schichtel? >> i agree with mike. resounding yes. i think if we can get to a 25% rate or something close to that that's in line with the rest of the developed world, you'll find the vast majority of the business community coming out in support of it. i know it's a challenge to get there. from our perspective as a company, our health and growth is tied inextricably to the growth and health of the overall economy. no question about it. that's the biggest driving factor in how well we do over the long run. our view is that a significantly lower rate and a simpler tax code will -- be done to the benefit of the entire economy, will encourage overall -- more growth and development, and that will, in turn, increase the returns that we have to our shareholders and the opportunities that we have out there. >> all right. mr. heenan? >> i'd like to give you an answer, yes or no, but really for -- i've been doing this a long time. the devil is in the detail. and, in our view, clearly all tax expenditures are not created equal. you know, to focus

schichtel? >> i agree with mike.resounding yes, but i think if we can get to 25% rate, or something close to that, that's in line with the rest of the developed world, you will find the vast majority of the business community coming out in support of the i know it's a challenge to get their. >> from our perspective as a company, our health and growth is tied inextricably to the growth and health of the overall economy. no question about it, that's the biggest driving factor in how will we do over the long run. our view is that a significantly lower rate in a simpler tax code will be to the benefit of the entire economy, will and courage over all more growth and developing, and that will in turn increase the returns that we have to our shareholders and the opportunities that we have out there. >> mr. heenan? >> i'd like to give you an answer yes or no, but really, i've been doing this a long time, and the devil is in the detail. and in our view, clearly all the tax expenditures are not created equal. you know, just fo

schichtel, you have five minutes. >> thaupg. chairman camp, ranking member levin and members of the committee, thank you very much for inviting me to share our views on corporate tax reform. i'm the senior vice president and chief tax officer for time warner cable. i'd like to first tell you about our business and the impact of taxes and tax policy on time warner cable. then i'll explain why we believe that less complexity and a lower rate will benefit our investors, employees and customers as well as the overall economy and americans at large. time warner cable is a fortune 150 capital intensive domestic company that provides high speed data, video and voice services to over 14.5 million customers. we have over 48,000 employees in 29 states. we offer our workers secure jobs and wages and benefit packages that are competitive and that support families, dreams and retirements. last year we hired over 7,300 people including hundreds of veterans. we are part of our nation's communications backbone that enables domestic companies to

schichtel, a 28% rate, and eliminate every expenditure on the corporate side. would that be enough to make us more competitive globally? >> i don't think it would, mr. kind. >> mr. schichtel? >> i agree with mike. >> well, then we're going toy for the additional 3% to get to 25. if the proposition here is that we're going to go to the pass-through side, where a majority of entities are structured in this country, i don't think they're going to be that enthusiastic for pass-through entities, small business owners, s-corp.s, individuals to pay higher tax rate in order to pay for lower corporate tax rates in this country. that ain't going to sell politically in this country. so we're going to have to find a different revenue source then in order to get to the 25% if the goal is to make this deficit neutral. that's where it's going to get difficult. that's why you don't have a detailed plan from the majority on what specifically they're proposing because they know they're going to have to get into the weeds immediately overnight, and the political pushback is going

schichtel? >> i agree. my job could be called tax translator. that's a big part of what all do. it becomes even more of a challenge for medium-sized companies that may not have all the resources that we have. clearly from a financial perspective, the compliance burden, the difficulty in dealing with all of it are a huge drag. i just went through another budget season, and it's always painful. and everyone is frustrated that we have to spend so much just to comply with the law. not even optimizing. i'm talking just basic compliance. and then every time we have a transaction, the level of risk and uncertainty and complexity in the law, it's just enormous. and really shore, tax be a high-risk area just because of the complexity and difficulty in applying laws? >> good point. >> it certainly makes doing transactions more difficult. and i can't imagine what it's like for companies that don't have the kind of resources that we have. >> ms. hanlon? >> i would agree with all these statements. i think the complexity takes a lot of time. as tom was saying earlier with the compliance costs

schichtel, given that time warner is a capital intensive business, would you care to comment on that as well? >> yes, thank you. we care tremendously about timing issues like accelerated depreciation. for us, it's enormous. well, we have crunched the numbers and we've looked at all the different policy proposals that are out there. we clearly care about the impact on cash flow. i think lowering the rate clearly does improve our cash flow over the long run. if you get to a low enough rate, i think somewhere around a rate that's consistent with the developed world, say 25%, i think it's a clear winner for us as well as the economy. >> and you could get rid of all the other -- >> yes. >> okay. i'm glad to hear that. >> look, i'm not delighted to. i would love to keep it. but i'm a realist as well. >> ms. hanlon, in his testimony mr. heenan argues that promoting investment accelerated depreciation is, perhaps, a more powerful tool than lower overall tax rates. you, however, say with respect to targeted tax incentives such as bonus depreciation, there's very little evidence that these pol