Tea party congressman beats Obama to ‘American Jobs Act of 2011′; bill would eliminate corporate taxes

Chris Moody
·Political Reporter

Louie Gohmert, a Republican representative from Texas, sat in the House chamber last Thursday night and listened while President Obama told members of Congress to pass his plan for job creation, which he called "The American Jobs Act." The weekend went by, but House Democrats didn't submit an official piece of legislation with Obama's proposals.

Nearly a full week passed. Still no bill.

So Gohmert took matters into his own hands. He submitted his own bill and titled it, "The American Jobs Act of 2011."

"After waiting to see what the president would actually put into legislative language, and then waiting to see if anybody would actually introduce the president's bill in the House, today I took the initiative," Gohmert said in a statement after he submitted the bill on Wednesday.

Gohmert's bill looks nothing like the 155-page plan Obama issued this week. It is only two pages long, and it eliminates the corporate tax on companies that make products in the United States.

"It is a very simple bill," Gohmert said. "If we really want to create jobs and grow the economy, we must pass 'The American Jobs Act' now."

As of this writing, House Democrats have still not submitted their own version of what Obama wanted to call "The American Jobs Act of 2011." Under House rules, members of Congress are allowed to submit separate bills with the same name.

Read the whole bill after the jump:

A BILL To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to repeal the corporate income tax.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ''American Jobs Act of 2011''.

SEC. 2. REPEAL OF CORPORATE INCOME TAX.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (b) of section 11 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended to read as follows:
(b) "AMOUNT OF TAX.—The amount of the tax imposed by subsection (a) shall be zero percent of taxable income.''.
(b) REPEAL OF ALTERNATIVE MINIMUM TAX FOR CORPORATIONS.—Subparagraph (B) of section 55(b)(1) of such Code is amended to read as follows:
(B) CORPORATIONS.—In the case of a corporation, the tentative minimum tax for the taxable year is zero.''.
(c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— (1) Paragraphs (1) and (2) of section 1445(e)
of such Code are each amended by striking ''35 percent'' and inserting ''0 percent''.
(2) Subparagraph (A) of section 7518(g)(6) of such Code is amended by striking ''34 percent'' and inserting ''0 percent''.
(3) Paragraph (2) of section 53511(f) of title 46, United States Code, is mended by striking ''34 percent'' and inserting ''0 percent''.
(d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by section shall apply to taxable years beginning after this December 31, 2011, except that the amendments made by subsection (c) shall take effect on such date.

This article has been updated to clarify that more than one bill can be submitted with the same name.