Trump to propose deduction on childcare spending: aide

[August 08, 2016]  By Emily Stephenson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump will propose allowing parents to deduct spending on childcare from their income taxes in a speech on Monday meant to challenge the economic policies of Democratic rival Hillary Clinton, a campaign aide said.

The aide, who asked not to be identified, said on Sunday in outlining the plan: “We don’t want it to be an economic disadvantage to have children.” The aide said the campaign would have a more detailed childcare plan in the future.

A wealthy businessman seeking his first public office, Trump seeks to counter Clinton's argument he is out of touch with the problems of working families. He will also say that, unlike Clinton, his business policies would encourage companies to remain in the United States, a concern of blue-collar workers he has tried to court, the aide said.

In his speech, to business leaders of the Detroit Economic Club, Trump will also propose stronger protections for American intellectual property and a temporary moratorium on new regulations, the aide said.

Seeking to move beyond a week of discord, Trump will outline plans for trade, taxes, regulation and energy policy. His plans include proposing a 15 percent corporate tax rate, an idea that is on his website. The current federal rate is 35 percent.

Senior aides and supporters said in television appearances on Sunday that Trump wanted to put behind him his disputes of last week with Republican Party leaders and the parents of a Muslim American soldier killed in Iraq.

With the economy a major issue, Clinton on Thursday lays out a plan of her own for the "biggest investment in good-paying jobs since World War Two," her campaign said.

A Democrat like President Barack Obama, Clinton will be buoyed by figures released on Friday showing U.S. employment rose more than expected for a second month in a row in July and wages picked up, bolstering expectations of faster economic growth.

Clinton has pledged that no family should pay more than 10 percent of its income on childcare. She has called for a tax cut to help middle-class parents cope with rising childcare costs and an expansion of a federally funded program that provides education and health services to low-income families with young children.

Republican U.S. presidential nominee Donald Trump attends campaign event at Windham High School in Windham, New Hampshire August 6, 2016. REUTERS/Eric Thayer

In a phone call lasting little more than an hour on Sunday and run by some of Trump's most senior aides, members of his newly announced economic advisory group shared their views on policy, said banker Stephen Calk, one of the members who took part.

The Clinton campaign has criticized Trump over the advisory group, announced on Friday, for including no women and relying on members who come from hedge funds and investment banking, a make-up at odds somewhat with Trump's populist message.

Calk, chief executive of Federal Savings Bank and National Bancorp Holdings, said Trump had asked advisory group members to nominate women and minorities who could be added to the group. He said there were some "big, recognizable" names on the call who would be announced soon as joining the team but did not elaborate.

A new Washington Post-ABC News opinion poll on Sunday showed Trump trailing Clinton by 8 percentage points after her party's convention in Philadelphia. A Reuters/Ipsos poll out on Friday showed the race closer three months ahead of the Nov. 8 presidential election.

(Reporting by Emily Stephenson; Additional reporting by Mike Stone in New York; Editing by Howard Goller)

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