Posted on 09/02/2015 9:06:47 AM PDT by ek_hornbeck
Donald Trump's rhetoric on immigration has sparked his surge in the polls. But it is his economic critique of the GOP, and his attack on the financial corruption of the Republican donor class and leadership, that is a mortal threat to the party.
Over the weekend, Byron York reported on Donald Trump's efforts to form a "comprehensive" plan on tax reform. He has signaled an interest in raising taxes on the richest Americans, and he has set his targets on the carried-interest loophole favored by hedge fund managers. He has said repeatedly that hedge funds pay too little in taxes, and that he himself is willing to pay a larger share to "make America great again." Trump has essentially said that his preference is for middle-class tax cuts.
(Excerpt) Read more at theweek.com ...
“...they have no frigging idea how to stop the decline...let alone reverse it.”
Actually, I really think they do know how to stop and reverse what’s happened. They just find it hard and very personally threatening to do so. They are like “fast track managers” who make near-term decisions that are self-serving, knowing that those who follow will be left with a shorter list of available choices. But they themselves will be on to their next position as a consequence of their ill-conceived actions so they don’t care. Our job is to make them care!
I hate to take a page out of Nancy Pelosi’s playbook, but with any of our candidates, we will have to vote them in to see what comes of it.
They can lead us to believe most anything, but at the end of the day, we won’t know until they get in and start doing what they want to.
I don’t know how brutal Trump will be to the Washington machine. I hope he cuts a number of departments and trims welfare rolls. I hope he puts people back to work, and increases government receipts, at the same time cutting unemployment outlays across the nation.
With Trump, like any of the others, we just won’t know until they are on the job.
I don’t think Trump is any less likely to do good things than any of the others, and I too think his business acumen will come into play and he’ll clean house.
I want to give him that chance.
None of the other people have the vast experience he does, at keeping costs under control, and thinking outside the box when it comes to venture capitalism.
He’ll see things none of the others would, nearly as clearly.
I believe that a lot of folks who have trashed Trump for months now, and will continue doing so for another year, will one day have to finally admit they were wrong.
Trumps administration will make the Bush administration look like eight of Rumpelstiltskin’s 20.
Very interesting.
Are those instincts theological, or identitarian?
I couldn’t bring myself to vote for Trump in the primaries because of his countless recent about-faces on just about every issue, including the issues he campaigns on the most on today. Having said that, Trump could hardly be any worse as President than Jeb Bush or Hillary Clinton. If the RNC get their wish and manage to push Jeb through, and we’re given a choice between Jeb, Hillary, and Trump as a third party candidate, I’d probably say “what the hell” and vote for Trump.
Big business has the Republican party. The
Socialist have the Democrat party.
The middle class doesn’t have a political party to represent them.
That is what they are really afraid of.
Thanks Ek_Hornbeck. I appreciate the comments.
There’s one thing I think folks overlook today.
Trump is out there selling Conservatism. Whatever his checkered past, there’s no denying that he is selling it two to ten times louder than the others.
A whole new generation is being exposed to Conservative principles. It’s the first time since Reagan that the public is hearing these things from a national figure.
Whatever the outcome of Trumps efforts are, there will be one thing that can’t be taken back, which Conservatives should be forever grateful for.
He did want a top rate of 15% in 2011. Since then we have had the implementation of ObamaCare and a huge increase in the federal budget.
He would have to increase his targets at each level to cover the budget, AND it should not include borrowing.
That means spending would have to be reduced over time, but that will be harder to get done. Personally, I’d like to see the same thing: a flat rate across all programs equally with zero exceptions for anything. (If exceptions ARE made, then the military and retiree and veteran salaries, pensions, and deferred benefits MUST be the lowest percentage of any exception allowed.)
The rich are liberals and the Democratic captive class.
I see no reason to empower them.
And Trump has turned class warfare on its head.
Liberal plutocrats are the greatest danger to the country.
Yet another thug willing to publicly condone and advocate theft.
I'm trying hard to find anything at all that's true in that sentence, and not succeeding.
That pretty well describes the rats: the FSA funded by crony capitalists.
The gop on the other hand: a herd of free range cats funded by crony captialists who deeply hate them.
DO: I have to disagree with you a bit on that. If DT is selling conservatism it sure isn’t the movement conservatism we’re used to. I’d sooner term it “nationalism.” That’s fine by me. It’s been a looooong time since any political candidate anywhere on the political spectrum has made American exceptionalism a core part of their campaign.
Bigger picture: those right/left labels seem to be outliving their usefulness. It seems more globalism versus nationalism as the big issue in politics these days.
In this sense, Trump superficially resembles Ross Perot and Pat Buchanan. The difference is that whether you liked them or not, Perot and Buchanan seemed sincere in their beliefs and convictions. They were activists on behalf of their pet causes long before they ran for President.
In contrast, why didn't Trump use his billions or his media connections years ago as a bully pulpit to fight open borders and multiculturalism? Why are we hearing this for the first time from him now, when he was basically saying the opposite just a few years ago?
As I said previously, it's the right message from the wrong messenger.
I also said that those who oppose populist candidates solely because they focus on immigration and other cultural issues rather than on fiscal issues (tax cuts and deregulation) miss the point. If the ultimate goal is free markets, a Constitutional Republic, and some semblance of a self-governing civil society, cutting taxes and deregulating the financial services sectors won't do any good once you've imported half the population of Central America and Mexico to implement these policies. The end result is going to be an economy and political system that resembles Mexico or Guatemala's rather than America's, tax cut or no tax cut.
The dirty little secret is that we are all being held hostage by Trump. Why would we have to be “held hostage” to support Trump? Plenty of reasons why his negatives were through the roof only a month ago, as he was about to enter the race. He’s just off-putting, and that is only the start. He is definitely not the second coming of Jack Kemp, or von Mises, or Milton Friedman, or . . .How is Trump “holding us hostage?” Simply by telling the truth like the boy and the naked emperor. He ridicules PC like nobody else will or, one infers, can. When he points out the obvious that the MSM has been covering up, we find ourselves unable to oppose the man. Hence, we may have looked down on Trump a month ago, but now we can’t admit it - because he gives us hope that we might actually be represented in Washington. Instead of facing a JEB/Hillary, head you lose, tails you lose election.
People normally cannot turn their negative/positive ratio upside down. But people normally are not willing to go rogue like Donald Trump.
Of course there are things to criticize him about. Most importantly his late night tweets. thing thing with Trump is he is like able, believable, and really no need to detail every plan. Trust. More than can be said of the “politicians”.
I agree there is a strong nationalist tone to his comments, but look at the slide of our nation. We need a guy like that to rally people to the defense of the nation again.
Reagan was a nationalist. He was our cheerleader too. Trump goes about it in a less controlled manner, but it’s the same thing considering differing personalities.
1. immigration
His solution to this is a Conservative one. It advocates we enforce the laws on the books. He advocate sending them back, and letting them go through the process.
2. education
He advocates for eliminating common core. He advocates for returning education to local communities.
3. our national debt
He advocates for getting our spending under control and stopping the grown in deficit spending. He does not want to see the nation debt rise. He sees that as a danger.
4. Taxes
He advocates for a flat or graduated tax. He has consulted with tax specialists that we respect, and wants to simplify as well as reduce taxes for most people.
5. Obamacare
He advocates a robust private sector provision of insurance. He wants to do away with state line restrictions and let insurance companies compete nationwide. He thinks that will spur competition impacting rates downward and an increase in the variety of policies available.
6. Military
He believes our military his hollowed out. He wants to rebuild it. He also thinks our veterans ore getting treated unfairly, and he wants to change that.
7. Jobs
He thinks lopsided trade agreements are partly to blame for a loss of jobs. He wants to correct that.
He wants to address trade policy so that jobs come back to the U. S. In some instances he favors tariffs if other nations are gaming the situation. China does this.
He sounds as if he plans to address welfare too.
8. international agreements
He seems convinced we get the short end of the stick most of the time these days. I find it hard to disagree. He wants better deals.
These aren’t Leftist policies.
They are childish, but to be fair, I can't stand Megyn Kelly either.
People change. They have epiphanies. They also can have parts of their lives that are utter disasters and still get it right on the important stuff. My favorite example is Winston Churchill.
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