Business Roundtable President John Engler met with a small group of reporters Thursday to discuss taxes, the President's budget and whatever else topic came up. Best quote: "CEOs have really gotten fed up with the idea that everything in the tax code seems to be temporary. They want a permanent tax code.”

Bloomberg's Richard Rubin cited that quote in his story, "Expired Business Tax Breaks May Stay in Limbo Past Election," which reported:

Feb. 16 (Bloomberg) -- Business-backed efforts to extend dozens of expired U.S. tax breaks including those for corporate research, teachers’ out-of-pocket expenses and energy-efficient appliances probably won’t be considered until a post-election session of Congress, lawmakers and lobbyists said.

John D. McKinnon of The Wall Street Journal wrote a Washington Wire blog post based on the 45-minute discussion, "John Engler: Corporate Tax Overhaul Fades," beginning:

Overhauling the corporate tax system appears to be slipping as a priority because of U.S. election-year politics, according to a top business representative.

John Engler, the former Michigan governor who’s now president of the Business Roundtable, told a small gathering of reporters on Thursday that he worries there’s been a “calculation” within the administration not to press the issue this year, given President Barack Obama’s criticisms of what he views as the tax code’s favorable treatment of the wealthy.

Kevin G. Hall queried Engler, the former president and CEO of the National Association of Manufacturers, about Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum's proposal to eliminate taxes on manufacturing operations. From "Santorum's plan to help manufacturers leaves questions unanswered":

"The benefit of a campaign is you get to talk directionally without having to be detailed," said John Engler, a former Republican governor of Michigan and current head of the Business Roundtable, an influential association of major corporate CEOs.

And ...

It's also not clear that taxes are behind the steep drop in manufacturing jobs in recent decades, or that ending corporate taxes on manufacturers would necessarily mean lots more jobs. Machines replace manpower in modern manufacturing.

"Manufacturing in particular has been, politically speaking, a victim of its own success," said Engler, a former head of the National Association of Manufacturers. Improvements in productivity - a worker's per-hour output - has allowed manufacturers to do more with fewer workers, he said.

Engler pointed to the automotive sector, which is on pace to produce 13 million cars this year with considerably fewer workers than the last time production hit these levels.

Interesting stories all.