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RUBIO: SHOW ME A TAX INCREASE THAT CREATES JOBS. YOU CAN’T.

Senator Rubio: “Every other problem we face in our country, the housing crisis, all these other problems become easier to deal with if you have more people working, people making money, people paying their taxes, people spending money into the economy. Unemployment is what we have to get at, and you’re not going to create jobs by tax increases.

“And if someone in this building, if someone in Washington has a tax increase that creates jobs, I invite you to offer it. We’re all ears. Right now. If someone in Washington has a tax increase that helps create jobs, then now is the time to offer it. I would submit to you you’re not going to find one because there are no tax increases that will create jobs. And if you don’t create jobs and you don’t grow this economy, there is no way out of this debt. You cannot cut your way out of it and you certainly can’t tax your way out of it.

“Does that mean we don’t do anything about taxes, as I hear some commentators saying in the press? Of course not. Our tax code is broken. There are a bunch of things in the tax code that do not belong there, and I think there is bipartisan support, whether the media tries to ignore it or not, I think there is bipartisan support in the Senate, in the House, in Washington for tax reform.”

RUBIO: I’VE NEVER MET A JOB CREATOR LOOKING FOR HIGHER, MORE COMPLICATED TAXES

Senator Rubio: “I swear to you, I have never met a job creator that told me that they are looking for a state with high taxes and burdensome regulations. I have never met one. There may be one. And again, I invite anyone here in Washington, D.C., to produce for us a job creator, a company or an individual who says that what they are looking for is they are looking to open a business someplace where the taxes are high and difficult to understand and the regulations are expensive to comply with because that’s what we have in America. You want to know why jobs aren’t being created? Because that’s what we have in America. So if someone knows of a job creator anywhere in the world that’s looking for a high, complex tax environment or looking for a high regulatory environment, I would like to meet them because I have yet to meet a job creator that’s looking for that, and that’s what we have.

“I would submit to you that there is support, there is bipartisan support for the idea of tax reform, of simplifying our tax code, of making it easier to comply with. If we do it the right way, of lowering everybody’s tax rates, so that people have more money in their pocket to spend into the economy, to grow their business, to start a new business, because that’s how jobs are created.

“I know that all of us would like to think that Senators and Presidents create jobs. Not outside this building they don’t. Jobs are created when everyday people from all walks of life say, ‘You know what I’m going to do today? I’m going to open up a business. I’m going to open up a business in the spare bedroom of my home or out of the garage or when someone has an existing business an decides, I want to grow this business I want to hire a couple more people because I have a belief that this business can do better.’

“We need to get people excited about doing that again. You’re not going to get them excited about doing that again if our taxes and regulations are out of control.”

RUBIO: THE SOLUTION IS TO CUT AND GROW OUR WAY OUT OF THIS DEBT

Senator Rubio: “And there are two things: we must — we must control our spending, and we must put a plan in place that shows the world how America would bring its spending under control, and we have to do something to grow our economy.

“And you ask any job creator in the real world, you ask any job creator in the real world, what are you looking for to grow your economy – to create jobs and they’ll tell you, we’re looking for confidence. And we get confidence from knowing that regulations are predictable and easy to comply with, and the tax code is predictable, affordable, and easy to comply with and I submit, that if we focus on those things and not all the other noise that goes on in the back and forth of this place, we can actually start moving towards a solution.”

RUBIO: THERE’S NOTHING WRONG WITH COMPROMISE AS LONG AS IT’S A REAL SOLUTION

Senator Rubio: “The last point I would make is the word “compromise” is a very popular word around here. And there’s nothing wrong with compromise, so long as the compromise also happens to be a solution, because if your compromise doesn’t solve the problem, you’ve just created a new problem.

“Nothing wrong with compromise. Maybe your ideas of tax reform are different from my ideas of tax reform, but ultimately we have to solve the broken tax code. So compromise is not a dirty word unless the compromise makes it worse, not better. Too oftentimes in politics, compromise leads to things that make things worse, not better. And if you raise taxes in this economy with 9% unemployment, you’re going to make things worse, not better.

“So I hope that we will rally in a bipartisan fashion around the concept of tax reform, of creating a tax code in America that encourages people to create jobs here once again. Because if we can solve the jobs issue, if we can begin to solve the unemployment issue, all has to other issues that we face as a nation become easier to deal with, and with that, I thank you for your attention.”