Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are laying out their proposals for the economy this week — and wasting no time exchanging fire over whose plan is best for America.
In Detroit on Monday, Trump is set to outline an economic plan that calls for a ban on new financial regulations, a repeal of the estate tax and more items that his advisers argue will benefit the middle class.
The Republican nominee’s shift to policy comes after a disastrous post-convention week and new polls showing Clinton widening her lead.
Clinton takes her turn on Thursday, when she also will be in Detroit to lay out her economic agenda in a major address.
“Well, I think it is a big week,” said CNN senior political commentator David Axelrod. “For Trump it’s really interesting because his economic plan is one that will appeal to some of the conservatives in the Republican Party, and he’s been losing among college-educated whites, which is a huge turnaround from four years ago with Mitt Romney. He hopes that will appeal to them. And he’s leading with the abolition of taxes on childcare. This is a candidate who’s had huge problems with women that he needs to address and so, you know, you can see the strategy behind what he’s doing.”
Trump’s plan calls for cutting income taxes, eliminating tax brackets, and making childcare expenses tax deductible, according to an outline of the plan obtained by CNN Monday.
Trump would also end environmental regulations established by President Barack Obama, seek to restart the Keystone XL pipeline project, and withdraw the U.S. from the Paris climate agreement.
He will also confirm his opposition to free trade plans, calling for withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership and renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement.
“This is where we need to drill down and keep talking about over and over again,” former Rep. Jack Kingston, a Trump adviser, told CNN’s Chris Cuomo on “New Day” Monday.
You know 67% of the people recently polled said they do not like the track that America’s on, they’re uncomfortable, and he’s speaking to them and he’s taking responsibility and he says, ‘I’m going to be a jobs president, I’m going to reduce regulations on small businesses and I’m going to cut their taxes, I’m going to allow America to grow’,” he added. “We do not need a third term of Obamanomics.”
Hillary Clinton has been pulling away from Trump in recent polling, following his disastrous battle with the parents of slain Iraq War veteran Capt. Humayun Khan. The latest CNN Poll of Polls shows Clinton beating Trump 49%-39% nationwide.
But a CNN poll in June and a more recent Fox News survey found that voters trust Trump more than Clinton on the economy.
The Clinton campaign fired off a blast against the Trump plan Monday morning, arguing that it was rooted in big tax breaks for corporations and businesses and would likely lead to a recession.
“A Trump presidency would cause damage to the American economy and working families,” Clinton’s economic advisers argue in the memo.
The Clinton campaign repeated many of the same blasts against Trump it has used before — arguing that he rooted for the housing crisis and would allow the U.S. to default on its debts. But they also pointed out the areas where they diverge, hinting at her own rollout later this week, by noting Trump doesn’t support debt-free college, paid family leave or a federal minimum wage.
