Obama to drop business tax break in stimulus bill

Bowing to widespread Democratic skepticism, President-elect Barack Obama will drop his bid to include a business tax break he once touted in the economic stimulus bill now taking shape on Capitol Hill, aides said Monday night.

Obama suggested the $3,000-per-job credit last week as one of five individual and business tax incentives aimed at winning Republican support.

He proposed $300 billion in tax relief in a bill that could reach $775 billion, and he resurrected the jobs-credit proposal from the campaign trail as one of his main provisions.

Republicans reacted favorably to the higher-than-expected ratio of tax breaks to spending for road projects, alternative energy production, healthcare technology and unemployment benefits.

But they offered mixed reviews of his specific tax proposals and floated their own, including cuts in corporate and capital gains taxes.

Stronger opposition came from Democrats, who dismissed the $3,000 credit to employers for every job created or saved as ripe for abuse and difficult to administer. When no champion for the proposal came forward, the president-elect decided to sideline the incentive.

“We’ve always said we’re open to other ideas,” a senior Obama advisor said. “This was never set in stone.”