Taxes have so far been a secondary issue in the campaign. | AP Photo Clinton rips Trump's tax plan in speech on the economy

Hillary Clinton set up a stark contrast Thursday between her tax plan and Donald Trump’s, portraying her Republican rival’s proposal as one that would benefit millionaires, big companies and Wall Street.

At the same time, Clinton — in a speech in Warren Michigan — touted her own tax plan and other economic proposals as a boon to the middle class.


“When it comes to creating jobs, I would argue that it’s not even close,” Clinton said. “Even conservative experts say Trump’s agenda will pull our economy back into recession.”

Clinton delivered a broad but forceful rebuke of Trump’s temperament and policies in a 50-plus minute speech in which she went into detail about a number of her own policies and proposals while also knocking Trump for only having something to offer the wealthiest Americans.

Taxes have so far been a secondary issue in the campaign. But Trump made his tax cut proposal a central point of an economic address he delivered in Detroit on Monday. By Clinton’s account, the real estate mogul spoke only of “failure, poverty and crime,” refusing to acknowledge the bright spots throughout Michigan that she addressed, including Ann Arbor, Houghton and Futuramic Tool & Engineering, where she spoke.



“None of us can be satisfied until the economic revitalization we’re seeing in some parts of Michigan reaches every community, but it is inspiring to see this combination of old-fashioned hard work and cutting-edge innovation,” she said. “And I know my opponent in this election was here in Michigan about a week ago and it was like he was in a different place... He is missing so much about what makes Michigan great, and the same is true when it comes to our country.”

Clinton characterized Trump’s plan as one that would be destructive to the economy and benefit “people like himself.” Branding a tax loophole as the “Trump Loophole,” Clinton said Trump’s plan would allow him to pay a tax rate on his companies that’s less than half of the current figure. That figure, she added, would be a lower rate than millions of middle class families.

Trump’s plan would cut the top tax rate to 33 percent. He proposed a 15 percent business rate that Clinton said would directly benefit Trump and his business empire. She also highlighted the estate tax that Trump has vowed to repeal. Clinton insisted Trump’s family would save $4 billion while all but the top .02 percent of Americans would get nothing.

“Donald Trump wants to give trillions in tax breaks to people like himself,” she said. “I want to invest in our veterans, our kids, our police officers and so much more.”

Clinton has proposed a number of tax increases targeting the wealthy, including three new minimum taxes, layered on top of the alternative minimum tax. She would use much of the revenue to pay for new spending initiatives, such as offering free college tuition.

In Detroit, Trump said his plan “will offer the biggest tax revolution since the Reagan Tax Reform, which unleashed years of continued economic growth and job creation.”

Clinton, however, argued that Trump has little to offer to everyday Americans.

“Based on what we know from the Trump campaign, he wants America to work for him and his friends at the expense of everyone else. He’s offered no credible plans to address what working families are up against today,” Clinton said.

All Trump offers is a “more extreme version of the failed theory of trickle-down economics with his own addition of outlandish, Trumpian ideas that even Republicans reject,” she continued.

Clinton called for a president who “can provide serious, steady leadership that can find common ground and build on it based on hard but respectful bargaining with the other side,” such as herself.

“Leadership that rises above personal attacks and name-calling, not revels in it,” she said. “I just don’t think insults and bullying is how we’re gonna get things done.”