Washington, Feb 7, 2002 - Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), Chairman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus says the American people need to know there's an alternative view in Congress about the state of economic affairs in this country. Upset with the Administration's plan to repeal the corporate minimum tax, Kucinich and members of the Progressive Caucus raised concerns about the unfairness of this proposed action at a Washington, DC news conference. The following is Congressman Kucinich's remarks at the news conference.

Big corporations ostensibly are supposed to pay 35 percent of their profits in taxes. However a recent survey of the nation's 250 largest and most profitable corporations paid only 20.1 percent in 1998. That was down from the 26.5 percent that a similar group of large companies paid back in 1988.

The data clearly shows that large corporations are paying fewer taxes than the average American family as a percentage of income. In fiscal years 1997-99, personal income tax payments grew by 28 percent and Social Security and Medicare payroll taxes on wages grew by 22 percent. But corporate income tax payments went up by a total of only 8 percent over the three years, and actually fell from fiscal 1998 to fiscal 1999.

In response, the Administration wants to sweeten the pot even more for corporate America. In the Administration's FY 2003 Budget, the Corporate Alternative Minimum Tax would be repealed and corporations would be entitled to an immediate rebate of any alternative minimum tax they paid since the tax was established in 1986.

No longer will profitable corporations that employ loopholes to avoid taxes be required to pay even the smallest amount of taxes.

The rebates from prior minimum tax payments would cost $24 billion over 10 years, and more likely two or three times that much due to increased tax sheltering not reflected in the "official" estimate. A large share of this money would go to just a handful of companies, including IBM, General Motors, General Electric, and Chevron Texaco.

Some $7.4 billion of these corporate rebate checks would be made out to just 16 tax-avoiding Fortune 500 companies-each of which would get more than $100 million in rebates.

Topping the list is IBM, slated to get a $1.4 billion rebate check. Ford is next at $1 billion, followed by General Motors at $833 million, General Electric at $671 million, Texas Utilities at $608 million, DaimlerChrysler at $600 million, and ChevronTexaco at $572 million.

The Administration should be more concerned with the families without income, the families without health care, and the families without a chance to secure a better life. Families first, not General Electric and IBM!