Donald Trump Sells Out to Trickle-Down Economics
I thought at the time that adopting trickle-down economics represented a strategic error for a candidate who was promoting himself as a new type of Republican. Instead of saying he’d slash business taxes and bring the top rate of income tax down to twenty-five per cent, Trump could have promised tax cuts and tax credits targeted specifically at middle-class Americans, citing the fact that wealthy Americans were doing fine and didn’t need another handout.
.. A plan aimed at the middle class, however, could have complemented Trump’s populist line on immigration and trade, wrong-footed the Democrats, and allowed him to claim he had a three-pronged approach to raising wages and living standards. In short, it would have made him a much more formidable candidate.
.. The proposal to eliminate the estate tax, which the Bush Administration suspended for ten years, also mimics Ryan’s plan, as does the call to slash the corporate tax rate, which currently stands at thirty-five per cent. In this instance, though, Trump outdid the House Speaker is his largesse toward the business class. Ryan would cut the corporate tax rate to twenty per cent; Trump to fifteen per cent. About the only residue of populism related to taxes in Trump’s presentation on Monday was a reiteration of his pledge to eliminate the notorious carried-interest deduction
.. many poor families don’t pay much federal income tax: social security is their main burden. Secondly, the fact that it would be a tax deduction rather than a tax credit means that wealthy families would get a much bigger break. “Making child care fully tax deductible is just about the worst possible way to help subsidize the cost of child care,”
.. What made Trump attractive to many Republican voters was his eagerness to move away from the standard narrative about blaming big government and high taxes for everything, and his stated willingness to challenge the vested interests that had dominated the Party for so long.
.. During the primaries, his claim that he was beholden to no one was one of his biggest assets. Since he got the nomination, however, it has become very clear that he’s far from an independent operator. Unable or reluctant to finance and organize his own Presidential campaign, he has been forced to come to terms with the G.O.P. establishment, the wealthy interests that finance it, and the anti-government, anti-tax economic philosophy