President Donald Trump visited the Show Me State on Wednesday, August 30, 2017, to kick off his push for a thorough review and reworking of the American tax system.
Jerry Jost, president of Jost Chemical Company and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Associated Industries of Missouri (AIM) and AIM president/CEO Ray McCarty were in attendance as the president unveiled key principles of his tax plan.
Because mainstream media picks and chooses what you are able to see, we want to be sure you get to watch the entire event. Below is a link to the White House video of the event.
The president’s tax reform plan begins with four basic principles. Here they are in his own words:
“We need a tax code that is simple, fair, and easy to understand. That means getting rid of the loopholes and complexity that primarily benefit the wealthiest Americans and special interests;”
“We need a competitive tax code that creates more jobs and higher wages for Americans;”
“The third principle for tax reform is a crucial one: tax relief for middle-class families;” and,
“Fourth and finally, we want to bring back trillions of dollars in wealth that’s parked overseas.”
The president cited the 1986 tax reform led by former President Ronald Reagan that “led the world by cutting our corporate tax rate to 34 percent.” He noted that was below the average rate for developed countries at that time. The economy responded very favorably to the tax cut and “our economy boomed,” said President Trump. “Over the last 30 years, the average business tax rate among developed nations fell from 45 percent to less than 24 percent,” he said. “We have gone from a tax rate that is lower than our economic competitors to one that is more than 60 percent higher. We have totally surrendered our competitive edge to other countries. We’re not surrendering anymore.”
The president elaborated on his fourth point: “Because of our high tax rate and horrible, outdated, bureaucratic rules, large companies that do business overseas will often park their profits offshore to avoid paying a high United States tax if the money is brought back home,” he said. “By making it less punitive for companies to bring back this money, and by making the process far less bureaucratic and difficult, we can return trillions and trillions of dollars to our economy and spur billions of dollars in new investments in our struggling communities and throughout our nation.”
President Trump called on Congress to work with him to achieve significant tax reform and “unleash America’s full potential.”
The BBC interviewed Ray McCarty after the event. McCarty applauded President Trump’s speech, saying his plan would greatly benefit American companies. You may listen to his interview here: https://a4gb.files.wordpress.com/2017/08/bbc-business-matters-mccarty-interview-083017.mp3
Here are some of the pictures we shot at the event:
President Donald Trump in Springfield, MO 8/30/17
Jerry Cook of the Loren Cook Company welcomes President Trump to his facility.
Ivanka Trump was also present at the event and drew loud applause as she entered.
A large crowd was on hand to hear President Trump’s remarks.
Ray McCarty (AIM) and Chairman of the Board Jerry Jost (Jost Chemical Co.) enjoyed the event.