We Must Fix Our Self-Destructive Tax Code
President Donald J. Trump
Journal Sentinel
September 3, 2017
As we celebrate Labor Day, we are reminded of the inherent dignity of work and the American worker. In America, we honor grit. We honor determination. We honor craftsmanship. And we honor the men and women who turn dreams into reality with their own two hands.
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Today, the hopes and dreams of American workers and their families remain a top priority for my administration. That is why we are launching efforts to reduce the crushing tax burden that is harming our companies and our workers.
Our self-destructive tax code costs Americans millions of jobs, trillions of dollars and billions of hours spent on compliance and paperwork.
To fix this, we have made the foundation of our job creation agenda fundamentally reforming our tax code for the first time in more than 30 years. I want to work with Congress on a plan that is pro-growth, pro-jobs, pro-worker and pro-American.
Our plan will dramatically reduce income taxes for American workers and families. It will nearly double the standard deduction to help families get ahead. It will make our complex tax code more simple and fair. It will put money back into the pockets of the people who earned it. And it will bring back American jobs by making our businesses competitive once again.
In 1986, President Ronald Reagan led the effort to make America the most competitive nation in the world by cutting our business tax rate to 34%, well below the average rate of other developed nations at the time. It worked. Our economy boomed, the middle class thrived and median family income increased.
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We know that when a business shuts down, or a factory packs up and leaves the United States for another country, the cost is measured not merely in lost jobs. It is measured in diminished confidence and lost hope.
We owe it to the American people to fix this broken system. American businesses want to prosper on our shores, and middle-class families are ready for more growth, more jobs and higher pay.
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It’s time for Congress to provide a level playing field for our workers, to bring American companies back home, to attract new companies and businesses to our country, and to put more money into the pockets of everyday hardworking people.