What Editorials Are Saying About Trump's Tax Plan

'Wall Street Journal' is happy, while the 'New York Times' sees giveaway to rich
By Newser Editors,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 28, 2017 12:10 PM CDT
What Editorials Are Saying About Trump's Tax Plan
President Trump speaks in Indianapolis on Wednesday.   (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

Here's a look at early reaction to the proposed tax changes proposed by Republicans and President Trump:

  • Wall Street Journal: The editors are pretty happy, but they fear changes. "Americans who want a faster-growing economy should be pleased," they write, particularly with the proposal to cut the corporate tax rate from 35% to 20%. Reducing the number of tax brackets for individuals to three is wise, but they hate the possibility that a fourth might be created for the wealthiest Americans. In short, the plan will simplify things and boost US competitiveness—"if the final product isn't diluted by the class-warfare brigades and K Street lobbyists."

  • New York Times: Vital details are scant, but this much is clear about the plan editors call a "boondoggle": Despite what the president says, this plan could actually leave members of the middle class worse off, and it would "do little or nothing to improve the lot of the working class." So who would benefit? Think "hedge fund managers, corporate executives, real estate developers, and other members of the 1 percent," write the editors. "And can it be just a happy coincidence that Mr. Trump and his family would benefit 'bigly' from this plan?"
  • USA Today: The editors think that simplification is welcome and that the cut in the corporate tax rate is long overdue. But ultimately, they can't support it. "Perhaps the most egregious provision in the GOP plan is a longtime goal of some of America's wealthiest individuals, many of whom also happen to be major political donors: an end to the tax on inherited wealth."
  • National Review: The plan is "chock-full of good ideas about modernizing the taxation of business," write the editors, but the changes in regard to individual tax rates are still too much up in the air to properly gauge. Republicans should be wary of the effect on the deficit, but they "have an opportunity to pass a reform of the tax code that makes it more pro-growth and pro-family while also simplifying it. They should take it."
(More taxes stories.)

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