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Obama Proposes Corporate Tax Reform to Pay for Infrastructure

The president's proposal would reduce the top corporate tax rate, eliminate loopholes and use the one-time revenue to pay for roads, transit and other transportation systems.

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President Barack Obama as he speaks about his proposed fiscal 2014 budget in the Rose Garden of the White House. (Photo: AP/Charles Dharapak)
President Obama is proposing an overhaul of the corporate tax structure as part of a plan to generate revenue that would could be used to invest in infrastructure.

The president's proposal would reduce the top corporate tax from 35 percent to 28 percent while simplifying it and eliminating loopholes. New, one-time revenue created during the transition could then be put towards infrastructure investment, as well as workforce training and manufacturing, according to an outline of the plan released by the White House Tuesday.

Obama will tout the initiative during an afternoon speech at an Amazon.com facility in Chattanooga, Tenn.

Ostensibly, the deal represents something of a compromise: in exchange for lowering taxes, something Republicans want, one-time revenues could be put towards infrastructure, schools and manufacturing hubs, which would be attractive to Democrats.

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The plan includes many of the president's previous proposals for infrastructure investment that he has pushed in his State of the Union address, a speech made at the Port of Miami earlier this spring, and in his latest budget -- even though none of them have gained traction.

Among his proposals is the "Fix It First" initiative: a plan to invest billions of dollars towards reducing deferred maintenance that needs to be performed on roads, transit systems and other transportation systems. 

He's also pitching the "Rebuild America Partnership," a vague concept that involves leveraging private money to support infrastructure, though the administration hasn't offered many details on it in the past. Obama is also rehashing his plea for a National Infrastructure Bank, which he has unsuccessfully pitched for several years.

Obama has also proposed a new "America Fast Forward" bonds program, which would expand on the Build America Bonds initially developed as part of the Recovery Act.

The White House hasn't released specific figures on how much the plan would generate or the total amount that could go toward infrastructure. Previously, Obama has pegged "Fix It First" at $50 billion.

Communications manager for the Texas Medical Center Health Policy Institute and former Governing staff writer
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