TAXES/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Trump delivered an economic victory lap during a speech to farmers on Monday [1-8-18] in which he vastly overstated the size of the tax cuts passed by Congress late last year and played up a rollback of regulations on American businesses.
Declaring that the ‘American dream is roaring back to life,’ Mr. Trump — who has made clear that he likes big numbers — claimed that the tax overhaul cut taxes by $5.5 trillion when, in fact, the legislation will reduce the overall tax burden on individuals and companies over the next decade by $1.5 trillion, or $4 trillion less than what he cited… Mr. Trump apparently chose to highlight just one side of the ledger — the total amount of tax reductions in the bill that he signed in December — without counting the amount of taxes that were increased in the same legislation to help pay for the bill. White House officials declined to respond to questions about the president’s $5.5 trillion figure.
The new law cut taxes on businesses and individuals but also eliminated many breaks that companies and families rely on to lower their tax burden, effectively raising taxes on some. For instance, while the tax bill cut the corporate rate to 21 percent from 35 percent, it also eliminated several business tax breaks, including one used by some farmers. The bill also scaled back many individual tax breaks, such as the state and local tax deduction and the mortgage interest deduction, to help keep the overall cost of the bill to $1.5 trillion.”
-Michael D. Shear, “Trump Overstates Size of Tax Cuts in Speech to Farmers,” The New York Times online, Jan. 8, 2018