Is the Original Outsider Organization about to take on the Top Outsider?

As Donald Trump’s campaign continues to careen forward, some of his tax policy ideas are getting noticed, and not in a good way (New York Times).

In recent weeks, Mr. Trump has threatened to impose tariffs on American companies that put their factories in other countries. He has threatened to increase taxes on the compensation of hedge fund managers. And he has vowed to change laws that allow American companies that benefit from cheaper tax rates by using mergers to base their operations outside the United States.

Alarmed that those ideas might catch on with some of Mr. Trump’s Republican rivals – as his immigration policies have – the Club for Growth, and anti-tax think tank, is pulling together a team of economists to scrutinize his proposals and calculate the economic impact if he is elected.

“All of those policies are anti-growth policies,” said David McIntosh, the president of the Club for Growth, a group that Republican candidates routinely court. “Yes, he’s a businessman, but if those are the policies he implements, they’ll drive the economy into the ground and we’ll see huge drops in G.D.P., and frankly I think it would lead to massive loss of jobs.”

Indeed, the Club has already gone after Trump for proposing a 35% tax on Mexican-made cars.

The Club for Growth has been a thorn in the side of spendthrift Republicans since 1999. It was taking on the tax-hiking wing of the RPV long before anyone called themselves “Tea Party.” There are few organizations that have given Establishment Republicans more heartburn in the 21st Century.

If the Club is prepared to take aim at Mr. Trump, he may find the campaign harder than it’s been heretofore…a lot harder.

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