INDIANAPOLIS—Promising a “middle class miracle,” U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday was in full salesman mode as he tried to build momentum behind his plan to overhaul the U.S. tax code and revive his moribund legislative agenda.

Hours after the White House and congressional Republicans released a framework for sweeping changes to the tax system, the president told hundreds of supporters at the Indiana State Fairgrounds the plan was “a once-in-a-generation opportunity.”

“This is a revolutionary change and the biggest winners will be the everyday American workers as jobs start pouring into our country, as companies start competing for American labour, and as wages start going up at levels that you haven’t seen in many years,” he said.

Passing the tax plan has become critical for a president desperate for a win.

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Trump has faced repeated, embarrassing setbacks, including Republicans’ failure to repeal and replace former president Barack Obama’s health care law. Short of votes, Senate Republicans announced Tuesday that they would not vote on the latest health-care proposal.

The tax plan seeks to slash the corporate rate from 35 per cent to 20 per cent and create three individual tax brackets with rates of 12 per cent, 25 per cent and 35 per cent, with a recommended surcharge on the very wealthy. Trump also wants to simplify the tax code to allow the majority of Americans to file on a single sheet of paper.

Calling his plan a “giant win for the American people,” Trump derided the current tax system as a “relic” and a “colossal barrier” standing in the way of the nation’s economic comeback.

“We’re going to remove that barrier to create the tax system that our people finally, finally, finally want and deserve,” he said.

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The sales pitch also offered more evidence that Trump would — unlike with health care — make an attempt to cultivate a small group of moderate Democrats who might be willing to cross the aisle and back his plan. Congress has not approved significant changes to the tax system since 1986, at the height of former president Ronald Reagan’s popularity and after extensive hearings and deliberations.

Joining Trump aboard Air Force One was Indiana Sen. Joe Donnelly, who is among the most endangered Senate Democrats facing re-election in 2018. Donnelly has expressed openness to the tax overhaul as part of an effort to penalize companies for offshoring.

But instead of buttering him up, Trump issued a warning shot to Donnelly from the stage: Support my plan or I’ll campaign against you next year.

“If Senator Donnelly doesn’t approve it — because you know he’s on the other side — we will come here and we will campaign against him like you wouldn’t believe,” Trump said.

Still, he predicted that “numerous Democrats” would choose to back the plan because “it’s the right thing to do.”

“Democrats and Republicans in Congress should come together, finally, to deliver this giant win for the American people and begin middle class miracle — it’s called a middle class miracle — once again,” he said.

The president has also made overtures to Democratic senators such as Claire McCaskill of Missouri and Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota in recent weeks. All three face re-election in 2018.

Trump urged those gathered to call their Congress members to pressure them to pass the plan.

“You just want massive tax cuts, that’s what you want,” he told his audience as he took the stage to cheers. “That’s the only reason you’re going so wild.”

Though Trump declared repeatedly the plan would provide badly needed tax relief for the middle class, there are too many gaps in the proposal to know how it actually would affect individual taxpayers and families, how it would be paid for and how much it might add to the soaring $20-trillion (U.S.) national debt.

There clearly would be seismic changes for businesses large and small, with implications for companies beyond U.S. borders. The American middle-class family of four could take advantage of a heftier child tax credit and other deductions, but face uncertainty about the rate its household income would be taxed.

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Trump and the architects of the Republican plan insist that the overhaul is aimed squarely at benefiting the middle class and wouldn’t favour the wealthy. Still, a cut in the tax rate for Americans making a half-million dollars or more would drop by almost five percentage points as the wealthiest sliver of the nation reaped tremendous benefits.

Corporations would see their top tax rate cut from 35 per cent to 20 per cent. For a period of five years, companies could further reduce how much they pay by immediately writing off their investments. That’s all part of an effort that Trump said would make U.S. businesses more competitive globally.

The plan would collapse the number of personal tax brackets from seven to three.

The individual tax rates would be 12 per cent, 25 per cent and 35 per cent — and the plan recommends a surcharge for the very wealthy. But it doesn’t set the income levels at which the rates would apply, so it’s unclear just how much change there might be for a typical family or whether its taxes would be reduced.

“My plan is for the working people, and my plan is for jobs,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “No, I don’t benefit ... I think there’s very little benefit for people of wealth.”

Reopening the debate over economic inequality that rippled through the 2016 presidential campaign, the Republicans’ defence of the plan was met with scorn on the opposite side.

“President Trump’s tax plan is morally repugnant and bad economic policy,” said Sen. Bernie Sanders.

In the absence of details on the plan’s cost, one back-of-the-envelope estimate by a Washington budget watchdog estimated the tax cuts at perhaps $5.8 trillion over the next 10 years. The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a non-partisan group that analyzes spending and taxes, said Republicans had only identified about $3.6 trillion in offsetting revenues, meaning the cost to the federal deficit could be in the $2.2 trillion range.

That’s more than the $1.5 trillion debt cost allowed under a tentative agreement by Republicans on the Senate Budget Committee — and the real battles will come as lawmakers quarrel over which tax breaks might be eliminated to help pay the balance.

The plan would nearly double the standard deduction to $12,000 for individuals and $24,000 for families. This basically would increase the amount of personal income that is tax-free.

Deductions for mortgage interest and charitable giving would remain, but the plan seeks to end most other itemized deductions that can reduce how much affluent families pay.

A battle is already brewing among Republicans over a move to eliminate the deduction for state and local taxes, which is especially valuable to people in high-tax states such as New York, New Jersey and California. Republicans from those states are vowing to fight it.

The plan also would:

Retain existing tax benefits for college and retirement savings such as 401(k) contribution plans.

Seek to help families by calling for an increased child tax credit and opening it to families with higher incomes. The credit currently is $1,000 per child. Also proposed is a new tax credit of $500 to help pay for the care of the elderly and the sick who are claimed as dependants by a taxpayer.

Eliminate the estate tax — paid by those with multimillion-inheritances, a boon for wealthy individuals who inherit businesses, investments and real estate. Also slated for elimination is the alternative minimum tax, a supplemental tax for certain individuals, corporations and estates that enjoy exemptions that lower their income tax bills.

Allow companies to pay substantially lower tax rates, part of an effort to make U.S. businesses more competitive globally. The plan would impose a new, lower tax on corporate profits stashed overseas, and create a new tax structure for overseas business operations of U.S. companies.

Give new benefits to firms in which the profits double as the owners’ personal income. They would pay at a 25-per-cent rate, down from 39.6 per cent. This creates a possible loophole for rich investors, lawyers, doctors and others; administration officials say they will design measures to prevent any abuses.

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