Candidates' positions are categorized as Pro (Yes), Con (No), Not Clearly Pro or Con, or None Found. Candidates who have changed their positions are listed as Now their most recent position. Candidates are listed by party and in alphabetical order by last name. Black & white photos indicate candidates who have withdrawn or who no longer meet our criteria for inclusion.
Do lower taxes incentivize employers to hire more workers?
Gary Johnson, former Governor of New Mexico, stated the following during the Fox News Republican presidential debate held in Greenville, SC on May 5, 2011:
"We have the highest corporate income tax in the world right now, let's abolish it, let's make it the way that it was to begin with and that will literally create tens of millions of jobs overnight because this country will be the only place to establish, grow, build, nurture business, why won't that happen?" May 5, 2011 Gary Johnson
Barack Obama, 44th President of the United States, stated the following in a speech titled "Address by the President to a Joint Session of Congress," posted as a transcript on the White House website on Sep. 8, 2011:
"The purpose of the American Jobs Act is simple: to put more people back to work and more money in the pockets of those who are working... It will provide -- it will provide a tax break for companies who hire new workers, and it will cut payroll taxes in half for every working American and every small business. It will provide a jolt to an economy that has stalled, and give companies confidence that if they invest and if they hire, there will be customers for their products and services...
Everyone here knows that small businesses are where most new jobs begin. And you know that while corporate profits have come roaring back, smaller companies haven't. So for everyone who speaks so passionately about making life easier for 'job creators,' this plan is for you.
Pass this jobs bill -- pass this jobs bill, and starting tomorrow, small businesses will get a tax cut if they hire new workers or if they raise workers' wages. Pass this jobs bill, and all small business owners will also see their payroll taxes cut in half next year. If you have 50 employees -- if you have 50 employees making an average salary, that's an $80,000 tax cut. And all businesses will be able to continue writing off the investments they make in 2012." Sep. 8, 2011 Barack Obama
Mitt Romney, former Governor of Massachusetts, stated the following in his Aug. 30, 2012 speech at the Republican National Convention in Tampa, FL, available at www.npr.org:
"What America needs is jobs...
...I have a plan to create 12 million new jobs...
...[W]e will champion SMALL businesses, America's engine of job growth. That means reducing taxes on business, not raising them." Aug. 30, 2012 Mitt Romney
Jill Stein, MD, former Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, stated the following in a Jan. 29, 2012 Truthout interview with Steve Horn, "The Party of Our Discontent? An Interview with Green Party Candidate Jill Stein," available at www.truth-out.org:
"The Green New Deal is an emergency jobs creation plan that really addresses the crisis in our economy, in unemployment, and likewise, in the climate...
...[T]he costs of creating these jobs would be less than what was spent in the Obama stimulus package, which essentially created two million jobs, which were good and probably blunted a worse catastrophe and did add some jobs in the area of the green economy, but ultimately wasn't of sufficient magnitude to really fix the problem. So, this will do a whole lot more. The cost for the stimulus package worked out to be about $220,000 per job created, because the mechanisms were indirect and relied a lot on tax incentives, which don't always get used to create jobs. This, instead, would be money used directly to create jobs and would be more like $20,000 per job created." Jan. 29, 2012 Jill Stein
Michele Bachmann, US Representative (R-MN), stated the following in an interview on Face the Nation, aired Sep. 4, 2011 on CBS News:
"This is what I do know. It [the tax code] needs to be simplified. It needs to be fair and it needs to be reduced. What we do know is that the current corporate tax rate is killing job creation." Sep. 4, 2011 Michele Bachmann
Herman Cain, Former Chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City and Chairman of Godfather's Pizza, stated the following in an article titled "Unleash Economic Growth," posted on his official campaign website, www.hermancain.com (accessed Sep. 28, 2011):
"The role of the federal government should be to encourage economic growth by ensuring conditions that will allow businesses to thrive, not just survive. That means less legislation, less regulation, lower taxes and business-friendly policies...
Currently, the federal government taxes too much and too often. Meaningful tax reform should be implemented immediately to alleviate that suffocating tax burden placed on businesses and individuals in America. This means across-the-board tax cuts to provide long-term relief..." Sep. 28, 2011 Herman Cain
Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the US House of Representatives (R-GA), stated the following during the June 13, 2011 CNN Republican presidential debate held in Manchester, NH:
"KING: Mr. Speaker, if you look at a poll in the Boston Globe just the other day, 54 percent of Republican voters in this state say they're willing to have higher taxes on the wealthy to help bring down the deficit. Are they wrong?
GINGRICH: Well, the question is, would it, in fact, increase jobs or kill jobs? The Reagan recovery, which I participated in passing, in seven years created for this current economy the equivalent of 25 million new jobs, raised federal revenue by $800 billion a year in terms of the current economy, and clearly it worked. It's a historic fact. The Obama administration is an anti-jobs, anti-business, anti- American energy destructive force. And we shouldn't talk about what we do in 2013. The Congress this year, this next week ought to repeal the Dodd-Frank bill, they ought to repeal the Sarbanes-Oxley bill, they ought to start creating jobs right now, because for those 14 million Americans, this is a depression now." June 13, 2011 Newt Gingrich
Jon Huntsman, former Governor of Utah, stated the following in an article titled "Time to Compete – An American Jobs Plan," posted on his official campaign website, www.jon2012.com, on Aug. 31, 2011:
"Reduce The Corporate Rate from 35% to 25%. The United States cannot compete while burdened with the second-highest corporate tax rate in the developed world; American companies and our workers deserve a level playing field. With high unemployment, it is important that we not push corporations and capitals overseas. We need employers to be based in America if they’re going to provide jobs to Americans." Aug. 31, 2011 Jon Huntsman
Ron Paul, US Representative (R-TX), stated the following in an article titled "Lower Taxes: Keep More of Your Money," posted on www.ronpaul2012.com (accessed Sep. 26, 2011):
"High taxes stifle innovation, prevent saving, destroy production, crush the middle class and the poor, and discourage investment. Every American is entitled to the fruits of his labor, especially during these tough economic times.
Lowering taxes will leave you more money to take care of yourself and your family, and it will allow businesses greater opportunities to hire new workers, increase current salaries, and expand their companies." Sep. 26, 2011 Ron Paul
Rick Perry, Governor of Texas, stated the following during the Bloomberg News/Washington Post Republican presidential debate held at Dartmouth College on Oct. 11, 2011:
"The reason we have that many people living in poverty is because we've got a president of the United States who's a job killer. That's what's wrong with this country today. You have a president who does not understand how to create wealth. He has overtaxed, over-regulated the small-businessmen and -women to the point where they're laying off people." Oct. 11, 2011 Rick Perry
[Editor's Note: In addition to the Not Clearly Pro or Con statement above from Oct. 11, 2011, we have provided one more Not Clearly Pro or Con statement below, from the Sep. 25, 2011 article, "Cleaning Up Washington's Mess," teapartybrew.com, Sep. 25, 2011.]
"As Governor, I've signed 65 tax cuts totaling more than $14 billion. I was the first governor to cut state spending since World War II. And we've passed sweeping lawsuit reforms, including a loser pay law, and fought Washington's intrusive job-killing regulations. It's not a coincidence that my state has gained more than one million new jobs in the past decade, or that Texas is responsible for nearly 40 percent of all net new jobs in America since June 2009. It's proof that the conservative philosophy works -- when it's implemented by leaders who emphasize actions over words."
Buddy Roemer, former Governor of Louisiana, stated the following in his campaign site posting, "Buddy Roemer on Jobs and the Economy," available at www.buddyroemer.com (accessed Oct. 31, 2011):
"For 160 years we did not tax our factories that used American labor and produced goods here, but we placed a heavy tariff tax on factories outside America that tried to import their products into this market.
Now we do just the opposite. We place a heavy tax on factories operating in America, but we essentially have eliminated any tax on factories that produce goods abroad and import those goods into America, flooding America with products, destroying our industries, and we allow them to do it for free – no income tax, and no tariff. We'll tax our guys, you come beat us to death! By doing this, we have not only allowed our manufacturing industries to move outside the country, we have encouraged them to leave America and go overseas. It's cheaper, and it's tax free. And now overseas where they can make even more profit than if they had stayed here and employed American labor and paid American taxes." Oct. 31, 2011 Buddy Roemer
Rick Santorum, former US Senator (R-PA), stated the following during the CNN-Tea Party Republican presidential debate held in Tampa, FL on Sep. 12, 2011:
"What the American people want is a policy that's going to get people the opportunity to rise in society, to fill that -- that great middle of America, and that is manufacturing jobs. That's why my plan takes the corporate tax, which is 35 percent, cuts it to 0, and says if you manufacture in America, you aren't going to pay any taxes. We want you to come back here. We want you to have 'Made in America' stamped on your plant." Sep. 12, 2011 Rick Santorum