Weigel

Louie Gohmert Pranks Obama With His Own “American Jobs Act”

Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images

In Congress this week, there’s an unmissable undertone of disinterest in passing the American Jobs Act announced by the president one week ago. Most of the dismissiveness appears in the form of non-answers and non-committal talk about whether the bill should pass as-is. The White House has released the text of what it wants, but no bill’s been introduced yet, as gripes get heard out. Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Tex., just did his griping colleagues one better, by introducing another bill called the American Jobs Act of 2011.

This is the full text of the bill.

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.

That’s it. That’s the bill that, by being introduced first, will force Democrats in the House* to give the The American Jobs Act another name. (The Senate already has an American Jobs Act, introduced by Harry Reid.) Gohmert’s one of the House’s conservative gadflies, who doesn’t object when he, Steve King, and Michele Bachmann are called “the three amigos.” On this, though, he’s not that far apart from the median Republican or Blue Dog, who sees the AJA as a stunt to get past.

*I was a little wrong on this before and have fixed the reference.