President Obama, continuing to stump for a follow-up round of economic-recovery actions, has proposed letting companies write off the costs of their 2011 capital expenditures in that year, instead of spreading the deductions over a longer period of time.

In announcing the "expensing" plan in a speech in Parma, Ohio, on Sept. 9, Obama said that "this will help small businesses upgrade their plants and equipment and will encourage large corporations to get off the sidelines and start putting their profits to work in places like Cleveland and Toledo and Dayton."