Trump outlines vision for economy, promising large tax cuts

Maya MacGuineas, president of the bipartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, welcomed the scaling back of Trump’s original tax-cut proposals but said the plan would still leave the country on an unsustainable budget path.

“She’s going to do nothing for the Hispanics”, said Trump, who himself is viewed as racist by a large portion of the electorate.Trump shifted between an aspirational tone – he said his plan will lead to the creation of 25 million new jobs over 10 years – and cynicism about the current state of U.S. economic policy as he addressed the Economic Club of NY.

His campaign claims his plan would increase GDP growth to 3.5 percent, although during his speech Thursday to the Economic Club of NY, he said, “My great economists don’t want me to say this, but I think we can do better than that”, suggesting 4 percent growth was possible.

For Trump’s plans to succeed, they would have to overcome forces in the economy, such as rising automation, an aging population and low-wage competition overseas, that have led even conservative economists to say a 3.5 percent growth rate is improbable.

But the reality is that while some of his ideas would certainly improve the economy and be a welcome change from the growth-stifling policies that the Obama administration has pursued for the last eight years, others are either wrongheaded or unsafe, and will likely leave many economic conservatives still skeptical of Trump’s candidacy.

Still, the Associated Press notes that the US economy is already creating 2.5 million jobs a year – which is the same pace Trump has promise.

Among other measures, the plan proposes eliminating the federal estate tax, reducing the taxes that US companies pay to 15 percent from the current 35 percent rate and exempting childcare expenses.

The Trump plan collapses the current income tax system into a three-rate structure (12, 25, and 33 percent) while greatly increasing the standard deduction and capping itemized deductions at $100,000 per person or $200,000 for a married couple.

The US economy last achieved 4% growth during the administration of Democratic President Bill Clinton in the 1990s.

Trump and his team said such growth would help make up for the money lost from the tax cuts – along with new money from trade, energy, and reforms to regulations. Few businesses now pay the full 35 percent rate, taking advantage instead of many deductions in the existing tax code.

Trump also pledged a major decrease in regulation of business activity including, oddly, a promise to eliminate food safety requirements that cover “farm and food production hygiene, food packaging, food temperatures”.

Many other components of the plan appear unchanged from Trump’s most recent iteration of the proposal.

Finally, he proposed what he called a “Penny Plan” that would reduce all non-defense discretionary spending by one percent every year for ten years.

He vowed to not cut defense spending and to exempt Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid from any reductions. Clinton’s campaign said Wednesday that her physical examination was “normal” and she is in “excellent mental condition”.

Donald Trump Jr., the candidate’s son, said his father has yet to reveal his returns because they would come under public scrutiny.

“It shows they took the budget criticism seriously”, he said.

Bornstein came under scrutiny after acknowledging that he rushed writing a previous hyperbolic statement on Trump’s health.

“That’s not only insulting”, Clinton said of Trump’s remarks. “So she had that in mind, no question about it”, Trump said.