Donald Trump hasn’t exactly campaigned hard on his tax and spending plans, and it’s not altogether clear that he’s given them much thought—or really any thought at all. But earlier this year, the Republican front-runner1 did release a rather epic tax-cutting proposal (basically a jacked-up version of Jeb Bush’s own blueprint) that think tanks on the left and right estimated would add trillions to the federal debt.
Anyway, while Trump had the world discussing the etymological nuances of the word schlonged Tuesday, the truly nonpartisan Tax Policy Center put out its own score of his plan. And, as the fearmongerin’ mogul himself might put it, the results were absolutely disgusting—$9.5 trillion added to the national debt for a deeply regressive scheme that would hand the top 0.1 percent of taxpayers a more than $1.3 million average cut, while giving an average break of about $130 to the bottom fifth of Americans. One-third of all the benefits would go to the top 1 percent. As the graph below shows, the richer you are, the more you benefit in Trump world.
Of course, Trump has promised to somehow set fire to the tax code while still balancing the federal budget. TPC notes that if he wants to do that without touching entitlements, it would require slashing 80 percent of defense and discretionary spending (things like transportation, scientific research, etc.). Or he just could cut Medicare and Social Security by 40 percent.
Who knows if Trump is actually serious about his tax proposal. But as for what it would do to the government and federal budget, well, I believe there’s now a Yiddish neologism for that.
1 Maybe front-runner? Maybe talented demagogue without the organizational chops to actually turn out the vote and win early primaries? Maybe … oh whatever, who knows.
