At the risk of appearing to oversimplify the contrast between the candidates, it is quite simply, big business vs. small business focus. They are codependent and both are essential to balancing our economic system.
Vice President Kamala Harris has revealed a key plank of her vision of the economy: driving the growth of small businesses, as part of her core belief that, when the middle class is strong, America is strong. This is a continuation and expansion of the Biden-Harris commitment to supporting small business. This commitment was exemplified with the COVID Economic Impact Stimulus, 470 million payments totaling $850 billion. Add to this an additional $800 billion for the Small Business Administration’s Payroll Protection (forgivable loan) Program (PPP). Both programs amounted to just 20% of the $8.8 Trillion dollars of national debt amassed by Trump’s tax cuts in his four years.
Being inclined to support that which is in the best interest and greater good of the most people and upholding majority rule, I believe the Harris plan is the most democratic (small “d”) given that small business generates 75% of all jobs. Interestingly, conspicuous by its absence in my research, was any data documenting how many people (conservative critics of Democratic policies) didn’t cash their stimulus checks or chose to lose their businesses rather than apply for a PPP Loan.
By contrast, former president Donald Trump wants our economy to once again serve billionaires and big corporations by giving them massive tax windfalls. Last time, it cost us $8.8 Trillion. It would be interesting to see how many people benefitted by comparison. This time it is projected to cost/add more than $10 billion to the national debt. Driving debt up is a primary qualifier for bankruptcy. Having filed for bankruptcy six times, Trump has privately used this strategy more times than should ever be allowed. There is no reason to believe that he wouldn’t bankrupt the country by imploding our economy. What is puzzling is his feigned sense of fairness when it comes to NATO members paying their equitable share, yet somehow, he can’t find his way to applying that same indignation to corporations paying their fair share in taxes, contributing to the aversion of an unsustainable debt load. These corporate tax cuts are paid for by the middle class three times over.
Don’t believe me? This week a growing slate of analyses and reports, from veteran reporters to financial services professionals to conservative-leaning economists, have evaluated the negative economic impact of Trump’s economic agenda for a second term, finding it would cost trillions of dollars, explode the national debt, shrink economic growth, curb job creation, drive up inflation, and raise costs for middle-class and working Americans by thousands of dollars a year. I invite you to read what conservatives are saying.
Donald Trump’s plans defy fundamental economic principles, upending the American economy, and costing trillions, with the middle class bearing the brunt of the fallout.
- The consequences feel even more alarming knowing Trump could impose one of his most reckless plans – a middle-class tax hike opposed even by top Congressional Republicans – without Congress, as reported by Politico, The Washington Post, and The New York Times.
Bloomberg, CNN, The New York Times, The Congressional Budget Office, and the Penn Wharton Budget Model: Trump’s agenda would explode the national debt by trillions of dollars.
- Bloomberg: “Republican nominee Donald Trump and running mate JD Vance are campaigning on a grab bag of tax cut proposals that could collectively cost as much as $10.5 trillion over a decade.”
The conservative-leaning Tax Foundation, Goldman Sachs, and Moody’s: Trump’s agenda would shrink economic growth and undermine job creation.
- Tax Foundation: “We estimate the proposed tariffs would reduce long-run GDP by 0.8 percent, the capital stock by 0.6 percent, and hours worked by 685,000 full-time equivalent jobs.”
- USA Today: “According to a Moody’s study, Trump’s plan would trigger a recession by mid-2025 and an economy that grows an average 1.3% annually during his four-year term vs. 2.1%…Next year, under a Trump administration, inflation would rise…The U.S. would have 3.2 million fewer jobs and a 4.5% unemployment rate, a half percentage point higher, at the end of a Trump tenure.”
- Fortune: “Goldman Sachs Group Inc. economists gamed out the potential economic implications of a Republican or Democratic victory in the November elections, cautioning that US GDP faces a hit in the case of a win for Donald Trump.”
Nobel laureate economists, financial services analysts, and Wall Street economists agree: Trump’s agenda will drive up inflation.
- Axios: “16 Nobel economists see a Trump inflation bomb”
- Wall Street Journal: “Economists Say Inflation Would Be Worse Under Trump…”
The conservative-leaning American Action Forum and The Center for American Progress agree: Trump’s agenda would effectively impose a national sales tax of nearly $4,000 a year for the typical middle-class household.
President Biden is the only President in history to preside over two economic recoveries’, the first as President Obama’s Vice-President implementing the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) and the second he inherited from Trump.
If it’s true that most Americans vote their pocketbooks when it comes to choosing between presidential candidates, then, the choice is clear. Only one party is looking out for the middle class: the Harris-Walz ticket and the Democrats.
