To me, billionaireso look alike. I look at Warren Buffett. His holdings range from Berkshire-Hathaway Real Estate to Geico Insurance to a major stake in GE, a major stake in Coca Cola, to a major stake in Davita Healthcare.
Buffett is fond of saying, “don’t invest in what you don’t understand.” And he doesnt. He practices what trump preaches: he hires the best people. But he understands all these businesses. Well enough to know who can do the best job running a real estate company, running an insurance company (actually, he owns several of these), a manufacturing company, a beverage company, a healthcare company, each employing thousands, or tens of thousands, each with their own. logistical nightmares, goverment regulations, all the details of billion dollar companies.
He runs rings around trump.
But I wouldn’t vote for him.
Billionaires solve problems in markedly different ways that conservative constitutiinalists. We get a hint of this when we observe that both trump and Buffett are crony capitalists. For them, government is a force to coerce others to do what’s in the crony’s best interest. So, trump uses eminent domain, Buffett uses the loopholes related to the internal build-up of value in life insurance policies, or getting Congress to keep renewing the Ex-I’m Bank (we may win that one).
A constitutiinalist may come out against ethanol mandates because he recognizes their is no constitutional warrant for it, it’s market distorting, and it merely creates rents for everyone from corn farmers to processors and refiners. Or he might support them, understanding the coalitions he needs. The billionaire’s view is a little more crass: who is he buying. Which is similar to coalition-building, but not quite the same.
That’s not to say that a billionaire could have an avocation to throw study foundactions of the Constitution, to modern politics, to American history, to the foundations of our republic. But I’d l>keep to see a hint of that in a candidate. I do with Cruz. I did with Walker. I do with Jindal (but he’s a lost cause). I think I get that hint from Huckabee. But I sense that although he gets it, he actively acts against it. I think W had it. President Reagan had it. Bush, Sr., I think had it.
Billionaires usually don’t have it. Cobstitutionalists understand the nature of constitutional limits. Billionaires often become billionaires by refusing to accept limits. I want a president who understands the principle of limited, constitutional government.
I suppose that depends on your perspective. But Buffet isn't running. Buffett seems happy with status quo, using his wealth to promote HIS interests. If as you say, Trump is not at the same level as Buffett, it makes Trump's willing to sacrifice so much for his country quite admirable.
Whatever your feelings of Trump's competitors, and I agree with some of your points, none would push for the massive reset that is required. We get that, then maybe we'll have something left to build on in 4 or 8 years for a Cruz who respects the Constitution.