Subject: RE: COMMS REVIEW: The “King of Debt” and Congressional Republicans on the Economy
From: "Walsh, Tom" <[email-masked]>
To: "Paustenbach, Mark" <[email-masked]>, "Walker, Eric" <[email-masked]>, "Miranda, Luis" <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 9 May 2016 09:49:39 -0700

Edits below – I added a hit on his bankruptcies in the quote
From: Paustenbach, Mark
Sent: Monday, May 09, 2016 11:52 AM
To: Walker, Eric; Miranda, Luis; Walsh, Tom
Subject: COMMS REVIEW: The “King of Debt” and Congressional Republicans on the Economy

SL: The “King of Debt,” Donald Trump and the GOP on the Economy

In less than a week since becoming the GOP’s presumptive nominee, Donald Trump has already exposed himself as reckless and dangerous on the American economy. His comments over the last few days promise to undermine  the role of the United States as a major economic power and potentially threaten the global financial system.

On Taxes, Trump Can’t Hide from GOP’s Obsession with Trickle Down Economics – Yesterday, Trump tried to dismiss concerns about his reckless tax plan, which would reward those at the top<http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-trump-idUSKCN0XZ0I3> by slashing the top income tax rate to 25 percent from 39.6 percent, claiming that “the rich” are “probably going to end up paying more.” In reality, such a move would give<http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/first-read/first-read-why-trump-s-flip-flop-taxes-matters-n570431> the “top 0.1% of income earners like himself an average tax cut of more than $1.3 million (versus $2,700 for those in the middle class).” Trump also plans to substantially<https://www.donaldjtrump.com/positions/tax-reform> reduce the corporate tax rate to 15 percent, even beyond the reckless plan put forth by Republican Speaker Paul Ryan.
This latest effort to mask Try as he might, Trump can’t hide the facts about his the Republican party’s reckless economic policies, which are the same policies that preceded the great recession when our economy was losing 800,000 jobs per month.
Trump’s plans are nearly identical to the proposal put forth by Paul Ryan and Republicans in Congress who want to cut<http://www.taxjusticeblog.org/archive/2015/10/paul_ryan_wants_to_cut_taxes_f.php#.VzCi6oQrK70> the top tax rate to 25 percent. Ryan would also cut corporate taxes down to 25 percent. There’s a name for this: Trickle Down Economics. And it doesn’t work. Just ask the last two Republican Adminsitrations, which both left our country mired in recession and facing massive deficits.

On America’s Debt: A Page Out of the GOP Playbook – This morning, Trump doubled down on his statements that the United States should consider<http://www.politico.com/story/2016/05/trump-no-debt-default-222957#ixzz48AeHAolA> playing fast and loose with our nation’s finances, even calling himself . He noted this morning that he’s “the king of debt.” He also said, “this is the United States government. First of all, you never have to default because you print the money.” Such reckless positions, if implemented, could threaten America’s standing in the world and lead to chaos in the financial markets.

This is the same sort of behavior that Republicans in Congress undertook when they played politics last year with the debt ceiling (this was not the first time), leading one credit rating agency to remark<http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-government-shutdown-credit-rating-fitch-20150923-story.html> that any protracted fight over the issue could endanger America’s credit rating.

“Donald Trump’s reckless tax policies and his suggestion that we should play chicken with the country’s finances are lifted directly from the same old failed Congressional Republican playbook. Trump can try to run from ignore reality and crown himself the king of debt, but his positions but his record economic ideas, and those of his fellow Republican leaders is clear are as bankrupt as the Trump Taj Mahal was in 1991, and the Trump Plaza Hotel in 1992, and Trump Hotels in 2004, and Trump Entertainment Resorts in 2009. America cannot afford a disastrous Trump presidency. Now more than ever we need to elect a Democrat as our 45th president.”      [-XXX]