Donald Trump's October 11, 2017 Taxation Speech: What Didn't He Say?

Donald Trump's October 11, 2017 speech

President Donald Trump spoke yesterday at a National Guard facility in Pennsylvania to promote his proposed tax reform. The audience consisted of about 1000 truckers, together with members of Congress. For the most part, Mr. Trump's speech repeated standard conservative talking points: tax cuts would produce growth, and the income tax needed to be simplified. Pretty much any Republican politician would have said the same things. What was important about the speech is what he did not say. Often, what a speaker does not say is as important as what the speaker does say.

Trump began with some seemingly unrelated comments about "the recent tragedies that have struck our incredible nation." He talked about the California wildfires, which were spreading incredible devastation. He talked about what a wonderful job FEMA and the first responders were doing.

Let us go to his standard taxation talking points. Mr. Trump promised to "Cut the corporate tax rate from 35 percent and more, all the way down to no more than 20 percent - below the average of our major competitors from other countries.  (Applause.)" He said that companies left the United States to avoid our tax rates. He promised that: "For the many American truckers who file taxes as sole-proprietors, S corporations or partnerships, we will cap your top tax rate at a maximum of 25 percent - substantially lower than what you're paying now.  (Applause.)" He promised that the small business tax rate would be cut by 40%. That sounded beneficial to independent truckers. He said that his tax plan would allow faster write-off of capital equipment purchases. Trump claimed that the tax plan "would likely give the typical American household a $4,000 pay raise.  (Applause.)  Could be a lot more than that, too.  You haven't heard this.  So about a $4,000 amount of money additional for the American family to spend.  That's very exciting." That was interesting material, possibly very persuasive to the truckers.


But now, let us look at what Trump did not talk about.

1. The press has already discussed some smoke-and-mirror reasoning in the Republican tax plan. For example, Mr. Trump's claims that it mostly helps the middle class omit the dramatic changes proposed in the estate tax, which only affects the very, very wealthiest Americans. That is a very big thing to leave out. Republicans are often accused of only favoring tax cuts for the rich. The proposed tax reform is very complex, and the details of which have not yet been published. Still, the estate tax is a major part of the proposed tax reform. Leaving it out of the speech is a big deal.

2. The Republican plan has been much criticized for leaving out details. Tax plans are always complicated, and the details make the difference. Mr. Trump's speech still provided no details. At some point, the plan must be turned into legislation, and the details will come out then. Why have they not been made public now? Even if the tax plan turns out to be a very good one, the reluctance to give details can only lead to uncertainty and suspicion.

3. Mr. Trump said nothing about the carried interest loophole, which is a very esoteric tax break that helps big-money investors pay less in taxes. During his October 9, 2017 debate with Hillary Clinton, Mr. Trump severely criticized Clinton for failing to abolish that loophole. It was a big-deal campaign issue for Mr. Trump. Yet he said nothing about that loophole, which gives very rich people a break, in his speech. Why not? Is the loophole to remain intact - when he had earlier made a big deal of how bad it was and how much it needed to be abolished?


4. He said nothing about the ongoing struggles of Puerto Rico, an American territory that was devastated recently by Hurricane Maria. Mr. Trump has been criticized for what some people think was a weak, uncaring response to Puerto Rico struggles. On October 11, much of the island remained without electricity, food, or safe water. Yet he said nothing about Puerto Rico during the speech, which could add to the impression that he still did not care about them. What made this worse is that the next morning he threatened on his Twitter account to withdraw Puerto Rico's federal assistance. Now, there is no need to talk about disaster relief during a taxation speech. But to promise help for one disaster while ignoring another can only lead to questions. Did he omit Puerto Rico because he doesn't care? Or was it just an oversight>

Chapter 7 of my book, From the Front Porch to the Front Page: McKinley and Bryan in the 1896 Presidential Campaign, talks about how William McKinley deliberately failed to talk about an important issue that could not conceivably been ignored. Not talking about something can be as important as talking about it.