The Patriot Post® · Trump's Working-Class Tax Breaks
Donald Trump is no spending hawk. During his first term, government overspending continued at a high rate, and he presided over an additional $6.5 trillion in debt. Of course, the COVID pandemic hitting early in his fourth year didn’t help matters.
That said, after three and a half years of even more massive government spending under Joe Biden, the Trump years almost look tame.
The reality of modern politics is that economic promises, more often than not, win the day. Indeed, George H.W. Bush likely rues the day he told voters to read his lips regarding his promise of “no new taxes.” His failure to keep that promise likely cost him the 1992 election.
Trump’s bid for reelection was stymied by a global pandemic and not a failure to follow through on economic promises. But as the businessman that he is, he’s made boosting America’s economy a feature of his campaign message, especially given what the country has suffered under Biden and his cackling sidekick, Kamala Harris.
His simple question, an economic comparison of whether you are better off today or under Trump, has been quite effective. Polling shows that Trump has a sizable lead over Harris on the question of economic trust.
Yet Trump clearly believes that simply comparing records is not enough. This is why he’s been floating economic ideas that are specifically targeted at the working class. As he stated at a recent rally in Detroit, “We will make interest on car loans fully deductible.” He added, “This will stimulate massive domestic auto production and make car ownership more affordable for millions of working American families.”
This pitch is aimed, at least in part, at automakers and car dealers who have suffered under the Biden-Harris electric vehicle mandate. The goal is clear: to make buying cars more affordable. Is it a good idea?
Well, not according to fiscal hawks. As The Wall Street Journal’s editorial board contends, “A tax deduction for auto interest could reduce the cost of buying a car and boost demand in the short term. But it would also fuel higher prices and make cars less affordable over time. This is what has happened with the mortgage interest deduction. It’s another tax subsidy for debt and consumption, which the economy doesn’t need.”
Trump has also introduced other ideas, including no overtime pay tax and no tax on Social Security. He also promises to end “double taxation” for Americans working overseas.
These all sound like good ideas. Americans are taxed too much, and that is exacerbated by the fact that politicians believe they can spend those tax dollars better than individual Americans can. Unfortunately, cutting those taxes does not stop the government from continuing to spend like drunken sailors, which is exactly why the national debt is so massive.
However, the Journal’s concern is not simply the national debt. As with Bush, they see Trump making promises he won’t be able to keep and setting the stage for even higher tax rates in the future as Democrats demand that someone “pay for” these giveaways.
It’s good that Trump is looking out for the working class that has borne the brunt of the Biden-Harris administration’s economic malfeasance. He’s putting out easily identifiable policy ideas that will resonate with many average Americans. He’s countering Harris’s ambiguous “opportunity economy” with real meat-and-potatoes proposals.
Of course, Trump is doing this to win votes, but he’s also doing it because he believes it will help the American working class. If it helps him win, let’s hope he turns his attention to the massive problem of federal spending.