Asks Thomas B. Edsall, in the NYT (gift link).
Oh! Ha ha. I thought this was a new article.
Seemed to go along with today's episode of The Daily, "48 Days Until the Midterms: Is a Blue Wave Coming?" (gift link)[based on "A ‘Blue Wave’ May Be Building, but How High? A Times/Siena national poll suggests Republicans are reeling. Can they come back by depicting Democrats as too far to the left?].
But now I see that Edsall piece was published on May 11, 2016.
Ha ha ha. I guess we found out.
Edsall ends with: "[T]he simple fact that Trump has beaten the odds so far means that it is not beyond the realm of possibility that he could beat them again. If he does take the White House, much, if not all, of his margin of victory will come from voters too ashamed to acknowledge publicly how they intend to cast their vote."
पोस्ट्स
१७५ टिप्पण्या:
That’s funny because much, if not all, of my shame comes from ever voting for any Democrat ever.
“If he does take the White House, much, if not all, of his margin of victory will come from voters too ashamed to acknowledge publicly how they intend to cast their vote."
It’s not shame. Do some reporting, Tommy. Put on a MAGA hat and take a walk down Broadway. Let us know how far you get.
I think that the greater revelation in November is likely to be Trumpers who are sick of him and no longer support him.
People don't want to admit that they like Trump or agree with his policies because otherwise many of their friends, co-workers and family members will ostracize them or dump them.
It happens every single day.
The cost - perceived or real - of supporting Trump is thought to be too high and not worth it. Better to shut up.
Trump is considered by many to be a mean person. On top of that, he's routinely called a rapist, felon and pedophile. All without evidence. People just look at his personality and not what he has accomplished.
It really is a one-way street. The Left can make all sorts of wild accusations but if a conservative pushes back or engages in a substantive debate on the merits, they are vilified.
For the Left, it is their way or STFU. Or even worse, they will destroy you.
I personally get this all the time in NE. The Left can't stand me because I stand up for my conservative beliefs and that can't be tolerated.
I started liking Trump because the other side seemed to hate him completely out of left field.
Now, the hatred against Trump has reached scape velocity and there's no coming back.
I'm in with the voters Trump said he wouldn't lose, even after shooting someone in the middle of Fifth Avenue. ;-)
How many people are repulsed by the Jew hating - Hamas loving - fraud tax payer wasting - Police and ICE de-funding and ICE-bashing corrupt democrat communists?
Notice Edsall's framing of the issue. Decry the privacy of the voting booth while making it sound like shame -- rather than intimidation by the crazies on his side -- is the reason -- rather than the need -- for keeping your vote private.
Many who voted for Trump would agree that he is not a particularly likeable guy, but they do like his Administration's policies, and the policies are what affects people most in their everyday lives. George Patton was a SOB personally, but he won the big ones when it counted the most.
I think that the greater revelation in November is likely to be Trumpers who are sick of him and no longer support him.
Maybe. Do you know any? Who do they support? Are they going to vote Dem? Or just stay home and let the Dems win because "I'm just sick of him"?
Who's sick of Trump that isn't a lot sicker of the Dems?
People on the left really do live in a bubble. I was at a New Year's Eve party last year. My experience is that people generally don't talk about politics in social settings if they are anywhere close to the political center. But a subject came up that caused a woman to blurt out, "Oh, can you believe it, Trump is so awful, etc". And the response was from others in the crowd, I love Trump, and I voted for Trump 3 times, What's not to like about Trump and so on. She was horrified and shocked to meet actual Trump supporters. I don't think she spoke another word the rest of the evening.
Just keep the Clancy jury wenches, El-Sayad and Talarico talking, and things will take care of themselves.
@Boyd, Trump has made some ghastly errors in the last 2.5 years, but none of them worth staying home for. The left must never have power again. They prove it daily. "Horse mid-stream" yadda yadda...
It helped that Hillary Clinton (1) had no political savvy at all,* and (2) was well know. To be personally corrupt.
________________
“ She and her entourage on their way cross country to Iowa in a van stopped for McDonald's and failed to leave a tip. I admit I hardly ever hit the tip jar at my local Golden Arches, but I’m not running for President.
I'm not ashamed of my support for Trump, but its not worth it to argue with people with the TDS. I've tried pointing out that Trump is a 1990s Democrat, that the left felt betrayed by Clinton because of NAFTA, that the GOPe opposes Trump because they want their cheap slave labor. They just turn red in the face and call him the village idiot. At this point I've made peace with not arguing with them. Their refusal to engage with reality is working in the conservatives favor.
That's where I get stuck: Every time Trump does something stupid, I'm immediately reminded of why I voted for him, as soon as I see the reaction. The constant, unreasoning, blind hatred of any association with Trump is so much worse. I just can't stand intolerance.
It's not shame. A very wise man once said:
You've got to know when to hold them
You've got to know when to fold them
You've got to know when to walk away
And you should never argue with a crazy mamamama
Pretty simple: Democrats are often intolerant, unhinged, and dangerous.
In a sane society, that would be the thing to hide.
“Ride or die” may be a little broad, but there does seem to be a significant contingent for whom supporting Trump has become less a policy position than a long-term relationship. Apparently, even inflation and a $38 billion and counting--Iran war haven’t been enough to file for divorce.
Trump saved America from a complete takeover by Lindsay Clancy jurors.
For much of the left Trump is as much a hate figure as Emmanuel Goldstein is in 1984.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvGmOZ5T6_Y
Here's another data point. In many online dating profiles, the women say that if you are a Trump supporter they don't want to meet you.
𝘋𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘵, 𝘶𝘯𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘴.
𝘐𝘯 𝘢 𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘵𝘺, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘥𝘦.
The interesting question isn’t what Democrats or the DSA are doing. It’s why some Trump supporters remain firmly attached to him even when they’re unhappy with the economy, inflation, tariffs, or the Iran war. That’s where “ride or die” becomes an interesting description - though hardly a scientific one.
Not sure exactly what ghastly errors you are referring to, but better a couple ghastly errors than an endless parade of ghastly things done on purpose.
I have very close friends who have severe TDS. A few years ago, politics came up, and the fountain of anger and misinformation that came forth was so jarring that we have never let the subject come up again, and that's how we remain close today. It would be impossible otherwise. It's just completely off limits. For me and people like me, it's a simple matter of facts and debate, but for many it's an emotional seizure devoid of reason. Violence and retribution are just a few steps away from a simple discussion of politics. It's so disappointing and really unexplainable.
Inflation is no worse than it was under Crook Joe.
I choose the party that doesn't include speech crime paid off murdering thugs. .. like the a-hole who killed Charlie.
Yah. Well that's the reason we have secret ballots. And further more as flawed and at times irrational as DJT may be, he was the better candidate for POTUS in '16, '20, and '24. It doesn't say much for America as a society that Trump, HRC, Biden, and Harris are the best our system has to offer.
"an emotional seizure devoid of reason."
That's a great way to put it.
And it's all the same mass seizure, too. I have the same problem with leftish pals. ie: One carries around her passport because she thinks (buys / has been told) that she will be abducted and deported by roving ICE . She's just another white leftist loon.
"Shame." The more interesting question for me is why people supporting ever so many policies of the left - undercutting the American working class, condemning the homeless to overdose deaths by insisting that what they really need is "dignity," squandering tax dollars endlessly on vanity projects disguised as "public good" and "charity" (while calling it "GOVERNMENT spending" instead of "your tax dollars at play"), subjecting children as young as preschool to grooming (and encouraging parents to start grooming their children for them even earlier), forcing the developing world to go back to dung fires in the name of developed-world virtue signaling - somehow *don't* feel shame.
It's interesting to me because it's instructive. How do feelings of shame develop? They have to start somewhere. We used to believe (some of us still do believe) that moral arbitration came from something bigger, stronger, and most importantly *more moral* than we are. Postmodernism did its best to destroy that belief - to its adherents (and now victims, who don't even know what it is but who have been raised in its empty milieu) nothing is *more moral* than anything else because there's no capital-T Truth. Therefore what we're left with is *more fashionable* instead.
In great part, the left has cauterized its shame receptors and left itself with only pleasure receptors. Listening to a fashion arbiter rather than a moral arbiter gives you a lot of little dopamine hits, I suppose.
Moondawggie: Agree on the Patton comparison. I sent an email note to Victor Davis Hanson asking him his thoughts on that and no reply or mention during his online appearances or columns. Maybe in his just released book, "The Counterrevolution: The Fall and Rise of Donald Trump and the MAGA Movement" he will make that comparison. I am not complaining. Just saying that I value his opinion on both men and would like to know what he would say on that subject.
"why some Trump supporters remain firmly attached to him even when they’re unhappy with the economy, inflation, tariffs, or the Iran war"
The economy is doing great. The U.S. had 759,000 more payroll jobs in August 2026 than in December 2024. Hourly pay is up 5.3% since Trump took office. I will give you a partial on inflation, but much of that is due to the 6.3 trillion added to the financial system due to the Covid lockdowns. You can't add money to the system while preventing people from working without creating inflation. We are talking about a 41% increase in the M2 money supply. On the other hand, Trump has sealed the border, started deporting illegal aliens, is addressing a hell of a lot of fraud, and the number of federal government workers has fallen 11% since Trump took office. I count those as wins. Though I think the 11% is a rookie number. Trump needs to get that up. Off course Trump's number one qualification is that he isn't Hillary Clinton or Kamala Harris.
" It’s why some Trump supporters remain firmly attached to him even when they’re unhappy with the economy, inflation, tariffs, or the Iran war."
It's not difficult to understand. We want the country to return to greatness after decades of decline and self-destruction. There is a lot work and sacrifice that goes into making that kind of change. It's silly to think it would be easy and free of cost, which really has been minimal so far. MAGA people are generally the type who understand delayed gratification and hard work. This may be one of the biggest differences between right and left, and always has been. Willingness to sacrifice personal comfort and endure for long term success is a fading value, which is why socialisms is rising again, and why it always fails. Everybody wants their share of the cheese, but nobody wants to make the cheese. We are willing to do the work and pay a price for our country.
Shorter me: it seems to me that the left is no longer capable of feeling shame - only embarrassment.
I have a friend (in common due to going to same high school, and some minor connections) who is also a FB Friend. She was a fervent Trump supporter. Now she goes out of her way to criticize: first the price of gas, the coming collapse of farming due to fertilizer supply, the price of everything else, and now that he and his family is getting rich off the presidency (no evidence that it, if true, is illegal or even unethical). I don't engage and have got to the point where I have put her in the area where I won't see her posts - only her comments on mine. She is one of the only Trump supporters that has turned on him in my social circle and it seems all financial. I understand that. But she knows about Biden and the Dems. Does she not release that losing the midterms will handcuff the administration for the remainder of his term? SMH
The party out of power almost always wins seats in the mid-terms. In addition, just like in 2018, the DC Republican Establishment is trying to throw the game. The Senate blocked every attempt to pass the SAVE act or do anything to help Trump on immigration. Or do much of anything else except spend money on Defense and Big Ag and give Netenyahu a million standing O's while waving Israeli (Not USA) flags.
Sen Kennedy (LA- Uniparty) , has said they'll give zero money to help Paxson in Texas, and starving other MAGA candidates around the country. Meanwhile R candidates in the Northeast and Establishment candidates running for re-election are getting most of the money.
Leftists love to forget the COVID bullshit that ruined our lives under Crook Joe. and all the inflation and whole job killing that went on. The illegals Crook Joe let in - all to ultimately replenish their voting block.
As for the House, tons of R have decded to retire just like they did in 2018. There are a lot of Paul Ryan types who'd rather be in private business than serve in the house under "That man in the WHite house". God, what clowns the R Party is.
Well, we'll know that the "secret" Trump voters have stopped and thought about their vote.
In contrast to all the racist white people who voted for Obama so they could crow about voting for the black president. Often, declaring that they voted for Obama simply because they felt it was time for a black President with nary a thought to the content of his character or the color of his politics
"It doesn't say much for America as a society that Trump, HRC, Biden, and Harris are the best our system has to offer."
I pointed out to a lefty friend in 2016 that Trump winning showed that there was something very wrong with our political system. She smiled the smug smile of the TDS because she totally misunderstood me. Trump won for two reasons, because he supported positions that addressed problems that the majority of Americans wanted to address, but were being ignored by both political parties. And because he was not Hillary Clinton.
"tons of R have decded to retire just like they did in 2018. There are a lot of Paul Ryan types who'd rather be in private business than serve in the house under "That man in the WHite house"
That's a good thing. They are GOPe. Good ridance.
free association flashback. Can you imagine what a shit show a Romney Ryan POTUS would've been? Reaching the aisle to pass Amnesty and 1/2 the Democrat agenda. War against Russia. Finanicalization of Social Security, all it leading to Hillary in 2016.
The costs were worse just a couple of years ago, but they were for nothing but trying to win votes. Trump has shown a willingness to lose support if that's the cost of doing the right thing. That's why he answers questions, even tough ones, with answers that don't make everyone happy. The Democrats avoid answering questions and just give you a word salad and slogans, when not flat-out misrepresenting themselves.
Trump’s MAGA Inc. has committed $10 million to the Texas Senate race $5 million supporting Ken Paxton and $5 million opposing his Democratic opponent. So “zero money for Paxton” is incorrect if it refers to Trump’s political operation.
However, the Senate GOP leadership PAC has not budgeted money for Texas, and John Cornyn says he is focusing on races elsewhere. The comment conflates the Senate GOP operation with Trump’s MAGA Inc.
"Ice Nine said...
I think that the greater revelation in November is likely to be Trumpers who are sick of him and no longer support him."
Whether that is true or not, Trump will still be President after the new Congress convenes in January.
Worse case scenario, Democrats take the House and Senate. Really now way they can get Trump removed through impeachment by January 27, 2027. And if they do afterwards. J.D. Vance becomes President for the lat two years of the current presidential term and would still be eligible for two full terms of his own.
There is a reason why people on the left are the ones always threatening to leave the country when they don't get everything they want.
Trump’s Iran war/s is a mistake. It will be proven to have been a mistake, which will take time, but a proven mistake nonetheless. We have bigger fish to fry domestically that should’ve rated higher than another escapade at Earth’s eternally itchy and irritatingly sand-filled asscrack. I have private suspicions for why the administration did this, suffice to say the motivations were a mistake and the counsel received was fraudulent. I do not undertake what I disparage in those I disagree with by burying my head in the sand and saying something that was pigheadedly stupid wasn’t. It will have major negative economic and geopolitical consequences and many of these impacts are only just beginning, possibly materializing before November...the "bigger domestic fish to fry".
The enemies that matter aren't 8000 miles away, they're next-fucking-door. The call is coming from inside the house, Donald. It's naive to think that it won't affect the mid-terms, possibly even among - excluding myself - his base. We'll know in 50 days.
I support his administration in so much else but he gets an F on this debacle. He should take the L. Maybe he'll learn from it, but I doubt it.
I have to wonder how simple Trump expected his Iranian gambit to be. “Iran can’t have a nuclear weapon” is an easy slogan; dealing with the consequences—war costs already approaching $38 billion, disrupted shipping through a critical global chokepoint, Iranian missile attacks, Houthi pressure on another chokepoint, and years potentially needed to replenish missile interceptors—is the very different reality. The gap between the simplicity of the objective and the complexity of achieving it is becoming impossible to ignore.
"Too ashamed"? No, not ashamed. More like fearful of the consequences to job and social status.
So many of the people where in my life are either teachers, school administrators or work for the state. They are uniformly Democrat. Not sure? Give them a second, they'll tell you. They may not come out and say they're voting Democrat but you can sorta kinda guess when you get the snide remarks about Trump. nudge nudge wink wink we're all together on this AmIrite?
Not ashamed at all!!! MAGA... two plus more years!! And then Vance for President.
Why create a non-existent past where Romney ruined everything? Lame. Right up there with bashing Ron DeSantis. He is probably one of the best governors in the entire US. but he's not good enough for the small superman comic book crowd.
Romney would have been a thousand times better than a 2nd Obama term. Yeah - he's a squish. and?
Biden let in 10-20 million illegals.
But fighting an imaginary past that never occurred. so tired.
I suppose RC - you preferred Biden to Trump. oh and too bad Hillary lost - right RC Cola? Now that you are all Israel/blame/ hate /all the time.
BTW - a reminder from Bill Maher on the reality of the game propagandized lie-buyers are all playing.
Revision Quest
The mid-terms are always coming up.
""It doesn't say much for America as a society that Trump, HRC, Biden, and Harris are the best our system has to offer."
Only one of those people has any real accomplishments in life, and has done anything that added to the country with their own work and money. Only one is a maker. The others are all takers. Trump is the most qualified person to ever be President. Successful in a number of fields, managed and employed huge operations worldwide with thousands of employees. It's a nice resume.
IEED Bot - blue sky is calling. Pick up the phone.
Please AOC - you go with this
" Indefinitely Extended Excursion™️ said...
“Ride or die” may be a little broad, but there does seem to be a significant contingent for whom supporting Trump has become less a policy position than a long-term relationship. Apparently, even inflation and a $38 billion and counting--Iran war haven’t been enough to file for divorce. "
$38 billion. The deficit will hit $2 trillion this year. Again. It amounts to roughly 0.4% of the yearly spending. Besides, those ships and planes and the people who operate them are already there and paid for so it doesn't make a lot of difference if we use them or let them sit on base doing nothing. We still pay for them.
"I have to wonder how simple Trump expected his Iranian gambit to be. "
I'm sure he expected it to be quicker, but was informed it could be like this. He's simply willing to do it anyway because he thinks it's important to prevent the leading sponsor of terrorism from having nukes. So do I.
Can you identify a war with fewer American loses that accomplished something like that. The success is already done. Now we are trying to cleanup and realign the future without that threat. If it was easy, one of the past Presidents would have done it. Trump was not going to pass it along like the others did. That may not be politically expedient, but there are more important things.
@Bagoh 10:33.
"If it was easy, one of the past Presidents would have done it."
Bingo. And many past R & D administrations tried to with words and little to back it up.
Trump - Actually doing what should have been done years ago.
…the government has identified $1.5 trillion in entitlements are going to people not entitled to receive them but yes please make it a major talking point in your platform to complain about a rounding error in defense spending and a million here and there every time a republican president travels for work…
"The success is already done."
"Mission Accomplished". Oof.
What the American military and diplomacy has accomplished in the Middle East under Trump is simply amazing, unprecedented and long needed, and the cost has been minimal. The idea that it should cost less than it has and be universally praised is just a silly standard. There is no realistic way to get anything like that done at a lower cost than we have endured so far. I think it's well worth it if it holds, but that part of the world has a way of screwing itself. Even if it fails long-term, I support the effort. Iran would have nuclear weapons by now if we didn't reelect Trump. That alone justifies my support.
There's a difference between "too ashamed" and "too scared". Also between "too ashamed" and "willing to lie to pollsters".
It's not liberals with liberal bumper stickers who get their cars keyed and windows broken. It's conservatives. Why you rarely see an automobile festooned with conservative stickers.
I do see a surprising number of pickup trucks plastered with pro-Trump and pro-gun rights messages. Odds are they're never parked where there's anyone who's going to mess with the owner.
“Already paid for” is doing some heroic heavy lifting there. The Pentagon doesn’t get to fire $38 billion worth of missiles, lose equipment, burn fuel and damage infrastructure and then mark the expense “free because we owned the stuff.”
And yes, a roughly $2 trillion deficit makes $38 billion look smaller. That’s not an argument that $38 billion costs nothing, it’s an argument that we’re already spending enormous amounts we don’t have. The CBO also estimates another $2–3 billion a month if the war continues.
**I think that the greater revelation in November is likely to be Trumpers who are sick of him and no longer support him."**
People should read some of my comments from before Trump started this war of aggression in Iran. I was pretty supportive of Trump. Also, this is unlikely to repeat itself:
**Democrats lost because everyone except for whites moved in the direction of Donald Trump this cycle.** —David Brooks, NYT 2024
You people are diluted if you think the Iranian debacle was about nuclear. The nuclear was destroyed when operation deep thud busted the bunker.
This has seriously cost Trump his domestic agenda bigly. A win now for the Republic Party is to only loose the House and a tie in the Senate.
Really? The 22 year-old "Mission Accomplished" meme? You know that's all it was right? I hope we don't make military decisions based on distorted partisan memes from decades past.
"Trump - Actually doing what should have been done years ago."
Why, because they took back their oil in 1979 after we. seized it in 1953, and we have been angry at them ever since? Or is it because Netanyahu wants this war?
Oh, maybe it's because in Revelations this is going to lead to the return of Jesus, who is going to, if the text of that book is to be believed, kill 2/3 of the Jewish people, along with 2/3 of everybody else, because they refuse to convert to Christianity? That's what Pastor Huckabee believes, and Tel Aviv Ted Cruz.
"I think that the greater revelation in November is likely to be Trumpers who are sick of him and no longer support him."
How soon we forget.
Because everything was so wonderful when we had Bush/Obama/Biden in charge.
No wars, no inflation, no unemployment, cheap health insurance, low gas prices, secure borders, peace in the Middle East and the government stayed out of our lives. Just peachy.
Yeah, I don't remember that either. Get a clue.
Jaq- Not interested in your twisted take.
Gee golly - after oct 7th ( which you think was faked) Israel had enough of Hamas's shit.
"Because everything was so wonderful when we had Bush/Obama/Biden in charge."
Well, if we don't start punishing the presidents who get us into these wars, when is it going to change? Personally, I think that Republicans have shown that they cannot be trusted ever again with the White House.
Howard -
We hope that deep bunker bust ended their nuke plans and programs. The Iranian Islamic thugs have others - and other methods for their end of world theocratic aims.
Jaq - you've stated you are now a democrat. All I need to know.
“The gap between the simplicity of the objective and the complexity of achieving it is becoming impossible to ignore.“
True of every existential war America has ever fought and won.
"You people are diluted if you think the Iranian debacle was about nuclear."
The threat was that Iran would reconstitute its nuclear program and use its military control of the Strait as a hostage to prevent anyone from stopping them, and it would work on anybody but Trump. Trump was not going to pass what was likely the last opportunity to prevent it. There is a whole basket of other benefits, like controlling China's access and influence and aligning the Middle East away from this threat and toward a future governed by trade rather than terrorism. The hope is still that the IRGC will be replaced, which would be an unalloyed good for the entire world.
If you don't think ALL that was the motivation, what was it?
IEE (9:39): “The interesting question isn’t what Democrats or the DSA are doing.” Don’t ask! Don’t ask! They are counting on the leftmediaswine to obscure this until after the midterms. Democrats and their consorts needn’t know how the world works only that Trump is still in it.
I would be interested to know which part of my post is untrue, Peachy, set me straight.
Did you know that Netanyahu, according to Israeli press, knew that Oct 7 was coming, and kept it under his hat?
https://www.timesofisrael.com/days-before-oct-7-uae-leader-warned-netanyahu-hamas-was-planning-war-but-pm-did-nothing-with-the-info-report/
Althouse’s comment section appears to be disproportionately populated by Trump/MAGA supporters. It’s not a scientific sample of the MAGA base, but if you’re trying to understand how committed Trump supporters are reacting to events, it’s certainly a relevant and rather unfiltered online community.
MAGA core → overwhelmingly supportive
Republicans → still predominantly supportive, but showing more erosion
American public → 35% approve / 63% disapprove
Trump’s overall approval is currently quite low, while his support among his ideological core remains exceptionally durable.
"All I need to know."
Wow, I guess that makes you a deep thinker.
Trump is kind of like democracy, he’s the worst possible candidate, except for every other democratic candidate on the slate anywhere.
The collective woke left think our military should be a woke rainbow club of over-weight misfits with emotionally charged victim-based whiny issues to deal with.
Trump's appeal is becoming more selective.
"...and John Cornyn says he is focusing on races elsewhere."
Yeah I wonder why. It's a mystery!
'...You people are diluted...'
Well, it was 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 electrolyte recipe, Howard.
Jaq - your output is not deep thinking.
It's like assuming I want to go and read Bill Kristol's X account. Nope.
A 23 year, 40,000+/- casualties, $4 trillion and still counting meme that keeps on giving. And now we have a new meme that's just starting.
It will never, ever get old.
"The collective woke left think our military should be a woke rainbow club of over-weight misfits with emotionally charged victim-based whiny issues to deal with."
And the remaining MAGA right thinks it should be used to invade countries that just happen to have lots of oil, just a coincidence... right?
OK then. Give the Dems the house + the senate in the midterms. Assume worst possible scenario for the GOP, and put lots of socialists into the congress as well as the nightly news and all the usual social media outlets.
What will they do with it?
Will this help or hurt their chances to win the executive in 2028?
Can they summon up the kind of effort it took to stop Trump in 2020? That's what it is going to take. It'll take a lot of funding, and a lot of political operatives are going to have to spend/make a lot of money in the effort. After all, it IS good for business. Political business.
…clearly we are reaching peak electoral silly season, where the leftie propaganda and frustration reaches it’s frothiest zenith, then crests the steep hill down to reality in the hopes of salvaging some credibility for the next election…
"war costs already approaching $38 billion"!!!
Oh noes!!!
The current annual US military budget is somewhere between $978 Billion and $1 Trillion.
$38 Billion ain't nothing, and $1 Trillion is way too much (it's proposed to increase to $1.5 trillion), but the cost of the war is a sideshow.
Mezzrow - indeed.
What will the corrupt left do when they take the house and senate?
Will we get another Vindman eavesdropping liar?
What efforts will go into impeaching Trump? That's all they care about. What efforts will go into killing Trump? that's all they care about.
Al Green wants to tank/impeach Trump with the anti-ICE deaths.
They don't mention the fact that Tim Walz's Lt Governor asked local leftists in crazy MN to "put their bodies on the line" and that these leftists were attending Soros paid groups with the purpose of learning how to disrupt law enforcement.
The man who was shot- his family said he was struggling with severe anger issues. He brought a gun with him to an area with Police and ICE agents. That is stupid suicidal decision making. encouraged by Peggy Flanigan(D)
…yah I have a bigger problem with dehydration, not dilution…
We cannot have wars for oil - but we can bitch and moan about gas prices.
All while leftists in Blue states cut off refineries.
Venezuela's successes are ignored.
"but the cost of the war is a sideshow."
...for now, not including EBITDA (Earnings Before Iran, Tariffs, and Donald’s Announcements). American conflict costs are amortized. The current sticker price doesn't represent the final cost, and boy howdy is it custom frickin designed that way!
Too ashamed or not willing to talk to democrat hacks.
>boatbuilder said...
"I think that the greater revelation in November is likely to be Trumpers who are sick of him and no longer support him."
Because everything was so wonderful when we had Bush/Obama/Biden in charge.
No wars, no inflation, no unemployment, cheap health insurance, low gas prices, secure borders, peace in the Middle East and the government stayed out of our lives. Just peachy.
Yeah, I don't remember that either. Get a clue.<
Get a reply that addresses my prediction.
Most presidents have slipping approval in the second half of their second term. The difference is Trump remains busy and doing things that matter and need done. Americans quickly tire of everything, especially if overexposed like Trump with 24/7 exclusively bad press by most of the media and talking heads.
There is no way Trump could get positive press or high approval, no matter what he did. I'm glad he's not focused on trying. In fact, I want a lot of people to get get even more upset. That's a sign he's doing the right things. He can't save the Republicans no matter what he does. Their own base doesn't like them, specifically because they don't support Trump with action, but the base aren't going to vote for Communists either.
bagoh20 said...
What the American military and diplomacy has accomplished in the Middle East under Trump is simply amazing, unprecedented and long needed, and the cost has been minimal. ... Even if it fails long-term, I support the effort. Iran would have nuclear weapons by now if we didn't reelect Trump. That alone justifies my support.
This.
The “Intelligentsia” finds some form of comfort in their horseshit takes.
"...white Republicans are the most ethnocentric of all voters..."
Edsall wrote those words, an editor approved them, and the Times published them.
"Ashamed"?
that is a strange way to spell "afraid"
John Henry
Trump is the absolute best POTUS in my lifetime.
$38 billion? We have spent about $200 billion in Ukraine. Are they anywhere near Mission Accomplished? Which war is closer to success?
There is a reason why $38 billion spent causes so much more concern than 5 times as much with less accomplished, and it's not concern for taxpayers.
“Al Green wants to tank/impeach Trump with the anti-ICE deaths.”
I’m so tired… of this clown and his pimpstick. I’m glad he’s been voted out.
It’s not genocide, Timmy Tim Tim Jaq. It’s called a counterattack.
Wilbur 11:32 - yep.
"Genocide" is a disgusting lie.
All while real genocide is ignored by our hack D soviet press and all the Israel haters on both sides of the Aisle.
The reason Trump won in 2024 was that many people could see that the Biden administration and its supporters spent years lying about the President's health. As a result, they lost all credibility and the public did not trust them. If Harris had distanced herself from Biden before the summer of 2024 instead of going along with "Biden is perfectly fine!" she would probably be President now.
Ice Nine--your prediction may or may not be correct.
I, for one, hope it is incorrect. And my point was that those who are "sick of Trump" (including several commenters here) are imagining a world that never existed, ignoring the problems of going back to the status quo (and likely much, much worse), taking an awful lot for granted and generally thinking like spoiled teenagers.
We undeniably have a lot of spoiled teenagers in the electorate, unfortunately.
"If Harris had distanced herself from Biden before the summer of 2024 instead of going along with "Biden is perfectly fine!" she would probably be President now."
LOL
>boatbuilder said...
Ice Nine--your prediction may or may not be correct.
I, for one, hope it is incorrect...<
Yes, may or may not be correct, as with all predictions. That was the point of my first reply to you. And I understand the point you just made and quite agree with it.
I, myself, am finally sick of Trump's juvenile, pathologically narcissistic behavior, after trying to ignore it for the last ten years. I will however continue to vote for "him" and Trumpism in November because he is IMO one of the very best presidents we've ever had. I fear though that there are a significant number of Trump Repubs and lots of Independents who won't be able to grit their teeth quite as forcefully as I will, and will wash their hands of him. And the Dems are playing to precisely that.
I too hope that my prediction is incorrect.
Kamala Harris is a super-genius. Just listen. Wisdom, baby.
Trump makes himself a big target. As long as people are hatin' on him, they aren't hatin' on us - apart from the fact that the MAGA people are all too stoopid that they will fall for the '$5k check if you vote Republican'.
The 'war' is a big mistake - and everyone knows it - but if it's destabilized the Iranian anti-west regime I'm all for it. The side effects are not fun, however, but it never will be.
The economy is good - gas prices are up to a shockingly normal level, and inflation right now is only a tad high.
What we are really seeing is the cumulative fallout of the DINK, ACA, and Covid era ridiculousness.
Critical Diversity Theory is cause to be prudent.
Harris was the least qualified, worst campaigner I ever saw for any office ever. She could not speak coherently even occasionally. It was just as embarrassing as dementia ridden Biden. She had no plans or ideas about what she wanted to do as President, and even if she did, she could never communicate them. Worst of all, she almost won despite all that. 40 years ago, she wouldn't have carried a single state. that.
Walter Mondale was a war veteran, Senator, Vice President, and an intelligent, well-spoken man, and in 1984 he lost 49 states.
“I too hope that my prediction is incorrect.”
Fortunately, the “shit for brains” voters lean hard left. That should help save the day.
I wasn't ashamed to vote for Trump but I didn't want my car keyed or my lawn vandalized. Both happened to me with Bush stickers and signs in 2004 but things have gotten worse.
In any dispute, the manner in which the burden of proof is articulated is critical. If Republicans need to prove that Trump hasn't made mistakes, they will lose. If instead they only have to prove that the country will be on a better path with Republicans in charge, they have a decent chance to win.
Iran was on the one yard line with nukes. Now they aren't even on the field. That's good, but they had another program you don't hear talked about as much, ballistic missiles.
Iran was rapidly building and acquiring more and more ballistic missiles that were more and more powerful in terms of sophistication, speed, payload and range. They were reaching the point where they would have had so many missiles that could hit so many targets in the ME and Europe that they could do what they wanted to do and nobody could stop them. Effectively similar to having a nuclear threat, perhaps even better because you can use ballistic missiles. You can't fling a nuke without getting nuked yourself.
As an ally/proxy of China, Iran with a huge ballistic missile arsenal would have been a powerful enemy making all kinds of trouble in our rear if there was a war in the Pacific over Taiwan or the Philippines or Australia or whatever.
They could have achieved complete control over Hormuz and the Red Sea/ Suez Canal. They could effectively hobble our NATO allies in Europe as well as control our energy partners throughout the region. We just couldn't let that happen. We couldn't kick the Iran can down the road much longer.
We have destroyed their missile program, their production facilities and killed their missile scientists and engineers. We have neutered that threat. They can still lob what missiles they have left, but every time they do, it costs them big time and they can't resupply.
Supertankers are moving both ways through the straight in daylight now.
There are threats at home, yes, but we have to deal with challenges both at home and abroad. We don't get to choose one or the other. I'm not even sure they aren't, at bottom, the same threat.
IEE @ 10:47
Now do the Afghan Biden withdrawal, Simpleton.
"If Republicans need to prove that Trump hasn't made mistakes, they will lose."
This. Even the most (D)isingenuous people in US register such unconditional support as weakness, because it is. Trump's administration has not been perfect. None are.
You don't say it for the sake of some ridiculous principle the (D)isingenuites never hold their own side to, you say it so you can give them nowhere to go and move on. Domestically Trump's leadership has been - gaffes aside - generally spectacular. It's basic public affairs/public relations. Strengths are what you run on, not lies that objectively obvious craptastic failures are Roman triumphs when they're clearly not.
"Iran was on the one yard line with nukes."
Says who?
"Now they aren't even on the field."
Says who?
"Iran was rapidly building and acquiring more and more ballistic missiles that were more and more powerful in terms of sophistication, speed, payload and range."
They have them, Bob. Now. They're using them. Now. Plenty of people keep saying they're out. Let's take bets on Kalshi and see just how much longer their "emptied" magazine keeps raining these things as far as Jordan.
Barn door open. Cows gone.
I'm sure he expected it to be quicker, but was informed it could be like this
He told us it would be six (6) weeks. So my question, Bagoh, was Trump:
(a) Lying to get around going to Congress for authorization to operate an Unconstitutional War; or (b) massively, delusionally wrong about how hard (and unwinnable) it would be?
It's one of these things: he's a liar or a dipshit. Personally, I think he was probably a dipshit, but who knows?
"war costs already approaching $38 billion"
Wow-that's almost 0.1% of our current national debt.
The Iran war is hardly affecting us economically.
This talk about voters turning against Trump is mainly psyop and wishful thinking. Naturally, only a small minority are ever going to like EVERYTHING Trump or any president does. But MOST Americans support MOST of what Trump is doing.
It's like, if you roll into some sleepy town in the middle of the night, hungry, tired, and out of gas, and your only two choices for a bite to eat are getting a meal at a sketchy looking greasy spoon or gnawing on roadkill, you'd take the greasy spoon every time. It's not perfect; it's not what you want; but it's the only realistic option. The dems' problem is that no matter how bad they try to make Trump look, the alternative they're offering voters is roadkill.
Now do the Afghan Biden withdrawal, Simpleton.
Is your point that Trump is as big a numbnuts as Joe Fucking Biden, because I agree! But, it doesn't really help your cause, does it?
True of every existential war America has ever fought and won.
Also true of the ones we fought and lost.
I got yelled at yesterday about gas prices. "Your president did this!"
Meanwhile I'm thinking, California gas taxes, and also missing Scott Adams.
Because the movie I'm watching in my head is a documentary titled "Sea Lines Of Communication: A Cold War Lesson".
And noticing that it was a Bad Idea to let the chokepoints of commerce be subject to control by crazies like the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Houthis.
See also: Germany and reliance on gas from Russia...
So if that conversation happens again, I'm just going to yell back "SLOC! SLOC!" and see how they react.
Leftists love to forget the COVID bullshit that ruined our lives under Crook Joe
MAGA likes to pretend that the lockdowns, Fauci, the CDC imposing a national ban on evicting deadbeats, the Operation Warpspeed that produce the Fake Vaccines all happened under Trump.
"He told us it would be six (6) weeks."
Is a war still happening if you are losing zero people? or assets. It's over. It's been over. It's just a blockade now. We lose more service people every year in Germany and Japan. Are those wars over?
We also burn about $10 billion in military spending every single year in Germany and Japan for a war that was over 80 years ago.
"MAGA likes to pretend that the lockdowns, Fauci, the CDC imposing a national ban on evicting deadbeats, the Operation Warpspeed that produce the Fake Vaccines all happened under Trump"
So you were against all those things?
Peachy,
> He brought a gun with him to an area with Police and
> ICE agents. That is stupid suicidal decision making.
Oh please not this sh*t again. I have a gun with me virtually every time I'm near a police officer, and the times when I'm not armed because it's prohibited (inside school buildings, post office, etc) there are rarely any police officers present. Nothing bad ever results.
The problem was this person's *behavior*.
You can be getting tired of Trump and still not vote Democrat. Presidential popularity or approval ratings aren't worth much. A president can be "underwater" and still get reelected and win the midterms if people hate the other side more.
Lazarus,
It's easy to hate the other side more. What's difficult, bordering on the impossible, is to hate them *enough*. (Talking about the politicians, their election staff, their policy wonks, their minders....)
One of the statistics from this election that jumped out at me is more than a third of the $2.8 billion spent in this election cycle comes from only 20 donors. I believe that’s an unprecedented concentration of influence even in America. Our Congress is simply bought and paid for by a tiny handful of the super rich, with little or no relation to the district and state they purportedly represent Most of this money is spent on TV ads. One additional thing I would note—many of the ads this year are against regulating AI. Tells you something.
or youre a Commie.
*come from voters too ashamed*
Ashamed? No. Not in the least.
But maybe some of us avoid bringing it up because we don't want to be shot for our political beliefs.
*Trump's appeal is becoming more selective.*
And yours is non existent.
Has the senate passed a single bill that was t a reconciliation? It is stunning how dysfunctional it is.
What has the current administration actually done to improve the federal debt and deficit outlook this term? The deterioration shouldn’t come as a surprise, the Trump administration’s signature fiscal legislation was projected to increase deficits substantially, and the deficit is now running close to $2 trillion. Whatever one thinks of the policy merits, it’s difficult to characterize the administration’s fiscal record so far as putting the country on a path toward lower deficits or debt.
How many people didn't support Hillary!!? How many people didn't support Kamala Harris?
Those are the real questions.
"Whatever one thinks of the policy merits, it’s difficult to characterize the administration’s fiscal record so far as putting the country on a path toward lower deficits or debt."
A leftist opining on fiscal responsibility?
What a maroon.
The left doesn't give a flying fuck about improving the federal debt and deficit outlook. All they care about is finding a reason (or making one up) to bitch about Trump. Or just killing him.
If they didn't have their preciousssss voting and welfare fraud scams to sustain them, they'd be relegated to sitting in the corner and eating paste- the ones who are able to distinguish their pieholes from their assholes, anyway.
D.D. Driver said...
Now do the Afghan Biden withdrawal, Simpleton.
Is your point that Trump is as big a numbnuts as Joe Fucking Biden, because I agree! But, it doesn't really help your cause, does it?
No, different simpleton. His original premise is flawed. I guess people like you lot, on the public payroll, can't be expected to think logically. What are you? Federal, state or municipal?
Again. IEE simpleton @ 10:47
The top five military contractors profits combined are less than Proctor and Gambols yearly profits.
Furthermore entitlement spending is greater by at least a factor of two than military spending.
Your greatest commodity, rich, is your hypocrisy.
So you were against all those things?
You are fucking right I was. I was the only motherfucker in this shithole to speak out against a fucking commie-assed eviction ban you fucking socialist bootlicking retards. You love socialism when Trump is handing out FREE MONEY! I bet you can't wait for that $5000 you didn't earn, asshole.
Is a war still happening if you are losing zero people? or assets. It's over. It's been over.
Yes. It is still a war. It is not "zero" people or assets. It may be less than recent campaigns, but we are losing assets blowing taxpayer money and some unlucky soldiers have fucking died for this bullshit. An acceptable amount for MAGA .How many dead soldiers are "too many"?
But keep lying. I think you believe your lies. No one else does.
You leftists have dog abusing/ electrocuting - America hating /democrat party Hasan Piker.
DD Liar (D) - most of the forced jabs and lockdowns came after Trump left office. You moron.
President Donald Trump claimed that stopping trade with nations where the U.S. buys more than it sells would earn the country at least $1.5 trillion a year. ~ The Hill
That theory can be rather easily tested empirically. He should try it and see what happens? I would love to see the results.
"They have them, Bob. Now. They're using them. Now."
That's what I said.
But the returns for using them have become costs. They aren't building more. They aren't designing and manufacturing new and better ones.
Every time they attack a merchant ship or a Navy ship we sink 3 of their oil tankers immediately. They aren't exporting any oil. They aren't getting any oil revenue.
They have very limited refining capacity and gas shortages are severe in country. Bessent is going around the world talking nations into joining sanctions. Things are getting worse and worse for the regime. They're clinging to the hope that the Dems will be able to make Trump stop.
I don't know what you mean by "Barn door open. Cows gone." here. What are the cows? What is the barn door?
Look, I don't know what is going to happen. Neither do you. Nobody does. It's war. I don't think either of us have taken an unreasonable position. I totally get why you're opposed to the war. I'm actually surprised that I am not, but I'm not. At first I was, but I changed my mind.
It seems to me the Iranian regime is clinging to the hope that the Dems will be able to make Trump stop. Maybe there'll be an October surprise from Iran. Maybe there'll be an October surprise from Trump.
Was the war a mistake? You say yes. I say, the jury's still out.
the Chi Coms and the Dems orchestrated the COVID "lab leak" to bet Crook Joe installed. To OUST TRUMP! and it worked!
It was all done to change the way we vote - and make it easy for Dems to cheat.
This is all very clear.
Ashamed? I wouldn’t fly a Trump flag because I don’t want my house graffitied, my car spray painted. Those are the more polite Democrats. The true believers shoot you for having improper opinions. Luigi Mangione and Tyler Robinson are their heroes, but one should be “ashamed” of voting for Donald Trump.
"Those are the more polite Democrats."
Just like the "more polite muslims". They (maybe) wouldn't personally participate in the vandalism and physical assaults, but they (certainly) won't do anything to stop them.
"What has the current administration actually done to improve the federal debt and deficit outlook this term? The deterioration shouldn’t come as a surprise, the Trump administration’s signature fiscal legislation was projected to increase deficits substantially, and the deficit is now running close to $2 trillion. Whatever one thinks of the policy merits, it’s difficult to characterize the administration’s fiscal record so far as putting the country on a path toward lower deficits or debt."
Name me a candidate, for either or any party, who has a legitimate plan, or even a proposal, focusing on lowering federal deficits or debt.
Name me one over the last 20 years.
"Name me a candidate, for either or any party..."
He doesn't care. He's paid to bitch about Trump, so that's what he does. He's such a good boy.
“I live in a rather special world. I only know one person who voted for Nixon. Where they are I don't know. They're outside my ken. But sometimes when I'm in a theater I can feel them.”
Pauline Kael
"But sometimes when I'm in a theater I can feel them.”
If Trump said that, it would be declared as proof he's a sexual predator.
"𝘕𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘢 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘦, 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘦𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘺..."
They literally gold-plated the Oval Office and told Trump he's the greatest president ever. See it in the glitz!
President Trump sees little and understands nothing.
The sycophants soothingly whisper but say nothing. Expertise is speechless. The bond market will tell the people since the government cannot. In a temple of lies, the rates will not lie.
We have lost 18 American service members in this 6 month "war". In the same time we lost 200 young Americans on Chicago streets, just one city. If you are looking for something that kills Americans like a war, it's not in Iran.
"If you are looking for something that kills Americans like a war..."
As long as it can be blamed on Trump.
One candidate. Just one.
I'm here to be persuaded. Who's the savior? What's the plan?
This is your big chance. Who should I vote for to reduce the deficit?
Are you people factoring in the 25 basis points that Iran has cost us as of today?
Oh my God! 25 basis points!
I thought "you people" were in favor of controlling inflation.
Inflation has persistently run above the 2% target for more than five years—long before the outbreak of the war.
Stopping the leading sponsor of terror from getting nuclear weapons cost us 25 basis points? That's a major screw up. Something must be done! Can we take it all back and send them cash?
‘In the near future, I want to do what has not been done in 24 years: balance the federal budget.’ ~ Donald J. Trump, Address to a joint session of Congress, March 4, 2025
Reminder.. Trump and the Republicans lectured us endlessly about fiscal deficits when the other party was in power.
The $40tn headline matters, but the more important question is why long Treasury yields have been rising now. The US already had a structural fiscal problem - roughly $2tn annual deficits, debt held by the public close to the size of GDP, and interest costs now exceeding defense spending. This year, an entirely avoidable war shock was layered on top.
The Iran conflict did not just add military spending. It pushed up oil, diesel, transport and other input costs, lifted headline inflation, delayed Fed easing and increased the premium investors demand to hold duration. The recent Treasury sell-off is therefore not simply a debt-supply story.
If the war ends and Hormuz normalizes, a meaningful part of this could reverse quickly. Energy prices could move back toward pre-war levels. Because the comparison base would then include the wartime spike, energy inflation could turn sharply negative year on year, not merely return to zero. With underlying inflation already easing and the labor market weakening, that would put downward pressure on the expected Fed path and real yields. A substantial part of the rise in long yields since February could unwind.
But that would only expose the problem Washington should have been dealing with all along. The US still needs serious reform of entitlements, the tax base and the cost structure of government. Tariffs are not a durable substitute for fiscal reform. Treasury buybacks may improve market functioning or redistribute duration, but they do not eliminate the deficit.
Congress and the debt ceiling also constrain how freely borrowing can expand, particularly with the midterms approaching and public dissatisfaction with the Trump administration becoming an increasingly important political constraint. Brinkmanship, of course, can itself raise the risk premium. The real question is not whether the US can issue more debt, but whether markets believe there is a credible path toward stabilizing the primary balance.
That is why Trump's war has been so damaging. It has consumed enormous amounts of money, political attention and policy capacity while worsening inflation and financing conditions, without addressing any of the underlying fiscal imbalance. Markets are being asked to finance a temporary, carelessly self-inflicted and ultimately unnecessary shock on top of a structural fiscal problem Washington has spent years avoiding.
"Stopping the leading sponsor of terror from getting nuclear weapons cost us 25 basis points? That's a major screw up."
To be fair, there are people (some of them even post here) who would be happy to see Iran finally able to build nuclear weapons. You know- because the Jooooos...
Lawrence Meade writes: 𝘐𝘯𝘧𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘶𝘯 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 2% 𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘧𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴—𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘳.
Yes, inflation has been above the Fed’s 2% target for much of the past five years. That is hardly a reason to shrug and carry on.
Higher inflation generally requires higher interest rates, which make an already enormous debt more expensive to service. Net interest on the federal debt surpassed $1 trillion in FY2025, exceeding defense spending for the first time. Money spent servicing debt cannot simultaneously fund defense, infrastructure, tax relief, or other priorities.
Meanwhile, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act’s tax cuts more than offset its spending reductions. CBO estimates the law increases deficits by about $3.4 trillion over 2025–34, plus another $718 billion in interest costs. The administration is also proposing substantially higher defense spending. Unless offset elsewhere, that would further increase deficits, debt, and eventually interest costs.
So the fact that inflation has persisted for five years is not a solution. Persistent inflation erodes purchasing power and can keep interest rates and debt-service costs higher. If the house has been on fire for five years, that is an argument to find the fire extinguisher, not a reason to stop looking.
One candidate. Just one.
I'm still waiting...
One policy which would significantly reduce the national debt almost immediately would be 10 percent across-the-board cuts in ALL federal spending. Everything. Medicare, Social Security, the military, the Smithsonian, NASA, the National Park Service, ICE, TSA, IRS, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, FEMA, AFDC, the Army Corps of Engineers, ATF, DEA, FBI. NHTSA. SEC. All of it. No exceptions.
Are you with me on that? Because I'm all in.
One thing that I am not in favor of--raising taxes. Until and unless you can tell me the one time that raising taxes has actually resulted in lower debt rather than increased spending.
"That is why Trump's war has been so damaging. It has consumed enormous amounts of money, political attention and policy capacity while worsening inflation and financing conditions, without addressing any of the underlying fiscal imbalance."
Right. Because before Trump spent $38 Billion destroying Iran's nuke capacity, our entire political structure was single-mindedly focused on controlling deficits. How could Trump have let things get so out of hand?
One candidate. Just one. It can't be that hard (although damned if I can think of any).
Who do the geniuses at FT think is the person to solve the fiscal debt crisis? In the whole country there must be someone better than Trump. And since the Dems are so public-spirited and pure of heart, it must be a Democrat. Who is it?
Despite his magnificent second term, DJT will be the best president ever because he kept Hillary Rodham Clinton from becoming president.
I usually agree with the sentiment behind the policies, but don’t always agree with the words. Does that make me a Trump supporter?
“Cut everything 10%” certainly has the virtue of mathematical simplicity. Unfortunately, the federal budget doesn’t. About 60% of federal spending is mandatory—primarily Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid—and another $1 trillion or so is interest on the existing debt. You can’t cut interest by executive fiat, and cutting Social Security and Medicare 10% is rather more consequential than trimming the Smithsonian.
And the claim that tax increases have never reduced deficits is easy to test: CBO routinely scores revenue increases as deficit reductions. Its latest options report, for example, estimates that raising individual income-tax rates could reduce deficits by hundreds of billions to more than $1 trillion over 10 years.
So by all means debate spending versus taxes. But “10% of everything, no exceptions” isn’t a serious budget plan so much as a calculator with a political philosophy attached.
If we’re serious about reducing the debt, the conversation can’t be limited to cutting spending. It has to include revenue, including reviewing tax expenditures and the tax cuts in the One Big Beautiful Bill. CBO estimates tax expenditures alone cost the Treasury about $2.6 trillion a year. “Cut everything 10% but don’t touch taxes” isn’t fiscal discipline; it’s choosing one side of the ledger and declaring the other off limits.
टिप्पणी पोस्ट करा
Please use the comments forum to respond to the post. Don't fight with each other. Be substantive... or interesting... or funny. Comments should go up immediately... unless you're commenting on a post older than 4 days. Then you have to wait for us to moderate you through. It's also possible to get shunted into spam by the machine. We try to keep an eye on that and release the miscaught good stuff. We do delete some comments, but not for viewpoint... for bad faith. Also: No italics, even briefly. Use asterisks for emphasis. And don't play with the format by changing fonts or using boldface or all caps. Never include more than one extra line break between paragraphs.