Just days after winning the presidency, Donald Trump released his detailed tax plan for the nation and gave an opportunity for the public to determine whether or not he would deliver on his promise of providing massive tax cuts to the middle and lower class. On the campaign trail Trump traveled from city to city promising the forgotten blue collar workers of America, the difference makers of this past election that under his tax plan they would be able to keep more money in their pockets and the wealthy top 1% (including himself) would see tax increases. Unsurprisingly (at least to me), Trump’s tax policies for the most part will accomplish exactly the opposite of what he promised. Mansha in her presentation did a very good job of outlining the major changes to the tax code under President Trump and describing the implications it can have on everyday Americans and the economy.

For the most part, I agree with many of the viewpoints Mansha took regarding Trump’s proposed tax plan and ultimately do support her claim that Trump’s tax plans will provide massive tax cuts not for the middle or lower class, but rather the wealthy. To start off, I agree that Trump’s tax plan will drive up the deficit and debt significantly since the government will be taking in less revenue and most likely spending will not decrease. This is the usual scenario that unfolds when there is a Republican in office and does not come as a surprise.  However, I am not 100% sure this will drive up the interest rates as Mansha claimed, since there are many other variables to consider in determining whether interest rates rise or fall. I also support Mansha’s view that simply decreasing the number of tax brackets does not exactly mean that the tax code is simpler. I believe that lumping everyone into three categories serves as an advantage only to the wealthy. If we look at the bracket for Americans being taxed 33%, we see that it applies to anyone making more than $112,500 if they are single or $225,000 if they are married. I believe this is unfairly advantageous to the wealthy because someone earning millions of dollars should not be taxed the same percentage as someone making a middle class income.  While discussing corporate taxes Mansha stated that under the Trump plan corporate taxes would decrease from 35% to 15% which will in turn create “real jobs” with “real benefits”. For the most part I disagree with this notion. This is essentially the classic Republican trickle down economics or Reaganomics approach that never works because it depends too much on corporations acting in the best interest of the American people. Although I do believe there is potential for jobs to being created if we cut corporate taxes, there is no guarantee these corporations will invest this money in the right places to create jobs for the American people.

One specific area in Mansha’s presentation I would elaborate on is the implications Trump’s tax plan has on single parents. I believe single mother and fathers are probably the class of citizens that are most impacted by the changes made to the tax code. As Mansha noted in her presentation, Trump is getting rid of the head of household category which single parents file under and is also eliminating the $4,000 exemption for each member living in the household. Taking away the $4,000 exemption for each household member will be devastating for single parents. This is evident in many of the examples that were given in the article from the National Public Radio (NPR). One of the examples in the article compares how much a single parent with three school-aged children is being taxed versus a married couple with two-school aged children given that the families are earning the same amount. The example stated if both families were to make $50,000, the single parent would see a tax increase of about $1,200, whereas the married couple would only see a tax increase of about $150.