If Democrats Were Shrewd . . . - WSJ - 0 views
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As candidate and as president, Mr. Trump repeatedly claimed his tax reforms would not benefit the wealthy, and railed against big Wall Street banks and tech giants. Populist Democrats can help the president make good on his promises—and make Republicans shriek—by proposing a financial-transaction tax and a revenue tax on tech companies. They’d be following Europe’s lead. Democrats can force the issue by ending the carried-interest tax break, another of Mr. Trump’s campaign promises.
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That new revenue would reduce annual deficits and make a down payment on another Trump campaign promise: eliminating the nation’s debt in eight years. Contrasting themselves with supposed small-government congressional Republicans, who presided over a $779 billion budget deficit during the last fiscal year, Democrats can be the party of fiscal responsibility, expanding government while reducing the deficit. There is no law mandating they spend all the new revenue they raise
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Mr. Trump has repeatedly criticized Amazon, Facebook and Google, and House Democrats can assist the Justice Department in pursuing antitrust reviews of the largest technology companies. Just as withdrawing troops from Syria has angered traditional Republicans while pleasing Mr. Trump’s more isolationist populist base, a push for greater tech oversight would frustrate traditional Republicans’ deregulatory agenda.
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