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Tuesday, September 1, 2015

Donald Trump, middle class billionaire

Since the late 1960's, both major parties have paid lip service to the middle class during campaign season. But once in office, Democrats generally push policies that benefit the underclass, whereas Republicans push policies which benefit the wealthy.

You don't hear the phrases "Great Society" and "trickle down economics" much anymore, but both concepts are still effectively in vogue with their respective parties.

As a result, the middle class -- the traditional backbone of this country --  is disappearing. 

The rich are doing quite well: income inequality has never been greater, thank you. And the poor are doing well enough to use their electronic benefit transfer cards at strip clubs, tattoo parlors, and liquor stores. 

But the middle class is suffering.

The Republican elites like illegal immigration because it provides cheap labor. The Democrats elites like it because it's a source of future Democrats. Or, maybe, because not liking it is "racist."

But illegals willing to work cheaply hold down wages, which hurts the middle class. And they tend to be a burden on government services, which the middle class pays for.

So far Trump is the only candidate willing to talk honestly about this. 

Corporations which export jobs abroad hurt the middle class. Apple, Nike, and many of other recent corporate success stories have inflated their profits using cheap foreign labor. And you can't phone certain support lines -- like Dell's -- without speaking to someone in India.

Trump is the only Republican talking about penalties for American companies which export jobs. 

It is ridiculous that the highest tax rate is for married couples who make $400,000. (Shouldn't those who make $10 million a year be taxed at a higher rate?) It is an outrage that hedge funders only pay the long term capital gains rate on their earnings when the money they manage isn't even theirs.

So far Trump is the only Republican talking about raising those rates. 

Trump has freely admitted that he's contributed to politicians to get favors from them later on. He's seen how this works from the inside, and is the only Republican talking about fixing this broken system. Trump's changes would come at the expense of the special interests, to the benefit of the middle class. 

It's hard to think of a less likely job description for a champion of the middle class than, New York real estate tycoon. But the rest of the Republican field, including several who are actually are middle class, have so far gone along with traditional Republican benefit-the-rich ("trickle down") policies.  

Trump may still be an egomaniacal blowhard, but that's actually the one area where he doesn't set himself apart from the rest of the field. Think about it: anybody who thinks he should be President is almost by definition a narcissistic personality: the job is too big for any man. The only difference between Trump and the others is that he is more honest about his ego, just as he is more honest about the other issues.

He's got my vote. 

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

I find Trump's political approach refreshing, cutting through the bull, getting to the heart of the matter. The way things are are going in our country, it's pretty much going downhill. With Trump, I can laugh because the Republicans and Democrats are squirming a bit, being forced to hear the voice of middle America (via Trump). It's about time a candidate speaks the truth, plenty of Americans disapprove of the direction the country is going in.

- Susan

John Craig said...

Susan --
Yes, well put, Trump definitely has his finger on Middle America's pulse. Americans disapprove of anchor babies by a margin of over 2 to 1, but no other politician will even broach the subject.

Trump's chances for the nomination are looking better and better. McCain ran defensively, and so did Romney, but Trump gives better than he gets, which is what we need. (I'll refrain from saying he is running "offensively.")

mark said...

Disagree with you a bit about the ego of Presidential candidates. I think Jeb(you haven't earned the exclamation point) Bush, Rand Paul, and Hillary Clinton are just guys in the family business. Some of the other candidates(Sanders, Cruz) have as much faith in their ideology as themselves. Yes, they all have healthy egos but if you saw a family member run for President, it probably isn't too crazy to think you should try it as well.

John Craig said...

Mark --
That's a good point, and yes, I was definitely overstating my case there. I suppose what I should have said is that anybody who runs for President has an overinflated self-regard (in that no one man can really do that job), so they are all narcissists by nature. I'd put Hillary in that category, btw, if not Jeb or Rand Paul: no one could possibly be as slippery as her without being a narcissistic personality.) And Cruz just radiates conceit. Sanders, I'll grant you, does not.

Steven said...

"Trump may still be an egomaniacal blowhard, but that's actually the one area where he doesn't set himself apart from the rest of the field."

lol

"Think about it: anybody who thinks he should be President is almost by definition a narcissistic personality: the job is too big for any man. The only difference between Trump and the others is that he is more honest about his ego, just as he is more honest about the other issues."

Yeah, I got the sense from your post that although he is full of himself, he is fundamentally honest and therefore not a sociopath. I imagine a sociopath would be more inclined to play the usual games instead of making waves like Trump.

John Craig said...

Steven --
Yes, as a matter of fact I wrote a post on July 19th about how Trump is not a sociopath. As you say, he'd be playing more games if he were one.

Mark pointed out above, though -- and rightly -- that not all of the candidates are necessarily egomaniacs:

"Yes, they all have healthy egos but if you saw a family member run for President, it probably isn't too crazy to think you should try it as well."

True enough.

Baloo said...

That clarifies my thinking! Reblogged and quibcagged, sort of.
What's the most important issue? Hint: It's not Iran OR Miley Cyrus.

Anonymous said...

Its interesting to watch the Republican party establishment squirm. Two recent articles by George Will are an example "The havoc that Trump wreaks — on his own party" and "Trump’s immigration plan could spell doom for the GOP".

George Will is extremely intelligent, but apparently doesn't get it that the US population is fed up with a Republican party that is a fraud: the Republicans run on populist issues like stopping illegal immigration, repeal / replace Obamacare, reducing government waste and spending - and then do NOTHING about any of it.

As you wrote - the Republican party governs for corporate interests and ownership at the expense of the US worker (a portion of whom voted for them in the expectation that they would actually execute the populist portion of their platform).

Ann Coulter had it right on immigration in her article 'GOP DOUBLE-CROSSING TRAITORS': "Poll after poll showed Americans ranking illegal immigration as the No. 1 most important problem facing the nation"; "If a Republican majority in both houses of Congress can't stop Obama from issuing illegal immigrants Social Security cards and years of back welfare payments, there is no reason to vote Republican ever again."

Further to the root of what is horrifying the Republican establishment, Democrats and the major media is that Trump is stirring a Nationalist "US first" sentiment. Lurking not far from there is the tribal loyalty of the majority.

In the US the tribal loyalty of minorities is to be celebrated and taken as a source of pride. Tribal loyalty of the majority is depicted as the ultimate evil.

If I had to vote today, I'd vote for Trump. But I'm not sure if I fully trust him, and am concerned that at some point he's going to rip off the mask and expose some other agenda (and I don't know what that agenda would be).

- Ed

John Craig said...

Ed --
I've been a little dismayed at the way George Will and Charles Krauthammer have been criticizing Trump recently. It shows that as smart as they are, they are very much creatures of the establishment, and have a hard time moving away from conventional thinking. Plus, the idea that the Republicans will lose the Hispanic vote because of Trump is ridiculous: Hispanics voted overwhelmingly Democratic in the last two Presidential elections anyway, and the latest polls actually show Trump getting a larger percentage of the Hispanic vote than either of the previous two Republican Presidential candidates got.

I couldn't agree with you more about tribal loyalty, and the incredible double standard attached to it. The good news is, more and more people seem to be waking up to it. And Trump has tapped into that, to a small extent (which has had big results for him).

Maybe I'm naive, but I don't think Trump is wearing a mask. I think he's been pretty straightforward; he's not an Alinsky-ite like Obama, pretending to be one thing while really being another.