A new review of Donald Trump’s plan to revitalize the U.S. economy claims the Republican presidential hopeful would “not be a pro-growth president.”
The fiscally conservative Club for Growth released a searing indictment Wednesday of the billionaire’s fiscal policy, scrutinizing his record on taxes, entitlement reform, regulations, free trade and a host of other hot-button issues.
While other GOP candidates have generally received a high degree of praise in their presidential “white papers,” the Club’s report on Trump appears mostly unfavorable.
The six-page report stresses the years Trump spent as a registered Democrat, criticizes his lack of specificity on spending proposals and tax reform policies, notes his support of eminent domain and highlights a handful of his previously held or current positions that many consider incompatible with modern American conservatism.
“Though he’s never previously run for elected office, Donald Trump has written and spoken extensively about taxes, trade, entitlements and government regulations,” David McIntosh, president of Club for Growth, said in statement Wednesday.
“Trump has held anti-growth positions on each of those issues prior to 2015, and still defends a massive government role in healthcare, a mostly hands-off approach to entitlement reform and protectionist policies that would likely spark trade wars and lead to higher business and consumer costs,” he added.
While the Club says Trump’s proposals to cap the business tax rate at 15 percent and install a federal income tax rate of 0 percent for certain low-income earners would “significantly lower taxes for individuals and businesses,” the group notes that “conservatives have generally opposed efforts to repeal the deferment of taxes on corporate earnings generated overseas,” which remains a staple of the Trump tax plan.
“Trump passes off his terrible record on taxation by insisting he has evolved much like former President Ronald Reagan, states the white paper. “It should be noted that unlike President Reagan, Trump does not adhere to the core philosophy of supply-side economics that drove Reagan’s tax policy.”
As far as spending goes, the group claims Trump “fails to address, in concrete terms, what projects his spending increases would fund, beyond building a border wall and a Veterans Hospital in New Hampshire.” The real estate mogul has frequently called for increased spending on defense and infrastructure in his stump speeches without, as noted, providing much specifics.
“Trump’s more common answer for balancing the budget and covering his proposed spending seems to be his oft-repeated claim that he will improve the economy so much that the budget will balance itself,” notes the Club.
On healthcare, the group contrasts Trump’s promise to repeal and replace Obamacare with his “ongoing support for a single-payer healthcare system.” Club for Growth, which endorses the privatization of Social Security, also takes issue with Trump’s promise to keep the federal income-security program, in addition to Medicare and Medicaid, “as is.”
According to the Club, Trump outlined his position on entitlement programs at the 2013 Conservative Political Action Conference when he reportedly told “conservatives to leave entitlements alone if they want to win elections.”
The report concludes that “while Trump has clearly touched a nerve with Americans who are frustrated with Washington, his approach to politics is not unlike the worst of Washington politicians.”
“Too often Trump has been on opposite sides of the same issue … In light of Donald Trump’s past statements and positions, the Club believes he would not be a pro-growth president,” states the group.
Club for Growth launched a $1 million anti-Trump ad campaign in September in Iowa, having since taken partial credit for Trump’s slump in the polls there. Last month, a spokesman for the group told the Washington Examiner the organization is considering making similar ad buys in other early voting states.
