Lawmakers from both parties on the deficit-reductionsupercommittee said they agree the U.S. corporate tax rate shouldbe lowered from its current maximum of 35 percent.

There was little agreement at the panel meeting today on whichbenefits in the tax code should be eliminated or curbed to pay forlowering the corporate rate. Also, the lawmakers didn't indicatethat the panel would produce legislation by Nov. 23 that would pushcorporate rates lower.

“Most people do agree that such high tax rates make the UnitedStates a less attractive place in which to do business,” saidSenator Patty Murray of Washington, the Democratic co-chairman ofthe panel. “Instead of making and improving their widgets or hiringnew people,” she said, businesses “spend too much time and effortdevising business strategies aimed simply at tax avoidance.”

The panel's first hearing on tax policy reflected a broaderdebate between Democrats and Republicans over the role of revenuein reducing the U.S. budget deficit. Representative James Clyburn,a South Carolina Democrat, urged enacting new taxes formillionaires while the panel's Republican co-chairman,Representative Jeb Hensarling of Texas, warned against newtaxes.

Tax Increase 'Consequences'
If lawmakers onthe supercommittee “choose to solely or primarily address our debtcrisis by increasing the nation's tax burden, I fear theconsequences,” Hensarling said. “The ability, wisdom andconsequences of addressing our debt crisis through tax increaseswill continue to constitute a rigorous debate by ourcommittee.”

Congress set up the 12-member bipartisan supercommittee inAugust in legislation that resolved a standoff over raising thefederal debt limit. The panel was instructed to create a 10-yearplan to cut at least $1.5 trillion from the budget deficit by Nov.23. The law requires automatic, across-the-board spending cuts ifCongress doesn't pass a plan.

The hearing provided a forum to debate raising taxes for thewealthiest Americans. Representative Xavier Becerra, a CaliforniaDemocrat, pressed Tom Barthold, the chief of staff of thecongressional Joint Committee on Taxation, on how it was possibleunder the tax code for billionaire Warren Buffett to pay taxes at alower rate than his secretary, as he has stated.

Buffett's Taxes
In an essay published lastmonth in the New York Times, Buffett, the 81-year-old chairman andchief executive officer of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., wrote that hisfederal tax bill last year was $6.93 million, or 17.4 percent ofhis taxable income. President Barack Obama has asked Congress toenact the so-called “Buffett rule,” which would ensure that thoseearning more than $1 million a year would pay taxes at a ratesimilar to what middle-income Americans pay.

Representative Dave Camp, a Michigan Republican, countered thatAmericans with incomes between $50,000 and $75,000 pay an averagetax rate of 12 percent while those who earn more than $1 millionpay an average 23 percent rate.

“Frankly, Mr. Buffett needs to give his secretary a raise,” saidCamp, who is the chairman of the tax-writing Ways and MeansCommittee.

Lawmakers also discussed broadly how the tax code could berevised to eliminate tax benefits, also known as tax expenditures.Murray said the panel needs to spend more time discussing whethersecond homes should be eligible for the mortgage interest deductionand whether some charitable deductions should be curbed.

“We've had an intense discussion here about earmarks,” she said.“We've not had an intense discussion about these taxexpenditures.”

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