For Norquist — founder and president of Americans for Tax Reform, a powerful anti-tax lobbying group — that is a future not to be tolerated.”I applaud (Cain’s) idea of having radically lower rates,” Norquist said in an interview with Reuters Insider. “However, he creates three different taxes. Every one could rise in the future. That’s my concern.”Norquist’s group has persuaded hundreds of Republicans, and a few Democrats, to sign a pledge promising never to support any type of tax increase.At a time of sky-high deficits, most Republicans are refusing to consider tax increases of any kind — even closing corporate loopholes — as part of balancing the U.S. budget and overhauling the nation’s tax code.Asked if he was confident about the political wisdom of such a stand, reinforced by his group’s pledge, Norquist said he had no concerns about next year’s elections.”I’m very confident,” he said, that voters are looking for candidates who will say, “‘I’m not going to raise your taxes, period.’ It’s a winning political position.”Between now and then, he said, he sees the potential for two substantive tax changes. One would give multinational corporations a tax break on repatriating foreign profits.Another would extend a tax break that lets businesses write off the full value of purchasing certain equipment.Norquist said he was pessimistic about the prospects for a thorough tax code overhaul before the November 2012 election. “I don’t think there is time.”CAIN’S ‘999’Cain’s plan for 9 percent income, corporate and national sales tax rates had strengths and weaknesses, Norquist said.Comparing Cain’s plan with European value-added, or VAT, taxes, Norquist said VAT started “with low rates and they all grew.”Cain, a former pizza executive, has surged among Republican presidential candidates in recent opinion polls. He led the field in an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll this week.In a Republican debate on Tuesday, the other candidates attacked Cain’s plan for establishing a federal sales tax.Liberal critics have said his plan would benefit wealthy taxpayers at the expense of middle-and lower-income earners.Norquist said he preferred a tax plan introduced by Republican Representative Paul Ryan that would cut the top individual and corporate tax rates to 25 percent from 35 percent.The Ryan fiscal 2012 budget plan was approved by the House of Representatives, but did not pass the Senate.”It’s the safer way” to achieve tax reform, Norquist said of Ryan’s budget.Americans for Tax Reform was founded in 1985 at the request of then-President Ronald Reagan.Over the years, Norquist has won fame for attacking, and often defeating, candidates who did not sign his pledge.In the current Congress, seven Republican senators and six of 242 House Republicans have not signed it.Earlier this month, Republican Representative Frank Wolf said the pledge was “paralyzing Congress” and was “a roadblock to realistically reforming our tax code.”

For Norquist — founder and president of Americans for Tax Reform, a powerful anti-tax lobbying group — that is a future not to be tolerated.”I applaud (Cain’s) idea of having radically lower rates,” Norquist said in an interview with Reuters Insider. “However, he creates three different taxes. Every one could rise in the future. That’s my concern.”Norquist’s group has persuaded hundreds of Republicans, and a few Democrats, to sign a pledge promising never to support any type of tax increase.At a time of sky-high deficits, most Republicans are refusing to consider tax increases of any kind — even closing corporate loopholes — as part of balancing the U.S. budget and overhauling the nation’s tax code.Asked if he was confident about the political wisdom of such a stand, reinforced by his group’s pledge, Norquist said he had no concerns about next year’s elections.”I’m very confident,” he said, that voters are looking for candidates who will say, “‘I’m not going to raise your taxes, period.’ It’s a winning political position.”Between now and then, he said, he sees the potential for two substantive tax changes. One would give multinational corporations a tax break on repatriating foreign profits.Another would extend a tax break that lets businesses write off the full value of purchasing certain equipment.Norquist said he was pessimistic about the prospects for a thorough tax code overhaul before the November 2012 election. “I don’t think there is time.”CAIN’S ‘999’Cain’s plan for 9 percent income, corporate and national sales tax rates had strengths and weaknesses, Norquist said.Comparing Cain’s plan with European value-added, or VAT, taxes, Norquist said VAT started “with low rates and they all grew.”Cain, a former pizza executive, has surged among Republican presidential candidates in recent opinion polls. He led the field in an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll this week.In a Republican debate on Tuesday, the other candidates attacked Cain’s plan for establishing a federal sales tax.Liberal critics have said his plan would benefit wealthy taxpayers at the expense of middle-and lower-income earners.Norquist said he preferred a tax plan introduced by Republican Representative Paul Ryan that would cut the top individual and corporate tax rates to 25 percent from 35 percent.The Ryan fiscal 2012 budget plan was approved by the House of Representatives, but did not pass the Senate.”It’s the safer way” to achieve tax reform, Norquist said of Ryan’s budget.Americans for Tax Reform was founded in 1985 at the request of then-President Ronald Reagan.Over the years, Norquist has won fame for attacking, and often defeating, candidates who did not sign his pledge.In the current Congress, seven Republican senators and six of 242 House Republicans have not signed it.Earlier this month, Republican Representative Frank Wolf said the pledge was “paralyzing Congress” and was “a roadblock to realistically reforming our tax code.”

* Sees Q3 same store sales up 5.5-6 percentOct 13 (Reuters) - PetSmart Inc raised its full-year earnings forecast for the second time in two months, citing improved same-store sales trends.The Phoenix, Arizona-based company now expects to earn $2.46 to $2.52 a share, compared with its previous forecast of $2.40 to $2.48 a share.For the third quarter, the company expects to earn 46-48 cents a share compared with the previous outlook of 41-45 cents a share.Analysts, on average, were expecting the company to post a profit of $2.46 a share for the full-year and 45 cents a share for the third quarter, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.The pet retailer also raised its third-quarter comparable sales expectations to 5.5-6 percent from 3-4 percent earlier.Last week, analysts at Goldman Sachs downgraded PetSmart citing sluggish trends in consumer disposable income.Shares of PetSmart closed at $44.04 on Wednesday on Nasdaq.

French judges had asked the ECJ for a clarification on the issue. A court adviser had said in March a ban on Internet sales restricted competition.”A clause in a selective distribution contract banning the distributors of the company Pierre Fabre Dermo-Cosmétique from selling its products online amounts to a restriction on competition by object, unless that clause is objectively justified,” the court said.”Such a ban may not benefit from a block exemption but may, if certain conditions are met, benefit from an individual exemption,” it said.It is now up to French judges to assess whether there are legitimate reasons for PFDC’s ban.PFDC, maker of the Avene, Klorane, Galenic and Ducray brands, requires distributors to sell its products only in shops and with a qualified pharmacist.Luxury brand owners have long argued that bricks-and-mortar outlets are key to protecting their image and exclusivity, while online retailers and markets such as eBay have challenged such claims.

Hosting Lee amid the pomp of a formal state visit, Obama is looking to underscore what is widely seen as a high point in the longtime alliance between Washington and Seoul as well as his ever-closer personal bond with the South Korean leader.The top item on the agenda will be the consummation of a U.S.-Korea trade pact, which is expected to help anchor the United States in the economically dynamic Asia Pacific region as it competes with an increasingly assertive China.Just hours after Lee’s arrival on Wednesday, Congress ratified the deal. It was the largest of three pending bilateral agreements, including pacts with Colombia and Panama, all passed in rapid succession.Obama — who sent the pacts to Capitol Hill nine days ago, four to five years after they were negotiated — hailed their passage as a “major win for American workers and businesses.” South Korea’s parliament is still debating the issue.Obama has touted the accords as a way to boost U.S. exports and create tens of thousands of jobs at home at a time when his 2012 re-election chances likely hinge on whether he can reduce an unemployment rate stuck above 9 percent. But some critics say the pacts will actually hurt U.S. employment.The deal between the United States and South Korea, the world’s largest and 14th largest economies, would be the biggest U.S. trade pact since the North American Free Trade Agreement went into effect nearly 18 years ago.NORTH KOREA ON THE AGENDALee has proved a reliable partner for Obama, lining up with U.S. policy on North Korea, Afghanistan and the G-20 summit aimed at stabilizing the world economy.But South Korea had chafed over U.S. delays getting the trade deal passed. It was signed under President George W. Bush in 2007 but until now remained stalled under Obama, partly due to renegotiation of auto provisions to get a better deal for U.S. car makers.Despite that, Lee — whose mandatory single term ends in early 2013 — has managed to build personal chemistry with a U.S. president known for a mostly detached diplomatic style.Obama has faced criticism in some foreign policy circles for failing to cultivate chummier ties with foreign leaders like his predecessors, Bush and Bill Clinton, did.Lee, who dined with Obama at a Korean restaurant outside Washington on Wednesday, will be feted on a rare state visit with a red-carpet arrival ceremony, a joint news conference, an address to Congress and an elegant White House dinner.Obama will then take him on Friday for a road trip to Detroit, home of the U.S. auto industry.In talks on Thursday, the two are also expected to try to keep a united front on North Korea’s disputed nuclear program.It is a stark reminder that Iran is not the only nuclear standoff that has continued to dog the Obama administration. Relations with Tehran are under new strain over U.S. accusations this week that Iranian officials backed an alleged plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador in Washington.Obama and Lee are likely to consider whether efforts to re-engage with Pyongyang are worth pursuing further.Seoul’s ties with the isolated North soured after Lee took office in 2008 with a pledge to link aid to progress in U.S.-led efforts to end North Korea’s nuclear programs.Ties between the two Koreas further deteriorated after the North’s deadly attacks on the South last year — the sinking of a South Korean warship and the shelling of an island.The provocations by the North, which walked away from six-country nuclear talks and conducted its second nuclear test in 2009, helped bring Washington and Seoul closer together.Recent conciliatory gestures by both Koreas have raised hopes for an opening to restart nuclear negotiations, but Seoul and Washington insist Pyongyang must first take concrete measures to disable its atomic facilities.

“We apologize to those customers who were impacted for any inconvenience.”RIM is increasingly seen as a break-up or takeover target as it has been losing its status as the corporate email service of choice to other smartphones led by Apple’s iPhone, and after a dismal set of quarterly results last month.