Donald Trump’s flip-flopping on his tax plan this week has many politicos scratching their heads. ABC reported it this way:
“As Donald Trump pivots to the general election battle, he’s already walking back his tax plan, the most specific policy proposal he has released during the campaign. ‘By the time it gets negotiated, it’s going to be a different plan,” Trump told George Stephanopoulos on ABC News’ This Week.
In Trump’s tax plan, the wealthiest individuals would get a tax break, with the top tax rate dropping from 39.6 percent to 25 percent. But when pressed if he wants taxes on the wealthy to go up or down, he predicted that the top rate would be higher than the plan says. ‘On my plan they’re going down. But by the time it’s negotiated, they’ll go up,’ Trump said.”
Well, of course any President’s budget plan, tax plan, Social Security plan, Medicare plan (…you get the idea) will be negotiated with a Congress which may hate the idea. That’s why it’s called a “plan” and not “law.” Doesn’t that really go without saying? So what is “The Donald” actually proposing as the presumptive GOP nominee for President?
The Campaign for America’s Future noted Trump’s very similar approach on the minimum wage:
“What Trump actually did was say he would “like to see an increase” then took a position against using presidential power to mandate an increase – and, arguably, against having any federal minimum wage at all! – in deference to the states. It’s lovely that his wish is for those states to propose increases, but refusal to promote federal legislation makes him no different from every other Republican who opposes a federal minimum wage increase.”
So that leads us to the current Trump 2.0 campaign plan (please read our earlier post to compare Trump’s polar opposite views between campaigns) to not cut Social Security and Medicare. Of course, that’s a “plan” too and there are many in the GOP House and Senate who don’t agree, so does that mean this plan is just as illusory as his now morphing tax plan and minimum wage plan? More importantly, in direct relation to his convoluted tax musings, does Donald Trump oppose raising the payroll tax cap so that the wealthy contribute to Social Security based on their full income just as middle-class and poor Americans do?
We certainly don’t know and wonder…does Donald Trump?