The first night of the Republican National Convention on Monday continued to be about the economy, even after the shooting Saturday at a rally in Pennsylvania, where former President Donald Trump was injured, notes the Associated Press, quoted by BTA.
Speakers argued that Trump would fix inflation and restore prosperity just by returning to the White House as president. Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin lamented, "America tonight, the land of opportunity, just doesn't feel like it anymore.
But Trump has released few hard numbers and no real policy statements or legislative proposals, and most of Monday's speakers also didn't go into detail. Instead, his campaign is betting that voters care more about attitude than specific policies.
Trump says he wants to impose tariffs on trading partners and not impose taxes on tips. He would like to drop the corporate tax rate by one notch. The Republican platform also promises to "win" inflation and "drop all prices quickly", in addition to pumping out more oil, natural gas and coal.
The platform would tackle illegal immigration in part with the "largest deportation program in American history". And Trump will also abandon President Joe Biden's policies for the development of the electric car market and renewable energy.
Democrats and several leading economists say the math shows Trump's ideas will trigger an explosive bout of inflation, hit the middle class and — by extending soon-to-expire tax cuts — add more than $5 trillion to the national debt.
In June, the Associated Press sent the Trump campaign 20 basic questions to clarify his economic views, and the campaign declined to respond. Spokeswoman Carolyn Leavitt insisted that Trump speaks best for himself and directed the AP to videos of him.
Biden, by contrast, has a comprehensive 188-page budget proposal laying out his economic views, although his campaign increasingly turned before footage of Saturday's rally shooting to questions about his age and whether he should stay candidate after the June 27 debate.
A recent analysis by the Peterson Institute for International Economics; showed that deporting 1.3 million workers would shrink the size of the US economy by 2.1%, essentially triggering a recession.