Forbes’ answer, as always and to any question, is the flat tax.
But that’s probably not a winner in getting a majority.
First of all, any flat tax proposal I’ve seen isn’t—because it includes at least an exemption up to a certain level. And the idea that having two tax levels was the reason Congress slipped in more is laughable.
Now, the flat tax might be a nice ideal, and it could probably benefit from a president praising it as such. But at this point, too much support would be lost for it to get it through—or to pull a candidate into office. (Likely, unless, actually, Trump was the one to propose it—but that doesn’t help in strategizing for the dwarfs.)
None of the dwarfs has made or apparently knows how to make the economy their core issue. Trump has managed to do that in everything he does. Whether it’s illegal immigration, unfair trade deals, not extending the wealth to veterans, or whatever he talks about (other than making our military strong again, which of course does have long-term economic implications.)
Cruz, for example, supports a lot of good economic policies, but his two biggest funders are big into religious liberty issues, and he can’t stop talking about PP. He scores lower than low when pollsters ask who best can improve the economy.
Trump has made it clear that unless his issues are addressed and we have a legendary deal-maker leading the way, our economy is screwed. So it is indeed too late for others to take back the economic agenda. Whatever their promised tax rates or scheme.
Economic issues Trump holy roller issues.