{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://paulryan.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=398178", "Journal Times editorial: Ryan in place to deliver tax code reform", "2014-11-23", "2014", "2014-11", "Republican", "House", "WI", "Paul Ryan", "R000570", "paulryan.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "By the Journal Times Editorial Board\r\nNow that the November midterms are over and the post-election promises of cooperation between Congress and the president have died aborning, it\u2019s clear the winner will once again be gridlock.\r\nThe tooth-and-nail infighting will continue on a host of issues from the Keystone XL pipeline, the Affordable Care Act, immigration, climate change, a nuclear agreement with Iran, with several of those issues once again posing the possibility of a government shutdown.\r\nStill, we find a sliver of hope, outside that gridlock box, for some meaningful legislation that could set the underpinnings for a brighter economic future for the country for years to come.\r\nWe speak, of course, of tax reform.\r\nAnd we\u2019re hopeful because we have a homegrown leader who has pledged to champion this cause: U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan.\r\nRyan, whose 1st Congressional District includes Racine County, last week ascended to the position of chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, a powerful post that shapes the nuts-and-bolts details of the nation\u2019s economic policies. In an interview with The Journal Times, Ryan said the committee \u201creally affects just the bread-and-butter issues facing the people of the 1st District.\u201d\r\n\u201cIt\u2019s the critical committee in charge of the economy. My goal is to do everything I can to bring reforms, to get faster economic growth and produce a healthier economy and more jobs.\u201d\r\nTax reform, Ryan said, is expected to be a big issue next year.\r\n\u201cOur businesses are being taxed at much higher rates than our foreign competitors and, as a result, we\u2019re losing jobs and losing companies,\u201d he said. \u201cThey\u2019re literally relocating overseas or being taken over by foreign companies.\u201d\r\nRyan\u2019s thoughts were echoed in a recent commentary by Elaine Kamarck, a senior adviser to President Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore, and James Pinkerton, a senior adviser to Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, who now co-chair the RATE Coalition, a group of companies advocating for tax reform.\r\nIn it, they say \u201cWisconsin has suffered more from most states from so-called tax inversions \u2014 that is, companies moving abroad for tax reasons. But it is really a national problem. America has the highest corporate tax rate in the world at 39.1 percent.\u201d\r\nThat, they argue, has hurt our nation\u2019s competitiveness and fueled corporate flight to other countries with less onerous taxes.\r\nKamarck and Pinkerton said last year \u201cWisconsin\u2019s gross domestic product was $320 billion lower than it would have been with a more competitive tax code.\u201d\r\n\u201cHere in the U.S., companies are being forced to spend more time and resources on tax legalities and compliance and less on their bottom lines. What\u2019s more, companies with resources to hire tax accountants, lawyers and lobbyists can take advantage of the code while other businesses \u2014 small and large \u2014 suffer. And eventually, as we have seen, they simply decide to leave \u2014 or at least, they move their tax domiciles overseas.\u201d\r\nSimpler, fairer, flatter \u2014 and more competitive. That\u2019s the challenge Ryan faces as head of the House Ways and Means Committee. We\u2019re confident he\u2019s ready for the job and we hope he gets bipartisan support in restructuring the nation\u2019s tax code and resetting its economic underpinnings.\r\nhttp://journaltimes.com/news/opinion/editorial/journal-times-editorial-ryan-in-place-to-deliver-tax-code/article_21e4bbd9-d32f-5626-8606-e5fbe33e7ac9.html", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["http://paulryan.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=398178"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.2584838550537825, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}