit²¹, cut taxes for American businesses that are playing by the rules, and provide meaningful relief for hardworking families.  That's what we're doing.  We're putting a middle class tax cut in the pockets of 95 percent of working families, and we're providing a $2,500 annual tax credit to put the dream of a college degree or advanced training within the reach for more students.  We're providing a tax credit worth up to $8,000 for first-time home buyers to help more Americans own a piece of the American Dream and to strengthen the housing market.

So the steps I am announcing today will help us deal with some of the most egregious²² examples of what's wrong with our tax code and will help us strengthen some of these other efforts.  It's a down payment on the larger tax reform we need to make our tax system simpler and fairer and more efficient for individuals and corporations.

Now, it will take time to undo²³ the damage of distorted provisions that were slipped into our tax code by lobbyists and special interests, but with the steps I'm announcing today we are beginning to crack down on Americans who are bending or breaking the rules, and we're helping to ensure that all Americans are contributing their fair share.

In other words, we're beginning to restore fairness and balance to our tax code.  That's what I promised I would do during the campaign, that's what I'm committed to doing as President, and that is what I will work with members of my administration and members of Congress to accomplish in the months and years to come.

Thanks very much, guys.

END                                         
11:46 A.M. EDT

1 citizenship   

n.市民权，公民权，国民的义务(身份)

参考例句：

• He was born in Sweden,but he doesn't have Swedish citizenship.他在瑞典出生，但没有瑞典公民身分。
• Ten years later,she chose to take Australian citizenship.十年后，她选择了澳大利亚国籍。

2 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

3 mutual   

adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的

参考例句：

• We must pull together for mutual interest.我们必须为相互的利益而通力合作。
• Mutual interests tied us together.相互的利害关系把我们联系在一起。

4 well-being   

n.安康，安乐，幸福

参考例句：

• He always has the well-being of the masses at heart.他总是把群众的疾苦挂在心上。
• My concern for their well-being was misunderstood as interference.我关心他们的幸福，却被误解为多管闲事。

5 abetted   

v.教唆（犯罪）( abet的过去式和过去分词 )；煽动；怂恿；支持

参考例句：

• He was abetted in the deception by his wife. 他行骗是受了妻子的怂恿。
• They aided and abetted in getting the police to catch the thief. 他们协助警察抓住了小偷。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

7 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

8 havens   

n.港口，安全地方( haven的名词复数 )v.港口，安全地方( haven的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Your twenty havens would back out at the last minute anyhow. 你那二十个避难所到了最后一分钟也要不认帐。 来自辞典例句
• Using offshore havens to avoid taxes and investor protections. 使用海面的港口避免税和投资者保护。 来自互联网

9 buffalo   

n.(北美)野牛；(亚洲)水牛

参考例句：

• Asian buffalo isn't as wild as that of America's. 亚洲水牛比美洲水牛温顺些。
• The boots are made of buffalo hide. 这双靴子是由水牛皮制成的。

10 taxpayers   

纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
• She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。

11 dodge   

v.闪开，躲开，避开；n.妙计，诡计

参考例句：

• A dodge behind a tree kept her from being run over.她向树后一闪，才没被车从身上辗过。
• The dodge was coopered by the police.诡计被警察粉碎了。

12 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

13 evasion   

n.逃避，偷漏(税)

参考例句：

• The movie star is in prison for tax evasion.那位影星因为逃税而坐牢。
• The act was passed as a safeguard against tax evasion.这项法案旨在防止逃税行为。

14 deductions   

扣除( deduction的名词复数 )； 结论； 扣除的量； 推演

参考例句：

• Many of the older officers trusted agents sightings more than cryptanalysts'deductions. 许多年纪比较大的军官往往相信特务的发现，而不怎么相信密码分析员的推断。
• You know how you rush at things,jump to conclusions without proper deductions. 你知道你处理问题是多么仓促，毫无合适的演绎就仓促下结论。

15 savings   

n.存款，储蓄

参考例句：

• I can't afford the vacation,for it would eat up my savings.我度不起假，那样会把我的积蓄用光的。
• By this time he had used up all his savings.到这时，他的存款已全部用完。

16 outrage   

n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒

参考例句：

• When he heard the news he reacted with a sense of outrage.他得悉此事时义愤填膺。
• We should never forget the outrage committed by the Japanese invaders.我们永远都不应该忘记日本侵略者犯下的暴行。

17 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

18 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

19 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

20 commonsense   

adj.有常识的；明白事理的；注重实际的

参考例句：

• It is commonsense to carry an umbrella in this weather.这种天气带把伞是很自然的。
• These results are no more than a vindication of commonsense analysis.这些结果只不过是按常理分析得出的事实。

21 deficit   

n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差

参考例句：

• The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
• We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。

22 egregious   

adj.非常的，过分的

参考例句：

• When it comes to blatant lies,there are none more egregious than budget figures.谈到公众谎言，没有比预算数字更令人震惊的。
• What an egregious example was here!现摆着一个多么触目惊心的例子啊。

23 undo   

vt.解开，松开；取消，撤销

参考例句：

• His pride will undo him some day.他的傲慢总有一天会毁了他。
• I managed secretly to undo a corner of the parcel.我悄悄地设法解开了包裹的一角。