Ben Bernanke Quotes

I think we can have some tax reform, but that doesn't mean tax increases. We ought to make the, the rates flatter. We ought to get rid of a bunch of those loopholes.

What I want to do is make certain that no one's taxes go up. Let's look at cleaning up the tax code.

Everybody gets ticked off about GE paying no taxes. Look, we have a complicated, convoluted tax system. And only big corporations and wealthy individuals like Warren Buffett can take advantage of it. We need to simplify and flatten the code, get rid of all the loopholes.

I think a flat tax has merit. Anything would be better than the current tax code.

The important thing about tax reform is you make the tax code less complicated, easier for people to understand.

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

It seems idle to speculate in the abstract as to whether or not a progressive income tax schedule rising to rates in excess of 70 percent are justifiable …. The fact is that such rates cannot be successfully collected.

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 there is one thing that most economists agree about in the realm of tax policy, it is that it's best to broaden the base of any tax, all else being equal. That means minimizing the number of deductions and exclusions from taxable income in order to lower marginal rates and reduce distortions.

I don't know why anyone would prefer a more complicated tax code instead of a simpler one.

My expertise was in public finance, particularly corporate taxation, since I had worked at the US Treasury.

Tax policy is not about compassion.

We had 90 percent rates, but nobody paid them. And so you had all these exemptions, exclusions, shelters, all this kind of stuff. And that's why most Americans are saying, 'Look, let's just be honest. Let's have lower rates, but everybody pays them.'

We want taxpayers, not tax wasters.

We're going to look awfully stupid if we give income tax relief to people who do not pay income taxes.

Corporate tax reform is nice in theory but tough in practice. It most likely requires lower tax rates and the closing of loopholes, which many companies are sure to fight. And whatever new, lower tax rate is determined, there will probably be another country willing to lower its rate further, creating a sad race to zero.

North Carolina needs to revamp the tax code completely. We have some of the highest tax rates, like the corporate tax rate, in the country.

Now, the president would like to do tax reform, which would obviously lower rates for most people in America and make the tax code fair and get rid of loopholes and special treatment. But absent tax reform, the president believes the right way to get our fiscal house in order is ask the wealthy to pay their fair share.

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

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

High tax rates distort economic decision making, and our corporate income tax rate is one of the highest in the world.

Marginal tax rates are the lowest they've been in generations, and all we can talk about is tax cuts.

We all want a simpler code, but tax reform is about much more. It is about ensuring that everyone pays their fair share. The tax code is also used to promote behavior that we as a nation support, such as home ownership or charitable contributions.

We need to even out the tax code for small businesses so that we lower their tax rate to 25 percent, just as we need to lower it for all businesses.