Donald Trump is often described as an “unconventional” candidate. On the federal budget, however, his campaign promises are entirely too conventional.
As Concord Coalition Executive Director Robert L. Bixby writes in a new blog post, some candidates deny the necessity of entitlement reform. Some want enormous tax cuts without offering credible proposals to prevent this from worsening the debt.
Donald Trump is often described as an “unconventional” candidate. On the federal budget, however, his campaign promises are entirely too conventional.
As Concord Coalition Executive Director Robert L. Bixby writes in a new blog post, some candidates deny the necessity of entitlement reform. Some want enormous tax cuts without offering credible proposals to prevent this from worsening the debt.
Some candidates exaggerate how much they could save by attacking waste, fraud and abuse. And some overstate the economic growth their policies could produce.
Bixby says Trump does all of the above — while simultaneously promising to balance the budget.
For example, the trustees for Social Security and Medicare warn that they are on unsustainable tracks. Yet Trump vows no structural changes in these programs — something that would also make his proposed federal spending freeze particularly difficult.
Meanwhile, he promises “big league” tax cuts but the details are vague.
“In the end,” Bixby writes, “Trump’s fiscal promises sound like those of a typical politician: He is explicit on the popular stuff, such as keeping entitlement benefits the same and cutting taxes, and vague on the unpopular stuff, such as paying for it all.”
This is the first in a series of Concord Coalition blog posts on the fiscal and economic proposals of prominent presidential candidates. Concord does not endorse or oppose candidates or political parties.
