think about him is even more true than you think it is. he's one of the true guys not only in this business, but in this world. you make everybody better. don't make me cry. i will see you back at 11:00 p.m. >> jon: will try to top that with a fox news alert. we are awaiting president trump's remarks on tax reform this morning. he will be speaking with manufacturers today. i'm jon scott. >> heather: i'm heather childers. the president's speech, which we will be carrying coming days after he released his outline for that $6 trillion tax cut. that outline slashing taxes for businesses and blood find the tax bracket. his ministrations as the new plan will make things easier for taxpayers and make american businesses more competitive all over the world. >> number one, i don't think

nearly enough folks are talking about nearly 90% of households, pay somebody else to do their taxes and they won't have to do that anymore, see you pay less and it will be easier to pay anyone have to pay some avail to do it for you. number two, we are focusing really hard on that corporate tax rate that we try to give companies incentive to invest in america again. >> jon: john roberts is live with more. >> the president to parting the white house heading to the national association of manufacturers where he'll give that speech today, wednesday's big speech was all about individuals and how tax reform would affect them. this is all about companies and small businesses and how tax reform would affect them. the president will be touting a couple of things today. first of all, reduction in the corporate tax rate from 35-20%

in the reduction in the small business tax rate from 39.5 in some cases to 25%. then he is talking about the ability to immediately write off 100% of the cost of equipment, machines, trucks, vehicles, other items for a period of five years. that would be a huge boost to companies who want to modernize or expand. the president is hoping to get democrats on board, but this morning, budget director mick mulvaney saying democrats aren't showing too much appetite for tax reform. listen here. >> i think there is a couple democrats who have already checked out. in fact, i've had a conversation with some and asked would you ever support a reduction to the corporate tax rate and they say no and that's where the end of the discussion is. so many are heavily invested that anything is good for the economy, they'll never consider voting yes.

>> element on the russia investigation. special counsel robert mueller has conducted what we believe is the first interview of a white house staff or in connection with the investigation. a source with knowledge of the investigation tells fox news that yesterday, mueller interviewed general keith kellogg. he was chief of staff during the whole michael flynn controversy and was actually appointed interim national secret advisor after flynn was fired. kellogg was interviewed about the circumstances that led up to and surrounded flynn's firing. >> jon: john roberts, thank you. president trump highlighting his new tax plan is a way to help american businesses grow the manufacturing sector to get your jobs right here in this country. >> we want more products probably stamped with those for beatable words, made in the usa. right? made in the usa.

>> jon: joining us now, glenn hall, u.s. news editor for "the wall street journal." obviously, he chose the national association of manufacturers for a reason. he wants to boost manufacturing in this country. as soon as he rolled out that tax plan, they hit a snag on day one. >> complicated factors of all the quid pro quo was of balancing tax cuts across the board and declining revenue. right off the bat, one of the biggest deductions they were trying to remove was the ability for a taxpayer to deduct from their federal account to the taxes they paid in state and local government. high tax states like new york and new jersey, california, maryland, and others, that's going to be a real problem. many republicans in those states have said we can work with that. >> jon: it's kind of an irony, isn't it? if you don't let me deduct my high taxes from my federal

return, i get hurt. >> if you want to be a high tax state, that's fine. but don't put the burden back on the federal government. >> jon: what about things like mortgage deduction? there are some things about tha that. >> there reopening the discussion about those state and local tax inductions. they have defined an offset for some of the revenues that are going to be lost another looking again, should we talk about the mortgage deduction, should we talk about contribution and that kind of thing? on the other hand, that's when you raise the personal deduction. there will be a lot less of an incentive to pay itemized deductions like that. there are different sides being worked out and they're just getting that up. >> jon: what about businesses and how they'll be treated? there are still some questions about that. >> most of our entrepreneurs are deducting their taxes on

individual accounts. that's the pass-through and burning that down to 25% sounds a good, good thing because many of those folks might be in the higher tax bracket. the question is in the details, which we don't know. would there be a limit to how much of that income could be deducted? would there be other deductions that wouldn't be allowed? there are still a lot of unanswered questions. remember, this is a blueprint and congress has to work out these details. >> jon: we are in a position where republicans hold both houses of congress and could get this past, but as you point out, there are a bunch of republicans in those tax states who are walking. >> there's 33 of them in the nine states and have the highest benefit from that and there's only 22 republicans that could be lost in the house to get legislation passed. they'll have to work out these compromises, that's part of the legislative process, but it

shows that it's not going to be a slam dunk and there's a lot of dealmaking to be done. >> jon: what about charitable contribution deductions? how does this tax plan and tend to treat them? >> generally speaking, there's some concern about people not benefiting from those as much. as it had before, if you raise the standard deduction, you might not have incentive to take an itemized deduction later on. about 70% of taxpayers right now don't itemize. they could have an impact on whether charitable contributions are actually factored in. that revenue is also on the table in terms of discussion about how to offset the revenue loss when you do the overall tax cut. >> jon: big picture, what are the changes this passes in some form question right there taking a lot of heat already. >> there's a lot of bull to get something done, they need a lot of legislative wait here. you see the president of the white house has a full court

press. they're using a process to not have to cross that threshold. they could get it through the senate without any support from democrats. >> jon: glenn hall keeping an eye on the tax plan for "the wall street journal," thank you. >> heather: recovery efforts hit a in puerto rico as aid piles up imports. they're sending a three star general to that island to ensure supplies reach people who are in dire need right now. jennifer griffin's life rest from the pentagon with more. hi jennifer. >> hi. we've learned the corps of engineers has completed a damage assessment of the main dam in puerto rico and issued a flash flood watch for this weekend because another 1-3 inches of rain is expected this weekend.

the pentagon, as you mentioned, has now put a three-star army general, jeffrey buchanan and charge of the response in puerto rico. hanan arrived arrived yesterday. some critics said the ship should have arrived sooner. despite claims yesterday by the administration that 44 of 69 hospitals were not functioning, today the u.s. military says only one hospital is fully operational. 97% of the island is still without power, half the country doesn't have drinking water. as of yesterday, the defense department has delivered fuel to nine hospitals and supported establishment of over 100 points of distribution for food and

water. eight airports are now open, one airport remains closed. >> heather: there is a so much to do right now. jennifer, thank you. >> jon: is more help arrives in porter rico, the president faces a firestorm and criticism. media outlets accusing him of dropping the ball in the puerto rico crisis. our next guest says that's not the case. the media is distorting the truth. a fair and balanced debate with a panel next. plus we are awaiting president trump's remarks on tax reform to the national association of manufacturers board of directors in washington, d.c. that's a site to begin just minutes from now. we'll bring it to you live. i count on my dell small business advisor

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>> heather: fox news alert, as we told you, we are awaiting president trump to deliver remarks on tax reform to the national association of manufacturers board of directors. that meeting is going on at our nation's capital. we are told the president has already left the white house, he is heading there and we will bring that to you as soon as he begins speaking. >> i need to get back to my lif life. there is no water, there is no electricity. i don't see anything coming anytime soon. it's bad. >> jon: that's an example of the kind of desperation people are feeling in puerto rico after two hurricanes devastated that island.

the trump administration is giving a lot of criticism for its response to the natural disasters. yesterday, the president tweeting fema and first responders are doing a great job in puerto rico. massive food and water delivere delivered. locals trying really hard to help. many lost their homes. military is no one site and i will be there tuesday. wish press would treat fairly. top officials in the trump administration are also defending the president's efforts. >> we are pushing personnel to augment state and local authorities to push those commodities. i think there was some reporting of some trucks sitting on ports and docks. we are moving those trucks quickly, we are also prioritizing what needs to come off first so we can get generators. >> jon: joining is now, ben kittle and tammy bruce. both radio talk show hosts. we've had massive hurricanes hit

texas then florida then puerto rico. tammy, how do you assess the media's coverage of the respons response? >> it's been as expected. and florida and certainly texas. you had local news being able to operate ringing in information locally. with puerto rico, is a different case. they've been desperate for trump to have a katrina and he has delivered i think very well. overall, there is been universally great reports for him, great views. hurricane relief is now from irma. you're not looking at local reports necessarily. it's left a blank slate and this is where there hoping to try. i love how the white house and the president is doing what reagan did, reaching over the media, reporting what's really

going on. also stars & stripes, one of the first reports of the nature of what's really going on. the voice of america. there's over 10,000 people in the ground helping. arteries through the island had to be clear before things could be moved. because we are not getting necessarily the visual that we had in houston and florida, the keys. it opens up the opportunity for the media to distort what's happening and frankly, to try to cast a problem for the presiden president. >> jon: this is wolf blitzer who is giving a grilling to will hurd. >> people reporting up there's one standard for texas, your state, or florida, a different status for puerto rico, do you agree with that? >> a different standard according to -- >> a different standard in terms

of getting supplies, food, wate water, having everything ready to go to save people's lives. >> jon: ben, what do you think about that? saving people's lives as if puerto rico is somehow reggae behind the other states. >> first of all, no one wants another hurricane katrina. that is absurd. perception is reality and the perception was when donald trump tweeted about the nfl, he did not care. he has done some good things and let's point those out. he waved to the jones act which was absolutely needed to be done. the media, i do have to agree, cnn's of the world, they do enjoy these events to some degree. they use -- the president can only do what he can do. the overall response to puerto rico on the ground has been okay, it's very difficult, but this whole idea that the

left wants donald trump to fail and recovery efforts is complete he asked nine. >> jon: you wonder if these are accurate assessments of the situation. a lot of these people who are criticizing the response haven't been there, they don't know what anybody is up against. >> these celebrities on twitter were crying about how trump had abandoned puerto rico. we were on the ground there prior to irma and the governor of puerto rico said this is the best federal response have ever seen to anything. let me say to ben, the fact that the president is not weeding but puerto rico and about the nfl indicates that he is not governing by twitter. this is a complicated dynamic.

multiple things are going on in a lot of hollywood and the left are looking at what the president is saying on twitter as an indication of his entire governing strategy. of course that's not the case. we may not be hearing everythin everything, whether it's the fight on isis or even the dynamic in puerto rico, but the fact is, clearly puerto ricans and the porter regan leadership is limited. the president's leadership and texas and florida are not anomalies. this is how we lead and puerto rico is getting the same. >> may appoint out, some celebrities were tweeting about puerto rico, donald trump is the number one celebrity in the world and he was tweeting about the nfl. i don't know how it's any better or worse. >> now when it comes down to it, this is what's going over the media of the head of the media. there are multiple things going on and i think americans realize that now. >> jon: back-to-back-to-back category 44 and 5 hurricanes

it's when you take some time to sort out response, but so far, things are looking reasonably good. thank you both. >> heather: still to come, secretary of state rex tillerson heading to beijing as the trump administration look studiously the situation with north korea. what new actions china is taking. also, we are waiting. president trump your marks on tax reform to the national association of manufacturers board of directors. that is such a start minutes from now and we will take you there live. he navy. i do outrank my husband, not just being in the military, but at home. she thinks she's the boss. she only had me by one grade. we bought our first home together in 2010. his family had used another insurance product but i was like well i've had usaa for a while, why don't we call and check the rates? it was an instant savings and i should've changed a long time ago. there's no point in looking elsewhere really. we're the tenneys and we're usaa members for life.

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>> jon: a fox news alert, we are waiting president trump to deliver remarks on tax reform to the national association of manufacturers board of directors

meeting. that is taking place in our nation's capital. just a couple of days ago, the president and the administration trotted out a tax reform plan, will it pass? that's the big question in washington. the president is going to be making his case. you'll want to hear what's in it for you when he speaks, we'll have it for you live. >> heather: as we keep an eye on that, right now, secretary of state rex tillerson arriving in beijing to discuss the escalating standoff with north korea. as china ramps up the pressure on the kim regime ordering a shutdown of north korea owned businesses. rich edson's life are as of the state department with more. >> rex tillerson with a series of high-level meetings in beijing including what the president. before leaving for beijing, the secretary hollowed held a serif meetings.

north korea's testing was the focus of this trip in march, it will be this time. china allowed u.n. security council resolutions sanctioning north korea. he's now enforcing them cutting trade and energy textiles. state department says it is happy with china's progress in isolating north korea. >> china has taken some great strides in recent weeks and we look forward to china hearing u.n. security council resolutions and fully implementing all those resolutions. >> china is still the largest part of north korea's foreign trade. it and russia worked to water down those who are voting for them on the u.n. security council. meanwhile, the secretary of state is traveling to china. he finally made a decision on what to do about those attacks in cuba against american

diplomats. this morning, the secretary of state decided that the military is going to dramatically reduce its embassy parens presence. senior state officials are also advising americans traveling to cuba not to go there. that announcement this morning from the state department. also, there are 21 american to be met to have been affected by these so-called sonic attacks in cuba. the state department says they are only aware of a government officials, not other tourists and other americans traveling to cuba. back to you. >> heather: rich edson lifers at the state permit, thank you. >> jon: isis releases new audio from its leader for the first time in nearly a year. the new warning from a buba car and where officials think he might be hiding out. also, we are waiting

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>> jon: fox news alert. as you probably know, the manufacturing base in this country has been shrinking. that's something the manufacturers association would like to turn around.

their board is meeting and our nation's capital, the president is in the building, we understand. he will be making remarks shortly. when he does, we will take you there live. >> heather: listen to this story in the meantime while we keep an eye on that parent rail caribbean facing a class action lawsuit in the wake of hurricane harvey. passengers essay the cruise line refused to let them rebook a trip to jamaica and mexico despite the fact it was scheduled to depart from the texas coast at the height of hurricane harvey. the company was where two texts to -- what royal caribbean did to these passengers assimilate shocking. they knowingly placed families with small children directly the

path of one of the worst storms to hit the u.s. in a century. we look forward to were holding real caribbean holy accountable for its negligence. let's bring in our panel. thank you for joining us. emily, i'll start with you. can the cruise line be held accountable for this? we hear about airlines canceling flights all the time, but what about cruise ships? >> they can absolutely be held liable. fink leave this as a p.r. nightmare for the real caribbean cruise line. everyone else on the planet knew that a category 4 hurricane was barreling down the coast. real caribbean refused to acknowledge it, even despite protests, even despite passengers protests and inquiries. they are saying the port is closed, flash flood warnings are occurring, streets are closed. they still refused and held these passengers money hostage. what happened is the passengers still flew into that area on real caribbean's word and restarted there for a week.

all of them were out-of-pocket thousands of thousands of dollars. >> heather: one family specifically, they said they spent $4,500, fred. we did reach out to the cruise line, real caribbean, but they have not gotten back to us with a comment. what do you think? >> i'm skeptical whenever i hear about class action lawsuits and i'll tell you why. the bottom line is all of the class members make out on these deals. the defense lawyers, actually the way these cases get settled as a class members will get a voucher for $3,000 to go on another real caribbean cruise as they can sit at the captain's table and drink overpriced wind is not part of the voucher. the defense lawyers get paid a ton of money to defend them and that plan is put in for millions and millions of dollars. when you hear about class action lawsuits, you may want to grab a right. for your nose. having said all of that, unfortunately what they did here was really, really stupid. sometimes the only way to get these companies to listen is to file a class action lawsuit so the next time they may be a little bit smarter about it.

>> heather: the cruise was scheduled to depart on sunday august when he seventh. they kept insisting to these families, many were coming from out of town, they were flying end, they kept insisting it is going to depart on time, regardless of a category 4 hurricane moving in and the day after ed was supposed to depart, they canceled it altogether. in terms of monetary value, what could they get? i understand the cruise line is giving them something of a refund. >> what these passengers are seeking is essentially, there seeking recompense. now there seeking extra and that's the problem of these situations create is by not mitigating it, what ends up happening is they will be liable and on the hook for so much more money than if they would have just canceled to begin with. i foresee them settling. ed will not get to a jury obviously, but because of their refusal to mitigate, they'll be

on the hook for compensation a lot higher. >> heather: i did read some thing they tweeted outcome of this was from royal caribbean, back and forth between one of the passengers who they said we hope the refund you're receiving will have to alleviate some of your expenses in the passenger side, do you understand what alleviate means? they said, i'm really sorry for what happened. >> emily is right. ultimately what these cases do, this was people who flew into houston to go on this trip. people who were already in houston can be a part of the class because they were already there. ultimately, i can tell you for years and years flying airplanes, hurricane harvey blasted into texas. for five days beforehand, nobody was quite sure what to do to defend them.

hindsight is 20/20. >> heather: as you know, we're waiting for the president, we think he's about to speak, so thank you very much. >> jon: were going to pause for one moment to let our fox stations join us. >> jon: this is fox news coverage of president trump's remarks on tax reform to the national association of manufacturers. there board of directors is meeting at our nation's capital right now. i'm jon scott in new york. this is the head of that organization who is about to introduce the president. it is a speech to the national association of manufacturers, but it is also a speech to the entire nation. the president wants to make the case of the tax reform plan that he unveiled earlier this week. so far, most of the manufacturing in this country seems to be getting behind.

what the president is outlining. there are foes and any kind of tax reform proposal. let's go to john roberts who is there at the nam meeting. >> i'm out front of the white house still. the president left with the poo pool. wednesday's speech at the president gave in indianapolis was all about individuals. talking about the tax brackets, increasing the child tax credit, $24,000 for couples, getting rid of the marriage penalty, the death tax, getting rid of the alternative tax. today, the president is going to focus on reinvestment globally in america by aligning his plans to cut the corporate tax rate from 35% to 20%. and cutting the tax rate for small businesses where the owners have such businesses as high as 39% down to 25%.

then there's another thing. manufacturers and particular, when they buy a new piece of equipment, when they buy a new forklift truck, when they buy a new truck to ship goods, when they buy anything, they will be allowed to immediately expense 100% of that and that will be allowed for a five-year period. companies who want to expand or want to retool and modernize their factory, this will be a huge boom for them. the president believes every company in america will sign onto this and by doing so, put pressure on democrats who seem to be resisting the tax rate, lumping this in with the drumbeat they've got going that this really is a giveaway to the rich masks and a tax benefit for the middle-class. >> jon: obviously, if you are ordering a new truck or a forklift or a piece of machinery

for your factory, somebody has to build that. >> it certainly is. the president is looking to bring investment in from overseas and say we're going to be competitive globally and ways that we haven't been in recent years by lowering this tax rate down to 20% and then there's the issue that there is trillions of dollars overseas because of the disadvantageous tax rate. the president wants to cut that repatriation rate. we don't know what the eventual rate will be, but something that the president has talked about is a one-time page reagent tax of 10%. we'll see if he gets what he wants. >> jon: john roberts of the light to to to mike dunn mack white house we see president trump shaking hands. this is the national association of manufacturers in washington. the board of directors and again, we are going to hear the president touting his tax reform

plan. he says there's something in ia net only for individual americans, but it is going to give a shot in the arm to the economy of this country. the tax write offs that john talked about, also the ability to bring profits back into this country that many corporations are holding overseas because when they bring them back end, they have to pay a 35% tax rate. now, the president. [cheers and applause] >> president trump: thank you very much. thank you all. thank you very much. [applause] think you all very much, it's great to be here for the national association of manufacturers. i especially want to thank your president and your chairman,

along with all of the members of congress that are here today and they are working hard, i will tell you that. i would like to begin by sending our thoughts and prayers to the people of puerto rico who have been struck by storms of historic and catastrophic severity. these people have never seen anything like this. we want to assist puerto rico, including the presence of over 10,000 federal personnel, including 5,000 u.s. military and national guard personnel led by a very, very strong and talented three-star general. all appropriate departments of our government from homeland security to defense are engaged fully in the disaster and the response and recovery effort,

probably has never been seen. this is an island surrounded by water, big water, ocean water. we are closely coordinated with the territorial and local governments, which are totally and unfortunately unable to handle this catastrophic crisis on their own, totally unable to. the police and truck drivers are very substantially gone, they are taking care of their families and largely unable to get involved, largely unable to help. we're bringing them onto the island as we speak. we've never seen a situation like this.

the electrical grid and other infrastructure were already in very, very poor shape. they were at their life's end prior to the hurricanes and now virtually everything has been wiped out and we will have to really start all over again, we are literally starting from scratch. ultimately, the government of puerto rico will have to work with us to determine how this massive rebuilding effort will end up being one of the biggest ever will be funded and organized and what we will do with the tremendous amount of existing debt already on the island. we will not rest, however, until the people of puerto rico are safe. these are great people.

we want them to be safe and sound and secure and we will be there every day until that happens. likewise, we are working closely with the virgin islands on the disaster recovery and that effort is going very, very well. both governors, i have to tell you, from puerto rico and of the virgin islands, have been extremely good. they are working so hard. but there's nothing left, it's been wiped out. the houses are largely flattened, the roads are washed away, there is no electricity, the plants are gone. they're gone, it's not like we can send a crew into fix them. we have to build ran new electric sewage systems waived out. never been anything like this. there remains a lot of work to

do and we will work with the folks that we are working with right now, they're trying very, very hard, i will tell you that, but nobody's ever seen anything like it. we're here today at the national association of manufacturers to discuss our vision for america's economic revival and to solve ty to people who stock our shelves, fill our homes, and enrich our lives. i want to express my special gratitude to the incredible workers on stage. you guys are amazing. [applause] they are the ones, there are millions out there, they're not as good as you, but they're very good.

there are millions out there whose dedication and drive makes this country run. it's a great honor to be here with the men and women whose creations power our communities and protect our nation. we are all here today for the same reason, because we believe in that beautiful, beautiful phrase that hasn't been used so much over the last three decades. made in the usa. [applause] it's a phrase that fills our hearts with pride and they embodied the skill, great, and drive of the american worker. the single best attribute to our workers can be found in the unmatched quality and craftsmanship of the amazing products they bring. from the blueprint to the

software. made in the usa is a global symbol on a rival excellence. my administration is working every day to lift the burdens on our country and our workers so you can thrive, compete, and grow. at the very center of that plan is a giant, beautiful, massive, the biggest ever in our country, tax cut. [applause] for decades, the policies of washington, d.c., on the subject of manufacturing was a policy best summarized in one word, surrender. they surrendered. under my administration, the era of economic surrender is over and the rebirth of america

industry, america is winning again and america is being respected again and you see that happening all over. you see the five plants that were announced just recently, auto plans, 70 people are coming back into this country. they want to be back in. other countries are bringing their companies and sending their companies in. they want to be back and that's great for our worker. in every front in every way, on every policy, we are guided by the same economic goal, to keep jobs in america, to bring jobs to america, to create real prosperity for america, the country that we love. that is why we have lifted the restrictions on american energy, ending the war -- improving the keystone in the dakota access pipelines and i'll tell you

something, i did that immediately. first couple of days, 48,000 jobs and everybody's happy. and reversing the epa intrusion into your business and into your lives. instead, we are returning the epa to its core mission, clean air and crystal clean water. that's what we want. we want clean air and clean water. we are fighting to create fair and reciprocal trade for american companies and the word reciprocal is so important. lifting barriers to our exports, cracking down on countries that cheat, of which there are many, and ensuring a level playing field for our great american workers and our great american companies. when our workers have a level

playing field, no one, absolutely no one can beat us. [applause] we've also taken historic action to protect our manufacturing. my administration has ordered a first-ever complete review of the manufacturing technology and supply change, we need to protect our country. we cannot have national security without economic security. to further unleash american enterprise, we have taken unprecedented steps to remove job killing regulations that sap the energy, creativity, and dimon's and from our country. we are cutting regulations from a pace that has never even been thought of before. not even thought of.

this is a groundbreaking campaign and involves every department and agency across our government. we are requiring every federal manager to have a systematic review and then removing regulations that destroy her jobs, and undermine your ability to compete. we need some regulations, but we don't need 35 regulations to take care of one item. we don't need to go through nine different agencies to get something taken off. we want beautiful, fast, efficient regulation that works. [applause] thank you. already, we are seeing the results of an economic policy that puts america first. unemployment is at a 16 year low. wages are rising.

the stock market is soaring to record levels. the smp had a record high just this morning as i was coming over. gdp growth hit over 3% last quarter was just adjusted yesterday and is now at 3.1%, a number that hasn't been seen in a very, very long time and a number that's way ahead of schedule. [applause] i believe we are doing better this month, but unfortunately having the hurricanes hitting texas and florida and louisiana and obviously other locations and especially where we are right now with the kind of money we're spending on puerto rico and the virgin islands, it's going to be a little bit of a hit, but we are doing extremely

well despite the hurricanes. manufacturing confidence is at an all-time high. america is finally back on the right track, but our country and our economy cannot take off like they should unless we transform america's outdated, complex, and externally burdensome tax code. it is a burden on our country. [applause] we have a once in a generation opportunity to pass tax reform that is pro-growth, pro-jobs, pro-worker, pro-family, and pro-america. our current tax code punishes companies for doing business in the united states and encourages them to leave and that's what's happened for so many years and that's one of the reasons, probably the prime reason that

companies are leaving our country and firing all those people, they're not bringing the jobs with them, they're giving other countries those jobs. firing all those great people. that's stopping. it's already started to stop about nine months ago. that's stopping and it's stopping right now. we need a tax system that encourages countries to stay in america, growing america, and higher in america. [applause] for several months, my

administration has been working closely with congress to develop the framework for tax reform that will deliver exactly that. more jobs, higher pay, and lower taxes for middle income families and for american businesses of all sizes and these are businesses that create jobs. we unveiled an incredible framework on wednesday in indiana, a great state and i'd like to share with you for core principles of our plan. first, we will cut taxes for every day hardworking americans and we are going to cut them substantially. under this framework, the first $12,000 for a single individual in the first $24,000 for a married couple will be absolutely tax-free, no tax. we are nearly doubling the amount of income that is taxed at a rate of zero. above that amount, and come will be taxed at three rates, 12%, 25%, and 35%. we will also substantially increase the child tax credit to save working families even more

money because we know the most important investment our country can make is in our children. our framework also provides relief to those who care for an older loved one through a $500 tax credit. something that everybody has been wanting so badly for so long. by limiting the tax breaks and special interest loopholes that primarily benefit the wealthy, our framework ensures that the benefits of tax reform go to the middle class, not the highest earners. that's why we also are giving congress the flexibility to add an additional rate on the highest income earners to provide even more tax relief for everyday working people. second, our framework will make the tax code more simple. fair and easy to understand.

american families and businesses wasted billions and billions of dollars and tens of billions of dollars on excruciating paperwork and compliance every single year and it never ends. under our framework, the vast maturity of's family as will be able to file taxes on a single sheet of paper. we're also repealing the unfair and complicated alternative minimum tax or amt. the amt requires many people to count late their taxes two different ways and pay the higher of the two amounts. we are closing loopholes, reducing burdens, and replacing confusion with total clarity. as part of this simplification, we're also going to protect millions of family businesses by ending the crushing horrible and unfair estate tax, also known as

the death tax. [applause] that means for those of you with small and family-owned businesses, we won't have to sell businesses in a fire sale just to pay very, very high and unfair taxes. your families can continue to run your businesses with love and dedication and remembrance of you. we will protect our manufacturers and our workers and will make taxes simple, easy, and fair for all americans and it's about time. [applause] we will cut taxes on american businesses to restore our competitive edge and create more jobs and higher wages for the

american worker. the last major tax reform was passed more than 30 years ago, 1986 with a large bipartisan majority. it's sounds so nice. when that be nice? the 1986 tax bill will substantially reduce our business tax rate to make america globally competitive went through the roof. the plan worked, the jobs and industry boomed, other countries had our success and copied our playbook. our foreign competitors adopted tax rates much lower and much more competitive than our own. and fact, when it comes to business tax, we are now dead last among developed nations.