President Barack Obama said the U.S. tax code shouldn’t benefit companies that create jobs in other countries, as he criticized Republicans for “rewarding corporations that create jobs and profits overseas.”

“For years, our tax code has actually given billions of dollars in tax breaks that encourage companies to create jobs and profits in other countries,” Obama said in his weekly address on the radio and Internet. “We should be using our tax dollars to reward companies that create jobs and businesses within our borders.”

With less than three weeks to go until U.S. congressional elections, Obama defended steps taken by his administration to spur hiring and help the economy grow, such as legislation signed last month to provide tax cuts and credit help for small businesses. Obama said that measure has already helped “thousands of business owners” get access to government loans.

“When more things are made in America, more families make it in America, more jobs are created in America, more businesses thrive in America,” he said.

About 8 million jobs have been lost during the recession and the unemployment rate, after reaching a 26-year high of 10.1 percent in October 2009, was 9.6 percent last month.

Obama said the nation remains in a “tough fight” to help the economy recover. He said government has an “important responsibility” to help business grow.

“That’s to create an environment in which someone can raise capital to start a new company, where a business can get a loan to expand, where ingenuity is prized and folks are rewarded for their hard work,” he said.

Republican Address

In the Republican address, U.S. Representative Mike Pence, of Indiana, said Congress should take immediate steps to extend current income-tax rates to remove doubts that are damaging the economy.

“Uncertainty is the enemy of our prosperity,” he said.

Tax cuts passed under the administration of President George W. Bush are scheduled to expire at the end of this year.

Obama and most Democrats have backed extending the lower tax rates only for households making more than $250,000 per year. Republicans support an across-the-board extension.

“No American should see a tax increase in January, and Republicans are determined to oppose any effort to raise taxes on any American in this difficult economy,” Pence said.

Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-10-16/obama-says-tax-breaks-shouldn-t-reward-companies-for-creating-jobs-abroad.html