Jeffrey R. Immelt Quotes

Stupider than France is not where we want to be on tax policy.

I personally - if I were designing the tax code - would have a tax code in which Mitt Romney paid more than 13 percent, given what I know about the kind of investments he made money from.

There's only one kind of tax that would please everybody - one that nobody but the other guy has to pay.

Tax policy is not about compassion.

I'm for tax reform, not tax increases.

We can fight over what the taxation levels should be, but the tax system should be very, very simple and not distortionary.

Who's on the case when it comes to the flat tax?

I will never support any tax increase on middle-income earners, ever... If you're not going to eliminate loopholes and exemptions, then I wouldn't support lowering rates.

To me, there are four F's in a good tax system: it ought to be flatter, fairer, finite and family-friendly.

The nation should have a tax system that looks like someone designed it on purpose.

It's really a question of fairness and what kind of country we're going to live in. There are 22,000 people making over $1 million. They're paying an effective tax rate in the teens. As Warren Buffett said, he pays less in taxes effectively than his secretary does. That's not right.

The Democrats are obsessing about raising tax rates, while the GOP talks about closing loopholes.

I just think that - when a country needs more income and we do, we're only taking in 15 percent of GDP, I mean, that - that - when a country needs more income, they should get it from the people that have it.

We need to lower tax rates for everybody, starting with the top corporate tax rate. We need to simplify the tax code. The ultimate answer, in my opinion, is the fair tax, which is a fair tax for everybody, because as long as we still have this messed-up tax code, the politicians are going to use it to reward winners and losers.

Politicians and economists figure out an elaborate system of tax and economic incentives and then every body else figures out a way to beat it

The rich aren't like us—they pay less taxes.

The income tax is the fairest, the most equitable system of taxation that has yet been devised.

We demand a graduated income tax.

In this time of need, the people who can afford it, those making more than $1 million a year, should not pay a tax rate that is less than their secretary pays. This is not class envy. This is not class warfare. This is basic arithmetic.

Making the rich pay the same tax rates on their investment earnings that the rest of us pay on our earnings would be a good start [towards tax reform].

I think there's a lot of Democrats that would favor reducing the corporate tax rate as long as we find a way to close loopholes so we have a way to pay for it.

Democrats must rally behind a low-rate, broad-based tax system that is fair, simple and efficient.

If people want capital gains taxed more like the highest rate on income, that's a good discussion. Maybe that's the way to help close the deficit.

I support a progressive state income tax.

People are taxed enough.