Other polls demonstrate that Americans oppose corporate inversions
WASHINGTON – Frank Clemente, executive director of Americans for Tax Fairness, today released the following statement about a recent poll by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce that claims to show that Americans oppose action to restrict corporate inversions.
The poll is part of a multi-million dollar ad campaign by the U.S. Chamber that defends corporate inversions and calls for lower corporate tax rates. Americans for Tax Fairness recently wrote a sharply-worded letter to the Chamber criticizing it for putting the interests of large corporations over those of its small-business members.
“The recent poll by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is deliberately misleading. It is purportedly about public attitudes toward President Obama taking executive action on corporate inversions. But the document the Chamber made public asks a more general question about tax reform and says nothing about inversions. It also leads respondents to believe that the President is acting unilaterally to change the law, which is false. All the poll shows is that respondents preferred that Congress and the President act together to achieve tax reform – which as any 6th grader knows is essential to actually passing a law.
“Of course the public prefers bipartisan action, but that does not mean it prefers no action in the face of partisan efforts to block legislation that would close corporate tax loopholes, such as inversions. In poll after poll the public has said overwhelmingly that it wants corporate tax loopholes closed.
“With respect to corporate inversions, recent polls, including one by NBC/The Wall Street Journal, show strong public opposition to them. Recent surveys in Iowa and Colorado demonstrate that voters in those states oppose corporate inversions by a margin of more than three-to-one. It’s likely that antipathy toward inversions is deep all across America. But you wouldn’t know that from the Chamber’s poll.
Americans for Tax Fairness is a diverse coalition of 425 national and state organizations that collectively represent tens of millions of members. The organization was formed on the belief that the country needs comprehensive, progressive tax reform that results in greater revenue to meet our growing needs. ATF is playing a central role in Washington and in the states on federal tax-reform issues.