The GOP candidates are in strong agreement about tax policy. All of them have proposed plans which make the tax system less progressive. That is accomplished by reducing taxes on investment income and other taxes that are paid primarily by wealthy families. All of the plans dramatically reduce federal tax income. Trump's plan would cut federal tax revenues by $12 trillion over ten years. Three organizations analyzed the proposals and summarized the results in this article.
Since the tax cuts will reduce federal tax income budget deficits will skyrocket under the GOP plans. There are two ways in which the tax cuts can contain rising budget deficits: The government can cut spending or the tax cuts will magically grow the economy. The experts believe that some growth might be derived from tax cuts but not in the order of magnitude required by the tax cuts. The only way to pay for the tax cuts that go primarily to the rich is to cut spending on popular social welfare programs. All of the candidates have avoided any discussion of cuts to these programs during their campaigns. The debates have focused on social and religious values along with the fears that many have about immigration and terrorism.
Marco Rubio argues that he will be the new Ronald Reagan who bring the Republican Party into the 21st century. It would be more precise to argue that he and the other candidates would continue the policies introduced by Reagan which produced huge budget deficits because the tax cuts failed to grow the economy as he proposed. Populists in both parties are concerned about their economic futures. The Republican Party has put their solution on offer. Let them eat social values and use tax policies to funnel more wealth and income to the super rich.
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