for visitors in much of the outer banks. hurricane lee, the fifth major atlantic hurricane this season 500 miles south of bermuda. not expected to make land. i'm sandra smith. thanks for joining us. here's shep. >> shepard: it's noon on the west coast, 3:00 in washington where one of president trump's cabinet secretaries is in trouble for chartering planes instead of flying commercial. and is tom price going to be out of a job? the president's response ahead. we'll take you to indianapolis where mr. trump is set to reveal his tax plan this hour. the proposal, lower taxes for business, fewer income tax brackets for individuals and a standard deduction nearly double. ahead, what we know about who pays what. plus, set backs for the president and republican leaders at their candidate fails in the alabama primary. it happened on the same day

their healthcare plan collapsed. now will the gop need to start working with democrats? could that happen? today a cross-roads for congress. and in puerto rico, heavy equipment coming in to more than three million americans that call the island home. we'll go live with geraldo rivera about the rescue efforts and what they need the most. let's get to it. good wednesday afternoon from the fox news deck. one day after coming up empty on healthcare, and in alabama's senate race, president trump is taking a swing at another big ticket item from his republican wish list. taxes. a live look in indianapolis. the president about to unveil his tax plan which the white house and republican leaders are pushing. we'll take you there as the president starts to speak. we would report to you how your house hold would be affected if

we could. the problem is, there's crucial details we don't know and probably won't know for months because congress has to get their hands on it. details which could have a big impact on your money. under the proposal, the number of personal income tax brackets drops from seven to three. we don't+++ individuals and $24,000 for families. it increases the amount of income that is tax-free. the white house and republican leaders are also calling for an increased child tax credit. in addition, they say they want to open it up to families with higher incomes. a new tax credit to help pay for the care of elderly and sick dependents. no more estate or death tax at all, which is a win for wealthier individuals that inherit businesses and real estate. the plan would be a big win for business owners. it cuts the corporate tax rate

from 35% down to 20%. and for small business owners from nearly 40% to 25%. before he headed to indiana, the president said the plan focuses on the middle class and not the rich. >> my plan is for the working people. i don't benefit. in fact, very strongly as you see, there's no -- i think there's very little benefit for people of wealth. >> the top democrat in the senate says that is not true. >> under this plan the wealthiest americans and wealthiest corporations make out like bandits while middle class americans are left holding the back. >> senator schumer said the plan differs from everything the president has been promising. the chief white house correspondent john roberts live on the north lawn. hi, john. >> shep, good afternoon. this is the big one for the

president. the centerpiece of his election campaign. this is what he promised the nation. so he wants to get this delivered. obamacare was just a stepping stone along the way. because this is the signature plan for president trump. we should point out that 12% in the lowest tax rate, that is a 2% increase from where it currently is. it's now 10%. the white house said in various briefings, by the time you factor in deductions, the child care, the standard deduction and more of people's money will be taxed at 0% than before means they'll still get a tax cut. gary cohn was asked what the average cut would be for a middle income family of four. he said he thought, don't told me to it, but about $1,000. one of the other things the president was pushing for here almost more than anything else, a cut in the corporate tax rate. he talked through the election campaign about 15%. said 15, maybe 20. at some points. i asked him about that today,

whether 20% was a red line or could it go up from there. here's what he told me. >> is a 20% rate a red line? >> very much a red line. >> what about 15%? >> i wanted to start at 15 to get 20. it just -- the numbers were -- 15 was so low we didn't take in the revenue. i wanted 15, so we got 20. 20 is my number. i'm not negotiating that number. i'm not going to negotiate. >> interesting what the president said there. he wanted 15 but they couldn't raise the revenue with 15 so he agreed on 20. we'll see how hard he is willing to push on the red line. the president said in the past, i don't set red lines but in this case he has. in terms of the wealthy and whether or not there would be a fourth tax rate, gary cohn was talking about that today saying this would be for the very top income earners, fewer than 1%.

steve bannon was talking about people making more than $5 million a year. he wanted the rate to start with a four. cohen said it might be somewhere around 36, 37%, shep. with all of the elimination of deductions, that means even though the tax rate would be lower from 39 1/2, the very top earners would pay more than they're paying now. >> shepard: john, before the president took off on his speech, president said he wasn't happy with his secretary of homeland. but first the back story. politco broke this story last week. it reported that tom price chartered jets for official business at least two dozen times since may. since then, the department's inspector general and the house oversight committee have launched investigations. saturday, secretary price told

fox news that he welcomed the review and won't fly private until it's over. the secretary said that he realizes "the optics in some of this don't look good." what will happen here? >> if i was tom price, i'd be worried. the president said he didn't like it. he talked to tom price about it and said he didn't like it. he's been angry before. he was angry at jeff sessions and made up for it. listen to how the president phrased it when he talked about price's use of private planes. look at it. >> i'm not happy with it. i'll tell you, i'm not happy with it. >> will you fire him, sir? he cavalierly said we'll see. shep, he had that look about him. i don't know if tom price wants to look at moving back to atlanta or not. i would say the writing is on the wall. >> john, hours after republican

leaders failed to get something done on healthcare yesterday, president trump's choice for alabama's senate seat lost. we have a photo here on the left in this photo, roy moore, the conservative former chief justice of alabama's supreme court. yesterday he defeated luther strange in a republican reason-off. more has calls islam a false religion. he said the attacks of 9-11 were punishment from moving away from god. in 2003, he say gay sex is a crime against nature. two years ago, he instructed judges in alabama to defy a supreme court ruling and instead enforced their ministerial duty by refusing to issue same sex marriage licenses. roy moore is expected to defeat the democrat and win the set that jeff sessions left empty. last night's results comes days after president trump went down

to alabama to stump for luther strange. a pro mitch mcconnell super pact dumped millions in alabama to try to keep moore from winning. in another blow to the republican establishment, one of senator mcconnell's allies bon corker announced he will not run for re-election next year. again to john roberts. busy days. >> yeah, always is, shep. the president campaigned aggressively on behalf of luther strange. steve bannon was campaigning for roy moore. the reason he was, he thought roy moore would be a better ally of the president than strange. even though he was campaigning against the president, he was campaigning on his behalf. the president telephoned roy moore to congratulate him and said he looks forward to working with him. interesting to see that corker won't run for re-election next year. corker said the president has

not demonstrated the stability or confidence to be president. steve bannon was planning to mound a primary challenge against corker. so senator corker decided he's going to play golf outside of chattanooga at the honors club after 2018 as opposed to running for re-election. >> shepard: thanks, john. after his latest health care loss, the president said he's willing to negotiate more with democrats to come up with a better bill and perhaps a sign of things to come. today president trump traveled with a democrat to his tax plan event in indianapolis. indiana senator joe donnelly joining the president on air force one. our chief congressional correspondent mike emanuel is on capitol hill. what are democrats saying about this tax plan? >> democrats say they would like to get the tax code improved, fixed. they don't like the ideas they're hearing in the blueprint. for example, lowering the top rate from 39.6% to 35% for upper

income americans. >> when donald trump was talking about this plan over the last few days, he talked about focusing on the middle class and not helping the wealthy. the plan is a major disappointment because it so deviates from everything the president said. >> what has been released today makes a total mockery out of the president's pledge that he wanted tax relief to be for the working class and it wouldn't be for the wealthy. >> top democrats note the president said the rich would not benefit from tax reform. and they are accusing republican leaders here on capitol hill of breaking that promise. shep? >> shepard: are there any signs, mike, the two sides are willing to work together on this? >> both sides say they want to get it done no surprise they come at it from different perspectives. bottom line, top republicans are saying they would like democrats as a part of the debate, a part of the conversation. noting this is a critical priority for the american people.

>> instead of a source of pride, our tax code has become a constant source of frustration. it's too big. it's too complicated. it's too expensive. today we are taking the next step to liberate americans from our broken tax code. >> i think we can, but we're going to have to have some democrat help. i think we have to set aside the differences and work together. >> working together, of course, has been a challenge here on capitol hill in recent times. perhaps there will be some common ground they can find on fixing the tax code, shep. >> shepard: thanks, mike. we'll go live to indianapolis as the president lays out his tax plan. is it time for republicans to come up with a new strategy to get the president's agenda passed? what might it be? that's coming up from the fox news deck on this wednesday afternoon. great to have you in.

i'll have the langoustine lobster ravioli. for you, sir?

the original call was for langoustine ravioli. a langoustine is a tiny kind of lobster. a slight shellfish allergy rules that out, plus my wife ordered the langoustine. i will have chicken tenders and tater tots. if you're a ref, you way over-explain things. it's what you do. if you want to save fifteen percent or more on car insurance you switch to geico. sir, we don't have tater tots. it's what you do. i will have nachos! >> shepard: president trump is supposed to have a speech about his new tax plan. the president is essentially on time and should we will carry it live any moment now. this comes a day after the republicans suffered another healthcare loss. some say republicans and democrats need to work together to accomplish something. will that happen?

here's john bussey. republicans and democrats on healthcare, that's a nonstarter. what about on taxes? >> it's a nonstarter with this particular healthcare bill. trump has to be looking at this and saying, it's not a great week. the healthcare bill didn't get a vote. his candidate lost in alabama. the candidate in alabama ran against the establishment, which was donald trump's zone. so he's looking at this and just about to lay out his tax plan. we have the details. >> shepard: not many. >> we have the overall scope but not the details. he's probably thinking to himself, if we're going to work with the democrats, now is the time to be doing it. >> shepard: i was talking this morning and the suggestion was said you should lay it out. if you make this, this is how it will change from where you were before. those details don't exist. we don't know where the second tax bracket is. we don't know. >> that's right. viewers will probably not find

out in this press conference. we know the overall scope. it sounds like what was campaigned on. simplifying the tax code, reduce the number of brackets to 3 or 4 from 7. reduce taxes for companies, for individuals, for individuals who own businesses. all that sounds good. but the sort of the other side of the equation hasn't been added up yet. >> shepard: how you pay for it. >> how you pay for it. how you fund the government, reduce the debt with cutting taxes this much if this goes through. you know, corporate tax cut from 35% to 20, 1 to 15. maybe it under up at 25. still a substantial cut in revenue. the argument is being made, it will take care of itself. why? cutting company taxes and yours and my taxes if that's what happens results in economic growth because that money gets invested in the economy. that is a big roll of the dice.

>> shepard: we've heard that before. has it worked in the past? >> we have heard it before. the regan era proved it to be true. it stimulates taxes. >> shepard: high taxes under reagan. >> that, too. an uneven economic growth based on a lot of factors. not just whether companies have more to invest and you and i do. >> shepard: there's mixed reporting on roy moore if he defeats the democrat which he is expected to do, if he will be with president trump or against him. >> so you'd think strike. because president trump campaigned for his opponent. luther strange in the election. so did mcconnell. moore ran as an anti establishment candidate, which seems to be donald trump's territory. he ran against mcconnell, he ran against the administration. he said i'm your guy. at this stage of the game, one

kind of argument can be made that steve bannon is right. which is at the end -- steve bannon that supported moore and says we're going to do more of this. we're going to fight against the establishment republican hierarchy by electing new republicans. he may be right. moore comes in as sort of an anti establishment, anti-washington candidate which aligns himself perhaps with trump's agenda more clearly. >> shepard: president trump has said i'll work with him. he said it on his stump in alabama. if roy moore wins, we'll work together. >> by then will he have to be working more closely with the democratic caucus. >> shepard: what does this say more about the establishment and mitch mcconnell and the machine that that is. >> bad week for donald trump. worse last few days for mcconnell. it was the latest iterlation of the healthcare bill not getting

passed. >> shepard: thanks, john. >> thank you. >> shepard: hurricane maria left parts of puerto rico in ruins. there's new video of the devastation in poorest neighborhoods. more than half of the people there are homeless. they're americans that lost so much to this storm. we'll take you live to puerto rico. we'll meet up with geraldo that is on how the military is stepping in to help. we're waiting for president trump's big -- much anticipated tax speech that is coming from indianapolis. we're expecting that moments from now. we'll have live coverage on america's choice for news and information on cable. this is fox news channel.

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lay out his proposed tax plan. that event scheduled to start in a few minutes. we're led to believe it was begin presently. we'll have it live when the president starts to speak. some in puerto rico say they have not had a single government worker since hurricane maria devastated the idea come to their area. some people say they're waiting and waiting for clean water and food. this is catanyo. a town outside san juan. more than half of the people are homeless. one woman told garrett tenney red cross workers came by a couple days ago and promised food and water but so far nobody has returned. fema officials say it's very difficult to get aid to some areas because of the extent of the damage. the united states military is sending thousands of additional service members to help. fox news' geraldo rivera is live

in san juan. geraldo? >> part of the problem is, i don't think until maybe this morning the president, the cabinet and the entire american government understood the magnitude of this disaster. they have been sending in aid. it's been trickling in. we saw the port last night, the port of san juan, operating what seemed to be minimal capacity. even the airport, which is just behind the camera does not seem anything like the activity you'd expect in the berlin airlift. they don't understand that this is puerto rico's katrina. this is a generalized disaster. we found my father's youngest sibling. one of the last surviving of my father's big flock. he's one of 17 siblings. we found her in a darkened house last night with a tree through the roof and another tree blocking the streets.

i have not seen numbers of federal officials out will doing what needs to be done for this island in crisis, this island in dire straits. you mentioned the united states military. the fleet has arrived off the eastern side. we took a helicopter out to the aircraft carrier yet. they're mustering help for the people ashore where they can locate areas or specific locations where their expertise is needed. we saw one of the locations in a city on the eastern end of puerto rico. the rider memorial hospital, which had been decimated by the hurricane. hurricane maria swept through this and rendered the hospital inoperable. the marines and the navy cbs did land today. the emergency generator, they worked at it, worked at it and

tried to start it. they tried to start it. finally that emergency generator kicked in, providing much-needed power to the hospital in need. the administrators of the hospital were beyond grateful, shep. >> i can't even express the joy. i'm speechless, except i want to make sure that everybody is listening to us knows how grateful, how thankful we are for everything, every person, every resource, everybody that we know are working around the clock to help us. help we need. we are getting up. we haven't closed our doors. we are just so grateful. thank you, thank you, thank you, america. >> that gratitude is heart-rendering and touching.

but the scale of the assistance they're receiving doesn't match the scale of this disaster, shep. >> shepard: i keep wondering about the poorer communities that we haven't seen reports. as far as we can tell, we don't know whether they're getting the food and the water and things that they need. do you know? >> they are not. they are not. you know, what comes in on a c-130, these cases of water or these mres, the meals ready to eat doesn't begin to match what this population needs. the systems have been crushed. there is no infrastructure. there's no electricity. the frustration of trying to get a cell phone to work on this island. you know, people get so used to the internet. there is no internet here except maybe in this hotel or that hotel. the need is so profound. the need is really so

widespread. i think the president's visit is hopeful. we need that port open. there's something called the jones act. the jones act prevents ships that bear a foreign flag from transporting goods of the mainland to the united states to puerto rico, which is considered part of the mainland of the united states. they have to be on u.s.-flagged merchant vessels. the jones act must be suspected. every vessel available must be used to bring fuel oil. there's a six-hour wait at gas stations still. the people are running generators so they have to stay online. they run out of gas in their cars waiting to get gas to fuel their generators. i think in terms of the public health and well-being of the folks. the hospitals are doing herculean work to make them well. what we need are people to put up telephone poles, cell phone towers, to get the electric grid

working. 70% was already out from hurricane katrina. we need generators. i told you yesterday, where are the freighting bearing commercial size generators? you saw how the folks in the hospital responded when the u.s. marines and the cbs got the emergency generator working. that brought power and light back and ventilators in the urgent care units and the intensive care units. power is everything. power is the building block of modern life. without it, puerto rico is already in the third world the way things are right now. it will sink and sink unless there's massive aid. i hope the president can rally that with his visit tuesday. >> shepard: thanks, geraldo. thanks so much. the president, by the way, considering that act which would allow other ships to come in even those of a foreign flag.

we'll be right back. stay with us.

>> shepard: good afternoon. i'm shepard smith. the president is now beginning to speak in indianapolis. he's laying out his plan for changes in the tax code. we're hoping for some specifics, so we'll learn about what will happen with your family in mind. let's listen in. live from indianapolis. >> you want tax cuts. that's the only reason you're going so wild. it's wonderful to be back in the great state of indiana. what a place. i want to thank senator today young, senator joe donnelly, representative jackie warlarski,

representative susan brooks and representative mike messer for joining us today. thank you very much. thank you for being here. i appreciate it. [applause] i also want to thank members of my economic team, secretary steven mnuchin and director gary cohn for joining us as well. we appreciate it. [applause] let me begin by saying that our hearts and prayers go out to the people of puerto rico and the virgin islands that are suffering in the wake of another catastrophic hurricane. their island was virtually destroyed. federal agencies are working closely with local partners to help these communities get back on their feet as soon as possible. texas, florida, louisiana are doing great and the recovery process is happening very quickly. i will be going down to puerto rico next week to get an on-the-ground briefing about the

disaster recovery and to see all of our great first responders and to meet a lot of the people who are so affected by these storms. we are with you now, i tell them, and we will be there every step of the way until this job is done. it is truly catastrophic what happened in puerto rico. [applause] and massive amounts of water, food and supplies, by the way, are being delivered on an hourly basis. it's something that nobody has ever seen before from this country. i can tell you that. and i'm very proud of all of the folks that have worked so hard in fema, all of our first responders, all of our police that have gone to the island because their police force has been so badly affected. many of their policemen -- most of their police people have lost their homes. it's been a tough go.

but we are going to get it back. before we go on to discuss the largest tax cut in our country's history, i also want to provide a brief update on healthcare. we have the votes on graham-cassidy. but with the rules of reconciliation, we're up against a deadline of friday, two days. that's just two days. a yes vote senator, we have a wonderful senator, great, great senator, who is a yes vote, but he's home recovering from a pretty tough situation. with so many great features, including the block granting, the money to the states, et cetera, et cetera, our healthcare plan is really going to be something excellent. it's going to be better managed

for the people that it serves. having local healthcare representatives is far better than having healthcare managed from washington d.c. not even a contest. [applause] and many, many governors, as you also see, have agreed with us and approved it and really look forward to running it properly. but again, because the reconciliation window is about to close, we have to wait a few months until it reopens before we take a vote. so we're getting all of the good signs from alaska and the others to repeal and replace obamacare. i was hoping this would be put on my desk after we won the election, and i'd come in and sign but didn't work that way. a couple of people that i won't say anything. but early next we're when reconciliation kicks back in, in any event, long before the

election we're going to have a vote and we're going to get that through and i think we'll get it through easily. but speaking of reconciliation, the republican senate needs to get rid of the filibuster rule, which is blocking so many great legislative reforms. the american people badly want and deserve it. by the way, the democrats, they had the opportunity, which hopefully they won't for many, many years. they would get rid of it on day one. most of you know exactly what i'm talking about. we're here today in indiana to announce our frame work to deliver historic tax relief to the american people. [applause] this is a once in a generation opportunity. i guess it's probably something

that i can say that i'm very good at. i've been waiting for this for a long time. we're going to cut taxes for the middle class, maybe the tax code simpler and more fair for everyday americans and we're going to bring back the jobs and wealth that have left our country and most people thought left our country for good. [applause] we want tax reform that is pro growth, pro jobs, pro worker, pro family and yes, tax reform that is pro american. [applause] it's time to take care of our people, to rebuild our nation and to fight for our great american workers. [applause]

indiana is a tremendous example of the prosperity that is unleashed when we cut taxes and set free the dreams of our citizens. this state has claimed a powerful competitive edge built on low taxes and less regulation, and are we cutting regulation. [applause] and businesses all across the country have taken notice. in recent years, indiana has welcomed dozens of companies fleeing high taxes and high tax states. thousands of jobs and massive capital investment have followed meaning a better quality of life for the people of indiana. all of this is possible because the people of this state have

made a decision. they chose to make indiana competitive again. they chose and their choice was so important, it included electing a governor who you may have heard of, who signed the largest income tax cut in the state's history, our very terrific person and terrific vice president, mike pence. [cheers & applause] it's time for washington to learn from the wisdom of indiana. we need washington to promote american jobs instead of obstructing them. that is what i have been working to achieve every day since i took office.

that is what i talked about on the campaign trail. already we're seeing the results of an economic policy that finally puts america first. [applause] unemployment is at a 16-year low. unemployment for african americans is near its lowest point since the turn of the millennium. really a fantastic thing to see. [applause] wages are rising. optimism among manufacturers has reached all-time highs. gdp growth last quarter reached 3% way ahead of schedule. nobody thought that would happen for a long time. [applause] and this quarter i believe would

have been better, but the hurricanes will have an impact. other than that, it would have been in my opinion even better. your government is working for you once again, not for the donors, not the special interests, but the hard-working tax-paying citizens of our country. [applause] america is back on the right track, and i see so many red hats "make america great again." that's what we're doing. make america great again. [applause] our country and our economy cannot take off like they should unless we dramatically reform america's outdated complex and extremely burdensome tax code. it's a relic. have to change it. we have to compete. compete with other countries.

the current tax system is a barrier standing in the way of america's economic comeback. because it can be far greater than it's ever been. we're going to remove that barrier to create the tax system that our people finally, finally, finally want and deserve. for several months, my administration has been working closely with congress to develop a frame work for tax reform. over the next few months, the house and senate will build on this frame work and produce legislation that will deliver more jobs, higher pay and lower taxes for middle class families for the working man and woman and for businesses of all sizes. i look forward -- [applause] i look forward to working with congress to deliver these historic tax cuts and reforms to

the american people. these tax cuts are significant. there's never been tax cuts like what we're talking about. our frame work is based on four key ideas. first, we will cut taxes for the everyday hard-working americans. people that work so long, so hard and they have been forgotten. but they're not forgotten anymore. i think we proved that on november 8. [applause] under this frame work, the first $12,000 of income earned by a single individual will be tax-free. [applause] and a married couple won't pay a dime in taxes on their first $24,000 of income. so a married couple up to

$24,000 can spend their money on their family, on their children, what they have to do. so much better. in other words, more income for more people will be taxed at a rate of zero. [applause] at this 0% rate, taxable income will be subject to just three tax rates of 12%, 25% and 35%. jonathan blanton and his wife, jamie, from greentown are with us here today. where are they? hello, jonathan. how are you? [applause] jonathan does industrial janitorial work and jamie works at an auto company. together they're raising four beautiful children. last year they earned less than $90,000. under our tax plan, they would

have saved more than $1,000 and could be substantially more, and that's just on federal taxes. so they would have saved at least $1,000. middle income families will save more money with an increased child tax credit for children under the age of 17, which so many families have been calling for. [applause] we will eliminate the marriage penalty in the existing credit and expand eligibility to include even more middle income families. greatly expanded. we're also expanding the child tax credit because we believe the most important investment our country can make is in our children. [applause] and this is just one more

critical way that we're targeting relief to working families. in addition under the frame work, those caring for the elderly loved and we love these people, but we're caring and we take such care of the elderly. other adult dependents will receive financial relief in the form of a $500 tax credit. [applause] we're doing everything we can to reduce the tax burden on you and your family by eliminating tax breaks and loop holes. we will ensure that the benefits are focused on the middle class, the working men and women, not the highest income earners. [applause] our frame work includes our

commitment that tax reform will protect low income and middle income households. not the wealthy and well-connected. they can call me all they want. it's not going to help. i'm doing the right thing. it's not good for me, believe me. [applause] but what is good for me, not only as president and legacy, what is good for me is if everything takes off like a rocket ship like it should have for 20 years. that's good for me. that's good for everyone. [applause] that's what i think is going to happen. a lot of very wealthy people feel the same way, believe me. in fact, we're eliminating most itemized deductions that primarily benefit the wealthiest taxpayers. we've also given congress the flexibility to add an additional top rate on the very highest

income earners to provide even more tax relief for working people. second, our frame work will make the tax code simple, fair and easy to understand. finally. americans waste money -- [applause] americans waste a much money. billions and billions of dollars and many hours each year to comply with our ridiculously complex tax code. more than 90% of americans use assistance to prepare their taxes. under our frame work, the vast majority of families will be able to file their taxes on a single sheet of paper. [applause]

we are also repealing the alternative minimum tax or amt. it's about time. [applause] the amt is actually a shadow tax system that requires many people to calculate their taxes two different ways and pay the higher of the two amounts. you're all familiar with it. under our frame work, the amt will make even lessens because we're repealing many of the special interests tax breaks that it was designed to deal with. we're making our taxes simple again. we're simplifying our tax system. to protect millions of small businesses and the american farmer, we are finally ending the crushing, the horrible, the unfair estate tax or as it is often referred to as the death tax. [cheers & applause]

that means especially for all of you with small businesses that are really tremendous businesses, you'll be able to leave them to your family and your family won't have to run out and do a fire sale to try to get the money to pay the tax. lose the business. ends up going out of business. all of those jobs are lost. the farmers in particular are affected. they have wonderful farms, but they can't pay the tax. so they have to sell the farm to people that buy it. don't run it with love. they can't run it the same way. it goes out. so that death tax is a disaster for this country and a disaster for so many small businesses and farmers and we're getting rid of

it. [applause] now if you don't like your family, it won't matter. but for those that love your family, it matters a lot. with us today is kip thom, a family farmer from leesburg. hi, kip. who fears that his family's farming heritage, been a long time. how long, kip? 187 years. that's peanuts. [applause] wow. that's a long time. but that great heritage could come to an end because of the death tax or the estate tax and could make it impossible for him to pass that legacy to his wonderful family. we're not going to let that happen. we are not going to allow the

death tax to steal away the american dream from these great, great families. many of which are in this room today. [applause] we will protect our farmers, our ranchers and our small businesses, and we will make taxes simple, easy and fair for all americans. okay? [applause] 30, we will cut taxes on american businesses to restore our competitive edge and create more jobs and higher wages for american workers. [applause] in indiana you have seen first hand that cutting taxes on businesses makes your state more competitive and leads to more jobs and higher paychecks for

your workers. now we want to do the same thing for america, making our country more competitive with other nations. in many cases, those other nations are taking advantage of news so many ways. they say they're friends. perhaps they are. believe me, i'm renegotiating our trade deals, including nafta, including many other trade deals. [applause] through regulation, all you have to do is look at the massive pipelines, dakota access. you take a look. 48,000 jobs immediately approved. so we're letting that happen. but in terms of the tax and the tax strategy that ronald reagan used to create an economic boom in the 80s when our economy took off, the middle class thrived and the family income, all

families, was increasing more and more and was a beautiful sight to behold. since then other nations have a continued unfortunately our playbook. ran it even better than we did. i shouldn't say even better, because we didn't run it well at all and we let other nations come in and take advantage of us and take our jobs away and our businesses out. we're stopping that. you can see it right here what we've done. today our total business tax rate is 60% higher than our average foreign competitor in the developed world. that's not good. we have surrendered our competitive edge to other countries but we're not surrendering anymore. under our frame work, we will dramatically cut the business tax rate so that american companies and american workers can beat our foreign competitors and start winning again.

[applause] we will reduce the corporate tax rate to no higher than 20%. way down from 35 and 39. [applause] which is substantially below the average of other industrialized nations. this is a revolutionary change and the biggest winners will be the everyday american workers as jobs starts pouring into our country as companies start competing for american labor and as wages start going up at levels that you haven't seen in many years. [applause] when our companies moved to

other countries, it's our loyal american workers that get hurt. when companies stay in america and come to america, it's our wonderful workers that reap the rewards. i just left the united nations last week and i was told by one of the most powerful leaders of the world that they're going to be announcing in the not too distance future five major factories in the united states between increasing and new. five. you'll be hearing about that very soon. and i said thank you very much. he said, you know what? it's starting to happen in the united states. it's starting to happen. so i just want to let you know that. i promised i wouldn't say who. i'll keep my word. okay? unless you force me. members of both parties --

happens to be in the automobile industry. members of both parties should agree that we need a tax code that keeps jobs in our country and brings jobs back to our country. [applause] around for the millions of small businesses and farms that file their taxes as sole proprietors, we will cap the tax rate they pay at 25%. much lower. big difference. this will be the lowest top marginal income tax rate for small and mid size businesses this country in more than 80 years. to give businesses even more reason to booth their investment

in america, for the next five years our frame work will allow to fully write off -- listen to this -- the cost of equipment in the year they buy it. that is big. [applause] and that's instead of having to take deductions and deduct the cost over a long period of time. that's called incentive. that's called incentive. this will be tremendously important to help american businesses afford the heavy industrial machinery and other capital investments they need to grow big and grow strong. joining us today is john gannon, the owner of a custom wood fencing and construction company in indianapolis. john is the father of nine children and recently celebrated his 35th wedding anniversary.

congratulations, john. [applause] and john is in the fencing company, as you heard. i'm just thinking, i have to mention this, you know, we have a fence around the white house. we have a fence around the white house. they want to build a new fence. and i figured, you know, i'm good at construction. i figured. none. maybe a million. maybe 1.5 million. this has been taking place over a long period of time. previous administrations. so i said how much is the fence you're talking around the white house? sir, the fence will cost approximately $50 million. i said what? i kid you not. we have thousands of things like that. thousands. we're going to get it all done. think of that, $50 million. i assume it's a strong