Posted on 04/06/2019 7:58:25 AM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum
There’s a lot we don’t know about the legacy Donald Trump will leave behind. And it is, of course, hugely important what happens in the 2020 election. But one thing seems sure: Even if he’s a one-term president, Trump will have caused, directly or indirectly, the premature deaths of a large number of Americans.
Some of those deaths will come at the hands of right-wing, white nationalist extremists, who are a rapidly growing threat, partly because they feel empowered by a president who calls them “very fine people.”
Some will come from failures of governance, like the inadequate response to Hurricane Maria, which surely contributed to the high death toll in Puerto Rico. (Reminder: Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens.)
Some will come from the administration’s continuing efforts to sabotage Obamacare, which have failed to kill health reform but have stalled the decline in the number of uninsured, meaning that many people still aren’t getting the health care they need. Of course, if Trump gets his way and eliminates Obamacare altogether, things on this front will get much, much worse.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Now, you could put this down to personal derangement: Trump has had an irrational hatred for wind power ever since he failed to prevent construction of a wind farm near his Scottish golf course. And Trump seems deranged and irrational on so many issues that one more bizarre claim hardly seems to matter. But there’s more to this than just another Trumpism. After all, we normally think of Republicans in general, and Trump in particular, as people who minimize or deny the “negative externalities” imposed by some business activities — the uncompensated costs they impose on other people or businesses. For example, the Trump administration wants to roll back rules that limit emissions of mercury from power plants. And in pursuit of that goal, it wants to prevent the Environmental Protection Agency from taking account of many of the benefits from reduced mercury emissions, such as an associated reduction in nitrogen oxide.... (continued in the next batch)
Kneels before Carlos Slim to perform each morning. Then does his shill work.
“HAS Paul Krugman been right on one thing in the last two years?”
Who knows? To answer that, somebody would have to waste precious hours of their life that they can’t get back, sifting through all the tripe he’s written in the last couple years.
i haven’t seen one case of a white nationalist murdering people- but i did see obama incite hatred against white cops resulting in black people murdering policemen- We saw antifa- an obama inspired left wing hate group- assaulting trump supporters all the time
Guess the NY times was ok with that?
We know FReeper. :D
But when it comes to renewable energy, Trump and company are suddenly very worried about supposed negative side effects, which generally exist only in their imagination. Last year the administration floated a proposal that would have forced the operators of electricity grids to subsidize coal and nuclear energy. The supposed rationale was that new sources were threatening to destabilize those grids — but the grid operators themselves denied that this was the case.
So it’s deregulation for some, but dire warnings about imaginary threats for others. What’s going on?
Part of the answer is, follow the money. Political contributions from the meat-processing industry overwhelmingly favor Republicans. Coal mining supports the G.O.P. almost exclusively. Alternative energy, on the other hand, generally favors Democrats.
There are probably other things, too. If you’re a party that wishes we could go back to the 1950s (but without the 91 percent top tax rate), you’re going to have a hard time accepting the reality that hippie-dippy, unmanly things like wind and solar power are becoming ever more cost-competitive.
Continued...
I'm gonna post the last couple of paragraphs for the sake a fair critique. Quite a doozy.
But when it comes to renewable energy, Trump and company are suddenly very worried about supposed negative side effects, which generally exist only in their imagination. Last year the administration floated a proposal that would have forced the operators of electricity grids to subsidize coal and nuclear energy. The supposed rationale was that new sources were threatening to destabilize those grids — but the grid operators themselves denied that this was the case.
So it’s deregulation for some, but dire warnings about imaginary threats for others. What’s going on?
Part of the answer is, follow the money. Political contributions from the meat-processing industry overwhelmingly favor Republicans. Coal mining supports the G.O.P. almost exclusively. Alternative energy, on the other hand, generally favors Democrats.
There are probably other things, too. If you’re a party that wishes we could go back to the 1950s (but without the 91 percent top tax rate), you’re going to have a hard time accepting the reality that hippie-dippy, unmanly things like wind and solar power are becoming ever more cost-competitive.
Whatever the drivers of Trump policy, the fact, as I said, is that it will kill people. Wind turbines don’t cause cancer, but coal-burning power plants do — along with many other ailments. The Trump administration’s own estimates indicate that its relaxation of coal pollution rules will kill more than 1,000 Americans every year. If the administration gets to implement its full agenda — not just deregulation of many industries, but discrimination against industries it doesn’t like, such as renewable energy — the toll will be much higher.
So if you eat meat — or, for that matter, drink water or breathe air — there’s a real sense in which Donald Trump is trying to kill you. And even if he’s turned out of office next year, for many Americans it will be too late.
“right-wing, white nationalist extremists,”
So we’ve gone from deplorables to white nationalist extremists.
I’m a proud deplorable AND now a proud white nationalist.
Embrace the insult!
Well, I sure hope Trump picks up the pace, so Krugman’s can be one of those deaths...make the country a far better place.
Doubling down on fake news. What’s that definition of insanity again?
The comments are just as hysterical as the authors.
Lifespans in this country were longer before Obamacare. Of course, we’ve had the opioid crisis and rising suicide rate. But the point is health is largely determined by personal choices, not how much health care people get.
Maybe Krugman can explain the difference between no insurance plan at all or having one with a high premium & a completely unacceptable & unaffordable deductible. If that would be your situation, then it looks like one would be much better off without a plan like that.
Exactly said. We’ve already had a taste of the sort of violence the left is capable of when they’re not getting their way. What this communist asshole is projecting on others is what they are thinking of doing.
Krugman never met a lie he wouldn’t promote.
Well, some folks just deserve kill’n.
Liberals always accuse others, especially conservatives and Republicans of exactly what they are trying to do. So, now it is confirmed that the importation of illegal alien criminals, many of whom are also disease-ridden is a deliberate assault on American citizens in addition to the invasion effect.
I am certain Trump also causes excess earwax, increased snow shoe accidents and was somehow involved in the plot to kidnap the Lindberg baby.
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