Obama Expected to Unveil Business Tax Cuts

President Obama is scheduled to deliver a speech Wednesday in which he will reportedly propose a series of business tax cuts, along with new infrastructure spending.

Among the tax breaks Obama is expected to propose are an increase and permanent extension of the research and development tax credit, which expired at the end of last year. The tax credit is expected to cost $100 billion over 10 years and would be paid for by closing other corporate tax loopholes, and raising taxes on oil and gas companies.

He is also expected to propose that companies get the ability to write off 100 percent of their new investments in plant and equipment through 2011. Instead of having to depreciate the investment over a period of years, businesses would be able to deduct the full cost in the first year, according to The Wall Street Journal.

In addition, Obama is expected to call for $50 billion in investment in infrastructure to improve the nation’s highways, railroads and airports. That amount would be spent in the first year to jumpstart the economy and create new jobs, but would be part of a six-year transportation bill that Congress would need to approve, according to Reuters. The $50 billion would be used to rebuild 150,000 miles of roads and bridges, construct and maintain 4,000 miles of rail lines, and rehabilitate and reconstruct 150 miles of runways at airports. Funds would also be used to build high-speed rail and a next-generation air traffic control system. The proposal would also create a national infrastructure bank to fund infrastructure investment over the long term.

Another proposal that some had expected, for a payroll tax holiday, has reportedly been dropped for now, according to the Washington Post.

"I am going to keep fighting every single day, every single hour, every single minute, to turn this economy around and put people back to work and renew the American Dream, not just for your family, not just for all our families, but for future generations," Obama said on Monday at a labor union rally in Milwaukee to commemorate Labor Day.

Republicans branded Obama's plans as a continuation of previous failed stimulus efforts, however. "After the administration pledged that a trillion dollars in borrowed stimulus money would create 4 million jobs and keep the unemployment rate under 8 percent, their latest plan for another stimulus should be met with justifiable skepticism," said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ken. "After failing to deliver on their economic promises for more than 18 months, the administration wants to do it again--this time with higher taxes for even more new spending."