The biggest piece of news coming out of the tax plan detailed by Donald Trump in Detroit on Monday was what seemingly was a giant reach out to the conservative wing of the party. Trump outlined a comprehensive plan which in some parts were very close to the plan outlined by Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, and as he presented it he pointed out the differences between his plan and that of opponent Hillary Clinton.
Even though he was interrupted by protesters 14 times, Trump kept his cool and stayed on script—something that he will have to do more often if he is going to win the presidential race.
The Republican nominee’s proposals included streamlining the tax system reducing the number of individual income brackets from the present seven down to three. When he first proposed three tax brackets earlier in the year the tax rates were 10%, 20% and 25%. But today his proposal included the same tax rates as Paul Ryan’s plan,12%, 25% and 33%. Even more importantly Trump promised “to work with House Republicans on this plan.” A promise that had to make the GOP establishment happy.
The Trump plan reduces Corporate taxes to 15% and at the same time eliminates the “Carried Interest Deduction and other special interest loopholes that have been so good for Wall Street investors, and people like me, but unfair to American workers.”
Just as important as the corporate tax reduction, Trump promised “to cut regulations massively.” The massive overregulation of business during the Obama years has slowed down economic growth. Among the regulations to be rolled back are the repressive EPA regulations on energy (especially coal) production. One of his first acts will be a temporary moratorium on new agency regulations. This will give companies a chance to grow their businesses without worrying about what the federal government will come up with next.
Trump is going to attempt to bring the trillions of dollars placed overseas by American businesses by dropping the rate on the money brought back to 10 percent.
As his daughter promised during her convention speech his tax plan includes something for working parents, making child care allowing parents to fully deduct the average cost of childcare spending from their taxes.
The GOP candidate also promises to get rid of the estate tax promising no taxation without respiration.
Not part of Republican Orthodoxy was Trump’s promise to renegotiate (or pull out of) NAFTA, and to drop the Trans-Pacific Partnership. By pledging a much tougher line on trade policy, including abandoning the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal and renegotiating NAFT, he put himself directly at odds with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other major business groups and aligned himself with Bernie Sanders and the populists who helped him to get the nomination. Trump claims his stance on trade pacts will increase jobs and to be perfectly honest there are economists who support his contention, but others reject his stance.
In trying to sell the plan Trump reversed the pitch Obama used so successfully in 2008 and 2012. He presented his plan as forward looking and effectively explained that Hillary’s plan is the same old plan that failed before.
Our opposition, on the other hand, has long ago run out of ideas. All Hillary Clinton has to offer is more of the same: more taxes, more regulations, more bureaucrats, more restrictions on American energy and American production.
If you were a foreign power looking to weaken America, you couldn’t do better than Hillary Clinton’s economic agenda.
Nothing would make our foreign adversaries happier than for our country to tax and regulate our companies and our jobs out of existence.
Before Monday’s speech it was billed as Trump’s attempt to turn-around his campaign after the error-filled half-month since the RNC. No one speech will completely turn around a campaign, no matter who the candidate is, how the speech was written, and how well it was delivered.
However the speech today set up the economic themes Donald Trump can use to catch up to, and pass Hillary Clinton, and even go move the party toward unifying— but only if he stays on that message.
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