ed. note: Differs in several significant respects from Trump's initial tax plan annoiunced on Sept. 28, 2015.

August 8, 2016

UNLEASHING AMERICA'S PROSPERITY TO CREATE JOBS AND INCREASE WAGES

Donald J. Trump’s Economic Vision To Break Up The Rigged System In Washington And Empower Every American To Succeed

(New York, NY) August 8th, 2016 – Donald J. Trump today unveiled his plan to revitalize America’s economy in a policy speech at the Detroit Economic Club, focused on providing the tools to every American to succeed economically.

Donald J. Trump promised to unleash the American economy to spur faster growth and benefit every American. Mr. Trump’s economic vision will unleash the power and productivity of US business and entrepreneurship, bringing prosperity, creating jobs and improving the lives of working families.

In contrast, Hillary Clinton wants to defend those already benefitting from the status quo by raising taxes by over $1 trillion, increasing the size of our already bloated government and adding more burdensome regulations. Clinton’s plans will continue to keep a boot on the neck of our economy.

“Today we begin a great national conversation about economic renewal for America - it’s a conversation about how to Make America Great Again for everyone, and especially those who have the very least,” said Mr. Trump. “The other party has reached backwards into the past to choose a nominee from yesterday – who offers only the rhetoric of yesterday, and the policies of yesterday.We are going to look boldly into the future, and with new leadership - and new solutions we will get new results.”

Below please find the policy highlights from each of the four pillars of today’s speech:


Tax Reform

  • Benefit working families while ensuring the wealthy pay their fair share.
  • Dramatically reduce taxes for everyone and streamline deductions, presenting the biggest tax reform since Reagan.
  • Exclude childcare expenses from taxation.
  • Limit taxation of business income to 15% for every business, from freelancers to the Fortune 500.
  • Make our corporate tax globally competitive and the United States the most attractive place to invest in the world.
  • End the death tax.

Trade Reform

  • Renegotiating NAFTA (or walk away if we have to).
  • Stopping the TPP.
  • Bringing trade relief cases to the World Trade Organization.
  • Labeling China a currency manipulator.
  • Applying tariffs and duties to countries that cheat.
  • Directing the Commerce Department to use all legal tools to respond to trade violations.
  • Entering into no trade deal unless it increases our economic growth and strengthens our manufacturing base.

Regulatory Reform

  • Issue an executive order to impose a regulatory moratorium on new agency regulations.
  • Require each federal agency to prepare a list of all of the regulations they impose on American business, and rank them from most critical to health and safety to least critical. Least critical regulations will receive priority consideration for repeal.
  • Remove bureaucrats and replace them with experts who know how to create jobs.
  • Repeal and replace Obamacare (will be outlined in-depth in a future speech).
  • Initiate targeted review for regulations that inhibit hiring. These include:
  • The Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan, which forces investment in renewable energy at the expense of coal and natural gas, raising electricity rates.
  • The EPA’s Waters of the United States rule, which gives the EPA the ability to regulate the smallest streams on private land, limiting land use.
  • The Department of Interior’s moratorium on coal mining permits, which put tens of thousands of coal miners out of work.

Energy Reform

  • Rescind all the job-destroying Obama executive actions including the Climate Action Plan and the Waters of the U.S. rule.
  • Save the coal industry and other industries threatened by Hillary Clinton’s extremist agenda.
  • Ask Trans Canada to renew its permit application for the Keystone Pipeline.
  • Make land in the Outer Continental Shelf available to produce oil and natural gas.
  • Cancel the Paris Climate Agreement (limit global warming to 2 degrees Celsius) and stop all payments of U.S. tax dollars to U.N. global warming programs.
  • Lift restrictions on American energy, which will increase GDP annually by $100 billion, create 500,000 new jobs and increase wages by over $30 billion over the next 7 years.
Please read the full speech transcript here.



An America First Economic Plan: Winning The Global Competition

Thank you for the invitation to speak to you today. It’s wonderful to be in Detroit.

We now begin a great national conversation about economic renewal for America. It’s a conversation about how to Make American Great Again for everyone, and especially those who have the very least.

The City of Detroit Is Where Our Story Begins

Detroit was once the economic envy of the world. The people of Detroit helped power America to its position of global dominance in the 20th century.

When we were governed by an America First policy, Detroit was booming. Engineers, builders, laborers, shippers and countless others went to work each day, provided for their families, and lived out the American Dream.

But for many living in this city, that dream has long ago vanished.

When we abandoned the policy of America First, we started rebuilding other countries instead of our own. The skyscrapers went up in Beijing, and in many other cities around the world, while the factories and neighborhoods crumbled in Detroit. Our roads and bridges fell into disrepair, yet we found the money to resettle millions of refugees at taxpayer expense. 1

Today, Detroit has a per capita income of under $15,000 dollars, about half of the national average. 2 3 40 percent of the city’s residents live in poverty, over two-and-half times the national average. The unemployment rate is more than twice the national average. 4 5 Half of all Detroit residents do not work. 6

Detroit tops the list of Most Dangerous Cities in terms of violent crime – these are the silenced victims whose stories are never told by Hillary Clinton, but victims whose suffering is no less real or permanent. 7

In short, the city of Detroit is the living, breathing example of my opponent’s failed economic agenda. Every policy that has failed this city, and so many others, is a policy supported by Hillary Clinton.

She supports the high taxes and radical regulation that forced jobs out of your community...and the crime policies that have made you less safe...and the immigration policies that have strained local budgets...and the trade deals like NAFTA, signed by her husband, that have shipped your jobs to Mexico and other countries... and she supports the education policies that deny your students choice, freedom and opportunity. 8

She is the candidate of the past. Ours is the campaign of the future.

This is a city controlled by Democratic politicians at every level, and unless we change policies, we will not change results.

Today, I will outline my economic vision. In the coming weeks, we will be offering more detail on all of these policies, and the ones we have already rolled out can be viewed on my campaign website.

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.

The one common feature of every Hillary Clinton idea is that it punishes you for working and doing business in the United States. Every policy she has tilts the playing field towards other countries at our expense.

That’s why she tries to distract us with tired political rhetoric that seeks to label us, divide us, and pull us apart.

My campaign is about reaching out to everyone as Americans, and returning to a government that puts the American people first.

Here is what an America First economic plan looks like.

First, let’s talk tax reform.

Taxes are one of the biggest differences in this race.

Hillary Clinton – who has spent her career voting for tax increases – plans another massive job-killing $1.3 trillion-dollar tax increase. 9 Her plan would tax many small businesses by almost fifty percent. 10

Recently, at a campaign event, Hillary Clinton short-circuited again – to use a now famous term – when she accidentally told the truth and said she wanted to raise taxes on the middle class. 11 12

I am proposing an across-the-board income tax reduction, especially for middle-income Americans. This will lead to millions of new good-paying jobs.

The rich will pay their fair share, but no one will pay so much that it destroys jobs, or undermines our ability to compete.

As part of this reform, we will eliminate 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.

Tax simplification will be a major feature of the plan.

Our current tax code is so burdensome and complex that we waste 9 billion hours a year in tax code compliance. 13

My plan will reduce the current number of brackets from 7 to 3, and dramatically streamline the process. We will work with House Republicans on this plan, using the same brackets they have proposed: 12, 25 and 33 percent. 14 For many American workers, their tax rate will be zero.

While we will develop our own set of assumptions and policies, agreeing in some areas but not in others, we will be focused on the same shared goals and guided by the same shared principles: jobs, growth and opportunity.

These reforms will offer the biggest tax revolution since the Reagan Tax Reform, which unleashed years of continued economic growth and job creation. 15

We will Make America Grow Again.

In the days ahead, we will provide more details on this plan and how it will help you and your family. It will present a night-and-day contrast to the job-killing, tax-raising, poverty-inducing Obama-Clinton agenda.

The State of New York has already lived through Hillary Clinton’s failed leadership. The Washington Post just published a devastating article on Hillary Clinton’s broken promises. She pledged 200,000 jobs for upstate New York as Senator. But what happened? The Washington Post writes, and I quote: “upstate job growth stagnated overall during her tenure, with manufacturing jobs plunging nearly 25 percent...the former first lady was unable to pass big ticket legislation... Many promised jobs never materialized and others migrated to other states as she turned to her first presidential run...data shows that upstate actually lost jobs during Clinton’s first term.” 16

Compare that to my record. In a recent New York Post article by Steve Cuozzo, “How Donald Trump Helped Save New York City,” the paper writes that I – and this is a direct quote – “waded into a landscape of empty Fifth Avenue storefronts, the dust-bowl mugging ground that was Central Park and a Wall Street area seemingly on its last legs as companies moved out...almost by force of will — [he] rode to the rescue. Expressing rare faith in the future, he was instrumental in kick- starting the regeneration of neighborhoods and landmarks almost given up for dead.” 17

This is what I want to do for our country – I want to jumpstart America.

Now let’s look at what the Obama-Clinton policies have done nationally.

Their policies produced 1.2% growth, the weakest so-called recovery since the Great Depression, and a doubling of the national debt. 18 19

There are now 94.3 million Americans outside the labor force. 20 It was 80.5 million when President Obama took office, an increase of nearly 14 million people.

The Obama-Clinton agenda of tax, spend and regulate has created a silent nation of jobless Americans.

Home ownership is at its lowest rate in 51 years. 21

Nearly 12 million have been added to the food stamp rolls since President Obama took office. 22 Another nearly 7 million Americans were added to the ranks of those in poverty. 23 24

We have the lowest labor force participation rates in four decades. 25

58 percent of African-American youth are either outside the labor force or not employed. 26

1 in 5 American households do not have a single member in the labor force. 27 These are the real unemployment numbers – the five percent figure is one of the biggest hoaxes in modern politics.

Meanwhile, American households are earning more than $4,000 less today than they were sixteen years ago. 28

The average worker today pays 31.5 percent of their wages to income and payroll taxes. 29 On top of that, state and local taxes consume another 10 percent. 30

The United States also has the highest business tax rate among the major industrialized nations of the world, at 35 percent. 31 It’s almost 40 percent when you add in taxes at the state level.

In other words, we punish companies for making products in America – but let them ship products into the U.S. tax-free if they move overseas.

This is backwards. All of our policies should be geared towards keeping jobs and wealth inside the United States.

Under my plan, no American company will pay more than 15% of their business income in taxes. Small businesses will benefit the most from this plan. Hillary Clinton’s plan will require small business to pay as much as three times more in taxes than what I am proposing, and her onerous regulations will put them totally out of business. 32 I am going to cut regulations massively.

Our lower business tax will also end job-killing corporate inversions, and cause trillions in new dollars and wealth to come pouring into our country – and into cities like Detroit. To help unleash this new job creation, we will allow businesses to immediately expense new business investments.

No one will gain more from these proposals than low-and-middle income Americans.

My plan will also help reduce the cost of childcare by allowing parents to fully deduct the average cost of childcare spending from their taxes.

We are also going to bring back trillions of dollars from American businesses that is now parked overseas. 33 Our plan will bring that cash home, applying a 10 percent tax. This money will be re-invested in states like Michigan.

Finally, no family will have to pay the death tax. American workers have paid taxes their whole lives, and they should not be taxed again at death – it’s just plain wrong. We will repeal it.

Next comes regulatory reform

As with taxes, I will have one overriding goal when it comes to regulation: I want to keep jobs and wealth in America.

Motor vehicle manufacturing is one of the most heavily regulated industries in the country. 34

The U.S. economy today is twenty-five percent smaller than it would have been without the surge of regulations since 1980. 35

It is estimated that current overregulation is costing our economy as much as $2 trillion dollars a year – that’s money taken straight out of cities like yours. 36

The federal register is now over 80,000 pages long. 37 As the Wall Street Journal noted, President Obama has issued close to four hundred new major regulations since taking office, each with a cost to the American economy of $100 million or more. 38

In 2015 alone, the Obama Administration unilaterally issued more than 2,000 new regulations – each a hidden tax on American consumers, and a massive lead weight on the American economy. 39

It is time to remove the anchor dragging us down.

Upon taking office, I will issue a temporary moratorium on new agency regulations. My running mate, Mike Pence, signed a similar order when he became governor of Indiana. This will give our American companies the certainty they need to reinvest in our community, get cash off of the sidelines, start hiring for new jobs, and expanding businesses.

I will also immediately cancel all illegal and overreaching executive orders.

Next, I will ask each and every federal agency to prepare a list of all of the regulations they impose on Americans which are not necessary, do not improve public safety, and which needlessly kill jobs. Those regulations will be eliminated.

We are in a competition with the world, and I want America to win. When I am president, we will.

One of the most important reforms of all is trade reform

As Bernie Sanders has said, Hillary Clinton has bad judgment. 40 We’ve seen this bad judgment overseas, in Libya, Iraq, and Syria. We’ve seen it in Iran. We’ve seen it from President Obama, when he gives $150 billion to Iran, the number one terror state, and even gives them $400 million in money-laundered cash as a ransom payment. 41 42 43 44 45

But we’ve also seen the terrible Obama-Clinton judgment right here in Detroit.

Hillary Clinton has supported the trade deals stripping this city, and this country, of its jobs and wealth.

She supported Bill Clinton’s NAFTA, she supported China’s entrance into the World Trade Organization, she supported the job-killing trade deal with South Korea, and she supports the Trans-Pacific Partnership. 46 47 48 49

Let’s talk about South Korea for a moment, because it so perfectly illustrates the broken promises that have hurt so many American workers.

President Obama, and the usual so-called experts who’ve been wrong about every trade deal for decades, predicted that the trade deal with South Korea would increase our exports to South Korea by more than $10 billion – resulting in some 70,000 jobs. 50

Like Hillary Clinton’s broken promises to New York, these pledges all turned out to be false. Instead of creating 70,000 jobs, it has killed nearly 100,000, according to the Economic Policy Institute. 51 Our exports to South Korea haven’t increased at all, but their imports to us have surged more than $15 billion – more than doubling our trade deficit with that country. 52

The next betrayal will be the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Hillary Clinton’s closest friend, Terry McAuliffe, confirmed what I have said on this from the beginning: if sent to the Oval Office, Hillary Clinton will enact the TPP. 53 Guaranteed. Her donors will make sure of it.

A vote for Hillary Clinton is a vote for TPP – and it’s also a vote for NAFTA.

Our annual trade deficit in goods with Mexico has risen from close to zero in 1993 to almost $60 billion. 54 Our total trade deficit in goods hit nearly $800 billion last year. 55

This is a strike at the heart of Michigan, and our nation as a whole.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, before NAFTA went into effect, there were 285,000 auto workers in Michigan. 56 57 Today, that number is only 160,000.

Detroit is still waiting for Hillary Clinton’s apology. I expect Detroit will get that apology right around the same time Hillary Clinton turns over the 33,000 emails she deleted. 58

Hillary Clinton’s Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) will be an even bigger disaster for the auto industry. In fact, Ford Motor Company has announced its opposition to the deal. 59

According to the Economic Policy Institute, the U.S. trade deficit with the proposed TPP member countries cost over 1 million manufacturing jobs in 2015. 60

By far the biggest losses occurred in motor vehicles and parts, which lost nearly 740,000 manufacturing jobs.

Michigan ranks first for jobs lost as a share of state workforce due to the trade deficit with TPP members.

Just imagine how many more automobile jobs will be lost if the TPP is actually approved. That is why I have announced we will withdraw from the deal before that can ever happen. Hillary Clinton will never withdraw from the TPP. She is bought, controlled and paid-for by her donors and special interests. 61 62

Because my only interest is the American people, I have previously laid out a detailed 7-point plan for trade reform, available on my website. It includes strong protections against currency manipulation, tariffs against any countries that cheat by unfairly subsidizing their goods, and it includes a renegotiation of NAFTA. If we don’t get a better deal, we will walk away.

At the center of my plan is trade enforcement with China. This alone could return millions of jobs into our economy.

China is responsible for nearly half of our entire trade deficit. 63 64 They break the rules in every way imaginable. China engages in illegal export subsidies, prohibited currency manipulation, and rampant theft of intellectual property. 65 66 They also have no real environmental or labor protections, further undercutting American workers. 67

Just enforcing intellectual property rules alone could save millions of American jobs. According to the U.S. International Trade Commission, improved protection of America’s intellectual property in China would produce more than 2 million more jobs right here in the United States. 68

Add to that the saved jobs from cracking down on currency cheating and product dumping, and we will bring trillions of dollars in new wealth and wages back to the United States. 69

Trade has big benefits, and I am in favor of trade. But I want great trade deals for our country that create more jobs and higher wages for American workers. Isolation is not an option, only great and well- crafted trade deals are.

Also critical to our economic renewal will be energy reform

The Obama-Clinton Administration has blocked and destroyed millions of jobs through their anti-energy regulations, while raising the price of electricity for both families and businesses. 70 71 72

As a result of recent Obama EPA actions coal-fired power plants across Michigan have either shut down entirely or undergone expensive conversions. 73 The Obama-Clinton war on coal has cost Michigan over 50,000 jobs. 74 Hillary Clinton says her plan will “put a lot of coal
companies and coal miners out of business.” 75

We will put our coal miners and steel workers back to work.

Clinton not only embraces President Obama’s job-killing energy restrictions but wants to expand them, including going after oil and natural gas production that employs some 10 million Americans. 76 77 78

According to the Heritage Foundation, by 2030, the Obama-Clinton energy restrictions will eliminate another half a million manufacturing jobs, reduce economic output by $2.5 trillion dollars, and reduce incomes by $7,000 dollars per person. 79

A Trump Administration will end this war on the American worker, and unleash an energy revolution that will bring vast new wealth to our country.

According to the Institute for Energy Research, lifting the restrictions on all sources of American energy will: 80
  • Increase GDP by more than $100 billion dollars annually, add over 500,000 new jobs annually, and increase annual wages by more than $30 billion dollars over the next 7 years;
  • Increase federal, state, and local tax revenues by almost $6 trillion dollars over 4 decades;
  • Increase total economic activity by more than $20 trillion dollars over the next 40 years.
The reforms I have outlined today are only the beginning

When we reform our tax, trade, energy and regulatory policies, we will open a new chapter in American Prosperity.

We can use this new wealth to rebuild our military and our infrastructure.

As part of this new future, we will also be rolling out proposals to increase choice and reduce cost in childcare, offering much-needed relief to American families. I will unveil my plan on this in the coming weeks that I have been working on with my daughter Ivanka and an incredible team of experts.

Likewise, our education reforms will help parents send their kids to a school of their choice.
We will also give our police and law enforcement the funds and support they need to restore law and order to this country. Without security, there can be no prosperity. We must have law and order.

In the coming days, we will be rolling out plans on all of these items. One of my first acts as President will be to repeal and replace disastrous Obamacare, saving another 2 million American jobs. 81

We will also rebuild our military, and get our allies to pay their fair share for the protection we provide – saving us countless more billions to invest in our own country. 82

We also have a plan, on our website, for a complete reform of the Veterans Health Administration. This is something so desperately needed to make sure our vets are fully supported and get the care they deserve.

Detroit – the Motor City – will come roaring back. We will offer a new future, not the same old failed policies of the past.

Our party has chosen to make new history by selecting a nominee from outside the rigged and corrupt system.

The other party has reached backwards into the past to choose a nominee from yesterday – who offers only the rhetoric of yesterday, and the policies of yesterday.

There will be no change under Hillary Clinton – only four more years of Obama.

But we are going to look boldly into the future.

We will build the next generation of roads, bridges, railways, tunnels, sea ports and airports that our country deserves.

American cars will travel the roads, American planes will connect our cities, and American ships will patrol the seas.

American steel will send new skyscrapers soaring.
We will put new American metal into the spine of this nation.
It will be American hands that rebuild this country, and it will be American energy - mined from American sources - that powers this country.

It will be American workers who are hired to do the job.

Americanism, not globalism, will be our new credo.

Our country will reach amazing new heights.

All we have to do is stop relying on the tired voices of the past.

We can’t fix a rigged system by relying on the people who rigged it in the first place.

We can’t solve our problems by relying on the politicians who created them.

Only by changing to new leadership, and new solutions, will we get new results.

We need to stop believing in politicians, and start believing in America.

Before everything great that has ever happened, the doubters have always said it couldn’t be done.

America is ready to prove the doubters wrong.

They want you to think small. I am asking you to think big.
We are ready to dream great things for our country once again.

We are ready to show the world that America is Back – Bigger, and Better and Stronger Than Ever Before.

Thank you, and God Bless You.



1 (Caroline May,“Since 9/11 U.S. Has Accepted Over 2 Million Migrants from Majority Muslim Nations,” Breitbart, 11/16/15)

2 (QuickFacts Detroit City, Michigan, United States Census Bureau, Accessed 8/6/16) 3 (QuickFacts United States, United States Census Bureau, Accessed 8/6/16)

4 (Detroit, MI Unemployment Rate, YCharts, Accessed 8/6/16)

5 (Unemployment Rate, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Accessed 8/6/16)

6 (QuickFacts Detroit City, Michigan, United States Census Bureau, Accessed8/6/16)

7 (Kevin Rizzo, “Crime in America 2016:Top 10 Most Dangerous Cities Over 200,000,”Law Street Media, 9/28/15) 8 (“1993 - NAFTA Signed Into Law,” History, Accessed 8/6/16)

9 (Gordon Gray,“Estimating The Costs Of Candidate Clinton’s Proposals,”American Action Forum, 8/4/16)

10 (48.3% Tax on Small Businesses in Some Cases; the Sum of a Statutory Rate of 39.6%, a Medicare Wagea nd Salary Surcharge of 0.9%, a Medicare Investment Income Surcharge of 3.8%, and an Income Surcharge over $5 million of 4.0%)

11 (MJ Lee and Dan Merica,“Clinton Admits She May Have 'Short Circuited' Answers On Email Controversy,” CNN, 8/6/16)

12 (Derek Hunter, “Hillary Promises ‘We Are Going To Raise Taxes On The Middle Class’,” The Daily Caller, 8/3/16)

13 (Scott A. Hodge, “The Compliance Costs of IRS Regulations,”Tax Foundation, 6/15/16)

14 (“A Pro-Growth Tax Code For All Americans,”GOP: ABetter Way, 6/24/16)

15 (William A.Niskanen and Stephen Moore,“Cato Institute Policy Analysis No. 261: Supply-Side Tax Cuts and the Truth about the Reagan Economic Record,” CATO Institute, 10/22/96)

16 (Jerry Markon, “As Senator, Clinton Promised 200,000 Jobs In Upstate New York. Her Efforts Fell Flat,” The Washington Post, 8/7/16)

17 (Steve Cuozzo, “How Donald Trump Helped Save New York City,” New York Post, 2/7/16)

18 (Eric Morath and Jeffrey Sparshott, “U.S. GDP Grew a Disappointing 1.2% in Second Quarter,” Wall Street Journal,7/29/16)

19 (“The Daily History Of The Debt Results,” TreasuryDirect, Accessed 8/6/16)

20 (Not inLabor Force, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis,Accessed 8/5/16)

21 (Josh Boak, “US Homeownership Rate of 62.9 Percent Matches a 51-Year Low,” ABC News, 7/28/16)

22 (“Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Participation and Costs,”U.S. Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service , 8/5/16)

23 (“Income, Poverty, And Health Insurance Coverage In The United States: 2008,” U.S. Census Bureau, 9/09)

24 (“Income And Poverty In The United States: 2014,” U.S. Census Bureau, 9/15)

25 (Civilian Labor Force Participation Rate,Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, Accessed8/5/16)

26 (Employment Status Of The Civilian Noninstitutional Population By Age, Sex, And Race, Bureau of Labor Statistics,9/15)

27 (“Employment And Unemployment In Families By Race And Hispanic Or Latino Ethnicity,2014-2015Annual Averages,” United States Census Bureau, 4/22/16)

28 (Real Median Household Income in the United States, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, Accessed 8/5/16)

29 (Samantha Jordan and Kyle Pomerleau, “U.S. Workers Face a Tax Burden of 31.5 Percent,” Tax Foundation, 7/16/15)

30 (“State-Local Tax Burden Rankings FY 2012,” Tax Foundation, 1/20/16)

31 (Corporate Income Tax Rate, Organization For Economic Co-Operation And Development, Accessed 8/5/16)

32 (See Footnote 9)

33 (David Alexander, “Big U.S. Firms Hold $2.1 Trillion Overseas To Avoid Taxes: Study,” Reuters, 10/6/15)

34 (Patrick McLaughlin and Oliver Sherouse,“The McLaughlin-Sherouse List:The 10 Most-Regulated Industriesof 2014,” Mercatus Center, 1/21/16)

35 (Bentley Coffey, Patrick McLaughlin, Pietro Peretto, “The Cumulative Cost of Regulations,”Mercatus Center, 4/26/16)

36 (W.Mark Crain and Nicole V. Crain,“The Cost of Federal Regulation to the U.S. Economy, Manufacturing and Small Business,”National Association of Manufacturers, 9/10/14)

37 (“Federal Register,” Office of the Federal Register, 12/31/15)

38 (Nick Timiraos,“Obama Readies Flurry of Regulations,”The Wall Street Journal, 4/7/16)

39 (James L. Gattuso and Diane Katz,“Red Tape Rising 2016: Obama Regs Top $100 Billion Annually,”The Heritage Foundation, 5/23/16)

40 (Danny Freeman, “Sanders on Clinton: 'In Terms of Her Judgment, Something Is Clearly Lacking',”NBC News Meet The Press,4/10/16)

41 (Elise Labott, “John Kerry: Some Sanctions Relief Money For Iran Will Go To Terrorism,” CNN, 1/21/16)

42 (Jay Solomon and Laura Meckler, “Hillary Clinton Opened Door to Key U.S. Shift Toward Iran Nuclear Deal ,” The Wall Street Journal, 9/8/15)

43 (Isabel Kershner, “Iran Deal Denounced by Netanyahu as ‘Historic Mistake’,” The New York Times, 7/14/15)

44 (Ryan Browne, “State Department Report Finds Iran Is Top State Sponsor Of Terror,” CNN, 6/2/16)

45 (Jay Solomon and Carol E. Lee, “U.S. Sent Cash to Iran as Americans Were Freed,” The Wall Street Journal, 8/3/16)

46 (First Lady Hillary Clinton, Remarks At An Event For The Union Of Needle Trades, Industrial, And Textile Employees (UNITE), New York, NY, 3/6/96)

47 (Hillary Clinton, Remarks To The Council On Foreign Relations, New York, NY, 10/17/00)

48 (“Late Edition With Wolf Blitzer,” CNN, 8/26/00)

49 (Jake Tapper, “45 Times Secretary Clinton Pushed The Trade Bill She Now Opposes,” CNN, 6/15/15)

50 (The U.S.-South Korea Free Trade Agreement: More American Jobs, Faster Economic Recovery Through Exports, The White House, Accessed 8/6/16)

51 (Robert E. Scott, “U.S.-Korea Trade Deal Resulted In Growing Trade Deficits And More Than 95,000 Lost U.S. Jobs,” Economic Policy Institute, 5/5/16)

52 (Trade in Goods with South Korea, United States Census Bureau, Accessed 8/6/16)

53 (Annie Karni,“Clinton Friend Mcauliffe Says Clinton Will Flip On TPP, Then Walks It Back,”Politico,7/26/16)

54 (Trade in Goods with Mexico, United States Census Bureau, Accessed 8/6/16)

55 (U.S. Trade inGoods and Services,United States Census Bureau,6/3/16)

56 (All Employees: Durable Goods:Motor Vehicle Manufacturing in Michigan, Federal Reserve Bank of St.Louis, Accessed 8/5/16)

57 (All Employees: Durable Goods: Motor Vehicle Parts Manufacturing in Michigan, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, Accessed 8/5/16)

58 (“Statement By FBI Director James B. Comey On The Investigation Of Secretary Hillary Clinton’s Use Of A Personal E-Mail System,” Federal Bureau Of Investigation,7/5/16)

59 (Mark Fields, “Ford CEO: We’re Against TPP, Not Free Trade,” Bloomberg, 7/28/16)

60 (Robert E. Scott and Elizabeth Glass,“Trans-Pacific Partnership, Currency Manipulation, Trade, And Jobs,” Economic Policy Institute, 3/3/16)

61 (Matea Gold, Tom Hamburger and Anu Narayanswamy, “Clinton Blasts Wall Street, But Still Draws Millions In Contributions,”The WashingtonPost,2/4/15)

62 (John Carney and Anupreeta Das, “Hedge Fund Money Has Vastly Favored Clinton Over Trump,” The Wall Street Journal, 7/29/16)

63 (Trade in Goods with China, United States Census Bureau, Accessed 8/6/16)

64 (U.S. Trade inGoods andServices,United States Census Bureau,6/3/16)

65 (Jonathan Wesiman and Keith Bradsher,“White House to File Case Against China at W.T.O. Over Subsidies For Exports,” The New York Times, 2/11/15)

66 (General Keith Alexander, “Cybersecurity And American Power,” American Enterprise Institute, 7/9/12)

67 (China 2015 Human Rights Report, United States Department of State, Accessed 8/6/16)

68 (“The IP Commission Report,” The Commission On The Theft Of American Intellectual Property, 5/13)

69 (Will Kimball and Robert E. Scott, “China Trade, Outsourcing And Jobs,” Economic Policy Institute, 12/11/14)

70 (Wood Mackenzie, “A Comparison of US Oil and Natural Gas Policies: Pro-development Policies vs.Proposed Regulatory Constraints,” American Petroleum Institute, 6/22/15)

71 (Amy Harder and Erin Ailworth,“Fossil Fuels’ Unpopularity LeavesaMark,”The Wall Street Journal, 6/1/16)

72 (Roger Bezdek, “Protect The American People: Moratorium On Coal Plant Closures Essential, Institute For Energy Research, 6/14)

73 (“Defeated Coal Plant Tracker,”Sierra Club Environmental Law Program, Accessed8/6/16)

74 (“Sierra Club’s Anti-Coal Campaignisa Major Jobs Destroyer,”National Mining Association, 9/7/11)

75 (Dana Merica,“Hillary Clinton Apologizes For Coal Comments InWest Virginia,” CNN, 5/3/16)

76 (“Statement from Hillary Clinton on President Obama’s Clean Power Plan,”HillaryClinton, Accessed8/5/16)

77 (Jobs, Growth & Security, Energy Tomorrow, Accessed 8/6/16)

78 (“Oil and Natural Gas Stimulate American: Economic and Job Growth,” American Petroleum Institute, Accessed 8/6/16)

79 (Kevin D. Dayaratna, Nicolas Loris, and David W. Kreutzer, “The Obama Administration’s Climate Agenda: Underestimated Costs and Exaggerated Benefits,” The Heritage Foundation, 11/13/14)

80 (“IER Submits Comment on Proposed Offshore Leasing Program,”Institute For Energy Research, 6/17/16)

81 (Edward Harris and Shannon Mok,“How CBO Estimates the Effects of the Affordable Care Act on the Labor Market,” Congressional Budget Office, 12/15)

82 (“US Reportedly Footing More Of The Bill For Overseas Bases Despite Cuts To Military,”Associated Press, 4/17/13)

Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget
August 8, 2016

CRFB Responds to Donald Trump’s New Tax Plan

In a speech today at the Detroit Economic Club, presidential candidate Donald Trump announced revisions to his tax reform plan, suggesting that details will be provided in the coming days.

“It’s encouraging that Donald Trump appears to be modifying his tax plan, which would push America toward an unprecedented level of debt unless it is significantly changed,” said Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.

In the June report Promises and Price Tags, the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget estimated that his original tax plan alone would cost roughly $9.25 trillion over the course of a decade, while his entire agenda would add $11.5 trillion to the national debt, including interest, by 2026.

Based on today’s speech – which proposes individual tax rates of 12 percent, 25 percent, and 33 percent instead of 10 percent, 20 percent, and 25 percent - Trump’s new tax plan is likely to cost significantly less. However, the plan is still likely to add substantially to the debt, particularly the plan to cut business taxes, which we previously estimated would cost about $2.55 trillion over a decade.

“This certainly appears to be an improvement over Trump’s previous $11.5 trillion agenda, but we can’t afford to add even a few trillion dollars to the debt – not with our debt already at record-high levels and projected to grow by $10 trillion over the next decade under current law,” MacGuineas continued. "We urge Donald Trump to put forward a tax framework that will cost as little as possible – or preferably generate net revenue – along with a serious suite of new spending cuts and entitlement reforms that would not only pay for any remaining tax cuts but also put the national debt on a downward path relative to the economy.”

In the coming weeks, the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget will update its analysis Promises and Price Tags to reflect Trump’s new tax plan, Hillary Clinton’s new college and health plans, and any other modifications or additions posted on the candidates’ official websites.

###

NFIB
For Immediate Release
Andrew Wimer

NFIB Applauds Single Business Rate in Revised Trump Tax Plan

One low rate for pass-through firms and corporations would eliminate a major disadvantage for small businesses, says National Federation of Independent Business

Washington, DC (August 8, 2016) – Juanita Duggan, President and CEO of the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), the nation’s leading advocate for small businesses, issued the following statement this morning in response to presidential candidate Donald Trump’s retooled tax plan:

“Mr. Trump’s plan would eliminate the disparity between the way large corporations and small businesses are treated under the code and all businesses would be taxed at a substantially lower rate.

Hillary for America
August 8, 2016

On the Campaign Trail in Florida, Hillary Clinton Responds to Donald Trump's Economic Speech

Today while campaigning in Florida, Hillary Clinton responded to Donald Trump's speech from earlier in the day laying out his economic plans. His plan will cause damage to the American economy and hurt working families, while propping up the wealthiest Americans, Wall Street and largest corporations.

Clinton's remarks, as transcribed, are below:

"So today in Detroit, he’s got a dozen or so economic advisers he just named, hedge fund guys, billionaire guys, six guys named Steve, apparently. And so they wrote him a speech and he delivered it in Detroit. Now, they tried to make his old, tired ideas sound new. But, here's what we all know, because we heard it again.

"His tax plans will give super big tax breaks to large corporations and the really wealthy, just like him and the guys who wrote the speech, right? He wants to roll back regulations on Wall Street. He wants to eliminate the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which has saved billions of dollars for Americans. He wants to basically just repackage trickle down economics.

"Now, you know that old saying, fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me? Trickle down economics does not help our economy grow. It does not help the vast majority of Americans, but it does really well for people already at the top.

"Well we’re going to turn that upside down. We’re going to make the wealthy pay their fair share in taxes for a change. And I have said throughout this campaign, I am not going to raise taxes on the middle class, but with your help, we are going to raise it on the wealthy, because that’s where the money is. You know that old movie, 'Follow the Money' – well one tenth of one percent has gotten 90 percent of the income gains.

"So, here’s the other thing I want you to know, because I want you to tell your friends: don’t let a friend vote Trump. So here’s the deal. He can’t escape the math. Now you know, math can be kind of inconvenient if it doesn’t add up the way you want it to. And economists left, right, in the middle all say the same thing. That Trump’s policies would throw us into a recession, the last thing we need. He would undermine the growth that we've had since the Great Recession.

"One independent expert — actually, the economist who advised John McCain in 2008, so you know, not somebody that has any pre-disposition towards our side. But this economist did a study. He said under Trump’s economic plans, we would lose, in America, 3.5 million jobs. Now, he compared it with what I have proposed, and he said in comparison, my plans would create at least 10 million jobs in the first four years for the economy.

"So if we just take Florida and compare it, right here in Florida, Florida would gain 650,000 jobs under my plans, lose more than 200,000 jobs under Donald Trump’s – a difference of 850,000 Florida jobs. Now, I just think we’ve got to look at this in a very clear way.

"They are just playing the same old siren song. And why they haven’t learned we are not interested in economic plans that only help the top one percent, it’s time to help everybody else in America get ahead and stay ahead.

"So it’s clear, and a lot of journalists have written this, that Trump is scrambling to do damage control. That's why he listed those dozen new economic advisors: three Wall Street money managers, an oil baron, a former chief economist from one of the banks at the heart of the financial crisis — but this is from a guy who has said that he knows more than the generals about ISIS. So he's not only putting our national security at risk. Now he's putting our economy at risk. So, I've got to tell you people, this is going to be a very important next three months."


###

For Immediate Release, August 8, 2016
AFL-CIO
August 8, 2016

Trump Speech Ironic, Deceitful, and Simply Offensive

Statement by AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka on Donald Trump’s Economic Plans:

Donald Trump has spent his life getting rich by hurting working people. Now he returns to Michigan for an economic speech almost one year to the day after he suggested automakers move production from Michigan to states with lower wages. It’s ironic, deceitful, and simply offensive.

Donald Trump will say he speaks for all Americans, but his all white, all male, Wall Street banker economic team proves his intentions. Trump has chosen to get his real advice from people just like him – people who have made millions off the backs of hardworking families.

Contact: Josh Goldstein

League of Conservation Voters
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Seth Stein

August 8, 2016  

Statement On Trump’s “Big Polluters First” Economic Policy Speech

Washington, DC – In response to Donald Trump’s “Big Polluters First” Economic policy speech today, LCV National Campaigns Director Clay Schroers issued the following statement:

“For a candidate who claims to pride himself on never reading from a script, Trump sure sticks to the Big Polluters’ talking points when it comes to energy and the environment. The policies he’s espoused – ending regulations, cutting the EPA and attacking the Clean Power Plan – as well as naming billionaire oil executive Harold Hamm as one of his economic advisors, shows that Trump is happy to give away our clean air and water to Big Polluters in the oil and gas industry with no regard for the damage they will do. By offering fossil fuel special interests a blank check under his presidency, Trump has again proven he does not have the temperament, character, or judgment to be in the White House.”


###

Hillary for America

To: Interested Parties
From: Jake Sullivan, Maya Harris, Jacob Leibenluft, HFA Policy Team
Re: How a Trump Presidency Would Cause Damage to the U.S. Economy and Working Families
Date: Monday, August 8, 2016

Here at Hillary for America, we've said it at least a few times before, but in advance of Donald Trump's speech in Detroit today we wanted to offer a look at how a Trump presidency would cause damage to the American economy and working families. We can be certain of this because we’ve read Trump’s "plans," listened to his words, reviewed what analysts have to say about what he wants to do, and it's the only logical conclusion.

The Short Version: Why a Trump Presidency Would Endanger the U.S. Economy

  • Tax breaks for the wealthy and big corporations
  • Rolling back reforms that help protect Main Street from Wall Street
  • An agenda that experts across the political spectrum say would lead to a recession and cost millions of American jobs
  • Over a year of campaigning with no plans to date for helping working families
  • No paid family leave
  • No federal minimum wage
  • Disastrous business record of multiple bankruptcies, stiffing contractors, outsourcing, and scamming Americans

The Long Version: Everything You Need to Know About Why a Trump Presidency Would Be a Disaster for the U.S. Economy, Literally

Trump's Core Plan: Tax Breaks for the Wealthy
The core of Donald Trump’s economic plan involves reckless tax cuts that will add trillions to the debt to benefit the wealthy, Wall Street, and big corporations. His plan would give millionaires a $7 trillion tax cut and big corporations a $5 trillion tax cut.
  • $7 trillion tax cut for millionaires: Trump’s plan would give $7 trillion in tax breaks to millionaires over 20 years.
  • $5 trillion tax cut for corporations: Trump’s tax plan slashes corporate tax rates, cutting taxes for corporations by more than $5 trillion over 20 years.
  • Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: Millionaires Would Gain Trillions Under Trump and Cruz Tax Plans
  • Tax Policy Center: An Analysis of Donald Trump’s Tax Plan
  • The Briefing: The Trump Tax Plan – By the Billionaire, For the Billionaires
Trump called his tax plan “tremendous” – but its impact would be to widen inequality by giving more in tax cuts to the top 0.1% than to the bottom 60% combined.

  • Fox Business: Trump Talks Plan for 'Tremendous' Tax Decreases
  • Tax Policy Center: The highest-income 1.0 percent would get an average tax cut of over $275,000 (17.5 percent of after-tax income), and the top 0.1 percent would get an average tax cut worth over $1.3 million, nearly 19 percent of after-tax income. By contrast, the lowest-income households would receive an average tax cut of $128, or 1 percent of after-tax income.
  • PolitiFact: Top 0.1% would be big winner under Donald Trump's tax plan - TRUE
Before he released his plan, Trump said that the “hedge fund guys are getting away with murder.” But instead of raising rates on Wall Street, by lowering business tax rates to 15%, including for partnerships like hedge funds and private equity firms, Trump's plan actually cuts tax rates on Wall Street money managers by one-third and widens the “carried interest” loophole.
  • TRUMP: "Hedge fund guys are getting away with murder."
  • TRUMP: "The hedge fund guys won’t like me as much as they like me right now. I know them all, but they’ll pay more."
  • 1/3 tax cut for hedge funds and Wall Street money managers: Trump’s tax plan slashes tax rates on hedge funds and Wall Street money managers by one-third.
  • CNN Money: The Donald Trump Hedge Fund Crackdown That Wasn't
  • Roosevelt Institute: Trump’s Tax Plan Isn’t Tough On Wall Street Or Carried Interest After All
  • Bloomberg: Trump's Tough Talk On Hedge-Fund Taxes Doesn't Match His Plan
  • PolitiFact: Donald Trump’s proposed tax treatment of hedge fund managers "makes the current loophole even worse." - TRUE
The tax plan of the self-proclaimed "King of Debt" would add more than $30 trillion to the debt over 20 years.

  • TRUMP: I am the king of debt.
  • $34 trillion added to the national debt by 2036: Trump’s plan to hand trillions in tax breaks to millionaires will add $34 trillion to the debt over 20 years, according to the independent Tax Policy Center.
When asked whether the United States needed to pay its debts, he threatened to default and therefore throw the world into a financial crisis, saying “if the economy crashed, you could make a deal” – or print more money.

  • TRUMP: "I would borrow knowing that if the economy crashed you could make a deal. And if the economy was good it was good so therefore you can’t lose. It’s like, you know, you make a deal before you go into a poker game, and your odds are so much better.”
  • Vox: Donald Trump Just Threatened To Cause An Unprecedented Global Financial Crisis
  • TRUMP: "You never have to default because you print the money."
Unsurprisingly, experts from across the political spectrum were not impressed.

  • Michael Strain, economics fellow at American Enterprise Institute: When asked about Trump’s suggestion to default on the debt: “There are no merits to it. The extent to which U.S. Treasurys are kind of the foundation on which the global financial system is built is really hard to overstate.”
  • Austan Goolsbee, former chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers under President Obama: Called Donald Trump’s idea of not fully repaying investors in U.S. Treasuries “borderline insane”
Rolling Back Reforms that Help Protect Main Street from Wall Street
Donald Trump actually rooted for a housing crisis, because he claimed that he’d be able to make money off of a crisis that ultimately cost 9 million workers their jobs and more than 5 million families their homes.
  • TRUMP: "I sort of hope that happens because then people like me would go in and buy"
  • NBC News: Trump in 2007: 'I'm Excited' for Housing Market Crash
Two days after Lehman Brothers failed and the economy was starting to crater, he went on TV and said he hoped there wouldn’t be more regulation on the big banks, because there was already too much.

  • LARRY KING: "Do we need more regulation?"
TRUMP: "I would hope not, Larry. There's so much regulations. If you look at Sarbanes-Oxley, I know companies that don't move because of Sarbanes-Oxley. They can't get out of their own way. And you go to other companies and they don't have the regulation. And we're in a tremendous disadvantage in this country. You go to other countries and there isn't that same regulation."

So it is no surprise that the core of Trump’s plan for Wall Street remains rolling back the reforms put in place after the crisis to ensure that Wall Street never wrecks main street again – reforms that end taxpayer bailouts of big banks, created a new consumer watchdog, and put in place new rules for derivatives.

  • TRUMP: On repealing Dodd-Frank, which created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau: “absolutely.”
  • TRUMP: "Dodd-Frank has made it impossible for bankers to function…[My plan] will be close to dismantling of Dodd-Frank."
As noted above, he even promised to close the carried interest loophole, but his tax plan slashes rates for Wall Street money managers by a third.
              • 1/3 tax cut for hedge funds and Wall Street money managers: Trump’s tax plan slashes tax rates on hedge funds and Wall Street money managers by one-third.
In over a year of campaigning, no real plans to date to help working families.
For more than a year now, Donald Trump’s only big idea for infrastructure has been his fantasy of a border wall that he insists Mexico will pay for.

  • “Positions” listed on Donald Trump’s website:
Pay for the Wall
Healthcare Reform
U.S.-China Trade Reform
Veterans Administration Reforms
Tax Reform
Second Amendment Rights
Immigration Reform

  • CNN: 'No way' Mexico will pay for wall, its leader says
On issue after issue, Donald Trump has campaigned for over a year without presenting any real plans to help working families make ends meet – for example, with no plan for college affordability.

  • Trump campaign Co-Chair Sam Clovis: When asked whether Trump would have a plan to ensure debt-free college: “Unequivocally no… It’s absurd on the surface.”
Trump has said that “wages are too high,” he has expressed his opposition to a federal minimum wage, and he has repeatedly stated his desire to leave the minimum wage up to the states.

  • The Week: Donald Trump kicks off GOP debate by saying American wages are “too high.”
  • TRUMP: "Our wages are too high."
  • TRUMP: "I think having a low minimum wage is not a bad thing for this country."
  • TRUMP: When asked whether the federal minimum wage should be eliminated, said he likes: “the idea of the states determining the minimum wage.”
  • PolitiFact: Hillary Clinton: Donald Trump wants to get rid of the federal minimum wage - TRUE
  • PolitiFact: Trump has also said that the minimum wage should be left up to the states in at least four other TV and radio interviews.
  • TRUMP: "I like letting the states set the minimum wage."
  • TRUMP: "On the minimum wage, I would like to leave it to the states because frankly, every state is different."
Despite claiming he "would be the best for women," Trump's record demonstrates the exact opposite. For women in the workplace, Trump opposes paid family leave - saying we "have to be careful of it," and he's called pregnancy an “inconvenience” for employers.

  • STUART VARNEY: "I’m going to start with a – fast response if you would: paid family leave." TRUMP: "Well, it’s something that’s being discussed. I think we have to keep our country very competitive, so, you have to be careful of it."
  • TRUMP: "Well you know, pregnancy…it’s certainly an inconvenience for a business. And whether people want to say that or not, the fact is it is an inconvenience for a person that is running a business."
He’s blamed women for the wage gap, saying that if women want equal pay they should just “do as good a job” as men – as if they aren’t already. He also said “putting a wife to work is a very dangerous thing.”

  • QUESTION: "So if you become president will a woman make the same as a man and will I get to choose what I do with my body?" TRUMP: "You’re going to make the same if you do as good a job. And I happen to be pro-life. OK? I’m pro-life."
  • TRUMP: "I think that putting a wife to work is a very dangerous thing"
Given his past comments, it's no wonder his campaign pays women less than men, though Trump himself attributes differences in earnings to varying levels of "talent."

  • Boston Globe: Donald Trump has paid men on his campaign staff one-third more than women, while Hillary Clinton has compensated men and women equally, according to a Globe analysis of payroll data for both campaigns.
  • O'REILLY: “So, you pay salaries based on your perception of ability.”  TRUMP: “I pay on talent. I pay on ability, I do. I pay on ability
Trump would roll back the Affordable Care Act’s protections and let insurance companies write the rules all over again. He wants to end Obamacare but has no credible plan to replace it or help keep costs down. In fact, his plan would cause almost 21 million people to lose their health insurance.

  • DonaldJTrump.com: On day one of the Trump Administration, we will ask Congress to immediately deliver a full repeal of Obamacare.
  • TRUMP: "Repeal and replace with something terrific."
  • Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget: Trump’s health care plan “would nearly double the number of uninsured, causing almost 21 million people to lose coverage.”
Experts Say Trump's Agenda Would Lead to A Recession
The basic elements of Donald Trump’s plans and his temperament have led economists and leaders from across the spectrum to argue he will lead the economy into recession. An independent analysis by Mark Zandi, a former economic advisor to John McCain, found that Donald Trump’s agenda, including his mass deportation plan, would result in a “lengthy recession” and a loss of more than 3.4 million jobs. Liberals and conservatives alike say Trump’s ideas would be disastrous. The Chamber of Commerce and labor unions, Mitt Romney and Elizabeth Warren, and economists on the left, right and center all agree: Trump’s policies would throw us back into recession.

  • Moody’s Analytics report by Mark Zandi, economic adviser to John McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign: By the end of [Trump’s] presidency, there are close to 3.5 million fewer jobs and the unemployment rate rises to as high as 7% … the average American household’s after-inflation income will stagnate, and stock prices and real house values will decline.
  • Mark Zandi, economic adviser to John McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign: If Trump’s policies were enacted it would be some form of disaster for the economy. If you force 11 million undocumented immigrants to leave in a year, you would be looking at a depression.
  • Politico: Economists savage Trump’s economic agenda
  • U.S. Chamber of Commerce: Does a recession sound ‘great’ to you? Does 7 million lost jobs sound like ‘winning?’ No probably, not. And yet, that’s exactly where our country would be headed under Trump’s trade policies, according to an analysis released last week.
  • AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka: Trump’s policies would make life exponentially worse for those who count on a paycheck.
  • Mitt Romney: If Donald Trump’s plans were ever implemented, the country would sink into prolonged recession.
  • Elizabeth Warren: When the economy is in this kind of trouble, calling on Donald Trump for help is like if your house is on fire calling an arsonist to come help out.
Business the Trump Way: Multiple Bankruptcies, Stiffing Contractors, Outsourcing, and Scamming Americans
Trump likes to brag that his business experience is his primary qualification for office, and he talks a big game about putting “America first,” but his record in business tells a very different story.

  • TRUMP: I’ve been a world-class businessman…That’s the thinking that our country needs
  • TRUMP: I’m going to do for the country what I did for my business.
Just like he makes big promises on the campaign trail, Donald Trump promised investors in his businesses would get rich. But over the years, he intentionally ran up huge amounts of debt on his companies and then he defaulted.

  • New York Times: His casino companies made four trips to bankruptcy court, each time persuading bondholders to accept less money rather than be wiped out.
He bankrupted his companies – not once, not twice, but more than four times. He has tried to play this off as normal business behavior, but as CNN has pointed out, no major company in America has filed Chapter 11 more often in the last 30 years than Trump’s casinos.

  • PolitiFact: Yep, Donald Trump's companies have declared bankruptcy...more than four times
  • TRUMP: "Every major business leader, has used the - I never went bank bankrupt, by the way, as you know, everybody knows. But - hundreds of companies, hundreds of deals, I used the law four times and made a tremendous thing. I’m in business. I did a very good job."
  • CNN: No major U.S. company has filed for Chapter 11 more than Trump’s casino empire in the last 30 years
Thousands of people lost their jobs.  Shareholders were wiped out. The people he made big promises to were harmed, which is what will happen to America if we let him run the country like one of his bankrupt businesses.

  • Chris Wallace: In that case alone lenders to your company lost over $1 billion and more than 1,100 people were laid off.
  • Associated Press: Employment at Trump's three casinos fell from 12,757 to 10,206, a 20 percent decline. Rival casinos increased their staffing by 13 percent during that same period
  • Forbes: In the case of his casinos, Trump has screwed his shareholders three consecutive times by wiping out their investment.
Trump has stiffed hundreds of small businesses that did work for him. Hundreds of small businesses, contractors, and workers that that worked for Donald Trump – painters, waiters, plumbers, landscapers, and others – never got paid. Sometimes he offered them 30 cents on the dollar for projects they had already completed. Hundreds of liens have been filed against him by contractors, going back decades.
  • USA Today: Trump’s 4,000+ lawsuits unprecedented for a presidential nominee
  • Michael Diehl, Freehold Music Co.: Diehl reportedly received 70 cents on the dollar - and a threat that he would do worse if Trump's situation came to bankruptcy - for about $100,000 worth of grand pianos he sold Trump. Watch the story of Michael Diehl here.
  • Marty Rosenberg, Atlantic Plate Glass: Rosenberg's family business, Atlantic Plate Glass, was contracted to install floor-to-ceiling curtain walls of glass at the Trump Taj Mahal.
  • Atlantic Plate Glass was not paid in full for its work on the Taj Mahal - Trump eventually owed the company more than $1 million, and the company lost about $450,000 in its final settlement with Trump.
  • Andrew Tesoro, Architect: Tesoro designed the clubhouse of the Trump National Golf Course in Westchester, NY. Trump loved it. But when Tesoro sent Trump a bill for his work, he replied through his lawyers: Accept pennies on the dollar or I’ll tie you up in court for years.
  • Charles Sperry, Baring Industries: Sperry was president of Baring Industries, which had a multi-million dollar contract to provide kitchen equipment to the Trump Taj-Mahal. As Reuters reports, Sperry's company "eventually received 90 percent of what they were owed...just enough to cover expenses and pay workers, but not enough to realize a profit for Baring's work."
  • Edward Friel Jr., Edward J. Friel Company: Friel Jr.’s company never received more than $80,000 of the $400,000 it was owed for completed work on one of Trump's casinos in the 1980s. Friel Jr.’s son Paul says, "That began the demise of the Edward J. Friel Company… which has been around since my grandfather."
  • USA Today: Trump [offered] as little as 30 cents on the dollar to some of the contractors
Trump has outsourced many of his goods instead of making them in America. His products have been manufactured in at least 12 countries. Trump ties, in China. Trump shirts in Bangladesh. Trump furniture in Turkey. Trump mirrors in India. And Trump barware in Slovenia.

  • Trump clothing: made in Mexico
  • Trump ties: made in China
  • Trump shirts: made in Bangladesh
  • Trump furniture: made in Turkey and Germany
  • Trump mirrors: made in India
  • Trump barware: made in Slovenia
Trump promised ordinary Americans they would get rich through Trump University, encouraging people to max out their credit cards and give thousands just to line his own pockets. Former employees called Trump University a "fraudulent scheme" and a "total lie." It sought out struggling people, telling staff to look for "a single parent of three children that may need money for food." And now he's being sued for fraud.

  • Wall Street Journal: Ex-Employees Criticize Trump University, Calling It ‘Scheme’ and ‘Total Lie’
  • New York Times: Former Trump University Workers Call the School a ‘Lie’ and a ‘Scheme’ in Testimony
  • San Diego Union-Tribune: Court documents that continue to be unsealed in the Trump University case portray the program as a “fraudulent scheme” that employed high-pressure sales tactics to extract as much money from customers as possible.
  • New York Times: Within the documents made public Tuesday were internal employee guides encouraging customers with little money to pay for the tuition with their credit cards.
  • New York Times: Corrine Sommer, an event manager, recounted how colleagues encouraged students to open up as many credit cards as possible to pay for classes that many of them could not afford.
  • TIME: Two examples of personal problems potential Trump University buyers may be experiencing: “Are they a single parent of three children that may need money for food? Or are they a middle-aged commuter that is tired of traveling for 2 hours for work each day?”
  • The New Yorker: The class-action suit...was brought in California by some of Trump University’s disgruntled former attendees.
The Choice In This Election Is Clear
 
Hillary Clinton wants to bring Americans together to tackle the big challenges facing the country, while Donald Trump is temperamentally unfit to lead – and would tear our country apart with his dangerous ideas, divisive rhetoric, and history of harming hard-working Americans. Hillary has a detailed plan to build an economy that works for everyone, not just those at the top. She’d make the largest investment in job creation since World War II and make college debt-free for anyone who wants to attend. The same former McCain advisor who said Trump’s plans would cost 3.4 million jobs and lead to a recession found that under Hillary’s plans, the economy would add 10 million jobs in her first term. She is the only candidate with a record helping working families and a comprehensive plan to ensure working families are given a fair shot at success and opportunity.

###

For Immediate Release, August 8, 2016


from the archive:

Nov. 9, 1999