Even as millions of U.S. workers can’t find a job and corporate profits are through the roof, House Speaker John Boehner has proposed a change in the tax system that will shrink the job pool even more. Boehner’s suggestion to exempt U.S corporations from paying taxes on offshore profits would give companies even more incentive to move jobs overseas, according to a new report.

The “territorial tax system” would allow CEOs to shift profits and jobs out of the country and  disguise U.S. profits as “foreign” profits,” according to Citizens for Tax Justice (CTJ).

As CTJ explains, the best alternative would be for Congress to repeal the rule allowing U.S. corporations to “defer” their U.S. taxes on offshore profits. Corporations could continue to get a credit for any taxes paid to a foreign government just as they do now.  Read the CTJ report here.

On a recent “60 Minutes” segment, corporate CEOs argued that if Congress does not permanently exempt their offshore profits, then lawmakers should temporarily exempt them with the sort of tax holiday, an idea Boehner also said he could support.

Several studies of a similar effort in 2004 showed the exempted profits went to shareholders and not to job creation, despite the promises made by corporate lobbyists.

In a joint letter to lawmakers, the AFL-CIO, AFGE, AFSCME, SEIU and UAW  said:

The primary focus for Congress should be job creation. A repatriation holiday, in spite of its hefty cost to taxpayers, will fail to create jobs, will likely encourage companies to move more jobs offshore, and will add to the deficit.