Why Trump? Donald Trump Platforms, From A Single Page Tax Form With The Words ‘I Win’ To Increasing Wage For H-1B Workers
Donald Trump is gaining momentum following his superior Super Tuesday showing. The businessman and GOP frontrunner has banked his campaign on the slogan of “Make America Great Again” with supporters lining up to support the man that seemingly isn’t bought out by any special interest groups or the establishment. Trump has garnered much of his success based on the fact that he is self-funding his campaign and refuses to take donations from anyone. Trump notes that he will “not be bought” and that he stands only for the American people. This rhetoric has proven successful for the businessman but many are asking exactly what a Trump presidency would mean for the nation. With Trump’s conversations focusing on the fact that he is not for sale, many policy specifics have gone undisclosed as the media, Trump supporters, and Trump dissenters focus on his boisterous rhetoric and over-the-top confidence. So what exactly would a Trump presidency look like? Where does the GOP frontrunner Donald Trump fall on major issues?
Why can’t the leaders of the Republican Party see that I am bringing in new voters by the millions-we are creating a larger, stronger party!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 2, 2016
With much of Donald Trump’s support or hate stemming from his loud voice and controversial statements surrounding public figures, it seems that many people have neglected to take a good, hard look at exactly what a Trump presidency would look like from a platform standpoint. While many people regard Trump as a poor presidential choice because he is unpolished and “unprofessional” as a speaker, others can’t stand him because he has “flip-flopped” between the Democratic and Republican party over the years making staunch conservatives uncomfortable as he is not the standard GOP nominee. Likewise, Trump supporters fall head-over-heels for the businessman’s appealing stance that he won’t be bought by the establishment or special interest groups. With the focus on Trump’s self-funding and cartoon-like behavior, his actual position on the major issues seem to be all but unreported. Aside from the occasional support or dissent from a singular brash statement on immigration or health care, Trump has yet to give a speech that fully outlines his plan to “Make America Great Again” or detail his plans on platform issues. Instead, he makes broad statements about “I am good for women” or “I would be good for Mexico” instead of detailing his plan to do just that. This has left some Trump supporters grasping for straws when asked to detail their candidate of choice and his stance on key issues.
The reason so little is known about Trump’s position on the key issues is because he has only hashed out real policy plans for a limited number of issues that he is banking on for the presidential nomination. Trump focuses on five key issues on his website, detailing his plans on tax reform, U.S.-China relations, veteran’s affairs, Second Amendment rights, and immigration reform. These are the only issues that Trump has hashed out and provided a clear-cut plan for in his campaign. Let’s outline Trump’s key policy initiatives for these five key issues.
Trump’s Tax Reform
Trump provides his detailed tax reform plan on his website. In the tax reform policy it is noted that married couples making less than $50,000, single individuals making less than $25,000, and head of households making less than $37,500 will owe no taxes and can fill out a simple one-page tax form writing the words “I win” on the document and sending it in to the IRS.
“If you are single and earn less than $25,000, or married and jointly earn less than $50,000, you will not owe any income tax. That removes nearly 75 million households – over 50% – from the income tax rolls. They get a new one page form to send the IRS saying, ‘I win,’ those who would otherwise owe income taxes will save an average of nearly $1,000 each.”
If you make more than those figures, your tax rate would be a flat rate without the excessive tax loopholes. See the chart for tax rates under the Trump plan below.
Trump also notes under his tax reform plan that businesses will pay a flat 15 percent tax rate regardless of whether they are a large corporation or a freelancer.
“Under the Trump plan, America will compete with the world and win by cutting the corporate tax rate to 15%, taking our rate from one of the worst to one of the best. This lower tax rate cannot be for big business alone; it needs to help the small businesses that are the true engine of our economy. Right now, freelancers, sole proprietors, unincorporated small businesses and pass-through entities are taxed at the high personal income tax rates. This treatment stifles small businesses. It also stifles tax reform because efforts to reduce loopholes and deductions available to the very rich and special interests end up hitting small businesses and job creators as well. The Trump plan addresses this challenge head on with a new business income tax rate within the personal income tax code that matches the 15% corporate tax rate to help these businesses, entrepreneurs and freelancers grow and prosper.”
You can read Trump’s full tax reform plan here.
U.S.-China Relations
Trump notes that he will declare China a U.S. currency manipulator to counteract the low prices of Chinese goods and increase the ability for Americans to compete with the mass produced goods. He notes that intellectual rights laws would be enforced and that the U.S. will not trade with China unless they agree to adhere to intellectual property rights regulations. Trump also notes he would look into trade violations over China allegedly violating core trade agreements by undercutting costs by subsidizing production and export.
Unlike Trump’s tax reform plan, the U.S.-China relations plan is somewhat more vague but showcases the areas that Trump feels are most pressing to the American public.
Veteran’s Administration Reform
Trump’s veteran’s administration reform focuses on creating more satellite clinics so that veterans living in rural areas can access the care they need without transportation restrictions as well as encouraging mental health reform to meet the emotional needs of veterans. The plan includes hiring more veterans to treat veterans, increasing availability of job placement for veterans, and updating outdated systems including more services dedicated to female veterans. To achieve these goals, Trump says he will fire the incompetent administration of the program and replace them with new administrators that will spend their allocated money more efficiently.
Second Amendment Rights
Trump offers a broader plan to deal with the Second Amendment and the right to bear arms. Trump is advocating for a national right to carry in which a license to carry would be valid on all 50 states. Instead of increasing regulation, Trump says we simply need to enforce the laws already in place and ensure background data is ran quickly and efficiently.
“Too many states are failing to put criminal and mental health records into the system – and it should go without saying that a system’s only going to be as effective as the records that are put into it. What we need to do is fix the system we have and make it work as intended. What we don’t need to do is expand a broken system.”
Immigration Reform
Trump has been most vocal on this particular issue, but more details are provided in his official Trump immigration plan. Trump has been vocal about his desire to “build a wall and make Mexico pay for it.” That idea is front and center in his immigration plan but he also includes plans to increase the number of ICE officers at the border, end birthright citizenship, deport immigrants immediately if they commit a crime in the United States, and enhance penalties for those who overstay their visas.
Another focus of the immigration reform plan is to focus on preventing immigrants from taking jobs from the American people. He claims he will do this by increasing the wage for H-1B workers, making it more desirable to hire Americans first and allocating money to youth programs aimed at ensuring future generations are ready for the workforce.
[Image by Andrew Harnik/ AP Photo]
