Yeah, I agree. In principle Ryan is aligning himself with a consensus that the corporate tax rate is both non-credibly high compared to rest of world and consequently mostly evaded and riddled with loopholes.
Do I trust Republicans to fix the latter while also addressing the former? Nah. But I don't think Ryan's diagnosis is the kind of business coziness that Lieberman gave a bad name.
A big part of the issue from my perspective is his alignment with what he states as a
"pro-business"-centric strategy for 2018, which in itself shouldn't be that much of a problem, except that decades of Republican and Democrat use of the term has basically led many, including myself, to believe that it's just more policies that give unnecessary and harmful benefits to corporations and the rich and the expense of the little guy. Personally I wouldn't have minded it much if he had mixed it in with calls to break up huge corporations whose monopoly-like power is holding progress down, and that the wealthy have to start paying in more, especially if we cut taxes on corporations. Instead, I just get the vibe that he's taking a Republican-ish tack on economic issues.
Also I can't say I am a big fan of this
"gee, let's work with corporations to create nice jobs here!" talk. It sounds innocent enough, except that corporations have long held outsized sway in Washington, and if they really cared about doing that, they would have worked to accomplish it. Instead, they have time and again showed that when it comes to profits and their shareholders, American workers come dead last, at least until their jobs can be outsourced, at which point they don't fit into their model of success anywhere. It seems obvious to me at this point that it is up to the government to advocate for workers and create an environment where corporations start actually investing in their workers and not shareholders.
