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RATE Coalition
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| RATE Coalition | |
 | |
| Basic facts | |
| Type: | 501(c)(4) |
| Top official: | Elaine Kamarck, Co-Chair; James Pinkerton, Co-Chair |
| Website: | Official website |
The RATE Coalition, which stands for Reforming America’s Taxes Equitably, is a nonprofit 501(c)(4) that advocates for U.S. business tax reform. Elaine Kamarck and James Pinkerton are the co-chairs of the coalition, whose membership includes nearly 35 major U.S. corporations including AT&T, Boeing, Ford, Kraft, Northrop Grumman and Disney.
On January 12, 2016, during President Barack Obama's State of the Union address, the RATE Coalition had a truck circle the Capitol with a billboard calling for lower corporate tax rates.[1]
Mission
According to the Rate Coalition's website, the organization's mission is as follows:[2]
| “ |
To reform the tax code, making it fairer and simpler and improving the prospects of growth and jobs in the U.S. economy by reducing the corporate income tax rate to make it more competitive with our nation’s major trading partners.[3] |
” |
Background
The RATE Coalition is a group of 35 companies across the United States. RATE is an acronym for Reforming America’s Taxes Equitably. The coalition advocates for business tax reform, arguing that the current "system is broken."[2] The nonprofit identifies five key principles, according to their website, which are as follows:[2]
- "We believe that a lower corporate tax rate would better allow U.S. businesses to compete in today’s globalized marketplace."
- "We believe that the best means of achieving a more competitive tax system is through a direct reduction in the overall corporate tax rate."
- "We believe that a lower corporate tax rate would benefit both national and international U.S. companies and would increase incentives to invest in the United States, enhancing U.S. economic and job growth."
- "We believe that a lower corporate tax rate will benefit American workers, American consumers and American small businesses."
- "While we believe a lower corporate tax rate will justify itself via increased economic growth, we understand the budget implications of lowering the rate. As such, if necessary to facilitate a meaningful reduction in the corporate tax rate, corporate tax base-broadeners should be on the table."
According to their website, the RATE Coalition has five primary goals. They are seeking to simplify the U.S. tax code; they are advocating for a 25 percent maximum corporate tax rate; they are seeking to close tax loopholes; by advocating for a lower corporate tax, RATE believes that this would not only keep companies in the U.S., but also generate economic growth in the U.S.[4]
The coalition includes 35 companies, which, according to the RATE website, represent 30 million employees. The member companies include the following:[2]
- AT&T
- Altria Client Services Inc.
- Association of American Railroads
- Babcock & Wilcox, Boeing
- Brown Forman
- Capital One
- Cox Enterprises
- CVS Caremark
- Edison Electric Institute
- FedEx, Ford
- GAP Inc.
- General Dynamics
- Home Depot
- Intel
- Kraft Foods
- Kimberly-Clark
- Liberty Media
- Lockheed Martin
- Macy’s
- McGraw Hill Financial
- National Retail Federation
- Nike
- Northrup Grumman
- Raytheon
- Reynolds American
- Southern Company
- Time Warner Cable
- T-Mobile
- UPS
- Verizon
- Viacom
- Walt Disney
- Walmart
In 2012, RATE sent a letter to Congress calling for lower corporate taxes. The letter, signed by 17 CEOs, argued that the 35 percent corporate tax "is the highest of any industrialized nation."[5] In 2014, RATE sent another letter to the Senate Finance Committee leadership, which, at the time, was Ron Wyden. The letter asked several question for the Senator to consider, including "[w]hether the enactment of a competitive federal tax rate (e.g. 25%) would deter the movement of mobile income to lower tax jurisdictions?"[6]
On January 12, 2016, during President Barack Obama's State of the Union address, the RATE Coalition had a truck circle the Capitol with a billboard calling for lower corporate tax rates.[1] RATE stated that they intended to use the truck at the GOP's Baltimore retreat on January 14, 2016.[1] Prior to the President's speech, RATE noted that while Obama proposed a new corporate tax rate of 28 percent, it would not actually pass and argued that foreign companies are able to be more competitive than U.S. companies because foreign business taxes are lower. The press release included a message to the president, requesting that he lower the corporate tax.[7]
Leadership
RATE has two co-chairs, Elaine Kamarck and James Pinkerton. Kamarck served in Bill Clinton's administration from 1993 to 1997, overseeing the National Performance Review. Pinkerton worked under Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush in their administrations' domestic policy offices.[8]
Media
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms RATE Coalition. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
- 501(c)(4)
- Ron Wyden
- Barack Obama
- Ronald Reagan
- Bill Clinton
- United States Senate Committee on Finance
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Politico, "More on Irion's departure from Levick," January 12, 2016
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 RATE Coalition, "About," accessed January 12, 2016
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Whatsyourtaxplan.com, "The Rate Plan," accessed January 13, 2016
- ↑ AFL-CIO, "RATE Coalition Channels George Orwell's '1984' in Call for Lower Corporate Taxes," December 10, 2012
- ↑ Politico, "The tax week ahead on the Hill — Scandal round-up — RATE Coalition to Senate Finance: Focus on a lower corporate tax rate," July 21, 2014
- ↑ RATE Coalition, "RATE Coalition Statement on 2016 State of the Union Address," January 11, 2016
- ↑ RATE Coalition, "Co-Chairs," accessed January 13, 2016
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