Trump’s Economy Only Benefits Corporations — And It Could Get Worse

The economy is not growing at the rate Trump and his advisers promised it would after their massive tax breaks for the rich and big corporations. Now, as workers are losing their jobs and experts are predicting an economic slowdown, Trump’s top advisers want to double down on even more corporate tax cuts.

 

The Trump administration’s own economic report acknowledges the economy won’t reach the 3 percent growth Trump and his advisors repeatedly promised we’d surpass if they passed their tax law.

 

Washington Post: “President Trump has promised an economic boom that will last for years to come, but he’s unlikely to get one without the help of Congress to pass major new legislation, according to estimates by Trump’s own economic team. To achieve about 3 percent growth for the next decade, Trump would need a big infrastructure bill, more tax cuts, additional deregulation, and policies that transition more people off government aid and into full-time jobs, according to the 2019 Economic Report of the President, released Tuesday by Trump’s Council of Economic Advisers.”

 

Trump’s top economic advisers are saying that Trump’s massive corporate tax cuts have been so successful that they want to give corporations even more handouts.

 

Kevin Hassett: “There’s a lot of noodling going on in the White House thinking about what taxes 2.0 might really look like, when we get to that point, because I think that tax cuts, especially on the corporate side, have been so successful.”

 

Larry Kudlow: “21 percent’s a nice number. We want it 15. I’m not done with that yet by the way. 15. Maybe there’s a tax cut 2.0, maybe not.”

 

But Trump’s tax cuts incentivized corporations like General Motors to offshore jobs. Now, thousands of workers have lost their jobs, which Trump vowed to save.

 

GM Lordstown local union leader: “The GOP tax cut gave corporations like General Motors an incentive to build products outside the state…. We just wanted to make sure he understood that, ‘A)’ the regulations that are on the book aren’t really helping working people, it’s not helping companies that actually employ people, and a lot of people here voted for him. You know, he came here and told folks don’t sell your house, that those jobs are coming back, and we’ve seen job losses.”

 

And a new survey shows that economic growth will likely slow sharply this year and next.

 

CNBC: “US economic growth is likely to slow sharply this year and next, according to CNBC’s Fed survey”

 

CNBC: “The average forecast for gross domestic product growth this year is just 2.3 percent, down from 2.44 percent expected in the January survey and a further slowing from the actual 3.1 percent year-over-year pace for the fourth quarter of 2018. Economic growth is seen stepping below 2 percent in 2020, according to the survey.”