Totaling Up President Trump's Tax Overhaul Plan

Published September 28, 2017 at 9:00 AM CDT

President Donald Trump speaks about tax reform at the Farm Bureau Building at the Indiana State Fairgrounds, Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2017, in Indianapolis. (Alex Brandon/AP)

The president and Congress share more pieces of a tax overhaul. What’s it add up to? We’ll ask.

And now, it’s time for the Trump tax plan. A miracle for the middle class, the president said in Indianapolis yesterday. He’s selling hard. But there are knowns and unknowns here. Known: upper-income households would get large tax cuts. Known: lower-income households would get none. Unknown: how exactly the middle class would make out. Or the effect on the deficit. The effect on the economy and the country’s future. This hour, On Point: Sizing up the Republican tax framework. — Tom Ashbrook.

Guests

Ben White, chief economic correspondent for Politico and author of the “Morning Money” column. ( @morningmoneyben)

Brian Riedl, senior fellow in budget, tax, and economics at the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research. Former chief economist for Se. Rob Portman (R-OH). ( @Brian_Riedl)

Matthew Gardner, senior fellow at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy.

Sahil Kapur, national political reporter for Bloomberg News. ( @sahilkapur)

From Tom’s Reading List

Bloomberg: GOP Plan Has Large Tax Breaks for the Highest Earners — “Despite President Donald Trump’s statement this month that “the rich will not be gaining at all,” the tax plan that the White House and Republican leaders rolled out may contain more than $1 trillion in breaks for the highest earners and the wealthy — at least without revenue offsets that remain largely unspecified.”

Politico:Does Trump Dislike His Own Tax Plan? — “We heard from several sources close to President Trump on Wednesday that he’s less than thrilled with the new blueprint. Publicly he now says 20 percent is his “red line” number on the corporate rate and that 15 percent was a “negotiating tactic.” But we hear the internal story is very different. ‘He’s not happy with the corporate rate and he doesn’t like reducing deductions for corporate interest. He is overall not thrilled,’ one close friend of Trump’s told MM. ‘He’s worried it’s not big enough or bold enough but for now he’s on message and saying the right things.'”

The Hill: If Congress Wants To Help Families, It Should Reform Corporate Taxes — “Moms and Dads are working harder, yet falling further behind. The solution is not more handouts from politicians who cannot even balance the budget, or more red tape that makes hiring workers more expensive. Families need an economy that produces better jobs and higher wages. This requires corporate tax reform to encourage business investment, which is 88 percent correlated with job creation because firms that build and expand will also hire more workers.”