Discussion: Paul Krugman: Trump Is 'Right' On Economic Issues

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Discussion for article #240195

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Final paragraph sums up T-Rump perfectly.

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I agree with Trump’s willingness to admit we need to raise taxes on the rich and rich hedge fund managers. That’s a big step in the right direction

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icymi - This is a pretty good article that pulls a lot of threads together to compare Sander’s and Trump’s populism to the populism of the 1892 People’s Party platform.

Populists tend to attribute the existence of large numbers of the idle rich and the idle poor to government corruption. In the words of the 1892 People’s Party platform: “From the same prolific womb of governmental injustice we breed the two great classes—tramps and millionaires.”

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tRump is ‘Right’ misleads a bit…because tRump is not correct, only right as in rightwingnutjob.

His economic derp-ship is somewhat less filled with derp than the other GOP Clown Car occupants?

Does tRump have a lower mud content level than the other golems on the right? Possibly. Is tRump still exactly the ignorant blowhard he seems to be? Absolutely.

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nice. i’ve been trying to figure out what’s with ted cruz. not quite a human? clearly a golem!

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I often wonder what the best policy for most Americans would look like if Republicans didn’t use economic policy exclusively as a way to pander to the rich and Democrats didn’t use immigration policy exclusively as a way to pander to Hispanics.

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Krugman argued that former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush ÂŽ should be attacking
Trump’s racist comments rather than going after Trump’s remarks on
taxes"

Is Krugman saying Trump is the “King of Taxes” as Trump has said?
Edit:
Raising taxes on the wealthy is a good idea but it wasn’t a Trump original. The idea has been around a long time. In my opinion Trump is the worst candidate for President in my 66 years if existence.

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Read the salon.com article @Doremus_Jessup which points out that Trump is not opposed to taxes unlike the rest of the R field.

It may seem odd that populists would choose a bombastic billionaire to express their concerns but it must be noted that unlike any of the rest of the GOP field he has supported tax hikes on the wealthy, gone after hedge funds, and picked a big fight with the Club for Growth

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It’s like the clean spot on an soiled rag…it’s too little to make a difference. The more the rubes fall in love tRump, the farther down the rabbit hole they’ll fall. This has been the hallmark of tRumpism: Insanity, wrapped in derp, with a dash of inexplicable reason tossed in for contrast.

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It’s a terrible moment when an economist and others agree with Trump on something because it gives him a little legitimacy and downplays the rest of the ugliness and overall unsuitability for the presidency

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Even a stopped clock…

Of course, since Trump is a real estate mogul, and real estate deals typically have huge tax subsidies built in, it’s not that hard for him to say that other rich people should pay higher taxes.

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That may be true. I am just giving him credit for saying it and because he knows it to be true.

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tRump refuses to echo the clearly wrong GOP mantra on taxes and economy does not mean he is right.

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Sure, I’m following you. Krugman points out that some of tRumps positions are outside the GOP mainstream, and more in keeping with a Democratic platform that conservative. It’s a distinction that sets tRump apart from the clown car herd. Duly noted. My comment disregarded that as pertinent, but it’s still relevant when sizing up differences in candidates. I acknowledge those facts, but I guess I prefer to largely ignore them.

It may seem odd that populists would choose a bombastic billionaire to express their concerns but it must be noted that unlike any of the rest of the GOP field he has supported tax hikes on the wealthy, gone after hedge funds, and picked a big fight with the Club for Growth.

And although Parton’s analysis seems to be spot-on, I doubt that tRumps base would acknowledge it…or would they?

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I think Krugman’s column is inverse condemnation, damning by faint praise, etc. Krugman acknowledges that Trump is a vile racist blowhard. But the main targets, are the rest of the GOP field. Krugman has been constructing this meme for a while: 1] The other GOP candidates are just as outrageous, dishonest and untrustworthy as Trump is. They are just “smoother” about it than Trump; and 2] Unlike the rest of the field, Trump is filling a niche by espousing a kind of “economic populism” coupled with almost unapologetic racism and nativism.

Looking back, when the economic populism of, say, William Jennings Bryan was at it’s height in the early part of the twentieth century, the civil rights, [or lack thereof] of blacks as well as immigrants was arguably at its nadir in that century. It’s been hard to get my head around the idea that “economic progressivism” and racism/sexism/nativism are not mutually exclusive, but I’m getting there.

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Thanks for this.

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That is pretty much what Professor Krugman wrote. You put that point in much more entertaining language anyone can understand, I appreciate that. I’m not sure if he is so much golem or Gollum, though.

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Great stuff; love Krugman…

Paraphrasing: “It’s not that Donald Trump is so right… more like, Republicans overall are pretty dumb.”

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