President Trump's Tax Reform Vision Is Reagan 101, and It Works

Sorry, Dear Readers -- I have to post early today. THE REAL NEWS TODAY IS ABOUT PRESIDENT TRUMP AND TAXES. President Trump delivered his overview of what is needed in tax reform in his speech in Springfield, Missouri, on Wednesday. The President chose Springfield because it is on Route 66, which President Trump said "captured the American spirit. The communities along this historic route were a vivid symbol of America’s booming industry. Truck drivers hauled made-in-America goods along this vital artery of commerce. Families passed through bustling towns on their way to explore the great American West. And high-quality manufacturing jobs lifted up communities, gave Americans a paycheck that could support a family....And provided millions of our fellow citizens with the pride and dignity that comes with work." Here are the highlights from the text of the speech. • • • TEXT OF TRUMP'S TAX REFORM SPEECH. "We're here today to launch our plans to bring back Main Street by reducing the crushing tax burden on our companies and on our workers. Our self-destructive tax code costs Americans millions and millions of jobs, trillions of dollars, and billions of hours spent on compliance and paperwork. And you have seen what's happening with regulations -- they're going fast. We need regulations, but many of them are unnecessary, and they're going fast. That is why the foundation of our job creation agenda is to fundamentally reform our tax code for the first time in more than 30 years. I want to work with Congress, Republicans and Democrats alike, on a plan that is pro-growth, pro-jobs, pro-worker -- and pro-American....If we want to renew our prosperity, and to restore opportunity, then we must reduce the tax burden on our companies and on our workers....Here are my four principles for tax reform: First, we need a tax code that is simple, fair, and easy to understand. That means getting rid of the loopholes and complexity that primarily benefit the wealthiest Americans and special interests. Our last major tax rewrite was 31 years ago. It eliminated dozens of loopholes and special interest tax breaks, reduced the number of tax brackets from fifteen to two, and lowered tax rates for both individuals and businesses. At the time, it was really something special. Since then, our tax laws have tripled in size, and the tax code itself now spans more than 2,600 pages, and most of it is not understandable. Tax rates have increased, and special interest loopholes have crept back into the system. The tax code is now a massive source of complexity and frustration for tens of millions of Americans...so complicated that more than 90% of Americans need professional help to do their own taxes....this is wrong....Second, we need a competitive tax code that creates more jobs and higher wages for Americans. It’s time to give American workers the pay raise that they've been looking for for many, many years. In 1986, Ronald Reagan led the world by cutting our corporate tax rate to 34%. That was below the average rate for developed countries at the time. Everybody thought that was a monumental thing that happened. But then, under this pro- America system, our economy boomed....The middle class thrived and median family income increased. Other countries saw the success....And they acted very swiftly by cutting their taxes lower, and lower, and lower, and reforming their tax systems to be far more competitive than ours. Over the past 30 years, the average business tax rate among developed nations fell from 45% to less than 24%....So we must -- we have no choice -- we must lower our taxes....Today, we are still taxing our businesses at 35%, and it’s way more than that. And think of it: In some cases, way above 40% when you include state and local taxes, in various states. The United States is now behind France, behind Germany, behind Canada, Ireland, Japan, Mexico, South Korea, and many other nations. Also, with these countries and almost every country, we have massive trade deficits....We have gone from a tax rate that is lower than our economic competitors, to one that is more than 60% higher. We have totally surrendered our competitive edge to other countries....Ideally -- and I say this for our Secretary of the Treasury -- we would like to bring our business tax rate down to 15%, which would make our tax rate lower than most countries, but still, by no means the lowest, unfortunately, in the world. But it would make us highly competitive....Because when businesses compete for labor, your wages will go up. Lower taxes on American business means higher wages for American workers, and it means more products made right here in the USA....The third principle for tax reform is a crucial one: tax relief for middle-class families. In a way -- and I’ve been saying this for a long time -- they've been sort of the forgotten people, but they're not forgotten any longer....We will lower taxes for middle-income Americans so they can keep more of their hard-earned paychecks, and they can do lots of things with those paychecks. And that really means buying product ideally made in this country....[and] includes helping parents afford childcare and the cost of raising a family....We believe that ordinary Americans know better than Washington how to spend their own money, and we want to help them take home as much of their money as possible and then spend it....Fourth and finally, we want to bring back trillions of dollars in wealth that's parked overseas. Because of our high tax rate and horrible, outdated, bureaucratic rules, large companies that do business overseas will often park their profits offshore to avoid paying a high United States tax if the money is brought back home. So they leave the money over there. The amount of money we're talking about is anywhere from $3 trillion to $5 trillion....By making it less punitive for companies to bring back this money, and by making the process far less bureaucratic and difficult, we can return trillions and trillions of dollars to our economy and spur billions of dollars in new investments in our struggling communities and throughout our nation. It’s time to invest in our country, to rebuild our communities, and to hire our great American workers....My administration is embracing a new economic model. It’s called very simply: The American Model. Under this system, we will encourage companies to hire and grow in America, to raise wages for American workers, and to help rebuild our American cities and communities. That is how we will all succeed and grow together, as one team, with one shared sense of purpose, and one glorious American destiny....So let’s put -- or at least try to put -- the partisan posturing behind us and come together as Americans to create the 21st century tax code that our people deserve. If we do this, if we unite in the name of common sense and the name of common good, then we will add millions and millions of new jobs, bring back trillions of dollars, and we will give America the competitive advantage that it so desperately needs and has been looking for for so long. It’s time. Products made with American hands, American labor, and American grit will once again be delivered throughout the world. It’s time. Instead of exporting our jobs, we will export our goods. (Applause.) Our jobs will both stay here in America and come back to America. We’ll have it both ways. Millions of struggling citizens will be lifted from welfare to work. They will love getting up in the morning. They will love going to their job. They will love earning a big, fat, beautiful paycheck. They will be proud again. That is the future I want for our people. That is the future I want for America -- a nation where we are proud, prosperous, united, and free." • • • TRUMP'S VISION. First, as he said on Wednesday, the Trump "American Model" is a lot like President Reagan's tax reform program. And, President Trump used his closing remarks to go straight to the core issue surrounding tax reform and every other reform he is proposing -- bi-partisan cooperation. The President said : "Today, I am asking every citizen to join me in dreaming big and bold and daring things -- beautiful things -- for our country. I am asking every member of Congress, of which we have many with us today, to join me in unleashing America’s full potential. I am asking everyone in this room and across the nation to join me in demanding nothing but the best for our nation and for our people. And if we do these things, and if we care for and support each other, and love each other, then we will truly make America great again. Thank you. God bless you." • If we look back to September 16, 2106, candidate Trump gave an exceptional speech about the state and potential of the Americna economy. It was a stirring, largely Reaganesque vision of America’s economic future -- Trump said he would cut taxes ($4.4 trillion of them) and simplify the tax code (from seven to just three brackets). He would also lower the onerous corporate tax rate to 15%, making the United States more competitive globally, and cut job-killing regulations that squeeze corporate profits and cost jobs. It was a stark contrast to the policies of the past eight years of the Obama visionof the "new normal," which candidate Hillary Clinton vowed to repeat and build upon. Trump blew Clinton -- and Obama -- away : "“My opponent’s plan offers only more taxing, regulating, more spending and more wealth redistribution -- a future of slow growth, declining incomes and dwindling prosperity. If we lower our taxes, remove destructive regulations, unleash the vast treasure of American energy and negotiate trade deals that put America first, then there is no limit to the number of jobs we can create and the amount of prosperity we can unleash. Instead of driving jobs and wealth away, America will become the world’s great magnet for innovation and job creation.” He trounced on left-wing economists, like Bill Clinton’s former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, who have tried to rationalize the current Obama slow-growth economy Clinton wanted Americans to accept as the “new normal,” a stagnation produced by left-wing economic dogma that is desperately wrong. Candidate Trump said : “My economic plan rejects the cynicism that says our labor force will keep declining, that our jobs will keep leaving and that our economy can never grow as it did once before. We reject the pessimism that says our standard of living can no longer rise, and that all that’s left to do is divide up and redistribute our shrinking resources. Everything that is broken today can be fixed, and every failure can be turned into a great success.” • • • DEAR READERS, Candidate Trump and President Trump are right, and Trump's economic success is the proof. In Springfield on Wednesday, the President said : "In the last 10 years, our economy has grown at only around 2% a year. If you look at other countries and you look at what their GDP is, they're unhappy when it's seven, eight, nine. And I speak to them -- leaders of the countries -- how are you doing? "Not well, not well." Why? "GDP is down to 7%." And I'm saying, we were hitting 1% just a number of months ago. So we're going to change that around, folks, that I can tell you. And we're going change it around fast." And Trump is doing just that, as he told the Springfield audience : "And today -- a very appropriate day that this should happen -- we just announced that we hit 3% in GDP. It just came out. And on a yearly basis, as you know, the last administration, during an eight-year period, never hit 3%. So we're really on our way. If we achieve sustained 3% growth, that means 12 million new jobs and $10 trillion dollars of new economic activity over the next decade. That's some numbers. And I happen to be one that thinks we can go much higher than 3%. There's no reason why we shouldn’t." • And, the Commerce Department reported on Thursday that consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of US economic activity, increased 0.3% last month after an upwardly revised 0.2% rise in June. The Commerce Department report suggested the economy got off to a strong start in the third quarter after gross domestic product increased at a 3.0% annualized rate in the April-June period, the fastest in more than two years -- actually, the Obama presidency never hit a 3.0% annualized GDP increase. And, consumer spending rose, supported by a rebound in incomes. Personal income increased 0.4% last month after being unchanged in June. Wages and salaries advanced 0.5%. • President Trump usged Congress to get on his economic bandwagon. He attacked Democrats : "The Dems are looking to obstruct tax cuts and tax reform, just like they obstructed so many other things, including administration appointments and healthcare. Not one vote. We got not one vote to try and fix healthcare and get rid of Obamacare." And, then he went after Missouri Democrat Senator Claire McCaskill, already on the ropes because of her votes in the Senate to continue the Obamacare disaster. Trump said McCaskill must support tax reform, adding :"And if she doesn't do it for you, you have to have to vote her out of office. She's got to make that commitment. She's got to make that commitment." Trump went after "the obstruction and the obstructionists," : "If we don't get tax cuts and reform approved, potentially, the biggest ever -- we are looking for the biggest ever -- jobs and our country cannot take off the way they should, and it could be much worse than that. But, at a minimum, they won't take off the way they should. • Why can President Trump be so sure of his position? For two reasons. First, he has already done much to kickstart the economy through executive orders on reducing regulations, supporting energy independence, and streamlining federal executive departments to be more efficient with fewer personnel and lower costs. Congress cannot interfere with these changes. Second, Trump knows that he has millions of Americans on his side. They are complaining loudly about the "do-nothing" Congress, both Democrats and the Republican leaders who had promised big changes but are producing little. Trump keeps the presssure on these Republicans -- many are the #NeverTrump RINOs who are deep in the Swamp and do not want change. They promise but do not intend to follow through. American voters -- both Democrats nad Republicans -- are tired of their lies and are flocking to Trump. So, it is clear that if the GOP leadership in Congress fails to provide tax reform, and perhaps a re-look at Obamacare, the President has the troops in almost every state who will turn the Progressive Democrats and GOP leaders with their #NeverTrump RINO attitude out of office for Tea Party and other Republicans, conservatives and independents who share Trump's vision of a robust America whose economy provides business growth, jobs and rising incomes. • It isn't rocket science. It is just plain old "America 101," or as President Trump is now calling it, "The American Model." All we can say is a resounding YES.