Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) is using Detroit to sell a tax plan that he has cast as being both family-friendly and good for economic growth.
Rubio, who will appear before the Detroit Economic Club, will use the hypothetical examples of David, a small business owner, and Danielle, a single mother employed by David.
{mosads}”People like David and Danielle have no lobbyists in Washington,” Rubio will say, according to excerpts provided by his campaign. “Both parties have let them down in the past. But history will judge us by what we do next.”
Rubio said David would be helped by his proposal to cut the top tax rate for all businesses to 25 percent, instead of current top rates ranging to 35 percent for corporations and almost 40 percent for some small businesses.
Companies would also be allowed to immediately write off purchases under the plan that Rubio crafted with Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah).
Danielle, Rubio says, would get help from a more robust child tax credit, which would be increased to a maximum of $2,500 a year per child.
Conservatives who believe that Republicans have been too concerned about slashing tax rates and not enough about helping families have praised the plan from Rubio and Lee.
But those on the right who want to cut tax rates above all else — or even institute a flat tax — have said that the Rubio-Lee plan falls short. The two senators would reduce the top tax rate to 35 percent for the highest-earning individuals, which supply-side conservatives think is still far too high.
Democrats don’t believe that Rubio’s vision would be too helpful to David or Danielle, pointing out that the Florida Republican opposed the auto bailout.
“Marco Rubio says he’s a new type of Republican — but all he’s done is champion the same failed GOP policies that folks like Danielle, David and millions of middle class families have suffered from,” said Christina Freundlich, a spokeswoman for the Democratic National Committee.
The tax plan would also almost certainly add to the federal debt, even according to analyses that are sympathetic to the framework, such as from the free-market Tax Foundation,.
In his speech, Rubio also cites Henry Ford and maintains that Detroit, “the heart of the old economy, is the perfect place to discuss how we can embrace A New American Economy.”
Hillary Clinton’s vision of the the economy’s future includes tax hikes and higher government, Rubio adds about the Democratic front-runner.
“We live in the most exciting era in human history, but if we look to yesterday, we will lose tomorrow,” Rubio says.