Trump touting tax cuts
Hopes for better results after failed repeal, replace
President Trump is predicting he will steal some Democratic support to pass his tax plan in the wake of the surprising defeat of Republican efforts to repeal and replace Obamacare.
“I actually think we’ll have Democratic support from a few people,” Trump told Sean Hannity on Fox News in an interview that aired last night. “I do believe we’ll get a few votes, maybe. It’s interesting. The one thing with the Democrats, they stay together like glue. They’re lousy politicians and their policies are terrible, but they stick together.”
Asked if he believes the tax reform plan can pass by the end of the year, Trump told Hannity: “I hope so.”
Trump tried to sell the tax reform plan to middle-class Americans in Pennsylvania yesterday, claiming to have received free advice from New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft.
“He was at the White House recently. He gave me a Super Bowl ring. I was very honored,” Trump told a crowd of about 1,000 at an airplane hangar in Middletown, Pa. “And as he’s leaving the White House, he said, ‘I know you’re very soon going to be doing tax reform and tax cuts. Give it to the middle class, don’t give it to us. Give it to the middle class.’ And that’s what we’re trying so hard to do, and you’ll see how good it is.”
Trump has invoked Kraft in the tax debate before, relaying a similar tax-the-wealthy story to The Wall Street Journal in July.
With Obamacare repeal and replace off the table for now, Trump is trying to whip up momentum for a tax plan that the White House claims would decrease the number of income tax brackets, slash the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 20 percent and reduce returns to “a single piece of paper.”
But Trump is also trying to avoid accusations his plan will mainly benefit billionaires, like him, and yesterday was eager to portray his plan as a boon to middle- and lower-class taxpayers, particularly his blue-collar base. He spoke in front of two big rigs in Middletown — one emblazoned with “Truckers for Tax Reform” in the battleground state that elected him by less than 1 percent over Democrat Hillary Clinton in November.
“No one knows America better than America’s truckers,” said Trump.
He even vowed to plug the potholes that plague their coast-to-coast treks.
“They will be smooth, beautiful highways again,” said Trump.
He also promised his tax plan “will be rocket fuel for our economy.”
Trump read from a teleprompter, but veered from his prepared remarks regularly, and couldn’t resist a jab at NFL players who have taken a knee during the national anthem. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell in a memo to all 32 teams this week said the league believes “everyone should stand for the National Anthem.” Team owners are expected to talk about the controversy during fall meetings next week.
“I think people forgot how patriotic we are,” said Trump. “I think people forgot how much we love our country. They’ve learned over the last week, haven’t they?”