Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich poked holes on Thursday in Donald Trump's tax proposals during a debate with the Republican nominee's advisor, Larry Kudlow.
"I have never heard how isolationism -- a kind of Smoot-Hawley isolationism in terms of withdrawing from the global market -- at the same time you are cutting taxes -- mostly on the wealthy -- and trickle-down economics at the same time you're embarking on a huge military buildup which Trump also wants to do," Reich said. "How do you do this and how at the same times do you get 25 million new jobs and growth out of this? This is wishful thinking beyond wishful thinking. This is fairy-land."
"My regret, Chris Matthews, down through the years is that I can't convince my very good friend Robert Reich that lower tax rates create incentives and rewards to grow the economy," said Ludlow, a CNBC host. "I love the guy, but he's never understood the growth model."
"The reason you haven't been able to convince me is because nothing has trickled down," Reich responded. "We've been trying, every time we have a Republican administration starting with Ronald Reagan, we tried trickle-down economics and what happened to the middle class? Median wages, median household income has almost gone nowhere with regards to big tax cuts at the top. How can you keep on, after all these years, believing this stuff?"
Trump said earlier in the day that his plan would cut $4.4 trillion in taxes, while also increasing not only military spending, but border security, health care for veterans, and infrastructure.
Watch the segment, as aired on Thursday, below.
