Dino Rossi, Patty Murray’s top priorities, a tax hike on profits of U.S. companies

Stopped by a lookout on highway 12 outside of Yakima to catch this glimpse of Mt. Rainier. IMAGE By Rossi for Senate Copyright All rights reserved

Bellevue, WA – One of Sen. Patty Murray’s top priorities, a tax hike on profits of U.S. companies with foreign subsidiaries, would hurt Microsoft and other corporations and drive jobs out of Washington State. Sen. Murray has touted her efforts to protect jobs for Washingtonians, even though Microsoft, the state’s second-largest private employer which has numerous locations worldwide, stands to lose big if the tax hike becomes law. The Senate could take up legislation on Tuesday which would jeopardize jobs for Washingtonians at a time when the state is already facing high unemployment.

“It’s incredibly disturbing Senator Murray would choose partisan politics and angry rhetoric over supporting Microsoft and the many Washington companies that operate in countries around the world,” said Rossi.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer told Bloomberg News that this type of tax hike “makes U.S. jobs more expensive. We’re better off taking lots of people and moving them out of the U.S. as opposed to keeping them inside the U.S.”

“Washington State has a unique economy where many of our companies are engaged in commerce across the globe, which lends to jobs for tens of thousands of Washingtonians,” Rossi added. “Apparently Senator Murray still doesn’t understand that when you punish job creators, they will go elsewhere. There is never a good time to send good-paying jobs overseas, but, with Washingtonians facing high unemployment, Senator Murray’s mission to hurt good Washington State companies like Microsoft could hardly come at a worse time.”

This politically-motivated bill being marketed as yet another “jobs bill,” is expected to have little positive effect according to experts. Anne Mathias, a tax analyst at Concept Capital’s Washington Research Group said, “I don’t think this package is going to be successful.”

“Health care ‘reform’ will cost Boeing $150 million up front, and result in health insurance premium increases for Boeing workers, and now she’s targeting Microsoft,” Rossi concluded. “It seems like Senator Murray is going down the list of our state’s top employers, and doing as much damage as she can. If Senator Murray is really standing up for Washingtonians, she needs to oppose this latest attempt to score political points and instead push for full extension of the 2001 and 2003 tax relief packages.”

TEXT CREDIT: Rossi for Senate PO Box 50713 Bellevue, WA 98015 Phone: (425) 451-2010 Fax: (425) 451-8160 Contact us by email: info@dinorossi.com