Trump is the candidate who made America realize we needed a pre-inaugural agreement. Can we get this legislation in the works? Anyone out there know the name of the best pre-nup law firm available? We're gonna crowd fund it. We've got the numbers.
36
Not only does Trump remind me of Billy Mummy's character in the twilight zone episode, but he also reminds me of the character Trelane from the Star Trek episode "The Squire of Gothos". Had to add this one in for us Star Trek fans.
55
I think that Mr. Krugman is on to many key issues that potentially impact "We the People" so negatively I worry we cannot survive 4 yrs. I would like to suggest that corporate tax rates are too high, but lowering them will not jump-start 3% growth; let's try lower the individual tax rates for people who earn less the $250K/yr. We know that we middle and working class have more money they tend to save some but their spending increases also. I have always thought that when consumers are spending more than they normally do economies grow, and this is historic just look at the post-war boom in the 1950s.
20
Some very simple questions:
1. Does it make sense for the government to borrow money and spend it on handouts that produce no return on "investment". I think that the answer is no.
2. Does it make sense for the government to borrow money and to "invest" it. Well it depends upon the return on that "investment". When the government builds a road, it does not charge tolls to pay back that investment and provide a return back to the government. So the returns on government "investment" are very difficult to measure.
3. Does it make sense for the government to borrow money in order to allow the private sector to invest in private sector growth and private sector income growth. Almost certainly, if we know for sure that corporations will use the money for this purpose.
4. Does it make sense for the government to borrow money in order for corporations to return money to their shareholders? Maybe, depending upon what those shareholders do with the money.
So all of this boils down to a very simple philosophical question. Is capital best left in the hands of the private sector, or is it best deployed by the government. I vote for the former, and therefore support Trump's tax cut plan.
1. Does it make sense for the government to borrow money and spend it on handouts that produce no return on "investment". I think that the answer is no.
2. Does it make sense for the government to borrow money and to "invest" it. Well it depends upon the return on that "investment". When the government builds a road, it does not charge tolls to pay back that investment and provide a return back to the government. So the returns on government "investment" are very difficult to measure.
3. Does it make sense for the government to borrow money in order to allow the private sector to invest in private sector growth and private sector income growth. Almost certainly, if we know for sure that corporations will use the money for this purpose.
4. Does it make sense for the government to borrow money in order for corporations to return money to their shareholders? Maybe, depending upon what those shareholders do with the money.
So all of this boils down to a very simple philosophical question. Is capital best left in the hands of the private sector, or is it best deployed by the government. I vote for the former, and therefore support Trump's tax cut plan.
7
I consider Paul Krugman a wonderful columnist, but he is NOT the first person on the Net to notice the similarity between Trump and the monster child in "It's a Good Life"? In another comment on this thread, I have made links to three previous Web pieces making the same analogy, one by New York Magazine's Jonathan Chait.
So why are some of you fellow commenters saying "Great analogy, Paul" as if Dr. Krugman were the first to make it? Do you read Krugman's column and nothing else?
So why are some of you fellow commenters saying "Great analogy, Paul" as if Dr. Krugman were the first to make it? Do you read Krugman's column and nothing else?
2
Prof. Krugman:
DJT's single page 'tax-cuts-report' is likely a replica of his 1950s santa wish list, with an update that now includes all of his friends.
how generous.
the trump-zone, indeed - -
perhaps he could oblige us and board another of Mr. Serling's gems:
There's Room for One More.
in all aspects: a chilling current reality.
15
The Republicans have persistently amplified the booms and busts in the economic cycle and it's time for them to stop and let that cycle smooth out to consistency under the learned and watchful eyes of the federal reserve that does a good job with policies embodied in the interest rate regulation.
Trump is just recklessly gambling and it's a losers wager. I think everyone is afraid of him due to his popularity, especially the Congress that is now changing it's tune on deficits and the debt. We have to pay it back sometime you know.
Trump is just recklessly gambling and it's a losers wager. I think everyone is afraid of him due to his popularity, especially the Congress that is now changing it's tune on deficits and the debt. We have to pay it back sometime you know.
14
We now have Trumpcare 2.0 and will see 3.0 etc.
This is like the 54 votes to defund, cripple, delay, or repeal Obamacare. In each the Republicans are hard at work replacing the reality that Obamacare is more a good thing than not. 30,000,000 newly insured people will agree with that statement..
Every new anti-Obamacare vote trumpeted by the media fades away but successfully leaves an impression that Obamacare = Very Bad. So their strategy works.
Trumpski is using the same coercive "chisel at reality" strategy with Trumpcare 2.0. It got him elected, it's all he knows, so you can expect more.
He's managing like all Republicans; first soften them up with repeated alt-fact messaging through the alt-reality media channels, then loudly broadcast "Mission Accomplished." There will always be a few hard headed types not with the program, but they can be silenced with more bluster and loud denials until the news cycle moves on.
Democrats continually have to clean up the damage from the Republicans' alternative reality facts. The added insult to injury is that Democrats also get blamed for the mess.
This is like the 54 votes to defund, cripple, delay, or repeal Obamacare. In each the Republicans are hard at work replacing the reality that Obamacare is more a good thing than not. 30,000,000 newly insured people will agree with that statement..
Every new anti-Obamacare vote trumpeted by the media fades away but successfully leaves an impression that Obamacare = Very Bad. So their strategy works.
Trumpski is using the same coercive "chisel at reality" strategy with Trumpcare 2.0. It got him elected, it's all he knows, so you can expect more.
He's managing like all Republicans; first soften them up with repeated alt-fact messaging through the alt-reality media channels, then loudly broadcast "Mission Accomplished." There will always be a few hard headed types not with the program, but they can be silenced with more bluster and loud denials until the news cycle moves on.
Democrats continually have to clean up the damage from the Republicans' alternative reality facts. The added insult to injury is that Democrats also get blamed for the mess.
26
There is no data that shows tax cuts for corporations and business owners creates anything positive except for the business owner's bank account and the CEO's pay package. You see, there is nothing, zero, nada, nyet, zippo in this tax cut that forces businesses to take the savings from a 15% tax rate and use that money to expand their businesses or hire new employees. Therefore, what normally happens is the windfall goes into stock bonuses, share buy-backs, and other non-productive or employee-hiring activity. It ends up in the pockets of the already wealthy and they become wealthier and the Middle Class gets nothing, the workers get nothing, the poor get nothing.
40
We learned this morning the Trump was surprised to learn how hard the job of president was - he thought it would be easy compared to running his business. The dimensions along which this man is clueless appear to be infinite. My one hope was that the people who voted for him believing he would "shake things up" and "change the system" would learn that these are not always good things...but it appears I was clueless about that. They haven't yet experienced actual harm from his "policies", and when they do, they will be well-trained in either blaming it on Obama and the Democrats, or convinced that, despite all evidence to the contrary, it is actually really really great (and many many people have been telling Trump so!)
So now we need to figure out what it will take to get Congress to finally impeach this disaster.
So now we need to figure out what it will take to get Congress to finally impeach this disaster.
"Let’s not pretend that we’re having a real discussion of, say, the growth effects of changes in business tax rates."
Yes. In fact, let's ignore the Trump statements and assertions and proposals entirely. They are not only vacuous, they have a "use by date" of minutes.
Instead let's focus upon what actually is being done, really done, in the background, without fanfare. Turn a spotlight upon the machinations there, and turn over the rocks to see what's underneath.
Yes. In fact, let's ignore the Trump statements and assertions and proposals entirely. They are not only vacuous, they have a "use by date" of minutes.
Instead let's focus upon what actually is being done, really done, in the background, without fanfare. Turn a spotlight upon the machinations there, and turn over the rocks to see what's underneath.
Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are symptoms of a disease, not the disease itself. The disease is America and a majority of modern 'democratic nation's' failure to recognize we are not at all democratic. Some quote the statistic that 96% of Trump voter still support him.
This raises two questions. 1) Support him as opposed to what, Hillary Goldman-Sachs Clinton? 2) Why is our President supported by 1 in 4 eligible voters?
Both questions allow us to arrive at the same answer. We are limited to two, unacceptable choices because our government has been a two-party, duopoly since George Washington ran unopposed. We are limited to the duopoly because of first past the post, winner take all voting, explained here simply enough https://youtu.be/s7tWHJfhiyo
2.4 million Americans cast ballots for down-ballot candidates while boycotting the rotten choices we were given. Another million or so, voted for third parties which cannot win. Several million more held their noses.
Our failure to understand, much less address the root cause will give us Donald Trump again and again and our inability to be adult enough to address the root cause is our legacy.
In 1761, James Otis declared "taxation without representation is tyranny." These words led to the first revolution and should lead to a second through a Constitutional Amendment 24 based on the Declaration of Democracy found at http://ourvoiceparty.org/Declaration%20of%20Democracy%2020160917.pdf
Kind regard,
Scott "Nadi" Gray
This raises two questions. 1) Support him as opposed to what, Hillary Goldman-Sachs Clinton? 2) Why is our President supported by 1 in 4 eligible voters?
Both questions allow us to arrive at the same answer. We are limited to two, unacceptable choices because our government has been a two-party, duopoly since George Washington ran unopposed. We are limited to the duopoly because of first past the post, winner take all voting, explained here simply enough https://youtu.be/s7tWHJfhiyo
2.4 million Americans cast ballots for down-ballot candidates while boycotting the rotten choices we were given. Another million or so, voted for third parties which cannot win. Several million more held their noses.
Our failure to understand, much less address the root cause will give us Donald Trump again and again and our inability to be adult enough to address the root cause is our legacy.
In 1761, James Otis declared "taxation without representation is tyranny." These words led to the first revolution and should lead to a second through a Constitutional Amendment 24 based on the Declaration of Democracy found at http://ourvoiceparty.org/Declaration%20of%20Democracy%2020160917.pdf
Kind regard,
Scott "Nadi" Gray
I know that Twilight Zone episode and the analogy to Trump is perfect.
12
To Paul, and others who seem adult: I am tired of the incredulity and even outrage with which Trump's actions are greeted. Trump has been in public for decades, now. His business deals have fostered major news stories, and his TV show gave him even more public exposure.
He is exactly what he appeared to be: a petulant, self-focused, and self-indulgent boy who is still trying to show himself to be a hero, or at least one to whom others must accede.
In fact, Trump has proven to be, as president, exactly what adults predicted him to be - incompetent. No one knew being president would be so difficult.
I fear that many voters were led by his trilling pipes playing tunes of discontent. Unfortunately, most of them will find themselves worse off under his policies (and those of the Republicans), and astoundingly, they will not know how it came to be.
He is exactly what he appeared to be: a petulant, self-focused, and self-indulgent boy who is still trying to show himself to be a hero, or at least one to whom others must accede.
In fact, Trump has proven to be, as president, exactly what adults predicted him to be - incompetent. No one knew being president would be so difficult.
I fear that many voters were led by his trilling pipes playing tunes of discontent. Unfortunately, most of them will find themselves worse off under his policies (and those of the Republicans), and astoundingly, they will not know how it came to be.
That Twighlight Zone Episode gave me waking nightmares-- not unlike Trump. Channelling that creepy feeling is genius; I see that same astonished and scared expression that the adults had in that episode on the faces of many of my friends.
The kid in the Twighlight Zone banished to the corn field those who disagreed with him, which may be the fate that those around Trump fear, but recent articles note that Trump actually is not as able to say "You're Fired", as he was on TV. And as David Brooks points out today, Trump is also not as capable of sticking to what he wants as that kid was. Unreasonable, temper-tantrums, childish needs but Trump is less to be afraid of after 100 days than it seemed when he was elected.
With one exception: military power. I must hope that the grown-ups who run our military will send him to his room when he goes too far.
The kid in the Twighlight Zone banished to the corn field those who disagreed with him, which may be the fate that those around Trump fear, but recent articles note that Trump actually is not as able to say "You're Fired", as he was on TV. And as David Brooks points out today, Trump is also not as capable of sticking to what he wants as that kid was. Unreasonable, temper-tantrums, childish needs but Trump is less to be afraid of after 100 days than it seemed when he was elected.
With one exception: military power. I must hope that the grown-ups who run our military will send him to his room when he goes too far.
9
I read between the lines that Krugman doesn't like Trump. He loved Obama because he was a ready dealer to the Nation's addiction to easy money. Trump is proposing the same stimulative things albeit in a different way.
Any thinking person knew that the sledding would be tough for Trump because all members of Congress feed off the same donors. Despite the uphill slope these obstructionists create, Trump keeps plugging along.
Methinks I sense there is a hint of elitist anger permeating this article.
Any thinking person knew that the sledding would be tough for Trump because all members of Congress feed off the same donors. Despite the uphill slope these obstructionists create, Trump keeps plugging along.
Methinks I sense there is a hint of elitist anger permeating this article.
6
Was this the one where ostracism forced uncooperative townspeople to walk out into a cornfield at the edge of town, never to reappear, upon receiving mental coercion? Sort of like the depopulation of the Great Plains since the 1920's? And now, nothing but red states, right? Sad.
1
this travesty needs to end by any means necessary.
24
"IT" is more concerned about avenging Obama's legacy than the good of the people!
18
In a related story on which the New York Times does not let us comment directly we find this: "Some moderate Republicans worry that the insurance waivers would allow states to gut protections for consumers. But Representative Chris Collins, Republican of New York, said they were seeing 'demons in the dark,' and argued that governors would not take actions that hurt their own constituents."
No, we're seeing "demons" in the bright light of day, and they call themselves "Republicans". Currently there are thirty-three Republican governors and only sixteen Democratic governors. Republicans in congress obviously would not put the waivers in place if they didn't expect them to be used, and the vast majority of Republican governors would be only too happy to "take actions that hurt their own constituents" as long as these constituents are not rich, corporate, or political cronies.
No, we're seeing "demons" in the bright light of day, and they call themselves "Republicans". Currently there are thirty-three Republican governors and only sixteen Democratic governors. Republicans in congress obviously would not put the waivers in place if they didn't expect them to be used, and the vast majority of Republican governors would be only too happy to "take actions that hurt their own constituents" as long as these constituents are not rich, corporate, or political cronies.
30
I loved the Twilight Zone. I have all episodes on DVD. I never thought I would have to live in an episode; I began to feel like that on the night of the 2016 presidential election, and the feeling hasn't stopped.
The parallel to "It's a Good Life" is magnificent. Kudos, Dr. Krugman.
Too bad it's reality.
The parallel to "It's a Good Life" is magnificent. Kudos, Dr. Krugman.
Too bad it's reality.
20
I miss John Stewart.
16
Wow, you've really gone over the edge. Doubling the personal exemptions alone show this as much more geared to lower income folks. I love removing the State Income tax deduction. All the blue states with ridiculously high SIT rates will be quaking. Something very much like this will pass because the Dems will have to cave to keep the SIT deduction.
4
Into the welter of competing social and economic forces in our country steps Mr. Trump, a master mechanic of the big-shot v. the nobody, the winner v. the loser game, but ignorant of pretty much everything else. Having spent a lifetime grasping for big-shot status and dreading the repulsive shadow of the "loser", he understands how to talk to losers. He knows that they long to follow the "winner" and bask in his reflected light. Make the promises, and then step right over them. It is and it is not normal. Not a normal president, but yes normal for our sad species.
8
What an excellent, and chilling, comparison. We are so completely trapped in this nightmare world. I can't believe it's only been three months -- it feels like three long years. I guess that's what living in a dark, frightening, alternate reality does to you -- destroys your sense of time, place, even identity. What it means to be American has shifted and twisted, probably forever.
17
Good article, and apt analogy. But the limits of the comparison are simply that not all people need be equally afraid of Trump's displeasure. For the Republicans who now power, yes - they may fear displeasing Trump in a such a way that he might fire up his base and they may lose at the next election. But for Democrats, they have nothing further to lose. What is the downside to opposing Trump at every turn? Every bad or stupid move - say so. Oppose it with all your strength. Call it out. Unlike the child in the Twilight Zone episode, at this point what could Trump possibly do? And while much has been written about the need for understanding the plight of those who voted for Trump, and why they did so, Democrats have always been hesitant to give a robust defense of their own values. Let's redouble our commitment to supporting and defending what is good in our own values.
4
little anthony has become a very popular reference for the trump presidency. in the end of that story anthony destroys somebody for singing happy birthday.
2
As far as I can tell, Trump's supporters are not out there analyzing the nuances of his statements, inconsistencies, etc. Never have, never will.
They are the disaffected. They don't really expect anything from him or any other politician. Not to honor their promises, not to come through for them.
In the end, they are happy that Trump annoys and continues to annoy people they don't like. Like the educated, gays, minorities, the MSM, the establishment, etc., etc.
They are not looking for improvement or victories in their lives, watching others dragged down (like they have been) is victory enough.
That is how Trump supporters can be behind things like his "tax reform," even though it would punish them. Because it annoys people like Krugman, you and me.
They are the disaffected. They don't really expect anything from him or any other politician. Not to honor their promises, not to come through for them.
In the end, they are happy that Trump annoys and continues to annoy people they don't like. Like the educated, gays, minorities, the MSM, the establishment, etc., etc.
They are not looking for improvement or victories in their lives, watching others dragged down (like they have been) is victory enough.
That is how Trump supporters can be behind things like his "tax reform," even though it would punish them. Because it annoys people like Krugman, you and me.
24
Yes, this farce reminds those of a certain age of "It's a Good Life." It is also like life in the castle of "The Wizard of Oz"'s Wicked Witch of the West. But we can only hope that our ending is much more in keeping with the latter than the former.
For the terrorized adults of "It's a Good Life" were condemned to live forever under the thumb, and pervasive eye, of a monster. By contrast, mercifully, after Dorothy took matters -- and a bucket of water -- into her own hands, the Witch melted, restoring all concerned to a life of decency.
For the terrorized adults of "It's a Good Life" were condemned to live forever under the thumb, and pervasive eye, of a monster. By contrast, mercifully, after Dorothy took matters -- and a bucket of water -- into her own hands, the Witch melted, restoring all concerned to a life of decency.
8
How ridiculous we all find his speeches (!), his press conferences, his meetings with foreign leaders! He is a person capable (perhaps) of simple deals in a world that requires a person who can understand and master complexity.
America is paying a high price for the blindness of Trump voters and for the Republican Party's unwillingness to work with Mr. Obama. We are nearing a civil war.
America is paying a high price for the blindness of Trump voters and for the Republican Party's unwillingness to work with Mr. Obama. We are nearing a civil war.
8
"It really does now look like President Donald J. Trump, and markets are plunging. When might we expect them to recover? ... If the question is when markets will recover, a first-pass answer is never. ... (W)e are very probably looking at a global recession, with no end in sight. I suppose we could get lucky somehow. But on economics, as on everything else, a terrible thing has just happened."
--Paul Krugman, Nov. 9, 2016
Krugman's credibility hasn't recovered since Election Night. I'm no fan of Trump, but this never-ending tirade has gotten tiresome and horribly predictable. The problem with echo chambers is that they are, well, echo chambers, and echo chambers aren't helpful.
Kudos to NYT for Stephens, whose nuanced and thoughtful column on climate change was a refreshing change from Krugman, Dowd and Kristof, whose columns since the election haven't been moving the ball forward.
--Paul Krugman, Nov. 9, 2016
Krugman's credibility hasn't recovered since Election Night. I'm no fan of Trump, but this never-ending tirade has gotten tiresome and horribly predictable. The problem with echo chambers is that they are, well, echo chambers, and echo chambers aren't helpful.
Kudos to NYT for Stephens, whose nuanced and thoughtful column on climate change was a refreshing change from Krugman, Dowd and Kristof, whose columns since the election haven't been moving the ball forward.
4
Hey, America! You tired of WINNING yet?
6
"Obviously, nobody has yet dared to tell Trump that he did something both ludicrous and vile by accusing President Barack Obama of wiretapping his campaign;..."
--Perhaps Barack Obama can now show the courage he notoriously lacked during his feckless presidency and press charges against Donald Trump for Trump's vicious defamation and libel in this matter, and in so doing lay undeniable groundwork for Trump's impeachment.
Obama could have done us and the world a great favor indeed by seating Merrick Garland as an interim appointment to the Supreme Court, delaying by a year Trump's nomination and with it a 5-4 rubber stamp for Trump's doubtless hideous policies.
Obama could have demanded from the FBI details of Comey's investigation into the possible treason of Trump and his campaign, and made those details public well in advance of the election.
Obama could have stood as he promised during his campaign with the Native Americans fighting DAPL. Instead, as a young woman's arm was blown apart by a casually thrown concussion grenade, as protestors were set on by attack dogs and jailed in dog cages, Obama said, "we'll let this play out..."
Obama, of course, preferred not to ruffle feathers.
He was willing to do nothing at all that might interfere with his slide into the tens and even hundreds of millions of dollars that presidents now seem to think is theirs by right when they leave office.
The time for your cowardice is well past, Mr. Obama.
Do something! Press charges.
--Perhaps Barack Obama can now show the courage he notoriously lacked during his feckless presidency and press charges against Donald Trump for Trump's vicious defamation and libel in this matter, and in so doing lay undeniable groundwork for Trump's impeachment.
Obama could have done us and the world a great favor indeed by seating Merrick Garland as an interim appointment to the Supreme Court, delaying by a year Trump's nomination and with it a 5-4 rubber stamp for Trump's doubtless hideous policies.
Obama could have demanded from the FBI details of Comey's investigation into the possible treason of Trump and his campaign, and made those details public well in advance of the election.
Obama could have stood as he promised during his campaign with the Native Americans fighting DAPL. Instead, as a young woman's arm was blown apart by a casually thrown concussion grenade, as protestors were set on by attack dogs and jailed in dog cages, Obama said, "we'll let this play out..."
Obama, of course, preferred not to ruffle feathers.
He was willing to do nothing at all that might interfere with his slide into the tens and even hundreds of millions of dollars that presidents now seem to think is theirs by right when they leave office.
The time for your cowardice is well past, Mr. Obama.
Do something! Press charges.
4
It took considerable help from Vladimir Putin and James Comey to put Trump in the White House. Now that he's there, he's clueless. Surprised? You shouldn't be.
4
Mistake: do not, never, underestimate your enemy, trump. He is more devious, more conniving than any of us would have thought. My only question was whether this move to a NAZI-style monarchy was planned in advance.
Further, if you think Govt employees are yes men, you ain't never worked in a major corporation. There, the CEO is truly god and can fire you for any or no reason. That's not true in govt. We have protections and know how to use them. I've been in both places. Give me govt for fairness, honesty, etc. But Trump still thinks he's running his own little private business.
Further, if you think Govt employees are yes men, you ain't never worked in a major corporation. There, the CEO is truly god and can fire you for any or no reason. That's not true in govt. We have protections and know how to use them. I've been in both places. Give me govt for fairness, honesty, etc. But Trump still thinks he's running his own little private business.
How many times do we have to learn the lesson: if you want a good economy, don't vote Republican.
10
I really, really, really miss "no drama" Obama.
I could go days, and even weeks, without thinking or worrying at all about what our Presidents was doing.
I could go days, and even weeks, without thinking or worrying at all about what our Presidents was doing.
All of a sudden, Krugman seems to be against deficits. What's changed?
2
This column is why David Brooks is wrong in his analysis of Trump becoming a more normal president. He remains self-centered and shallow.
5
Meanwhile, your colleage Brooks started to normalize Trump.
Just because he toned down a bit, doesn't mean he's not dangerous and incompetent.
Just because he toned down a bit, doesn't mean he's not dangerous and incompetent.
9
Good lord! Don't you folks ever get tired of complaining? Never any really solutions offered, just constant whining because it's not what you like. Nothing but predictions of dire consequences because your side lost. Hopes expressed for the POTUS to fail, which is no different than wanting the country to fail. What an awful way to live....
2
The son of a good friend earned his PhD in some specialize branch of sonar science. He has been offered a job by the Navy, pending his security clearance. That was 18 months ago. Right now this young scientist is driving a catering truck while waiting for the Navy to approve his security clearance. My point is, with DJT in charge, this young scientist has NO chance of getting the Navy job he was offered. This is a dismal state of affairs.
3
Thank you for calling out the press -- especially the NYT -- for its failed coverage of the "tax plan."
I understand that wonky journalists are eager to sink their teeth into something and write explainers and what-it-means-for-you pieces. But that misrepresents what's going on here: when you take a single sheet of bullet points without figures and try to run it through your models to show "what it means," the results will be tainted with false precision.
The real meaning of this "tax plan" is that the Trump administration does not know what a tax plan is, which significantly reduces the chances that it will pass a tax plan. Why is the NYT incapable of covering this story correctly?
I understand that wonky journalists are eager to sink their teeth into something and write explainers and what-it-means-for-you pieces. But that misrepresents what's going on here: when you take a single sheet of bullet points without figures and try to run it through your models to show "what it means," the results will be tainted with false precision.
The real meaning of this "tax plan" is that the Trump administration does not know what a tax plan is, which significantly reduces the chances that it will pass a tax plan. Why is the NYT incapable of covering this story correctly?
9
"Obama hid the EASY button," tweet thought Trump.
4
I can't think of a single reason why anyone would be afraid of Trump. Like all bullies, he folds up easily when confronted. Just look how he is folding when confronted by the reality of how hard the job of president really is. "Not as easy as I thought" indeed. We're at a level of farce that simply couldn't be imagined before. Pathetic.
4
Yes, "We all may pay the price of his therapy" is really scary and we are doing so each and everyday! It was fully expected the GOP would once again pursue Zombie Reaganomics of Friedman's "trickle down" idiocy. It has never been realized, like slamming your fingers in a draw expecting a different outcome unless GOP wants to simply achieve and apply "Shock Doctrine" agenda? Trump has been office about 100 days but seems like 100 years, it is exhausting!
3
Recently i've red in the nytimes a lot of metaphors and analogies ( wrong, dead wrong and preposterous wrong ) but this one from mr. Krugman stands out:
"Fans of old TV series may remember a classic “Twilight Zone” episode titled “It’s a Good Life.” It featured a small town terrorized by a 6-year-old who for some reason had monstrous superpowers, coupled with complete emotional immaturity. Everyone lived in constant fear, made worse by the need to pretend that everything was fine. After all, any hint of discontent could bring terrible retribution.
And now you know what it must be like working in the Trump administration. Actually, it feels a bit like that just living in Trump’s America."
I would like to submit it to the editors of Webster's dictionary as one ( oh, but not the only one, since there are plenty of in the nytimes ) example under the entry of the word "hyperbole".
It seems to me it is deservingly appropriate. Well, not really, actually
The term "retribution", while i suppose it is intensely used in economic language- why not, since its etimology means pay back- it ultimately implies a trade a commerce intercurring between two parties, and the words politics, election, presidency don't mean that.
Furthermore following the recent op-ed tradition of presenting common reality as dystopian fantasy can only add to the frustration of people living it, and marking the nytimes as even more echo-chamber and aloft than it's perceived.
It's no use to insist on.
"Fans of old TV series may remember a classic “Twilight Zone” episode titled “It’s a Good Life.” It featured a small town terrorized by a 6-year-old who for some reason had monstrous superpowers, coupled with complete emotional immaturity. Everyone lived in constant fear, made worse by the need to pretend that everything was fine. After all, any hint of discontent could bring terrible retribution.
And now you know what it must be like working in the Trump administration. Actually, it feels a bit like that just living in Trump’s America."
I would like to submit it to the editors of Webster's dictionary as one ( oh, but not the only one, since there are plenty of in the nytimes ) example under the entry of the word "hyperbole".
It seems to me it is deservingly appropriate. Well, not really, actually
The term "retribution", while i suppose it is intensely used in economic language- why not, since its etimology means pay back- it ultimately implies a trade a commerce intercurring between two parties, and the words politics, election, presidency don't mean that.
Furthermore following the recent op-ed tradition of presenting common reality as dystopian fantasy can only add to the frustration of people living it, and marking the nytimes as even more echo-chamber and aloft than it's perceived.
It's no use to insist on.
With Trump's nearly weekly trips to his Florida estate of Mar-a-Lago to play golf, we can quantify what price the taxpaying class is paying for his therapy.
That's a great Twilight Zone episode (I am old enough to have seen the original), and it fits the Trump Realty Show much more appropriately than "Emperor's New Clothes."
You're right about the media slipping back into false equivalency. During the campaign the media bent themselves into pretzels to make the candidate who lied, exaggerated, made false promises and ludicrous claims seem up to the task of matching candidate Clinton.
All they need to do is "go to the videotape" (apologies to W. Wolf), and they have the evidence, along with his public record of Tweets, which reveal the unstable, unbelievable imposter pretending to be President.
You're right about the media slipping back into false equivalency. During the campaign the media bent themselves into pretzels to make the candidate who lied, exaggerated, made false promises and ludicrous claims seem up to the task of matching candidate Clinton.
All they need to do is "go to the videotape" (apologies to W. Wolf), and they have the evidence, along with his public record of Tweets, which reveal the unstable, unbelievable imposter pretending to be President.
Send this to a David Brooks, whose column today, said that Trump was changing and becoming a "normal" Republican. No, No, No. Trump will never be anything normal--President, Republican, nor human being!
4
This article is spot on. Everyone in the executive branch lives in fear of the man child, right up to our obsequious Vice President. Our Country is in deep trouble when policy is driven by trying to please an ignorant bully.
3
I can't believe you didn't give Billy Mumy credit for the picture from the twilight zone. I will light a candle for you at Our Lady of TV shrine and hope that you are forgiven of your sins.
1
#BreakingNews
30 seconds ago.
(CNN)North Korea on Saturday launched a missile that landed in the Sea of Japan, also known as the East Sea, a US official tells CNN.
Developing story - more to come
_______________________________
Any guesses on what the man-baby will do? He HAS to be remembered for the first 100 days and day 100 is in 6.5 hrs!
30 seconds ago.
(CNN)North Korea on Saturday launched a missile that landed in the Sea of Japan, also known as the East Sea, a US official tells CNN.
Developing story - more to come
_______________________________
Any guesses on what the man-baby will do? He HAS to be remembered for the first 100 days and day 100 is in 6.5 hrs!
They are slowly trying to make him look normal which is very unfortunate because he isn't normal and never will be be. He is mentally unstable but his disciples don't care. They just love the chest thumping and bellicose language. In their eyes he doesn't have to accomplish anything. They will always be willing to blame someone else.
1
You have a headline stating " trump has small victory
over Obama" regarding coal rules.
Nothing trump does is a victory. Why do you write
such misleading slop ? Honestly!
I expect better from the NYT.
over Obama" regarding coal rules.
Nothing trump does is a victory. Why do you write
such misleading slop ? Honestly!
I expect better from the NYT.
Spot on as usual, Dr Krugman. I only wish I - we - could do something to get off this particular ride before it starts on its inevitable downslope. That is likely to be terrifying, if it already isn't.
Incompetence, thy name is Trump.
2
Trump has a peculiar problem, alluded to here. Anyone smart enough to put his plans into action and explain them to the public, is too smart to hold Trump's position on any issue.
So you have dumb people trotted out to say dumb things.
So you have dumb people trotted out to say dumb things.
1
You endorsed a horribly flawed candidate, along with the rest of the mainstream media, who stood no chance against this clown. Now we get to listen to you complain...
2
OMG is that Twilight Zone reference perfect!! I cannot believe the relevance.
Every single person behind that kid was traumatized by what horror would come next. They had to play to him, to keep from certain disaster.
Trump thought the presidency would be easier, and he misses his old life.
He never thought it would be this much work. BOO HOO.
Fact is, he's done little but take frequent vacations and go golfing. Wine and dine. Fly out of D.C. Make money off of diplomats and secret service at his various properties. Secretly enact personal and family trade deals.
In his first 100 days he's played at least 20 rounds of golf, contrasted to President Obama, who didn't golf even once during his first crucial 100 days.
By summer it will be--forget it. Get Jared. There's Ivanka. Talk to them.
Every single person behind that kid was traumatized by what horror would come next. They had to play to him, to keep from certain disaster.
Trump thought the presidency would be easier, and he misses his old life.
He never thought it would be this much work. BOO HOO.
Fact is, he's done little but take frequent vacations and go golfing. Wine and dine. Fly out of D.C. Make money off of diplomats and secret service at his various properties. Secretly enact personal and family trade deals.
In his first 100 days he's played at least 20 rounds of golf, contrasted to President Obama, who didn't golf even once during his first crucial 100 days.
By summer it will be--forget it. Get Jared. There's Ivanka. Talk to them.
When I think of what this country can be and, instead, what it is becoming, the prospect of a once bright future is turning into a dark and cruel nightmare.
This silly piece of paper doesn't deserve any serious discussion. A shamelessly transparent attempt to put "something, anything, on the plate" before the meaningful/meaningless 100 day marker.
I call on the conscientious, responsible reporters of our media to refuse to discuss this piece of drivel, unless and until, they are presented with a thorough, detailed document to review.
The best methods of handling this child-terrorist: ignore him/ridicule him.
This silly piece of paper doesn't deserve any serious discussion. A shamelessly transparent attempt to put "something, anything, on the plate" before the meaningful/meaningless 100 day marker.
I call on the conscientious, responsible reporters of our media to refuse to discuss this piece of drivel, unless and until, they are presented with a thorough, detailed document to review.
The best methods of handling this child-terrorist: ignore him/ridicule him.
3
Thank you Paul Krugman for calling on the media to stop "pretending this is normal." The media bent over backwards during the election to treat Trump "fairly", and look where that got us. This Presidency is NOT NORMAL, and more in the media need to have the courage, and professionalism, to say so.
This guy gets WAAAYY too much coverage, here and throughout the Times. Could you stick to reporting real news, in the rare instances when there is any?
1
Well said. You'd think that Republicans would be concerned about their own prospects and survival. I can only surmise that they are playing a game of chicken with Armageddon, hoping Donnie's base deserts him and he can be safely impeached before he brings disaster upon us.
He reminds me of the weird, immature Kim Jong-un.
2
The saddest part about Donald Trump is the fact that he thinks he is doing absolutely nothing wrong. This child minded delusional megalomaniac is a danger to this country and to the world. He's always right. Everyone is out to get him and he's bound and determined to prove himself. This very troubled man should be pitied and offered help that he so desperately needs before he ruins millions of live, or worse yet, gets millions killed.
Jeez, it's encouraging to have a writer in a major newspaper calls a spade a spade with the Trump so called "tax plan". Can you imagine the raucous response the GOP and its propaganda organs would be giving if it had been President Obama carrying on like this?
1
And yet...Paul, and yet, his base, his voters still support him. And some of those voters were Bernie Bros...Berniebots...who still believe Trump is somehow better for them than Hillary. Hillary is real. Hillary is an adult. The Trump voters don't want someone real, someone adult. They all think and behave like immature children, so they voted for an immature child to be their president. And they don't want him to grow up. Meanwhile, the Berniebots are still in the midst of their temper tantrum. Holding their breath and the nation hostage until they get what they want. Your little diatribe about Trump's immaturity portrays the problem as though the only thing we have to worry about is one person. No Paul, we have a nation full of people, on the right and the far left, no more mature than Trump is. Now...that's the real problem.
1
This is a grotesquely dangerous clown show and it must end. What value is the survival in office of one mentally ill person compared to the survival of the planet? It is what most people think and it cannot be seen clearer than that. This takes a real physical uprising by the people, the regular path of voting is exhausted.
1
Everyone is pretending the naked emperor is wearing clothes
Problem is he has managed to turn the presidency into a reality TV show. We all wait for the next outrageous act. We expect the next one will be bigger and more exciting then the last. We accwept ths dangerous ego manic as our leader and are becoming insensitive to normal manners and behavior. He is desentisizing us so we will think his actions are normal.
1
I continue to be astonished and appalled by the Trump supporters who continue to perversely ignore the damage he is doing to the nation and to them! A recent supporter commenting on NPR from Ohio blamed "Congress" and not Trump for the fact that nothing is getting done--not even the destructive stuff.
Don't these people listen to what is coming out of Trump's mouth and his Twitter-addicted thumbs?
The President is the leader of his party as well as the nation. Dysfunction in Congress is his fault. Dysfunction in the GOP is his fault. If we rack up more trillions in debt to maker him richer, it is not just his fault--it is criminal.
To coin a phrase: Lock Him Up!
Don't these people listen to what is coming out of Trump's mouth and his Twitter-addicted thumbs?
The President is the leader of his party as well as the nation. Dysfunction in Congress is his fault. Dysfunction in the GOP is his fault. If we rack up more trillions in debt to maker him richer, it is not just his fault--it is criminal.
To coin a phrase: Lock Him Up!
3
Trump is nuts. The emperor has no clothes. He says 10 completely ridiculous things to the public every day, no... let's be honest, not just ridiculous, but inconceivably stupid and dangerous things each day. If you do not recognize this, please get yourself checked out.
2
I only disagree with your description of him as "big man". He is the Small Man of small men, in every way you can describe the smallest of "men".
1
The actor in the Twilight Zone episode you referenced (Bill Mumy) may sue for defamation of character with your association of him to the behavior of Trump :). But that's only possible, if Trump first changes the libel laws which he appears wanton to do...
This isn't the first time I've seen Trump compared to the omnipotent brat in the Twilight Zone. At the end of the episode it starts snowing and the father is horrified because the crops will be ruined, but the kid doesn't care, much as Trump doesn't care that the things he's cutting like NOAA and the arts will hurt America. I've always wondered what happened after the end, did the people starve to death in the cage the boy had made to keep the bad parts of the world out? I guess we'll find out.
As the doctor says, "You just can't cure stupid!"
You're right. I now dread reading the morning news. Just when I think it can't get any worse... it does. The man who occupies the Oval Office defies political gravity. Much like the bumblebee where the laws of physics dictate that this zinger with a stinger should not be able to get off the ground and fly... it/he does. I am simultaneously appalled by our President's behavior yet fascinated by the very fact of his implausible existence. What the heck happened?
May I propose a possible solution. Bright bulb entrepreneurs have come up with internet-based revolutions in commerce (Amazon), transportation (Uber), social interaction (Facebook), and streaming entertainment (Pandora, YouTube and Netflix). As a break from World of Warcraft and the omnipresent cornucopia of pornographic websites what about an online version of the good old New England style town hall?
I'm talking about a venue for all sorts of thought where people can evaluate their current government and express their opinions. Granted this won't replace the officially sanctioned precinct ballot box but it might create a vehicle for the common man and woman to make themselves heard.
I think this is an idea whose time has come. Grousing about the current political insanity in the privacy and seclusion of your own home doesn't really cut it.
May I propose a possible solution. Bright bulb entrepreneurs have come up with internet-based revolutions in commerce (Amazon), transportation (Uber), social interaction (Facebook), and streaming entertainment (Pandora, YouTube and Netflix). As a break from World of Warcraft and the omnipresent cornucopia of pornographic websites what about an online version of the good old New England style town hall?
I'm talking about a venue for all sorts of thought where people can evaluate their current government and express their opinions. Granted this won't replace the officially sanctioned precinct ballot box but it might create a vehicle for the common man and woman to make themselves heard.
I think this is an idea whose time has come. Grousing about the current political insanity in the privacy and seclusion of your own home doesn't really cut it.
His business and brands are doing great, which is all he cares about.. only suckers care what happens to America.
Dr. Krugman describes the kind of nightmarish Trump/Republican "plan" hi toned Democrats can expect until they invite luch bucket Bubba back to the party.
Calling all Democrats: you'll like winning again, even if Bubba's scuffed up, low rent rawhide boots are back under you bed again. SCOTUS, health care, reproductive rights and holding onto your wealth will be well worth cleaning up a bit of mud and rough hands.
Hint: it's going to take more than a perfumed invite card ending with "respondez s'il vous plait". Deplorable Bubba's going to need some modecum of respect, a job and maybe even a little appology after what he got told last election.
Alternative: Dems and Bubba all get Trumped by Republicans.
Calling all Democrats: you'll like winning again, even if Bubba's scuffed up, low rent rawhide boots are back under you bed again. SCOTUS, health care, reproductive rights and holding onto your wealth will be well worth cleaning up a bit of mud and rough hands.
Hint: it's going to take more than a perfumed invite card ending with "respondez s'il vous plait". Deplorable Bubba's going to need some modecum of respect, a job and maybe even a little appology after what he got told last election.
Alternative: Dems and Bubba all get Trumped by Republicans.
1
Trump says "Believe me - biggest tax cut ever." it continues to astonish how facile and glib is this very stupid minority prez. In another NYT story, he's quoted about Xi Jinping and N Korea’s nuclear test, “I believe [Xi] is trying very hard. He certainly doesn’t want to see turmoil and death. He doesn’t want to see it...He is a good man...a very good man...I got to know him very well.' Mr. Trump...offered some grudging praise for Kim Jong-un. 'He’s 27 years old. His father dies, he took over a regime...So say what you want, that is not easy, especially at that age.'” ! Trump spent a few hours with Xi – a genius of a politician by comparison with him; in order to “know [someone] very well,” not only more than a few hours would be needed, Trump would have to be capable of discrimination and judgment, which he patently and completely lacks. Trump praises Kim Jong-un, a brutal scion of a brutal family dictatorship that has impoverished the N Koreans for the benefit of the Kim dynasty and the perqs of its hangers-on. Trump is so stupid that, simultaneous with his narcissism, he actually thinks there’s nothing wrong with what he says. Elsewhere in the NYT piece he warns about a “major, major conflict” if Kim goes ahead with the bomb test. Trump’s penchant for redundancy – “major, major” – only reveals how infantile, insecure, and hollow he is: a tiny (-handed), very very stupid stupid Oz who needs to put huge fool's gold nameplates on all his great big phallic buildings.
1
It's a good thing. It's a real good thing... Thanks for writing this, Paul. Are we now living in the Trumplight Zone or is it the Trumplite Zone?
Please excuse me while I go take my place in the cornfield.
Please excuse me while I go take my place in the cornfield.
And Mnunchin (SP.?) Still has the nerve to say nobody cares about Trump releasing his tax returns!! Love the picture with your column. "That's real good you think that, Anthony, real good!!"
Thanks for a rare article that treats Trump as the idiot child that he is. Unfortunately, this is not the case for the media in general. Nothing shows this more than Charlie Rose week long interviews on the first 100 days with all but a couple coming from the Trump camp. Insufferable. But thenn, it is the same media than delivered Trump to the presidency.
There is a little known update to this famous TZ episode.
He has a daughter. He loves her very much but still yields power. The town and the rest of the world are in shadows and sparsely populated.
Even though she's more powerful than daddy, and shows it, she is compassionate. The girl grows tired of their dark existence and persuades daddy to allow humanity to come back. And he gives in.
Ivanka yields the power. Until daddy dearest says no...
He has a daughter. He loves her very much but still yields power. The town and the rest of the world are in shadows and sparsely populated.
Even though she's more powerful than daddy, and shows it, she is compassionate. The girl grows tired of their dark existence and persuades daddy to allow humanity to come back. And he gives in.
Ivanka yields the power. Until daddy dearest says no...
1
Hurry Dr. Krugman! Play "Moonglow" before Mr. Trump declares you a "bad man, a VERY bad man " and turns you into a jack-in-the-box. By the time this administration has run its course, we'll all be wanting to be wished into the cornfield. As in the Twilight Zone, we find ourselves entering the realm of nightmare. Keep writing and help us keep our sanity.
Less than two years ago, the idea of Trump as president seemed like the fodder for an episode of the Twilight Zone, and the stuff stand up comics make a living on. Yet here we are.
So with less than two years to another election perhaps this idea reads like an implausible fantasy script to "cancel the Trump reality show", but it's not impossible:
The Democrats make a full steam ahead, damn the torpedoes assault in the 2018 election to win back the house and senate. The first order of business is the merciless impeachment and conviction of Trump AND Pence for treason and bribery for their Russian entanglements, and the Democratic speaker becomes president - "madame president" - if you know what I mean.
So with less than two years to another election perhaps this idea reads like an implausible fantasy script to "cancel the Trump reality show", but it's not impossible:
The Democrats make a full steam ahead, damn the torpedoes assault in the 2018 election to win back the house and senate. The first order of business is the merciless impeachment and conviction of Trump AND Pence for treason and bribery for their Russian entanglements, and the Democratic speaker becomes president - "madame president" - if you know what I mean.
1
I'm reading the new Howard Jacobson book, "Pussy". A perfect (satirical) account of what Krugman is talking about.
Wall Street seems to think something big is heading down the shoot. They've bid up the stock market to the stratosphere on the hope that cornucopia is about to be discovered and the laws of finance will be superseded by wishful thinking. The problem is that Trump probably will give these folks all their desires and have a 2 trillion a year budget deficit for the next 10 years. There are no Howard Baker's or Bob Dole's in the Republican party that will tell Trump that the numbers used to buttress his plan are outrageously phony.
15
Everybody is waiting for Congress to enact some gimmick that will cause corporations to repatriate foreign profits to buy back their own stocks here.
But Trumps supporters still adore him. To Make America Great Again, we need to model the rest of the country like the rust belt. If Trump isn't able to keep his promises to lift the residents of these regions up, which they probably didn't think he would or could do, at least Trump can bring everyone else down a notch or two. Misery loves company. That may make them feel better.
11
I live in what you call the Rust Belt. It's really quite pleasant here. Much, much better than living in the Gripe Belt....
2
Yes. Thank you, Dr. K. PLEASE, will all influential columnists and pundits stop treating That Awful Man like he deserves presidential deference? Stop writing about him as though he were a legitimate politician, just the next in the normal stream of politicians that come and go at the head of our government? This dangerous fool presents an existential threat to us all. Never have we needed a forceful, articulate press like we do now.
28
Amen. Amen. Amen.
1
No one should be the least bit surprised that this man is trying to run the U.S. the same way has has all his business failures: pump up the debt, siphon off his money (fees, lower taxes, whatever), and walk away from the enterprise.
24
Your opinion piece is another excellent description of the corrupt practices of the Trump administration. I am afraid that you are preaching to the choir. The public who reads your piece in the New York Times, and other pieces like it, already understands what you are describing. The people that live in the echo chamber of the conservative media that supports the shenanigans of this administration are never exposed to these concepts which I believe to be accurately related. Those people need to be exposed to these ideas to the same extent that they are exposed to their own propaganda. Please flood social media, including Twitter, with these ideas to fight the conservative brain washing that is occurring.
16
I genuinely believe that Trump hates what he's doing. He thought he loved the media attention, but this isn't the tabloids of the 90s. He thought it would love the media glamour. But this is different, and that most sobering part of this for Trump. At 100 days, I truly feel like he's already done and ready to quit, so he can go back to being a Grade C celebrity. In 100 days, he has not accomplished is a single one of his so-called signature campaign promises. If he wants to leave, We, the People, won't be upset, and we won't call him a coward.
17
I am disheartened by the constant characterization of trump as a child. The connotations of "child" 'include the idea that children may grow up as they age, that they cannot be held fully responsible for actions, that they may benefit from understanding and forgiveness because of their age.
Give me a break! We are dealing with an old man, full formed, totally unhinged, a colossal narcissist with very limited intellect and driven by one sole motive: greed, money at any cost. His inability to think clearly makes him the plaything of those with clearer minds. What a disastrous mess!
Give me a break! We are dealing with an old man, full formed, totally unhinged, a colossal narcissist with very limited intellect and driven by one sole motive: greed, money at any cost. His inability to think clearly makes him the plaything of those with clearer minds. What a disastrous mess!
22
Mr. Krugman makes a lot of good points here--he always does. But for me the real kernel of truthful good advice is near the end of the column where he asks the media not to normalize either this tax proposal--if that's what it is--or the Trump behavior. I have seen way too much of this normalization--especially on daytime cable news programs. That is why I no longer watch them. Daytime hosts and reporters will endlessly and seriously debate issues like the tax proposal and Trump's tweets, trying to make him into a statesman or a serious man on anything and everything. If you want to see some serious investigation and truth-telling about Trump and his policies tune into MSNBC between 7 and midnight any week day, 10 to noon on Saturdays and Sundays and Sunday evenings around dinner time. This is just about the only broadcast journalism that is doing what Mr. Krugman wants--calling a spade a spade.
14
My problem with healthcare and taxes is process. Where are the public hearings? Where are the doctors, pharma companies, hospital groups, governors, and average healthcare consumers? Where are the economists laying out the impact of this policy and that? We're lucky if we even get a score from the CBO.
6
Yes, I can see how the Professor is not a fan of the big tax plan.
Trumpski sat down with his crayons and, in just a few minutes, created a simplified tax plan for America. It's all about simplifying the code with tax cuts that will create huge growth. These are the three talking points he wants to sell. And who's not in favor of simplification, tax cuts, and big growth? It's exactly what all the previous administrations failed to do and what the country needs.
But there is a problem. You can't say it - it has to work, and failure is not an option.
Unfortunately Trumpski is as simple minded as his supporters. What they don't realize is you have to run the numbers and they must add up.
Trumpski's plan is a plan for his seventh bankruptcy.
You'd think he'd learn, but why learn when you're doing it with other people's money, and it's made you rich in the past.
Trumpski sat down with his crayons and, in just a few minutes, created a simplified tax plan for America. It's all about simplifying the code with tax cuts that will create huge growth. These are the three talking points he wants to sell. And who's not in favor of simplification, tax cuts, and big growth? It's exactly what all the previous administrations failed to do and what the country needs.
But there is a problem. You can't say it - it has to work, and failure is not an option.
Unfortunately Trumpski is as simple minded as his supporters. What they don't realize is you have to run the numbers and they must add up.
Trumpski's plan is a plan for his seventh bankruptcy.
You'd think he'd learn, but why learn when you're doing it with other people's money, and it's made you rich in the past.
13
Trumpski's "plan" is Voodoo Economics for Dummies. It didn't work in its more insidious, intricate forms for Reagan, Bush 2.0, or Gov. Sam Brownback (Kansas). And it is not gonna work now. The concept is as bankrupt as the charlatan pushing it anew.
This so-called tax plan is more like a little boy's list of what he wants for Christmas. I want a pony, and a race car, and a rocket ship. Rather than Santa, I guess he expects Congress to figure out how to make his Christmas wishes all come true.
15
Professor Krugman,
I think no matter how sloppy the presentation of this tax "plan" is, one should not ignore the major idea behind it which is another massive transfer of wealth to the ulra-rich at the expense of bankrupting the government. This is another path to the "deconstruction" of the administration.
I think no matter how sloppy the presentation of this tax "plan" is, one should not ignore the major idea behind it which is another massive transfer of wealth to the ulra-rich at the expense of bankrupting the government. This is another path to the "deconstruction" of the administration.
"To Serve Man," was an episode of the Twilight Zone that always gave me the willies. I suspect it gave Trump a vision of the future: "America First - the New White Meat."
2
As much as I detest Trump, I suppose there are many of us who will just fill our pockets with all the new wealth he generates for those who already have wealth. With his neocon Wall Street buddies coming into full bloom, some of us are going to make a lot of money.
This is the only kind of planning that Trump cares about. Or knows about. Making himself and his family wealthier. Along with anyone who rides on his coat tails. Certainly not to help the people who elected him, who are going to take it in the shorts worse than ever.
The age of Daddy Warbucks has come. A smart man always understands the environment and times he lives in, and how to take advantage of it. Trump's world is pretty easy to figure out. You just need a strong connection to Goldman Sachs and it's all good. Especially with all the outstanding tax relief he's going to give to himself and many of us.
Who will pay for it all in the end? Not the Goldman Sachs crowd. Instead, the people who voted for him, or didn't vote at all and allowed him to gain the Presidency. Too bad.
This is the only kind of planning that Trump cares about. Or knows about. Making himself and his family wealthier. Along with anyone who rides on his coat tails. Certainly not to help the people who elected him, who are going to take it in the shorts worse than ever.
The age of Daddy Warbucks has come. A smart man always understands the environment and times he lives in, and how to take advantage of it. Trump's world is pretty easy to figure out. You just need a strong connection to Goldman Sachs and it's all good. Especially with all the outstanding tax relief he's going to give to himself and many of us.
Who will pay for it all in the end? Not the Goldman Sachs crowd. Instead, the people who voted for him, or didn't vote at all and allowed him to gain the Presidency. Too bad.
5
I agree with KRUGMAN's analysis.
The other problem is there are not enough grownups in the HOUSE or SENATE to stand up and save us from this problem child.
If TRUMP was a RUSSIAN agent of PUTIN and reasonable people knew it with reasonable proof the children are so many they would protect him.
TRUMP even said he could shoot someone in the NY streets with many witnesses and no one would do a thing.
The other problem is there are not enough grownups in the HOUSE or SENATE to stand up and save us from this problem child.
If TRUMP was a RUSSIAN agent of PUTIN and reasonable people knew it with reasonable proof the children are so many they would protect him.
TRUMP even said he could shoot someone in the NY streets with many witnesses and no one would do a thing.
2
Many US people won't even consider grown-ups for public offices because they believe making a show of fear of God is a necessary proof of integrity.
See Rep. Tim Ryan (D, Ohio) absolutely shred Trump for highlighting his ignorance on the procedure for pulling out of NAFTA on the PBS Newshour last night at http://www.pbs.org/video/3000368626/ at about 2:50.
I'm impressed every time I see this guy speak. (He is the guy who ran against Pelosi for Minority Leader.) He is young, poised, and seems to have working class instincts, something that would go a long way for Democrats in 2020 trying to attract back some of the disaffected working class.
I'm impressed every time I see this guy speak. (He is the guy who ran against Pelosi for Minority Leader.) He is young, poised, and seems to have working class instincts, something that would go a long way for Democrats in 2020 trying to attract back some of the disaffected working class.
Trump is everything good parents want their children not to be: a liar, irresponsible, rude, selfish, conceited, an immature egotist who can't say I'm "sorry" and admit a mistake, an ungenerous money-grubber who hates to share, a nasty talker, an unkind scorner of other people and their feelings, a prime example of attention-deficit-disorder, and a bad reader.
15
And there sits Trump in the role-model pulpit of America the spoiled. How many millions of kids want to grow up to be a blustering ignoramus now?
3
This man child is being coddled by a vast swath of the country of very poorly informed people. The principal dynamic in this case is cultural, he is their guy. He is sticking to those other elite, even if they are likely to get hurt by this guy.
6
You know, Professor Krugman, you are absolutely correct. You cut through all the claptrap and reveal the truth. The unsettling part of all this is that, if this so-called president gets us into a thermonuclear war, tax policy won't make a bit of difference.
8
Trump personifies unprecedented chutzpah-- audacity, nerve, gall, insolence, etc. The US and DC are speechless, struck dumb, and do not know how to react to the unimaginable brassiness that shatters modern political precedent, practice and process: a tax plan that could have been scrawled on a cocktail napkin; sending his daughter in his stead (can you imagine Bill Clinton saying: Chelsea has it covered); offering an incoherent, slap-dash health care plan; blatant nepotism and on it goes. In the Twilight Zone episode, the freckled faced kid could put in the the cornfield or kill you. Trump can't, of course. As a New Yorker, we've all seen Trump's schtick on a smaller scale. Now the country is getting a taste... Oy!
4
This country is seriously too stupid to grok the fact that a system that declares the loser by 3 million votes the winner doesn't even pass a laugh test.
1
DJT has spent the past 70 years using people and situations to enhance his personal wealth and personal power. This Oval office gig is no different.
10
The Twilight Zone is one of my favorite shows of all time! Seeing that photo made me chuckle, because Paul's analogy is spot on! I am out of words to explain what has happened since manchild-in-chief entered the White House. Gone are the days of a dignified, intelligent, family man who has integrity and takes the job seriously.
6
I wish the Times was still conscientious enough to print good old-fashioned photo captions that identified their subjects. Don't wonderful actors like Billy Mumy and Casey Adams (aka Max Showalter) deserve to be recognized and remembered?
3
But hey. C'mon now. Who knew health care was so complex? Who knew that big, beautiful Navy ship was not headed where he said? Who knew he had to get Congressional approval for people to work for him?
Who knew the job was going to be so difficult and time consuming? Who knew the public would know so MUCH about what he does?
Who knew, indeed?
Who knew the job was going to be so difficult and time consuming? Who knew the public would know so MUCH about what he does?
Who knew, indeed?
9
It's interesting that Dr. Krugman would choose "The Twilight Zone," and this episode, as his metaphor for the current administration. Rod Serling created the series mainly because he was tired of censorship by television networks and show sponsors whenever he tried to write about anything topical.
The last straw was Serling's script based on the 1955 death of Emmett Till, a 14 year-old African-American from Chicago, viciously lynched during a visit to Mississippi, after which Till's killers were acquitted by an all-white jury. Serling's script was rendered unrecognizable by the sponsor, and Serling commented afterwards that he would have been better off writing a piece of science fiction set a hundred years in the future.
Now, of course, we don't have that kind of censorship -- but we have moved into the Twilight Zone in a different way. We have a national leader similar to many of the authoritarians depicted in Twilight Zone -- including, as Dr. Krugman suggests, Little Anthony, Bill Mumy's character in "It's a Good Life." Nowadays, black is white, up is down, bad is good, and -- contrary to all evidence -- everything this president does is the best, the most wonderful, the most terrific, etc.
It's hard to say which is more remarkable -- that we've moved into this looking-glass Orwellian world -- or that more than 40 years after Rod Serling's death, his creation that put words into the mouth of a Martian instead of a Republican or Democrat is more pertinent than ever.
The last straw was Serling's script based on the 1955 death of Emmett Till, a 14 year-old African-American from Chicago, viciously lynched during a visit to Mississippi, after which Till's killers were acquitted by an all-white jury. Serling's script was rendered unrecognizable by the sponsor, and Serling commented afterwards that he would have been better off writing a piece of science fiction set a hundred years in the future.
Now, of course, we don't have that kind of censorship -- but we have moved into the Twilight Zone in a different way. We have a national leader similar to many of the authoritarians depicted in Twilight Zone -- including, as Dr. Krugman suggests, Little Anthony, Bill Mumy's character in "It's a Good Life." Nowadays, black is white, up is down, bad is good, and -- contrary to all evidence -- everything this president does is the best, the most wonderful, the most terrific, etc.
It's hard to say which is more remarkable -- that we've moved into this looking-glass Orwellian world -- or that more than 40 years after Rod Serling's death, his creation that put words into the mouth of a Martian instead of a Republican or Democrat is more pertinent than ever.
6
Funny how much Trump resembles the visage of Big Brother in the original movie verson of "1984".
1
100 days in to the Trump administration and the complete Republican control of Congress, and one thing is plain. Republicans cannot govern.
The GOP has a clear road before them, and what do they do? Find new and creative ways to shoot themselves in the foot, all while trying to pretend they have any coherent plans. They might put on a big show- look at these big folders of executive orders! Look at Paul Ryan rolling up his sleeves to kill health insurance! Look at this super simple, one-page tax plan that we totally didn't just toss together fifteen minutes ago!
The Republican party is the big mouth slacker student in the back of the classroom. The one that spent years interrupting class and sidelining the teacher. The one that talks big but instead of preparing and doing their homework, went home and played video games.
Republicans cannot govern. It couldn't be more plan. Our nation has issues and problems that require solutions and intelligent applications of governance to carry that out. Based on current history, only Democrats are capable of that. Only Democrats know how to solve problems. Only Democrats work to make the lives of all Americans better.
Lets hope Democrats know this and get the message out- forcefully and clearly. The road will be open for them too, if they know how to seize the moment.
The GOP has a clear road before them, and what do they do? Find new and creative ways to shoot themselves in the foot, all while trying to pretend they have any coherent plans. They might put on a big show- look at these big folders of executive orders! Look at Paul Ryan rolling up his sleeves to kill health insurance! Look at this super simple, one-page tax plan that we totally didn't just toss together fifteen minutes ago!
The Republican party is the big mouth slacker student in the back of the classroom. The one that spent years interrupting class and sidelining the teacher. The one that talks big but instead of preparing and doing their homework, went home and played video games.
Republicans cannot govern. It couldn't be more plan. Our nation has issues and problems that require solutions and intelligent applications of governance to carry that out. Based on current history, only Democrats are capable of that. Only Democrats know how to solve problems. Only Democrats work to make the lives of all Americans better.
Lets hope Democrats know this and get the message out- forcefully and clearly. The road will be open for them too, if they know how to seize the moment.
2
Absolutely correct. Tump is not a normal person.
Wake up America, spend a little effort to figure out this man.
Although that would require to move out of his alternative universe of disinformation and lies. Tough to do once you are wrapped in.
But at least question his motives, ask yourself if the Healthcare plan is good for working people or if the tax sheet of paper might benefit Tump more than people in the middle class.
Wake up America, spend a little effort to figure out this man.
Although that would require to move out of his alternative universe of disinformation and lies. Tough to do once you are wrapped in.
But at least question his motives, ask yourself if the Healthcare plan is good for working people or if the tax sheet of paper might benefit Tump more than people in the middle class.
2
I'm reminded of Paul Simon's song, "The Boxer"
"I am just a poor boy though my story's seldom told
I have squandered my resistance for a pocketful of mumbles,
Such are promises, all lies and jest,
Still a man hears what he wants to hear
And disregards the rest"
Republicans are "all lies and jest", now epitomized by the "Donald"
Too many Americans have become poor boys, only hearing what the billionaires want them to hear - and disregarding the rest, e.g., watching FauxNews.
"I am just a poor boy though my story's seldom told
I have squandered my resistance for a pocketful of mumbles,
Such are promises, all lies and jest,
Still a man hears what he wants to hear
And disregards the rest"
Republicans are "all lies and jest", now epitomized by the "Donald"
Too many Americans have become poor boys, only hearing what the billionaires want them to hear - and disregarding the rest, e.g., watching FauxNews.
2
I feel we are being held captive by an abuser-in-chief, trapped in the abuser's world. And we (the public, media, White House staff, his administration heads, house and republican senators to name a few) enable this abusive behaviour by not stepping out of the cycle of abuse and speaking truth to power.
1
Trump has given the whole pathetic USA battered spouse syndrome.
There are some items in the "proposal" such as reducing the corporate income tax to international competitive level that have the backing of the great majority of economists.
As to working for vodoo economic Presidents:
From the Reagan administration Staff list
COUNCIL OF ECONOMIC ADVISORS, Senior Staff Economists
Krugman, Paul R. (10/82-10/83)
https://reaganlibrary.archives.gov/archives/reference/ceastaff.html
Krugman, Paul R. (10/82-10/83)
As to working for vodoo economic Presidents:
From the Reagan administration Staff list
COUNCIL OF ECONOMIC ADVISORS, Senior Staff Economists
Krugman, Paul R. (10/82-10/83)
https://reaganlibrary.archives.gov/archives/reference/ceastaff.html
Krugman, Paul R. (10/82-10/83)
Proof that Krugman ACTUALLY supports huge tax cuts that aren't paid for, and just won't admit it because a Republican's proposing it...
Or something like that.
In any case, I think this proves SOMETHING, and bigly.
Or something like that.
In any case, I think this proves SOMETHING, and bigly.
2
".... reducing the corporate income tax to international competitive level...."
Ludicrous. The idea that American companies are not competitive due to high taxes (poor babies) is pure nonsense. Those American companies have near-record profits (record highs were reached during the Obama era) and near-record profit margins. They are not suffering in the least. And anyway, why shouldn't they pay the highest tax rate in the world? The U.S. spends more on national defense than the next 7 countries combined. Shouldn't that burden be shared by American companies?
Ludicrous. The idea that American companies are not competitive due to high taxes (poor babies) is pure nonsense. Those American companies have near-record profits (record highs were reached during the Obama era) and near-record profit margins. They are not suffering in the least. And anyway, why shouldn't they pay the highest tax rate in the world? The U.S. spends more on national defense than the next 7 countries combined. Shouldn't that burden be shared by American companies?
So much doom and gloom, but I try to keep in mind that there will soon be a wide open government bond market with lots of opportunity for the well-informed investor.
Good column, I believe the next two years will determine the country's economic future. The focus of the Trump Administration appears to be on economic growth. The public policy factor chosen to stimulate growth appears to be a reduction in taxes, but as you know the historical evidence points to other factors. Primarily, growth economics depends on collective (government) investment in technology that provides broadly shared benefits like improvements in the transportation, energy, health, and education sectors.
Free market capitalism, thus far, has failed to render politically acceptable income distribution, the record is clear that there is a growing gap in income and wealth. The huge gap in income and wealth between the upper income earners and the middle or lower incomes has not produced economic growth. The monopoly and oligarchic drift in the economy is not working and saps the competitive edge of the US in the global economy. After a steady climb in employment during 7 years of recovery it appears that the economy is now coming to a halt. Stock prices are high but earnings are low. Wages have improved slightly but it appears that we cannot raise the standard of living for the lower half of income distribution. The US economy is strongly interdependent on the global economy and it appears that the uncertainty of our trade policy has contributed to the slack.
Free market capitalism, thus far, has failed to render politically acceptable income distribution, the record is clear that there is a growing gap in income and wealth. The huge gap in income and wealth between the upper income earners and the middle or lower incomes has not produced economic growth. The monopoly and oligarchic drift in the economy is not working and saps the competitive edge of the US in the global economy. After a steady climb in employment during 7 years of recovery it appears that the economy is now coming to a halt. Stock prices are high but earnings are low. Wages have improved slightly but it appears that we cannot raise the standard of living for the lower half of income distribution. The US economy is strongly interdependent on the global economy and it appears that the uncertainty of our trade policy has contributed to the slack.
The only research investment likely to follow from more tax cuts for the mega-rich is the hunt for the genetic fountain of youth.
Hi Paul, Premier Christy Clark here in British Columbia has demanded that the Canadian federal government ban all US thermal coal exports from BC ports in retaliation for the 20 % US duty on Canadian lumber. 6 million tons of US thermal coal were shipped out of Vancouver last year because US ports lack the capacity. Let the games begin!
Mr. Krugman: How about a column devoted to Ryan and McConnell in the very near future. Would be interested in what you think of these two and if changed from prior opinions include that fact. They didn't do anything to discourage in any way voting for Trump and I sense it was all for the open seat in the supreme court and the two or three that are expected to be vacant soon. They did however, bash Obama brutally. Your thoughts on that. Don't forget McConnells' wife appointment by Trump and your thoughts.
1
Living in the Trump Zone? How about languishing in the Trump Zone, the place where people are either livid or lobotomized?
7
He needs to GO!
5
From the early part of his campaign, Trump has held the lead role in a modern-day version of the Hans Christian Andersen tale "The Emperor's New Clothes". Why should we be surprised that this situation has continued into his presidency? The emperor has no clothes, and no one around his will ever have the courage to tell him.
4
Keep in mind that Paul Krugman recommended creating a housing bubble when Bush was President in order to stimulate the economy (we saw how well that worked out) and recommended we use the VA system for everyone's health care (we see how badly our vets are treated at the VA). So putting any credence in anything Krugman says would be a big mistake. He is wrong about just about everything. How he still has a column at the NYT is baffling, most newspapers get rid of columnists who are always wrong.
4
He was right when most everyone was wrong about how quantitative easing would not cause inflation. He made a joke about a housing bubble that people quote either ignorant of the fact that it was a joke or (worse) knowing it was, just as they quote Obama joking that he was born in Kenya.
I don't recall Dr. Krugman ever recommending the creation of bubbles as sound economic policy. Can you provide a link to back up your charge?
No one has yet mentioned the negative impact on the employment tax collections that fund Social Security from the proposed change to allow "pass through" income from LLC's, S Corporations and partnerships be taxed at 15%. Characterizing distributions from these companies as anything but wages has always been a temptation to owners in order to reduce the employment taxes owed on what they take out of their companies. With the IRS now so short staffed in auditing there will be fresh new incentives for owners to play this game and characterize less of their draws as wages for services performed and more of their draws as distribution on their ownership interest (taxable at only at 15%).
5
"You unlock this door with the key of imagination. Beyond it is another dimension: a dimension of sound, a dimension of sight, a dimension of mind. You’re moving into a land of both shadow and substance, of things and ideas. You’ve just crossed over into…" the Trump Zone.
1
Dear Paul,
This is a bit off-topic for today's post, but I have a question that I have been hoping to ask you for quite some time, and I'm wondering if you might be willing to write something about it if you haven't already.
What is your view of the connection between international economic integration (both trade and financial) and the firm concentration in many sectors of the US economy that we have seen over the past 40 years or so?
If international economic integration (with technology as a contributing factor) is the driving force behind firm concentration, what do you think will happen in 5 and 10 years with respect to firm concentration, wages, etc, and what do you think should be done about it?
I realize that these are two very fraught and difficult topics -- globalization and concentration -- to discuss in the current policy environment. I'm not sure of how to carry forward a candid discussion of them without further roiling the debate. That said, I suspect that these are topics that Democratic Party is going to need to wrestle with candidly if it is to have a message for its voters that is compelling and that reflects and connects with what voters are experiencing in their daily lives.
Kind regards,
C.B. Bird
This is a bit off-topic for today's post, but I have a question that I have been hoping to ask you for quite some time, and I'm wondering if you might be willing to write something about it if you haven't already.
What is your view of the connection between international economic integration (both trade and financial) and the firm concentration in many sectors of the US economy that we have seen over the past 40 years or so?
If international economic integration (with technology as a contributing factor) is the driving force behind firm concentration, what do you think will happen in 5 and 10 years with respect to firm concentration, wages, etc, and what do you think should be done about it?
I realize that these are two very fraught and difficult topics -- globalization and concentration -- to discuss in the current policy environment. I'm not sure of how to carry forward a candid discussion of them without further roiling the debate. That said, I suspect that these are topics that Democratic Party is going to need to wrestle with candidly if it is to have a message for its voters that is compelling and that reflects and connects with what voters are experiencing in their daily lives.
Kind regards,
C.B. Bird
Re: "I'd like to make a plea to my colleagues in the news media: Don't pretend that this is normal."
Please extend that plea to David Brooks. Based on his column today, Brooks is well along the path of normalizing Trump.
Please extend that plea to David Brooks. Based on his column today, Brooks is well along the path of normalizing Trump.
3
Cheating people of equal protection of the law with unequal apportionment of voting power is completely normal and natural to God's favorite little pet goldfish.
If the advisors to the president are indeed no better off than the townspeople in the twilight zone episode, at least they are better off than the rest of us in the country. The rest of the people of the world, beyond that small town were simply eliminated because that many people were just too much for an eight year old to imagine. And the rest of America beyond his advisors are too much for the president to imagine.
1
Non-Republicans aren't even full human beings to this weird club of single issue malcontents.
I would recommend all reading Professor Krugman's pieces spend some time watching Fox News and reading Brietbart.
You may not agree but you will see and hear and read what Pres Trump's supporters are. Good luck sleeping.
You may not agree but you will see and hear and read what Pres Trump's supporters are. Good luck sleeping.
2
In years past, there was no need to watch Fox directly (mercifully, I can't even get it here in Germany): instead, there was Jon Stewart and The Daily Show to keep us informed about what bile Fox News and other right wing media were spreading. Although Stewart's successor is doing an admirable job, I still think Stewart was clearly missed in the last election. He really had a knack for exposing the deep hypocrisy of the Republican party.
1
My tax plan: Eliminate all taxes. Deficits don't matter. Let the fed buy all the bonds used to borrow money to run the country. After all, we need more inflation. Oh - sorry, we all know that inflation is a thing of the past, no matter what.
Donald Trump has shown that we need to 1) raise our standards and the expectations of people we are willing to consider as leaders; 2) we must do much more to be certain our citizens are well educated; and 3) we need to restore respect for and appreciation of experts.
A large number of the people who voted for Trump do not appear (if we believe the man-on-the-street interviews) to be able to think critically about his many claims and promises. How bad do you need to be at math to think that slashing the tax rates and increasing spending is going to help balance the budget. Can people not understand that jobs are being eliminated because of technological progress? When robots can be used to make a car or mine coal the chances are not great that your job will come back just because someone who wants your vote promises it. Many people also seem to hate the idea of progress. The idea that we can use solar panels and wind turbines to generate electricity and also reduce pollution seems like science fiction to some. And heaven forbid that 97% of climate scientists say that these things would be good because of global warming. It is for too many a giant conspiracy that those few rogue scientists and heroic businessmen are determined to defeat. They want to bring back coal, they want to bring back menial jobs. They need education before the only jobs they are qualified for are in third world countries. They need education before their votes make us a third world country.
A large number of the people who voted for Trump do not appear (if we believe the man-on-the-street interviews) to be able to think critically about his many claims and promises. How bad do you need to be at math to think that slashing the tax rates and increasing spending is going to help balance the budget. Can people not understand that jobs are being eliminated because of technological progress? When robots can be used to make a car or mine coal the chances are not great that your job will come back just because someone who wants your vote promises it. Many people also seem to hate the idea of progress. The idea that we can use solar panels and wind turbines to generate electricity and also reduce pollution seems like science fiction to some. And heaven forbid that 97% of climate scientists say that these things would be good because of global warming. It is for too many a giant conspiracy that those few rogue scientists and heroic businessmen are determined to defeat. They want to bring back coal, they want to bring back menial jobs. They need education before the only jobs they are qualified for are in third world countries. They need education before their votes make us a third world country.
I like your advice Dr. Krugman to the news media to "not pretend this is normal". Alot of harm was done last year by treating the Republican candidates, especially this one, as legitimate and equivalent. Trump is not remotely qualified to be in any elected office. Please treat this, fellow media people, as a disaster happening to the USA right now.
2
I have seen that episode a couple times. The adults are terrified and immobilized.
I think most of us have worked for a boss here and there who only wanted to hear good news, and of course the organization suffers in a myriad of ways as a result.
Depiction of Trump as petulant is spot on.
I think most of us have worked for a boss here and there who only wanted to hear good news, and of course the organization suffers in a myriad of ways as a result.
Depiction of Trump as petulant is spot on.
3
I saw this program and must agree with Dr. Krugman's analysis. How we deal with this situation will speak volumes about our character as a country.
Milton Friedman, NO.
John Maynard Keynes, YES.
But does the Donald know the difference?
John Maynard Keynes, YES.
But does the Donald know the difference?
2
When Trump visited the EPA headquarters recently, all the civil-service employees, other than those attending the ceremony, were literally confined to their offices, with guards in the hallways. What does Trump have to fear from his fellow Federal employees? Time for some adult supervision!
2
Just like a corporation planning a mass layoff, eh?
Krugman is back with his partisan rant. Now he wants all details before even a Bill is drafted. In the past though he had no problem supporting those who would pass a bill without reading what was in the bill.
If it is not clear Mr. Krugman, here are the salient points
- Reducing number of tax brackets to 3. Reduces the overhead in preparing tax returns
- Removes AMT.
- Reducing corporate tax rate. And no, most corporations are not making billions, millions or even 100 thousands in profits. In fact most rich corporations are not even paying 15% because of the loopholes that cronies like you support. Yes, it motivates people to create businesses and to create jobs instead of sitting at home and collecting welfare.
But Krugman wants a hundred page document that no one can understand and partisans like him can twist the facts. Simple does not work for elites like him.
If it is not clear Mr. Krugman, here are the salient points
- Reducing number of tax brackets to 3. Reduces the overhead in preparing tax returns
- Removes AMT.
- Reducing corporate tax rate. And no, most corporations are not making billions, millions or even 100 thousands in profits. In fact most rich corporations are not even paying 15% because of the loopholes that cronies like you support. Yes, it motivates people to create businesses and to create jobs instead of sitting at home and collecting welfare.
But Krugman wants a hundred page document that no one can understand and partisans like him can twist the facts. Simple does not work for elites like him.
1
Of course, Paul got it right, as usual - almost. Soothing Trump's so easily damaged ego or quieting his three-year-old like temper tantrums do not constitute therapy. Neither will help him improve psychologically. In fact, the contrary is likely. A sobering thought to contemplate given how much power he has.
2
When it comes to taxes the Republicans have a two step plan. When they are in power they push through a huge tax cut for the rich. Then when a Democrat presidents is elected to clean up the consequent mess, they start clamoring about the national debt.
2
Good column. It doesn't take a prize-winning economist (no offense, Paul Krugman), to see the folly of Trump's so-called tax plan. The shame is that we won't know how much he will benefit (and he will) unless he releases his tax returns. People defending him are spitting on the Constitution and the emoluments clause.
1
But he tells us he's a detail person!!
1
Paul 'Chicken Little' Krugman. Your colleague at the Times just referenced the self-righteous who continue to be at an 11 on the outrage scale in the article 'Pond Skater.' Always making mountains out of molehills like a good liberal.
1
Until Trump's base supporters figure out they've been had, we're all just singing to the choir with each other. Take a peek at Breitbart today. Now that's a true spin-zone! And those who support Trump trust it.
2
Mr. Krugman, be sure to send this column over to Mr. Brooks.
2
Good connection. I had seen that a couple of years ago, but didn't think to Trump with Mumy's character. It'd be funny if it weren't so scarily serious. Wasn't he also an alien?
1
Trump is essentially Cartman from South Park. (Their voices are actually not that different.) And like in the show, while the kids/citizens of South Park/the U.S.A. know he is a narcissistic, manipulative, and totally unethical individual, they keep allowing themselves to be taken in- in part because they are afraid of his willingness to inflict unbridled carnage, and in part because of his manipulative skills.
12
Trump thought the Presidency would be like a reality TV show. He is surprised that it is a real job. I suppose we can hope that he won't run again in 2020 so he can get back to what he enjoys. He says he had no idea that the job would be so hard just as he said; "who knew health care was so complicated." He likes being able to tell people what to do and being a celebrity. Of course in a democracy, with checks and balances, he can't do it without push back even within his own party. The irony is I think he would be happier if he was still on "The Apprentice." He could pretend to be smarter than he is and the TV ratings would bolster his delusions of grandeur. The frightening part is that his Presidency has lowered the bar for what is acceptable behavior for the office of POTUS. How many more narcissists will be have to endure because of Trump's boyish and immature behavior that seems acceptable to many voters.
17
Conservatives love to claim that:
1) money received but not earned is a "handout", and call it "wealth redistribution"
2) wealthy people are wealthy simply because they work harder
If they believe their own claims, how can they justify repealing the Estate Tax?
1) money received but not earned is a "handout", and call it "wealth redistribution"
2) wealthy people are wealthy simply because they work harder
If they believe their own claims, how can they justify repealing the Estate Tax?
21
I know it was a rhetorical question, but it's worth stating:
The estate tax can't be justified---it is just a mechanism for fostering a hereditary plutocracy in the US along the lines of the aristocracy that existed in Europe around 1900. Teddy Roosevelt called that one right.
Conservatives therefore resort to emotional nonsense arguments or outright fabrications. For example:
1) They call it the Death Tax. It's like grave robbing! Disgusting!
2) It causes small farmers to lose the family farm. (It doesn't).
3) The same money has already been taxed! (The inheritors are being taxed, not the money. That's just gibberish).
4) You're a Communist!
No amount of reasoning or appeals to American opportunity and level playing fields can penetrate this derp.
The estate tax can't be justified---it is just a mechanism for fostering a hereditary plutocracy in the US along the lines of the aristocracy that existed in Europe around 1900. Teddy Roosevelt called that one right.
Conservatives therefore resort to emotional nonsense arguments or outright fabrications. For example:
1) They call it the Death Tax. It's like grave robbing! Disgusting!
2) It causes small farmers to lose the family farm. (It doesn't).
3) The same money has already been taxed! (The inheritors are being taxed, not the money. That's just gibberish).
4) You're a Communist!
No amount of reasoning or appeals to American opportunity and level playing fields can penetrate this derp.
16
The estate tax can't be justified - it is just a mechanism for taking someone's money for no reason other than they died. Money that was already taxed. Very few wealthy people are that way because of inheritance, that is propaganda that is repeated in order to create envy and a desire to punish the rich.
1
Both of those statements are true. For # 2, it is about 95% of the wealthy. Repealing the Estate Tax is a great idea. The money was earned. What was your point?
1
So, what do we do with this vile, hypocritical, tyrannical, maniacally pathological liar? Feel sorry for him, while he slowly attempts to destroy democracy in America? Wait until he gets his people in control of all the levers of influence in government - then what?
I have had it with the coddling of the stupidity of the Trump voters and supporters. If they do not realize the mistake they have made by now, the rest of us need to give them the scorn and ridicule they deserve.
35
By voting for Man-Child II, Americans were clearly signaling their nostalgia for Man-Child I, who brought us Iraqi Freedom at no cost and limited us to two (2) recessions (It could have been much, much worse.) Now, I believe that Man-Child II will bring us "catastrophic success" in a nuclear confrontation with Fatty III, child emperor of The Hermit Kingdom. Once wee, the people, have re-experienced "catastrophic success," wee will be telling MCII: "PLEASE, enough with the Winning!"
10
We aren't stuck in the Trump Zone, we are being held hostage by a man who deals in bad faith. He is a walking poison pill who feeds on the detritus of anything that falls on the floor. Now he's our president and he is fracking our treasury and we have yet to hear the consequence, but as an economist you must know what bad faith in the White House will bring down on us. Our markets cannot endure months of turmoil and uncertainty, and the sentiment that makes our dollar the currency of choice will wane if Trump, a Wharton trained businessman, continues to behave like a giant blackhole.
13
"...a Wharton trained businessman..."
Are you sure? Yes, I concede that he apparently received a degree from Wharton. Having listened to him talk, and read his tweets, and thereby judged his vocabulary and capacity for thoughtful reasoning, I'd say that there is an approximately zero% chance that Trump actually did the work required to earn that degree.
I keep saying that I wish some enterprising reporter would investigate Trump's time at Wharton. It should be possible to trace the people he paid to write the papers and do the other work required.
NY Times! Are you listening? Want another Pulitzer? The extended expose' of Trump's graduate school years would be a great vehicle for it!
Are you sure? Yes, I concede that he apparently received a degree from Wharton. Having listened to him talk, and read his tweets, and thereby judged his vocabulary and capacity for thoughtful reasoning, I'd say that there is an approximately zero% chance that Trump actually did the work required to earn that degree.
I keep saying that I wish some enterprising reporter would investigate Trump's time at Wharton. It should be possible to trace the people he paid to write the papers and do the other work required.
NY Times! Are you listening? Want another Pulitzer? The extended expose' of Trump's graduate school years would be a great vehicle for it!
1
A small point. The President* did not attend the Wharton School. He attended the University of Pennsylvania for the third and fourth years of a bachelor's degree, and there apparently participated in some kind of co-op program Wharton offered to Penn undergraduates. He does not hold a graduate degree.
2
This was a Cliff Notes version of a Tax approach. But what do we expect from a Cliff Notes approach to the Presidency. It's more important to DJT to check-off titled boxes with dates than do the unexpectedly 'Hard Work' of creating effective & substantial policy.
11
Such a fantastic tax plan! One page, double-spaced like a middle-school homework assignment. A touch short on details, maybe. Perhaps, in keeping with Professor Krugman's sci-fi reference to the "Twilight Zone", we should think of it as the outline of an experiment? I'm personally enjoying wrapping my head around the extension of the 15% tax rate to "pass-through" businesses. Will all of us who get a W-2 just declare ourselves to be LLCs in order to lower our rate? That should have some delightful side effects on the worker's comp system, Social Security solvency, let alone the nosedive in IRS revenue. I also was impressed by the raise in the standard deduction while keeping the mortgage-interest deduction. The only folks who are going to be taking advantage of the mortgage-interest deduction will be those with gigantic home loans. I'm sure that won't have any effect on the real estate or construction industries.
No, I really love the way a bullet point statement means you don't have to explain the possible ramifications of policy.
No, I really love the way a bullet point statement means you don't have to explain the possible ramifications of policy.
5
No wonder there are still some 500 unfilled appointments in Trump's administration. Everyone is spending all of their time manufacturing backup to Trump's random cannon shots of empty "plans". Hey boys, I've got an idea. Now you guys go fill in the blanks while I announce my idea.
When do we begin to ask the very real question: Is Trump actually sane? Perhaps its Alzheimer's or just stupidity, but by now he surely should understand that anything he says is magnified a thousand times. Threatening a known mad man in North Korea could lead to real damage and danger. His legislative agenda touted with single page "plans" is ludicrous even to a 10-year old. You can't keep producing elementary school work as the POTUS. It's embarrassing to the country, but it reinforces my above premise. As with his other ideas like replacing Obamacare, he has no ideas, so don't think for a second we just missed the appendix.
So again, I ask, at what point do we decide that this man-child is actually just unhinged and disconnected with reality? And what do we do about it?
So again, I ask, at what point do we decide that this man-child is actually just unhinged and disconnected with reality? And what do we do about it?
19
I certainly agree that the media should not be treating this ?? - whatever it is - as a Tax Plan but I think it is too late. They already are. All I see are pundits and pundit wannabes speculating on what the details will be and then elaborating on their speculation.
Surprised they cannot find something else to write about. Aren't we in the middle of two Congressional investigations on administration and campaign officials peddling influence to the Russians? Can't some enterprising journalist(s) run down a few particulars? Where are today's Woodward and Bernstein?
lff
Surprised they cannot find something else to write about. Aren't we in the middle of two Congressional investigations on administration and campaign officials peddling influence to the Russians? Can't some enterprising journalist(s) run down a few particulars? Where are today's Woodward and Bernstein?
lff
11
The most terrifying thing about the Trump Zone is all the people who support him and think he's doing a great job.
25
The emperor is wearing no clothes!
7
Always love the thought and wit of your writing but I think the last three words in this piece, "..of his therapy." would be better replaced by, "..for his enabling."
Add to immaturity an obviously low IQ and a lifelong aversion to reading and you get what we have. If you learned that your flight was to be piloted and co-piloted by Donald Trump and Jared Kushner, would you board? Can you imagine, if you did board, hearing, “Wow, I didn't know planes had all these buttons!” as you passed by the cockpit?
I do not mean to be insulting. This is not funny. The plane in now in the air.
Hopefully, Congress knows that we badly need four more years of gridlock. As for international affairs, Xi Jinping, our nation turns its hopeful eyes to you!
I do not mean to be insulting. This is not funny. The plane in now in the air.
Hopefully, Congress knows that we badly need four more years of gridlock. As for international affairs, Xi Jinping, our nation turns its hopeful eyes to you!
10
I agree. This isn't funny at all. We have a president (lowercase p intended) that at every turn continues to ignore real facts and works to enrich only himself. So far his only, truly universally beneficial act has been to keep the lights on. And that's for only 1 week!
I keep asking, and not rhetorically, how is over half of our current government not treasonous?
I keep asking, and not rhetorically, how is over half of our current government not treasonous?
A zone of incompetence, ignorance and corruption. PEROID.
9
I'm glad you added that PEROID at the end to emphasize your point.
1
Wish it into the corn field!
8
It is times like this we need the wisdom of John Kenneth Galbrath. He likened trickle down economics to feeding a horse too many oats. Some oats pass through undigested. Paul Ryan would probably point out that peasant children known to warm their freezing feet by standing in fresh animal dung would have something to eat. Such compassion is all too common in Trump economics.
14
I had to laugh when I saw Paul Krugman's editorial because I too, recently, was thinking of that exact twilight zone episode. It's strange to feel a bit of comfort in such uncertain times.
12
Does anyone know what the Donald did to his brother's family? Fred Jr. wanted nothing to do with the family business, became a pilot then an alcoholic. DJT was so embarrassed by his brother becoming a black sheep, that he successfully challenged Fred Senior's will, and cut off Fred Junior's inheritance from his wife and children. So just how "rational" can that be, in light of just how dysfunctional the Regime is in N. Korea. We can "only hope" rationality triumphs. As for me, I have my doubts.
15
In a mature democracy, those who voted for this man-child-monster would accept responsibility for their mistake.
Instead, they force themselves to think happy thoughts and keep insisting "It's a good thing . . . it's a real good thing you did," as the country falls into disgrace and debauchery.
Instead, they force themselves to think happy thoughts and keep insisting "It's a good thing . . . it's a real good thing you did," as the country falls into disgrace and debauchery.
33
Danger feeling of helplessness. Whenever weare outrged is to resist. Lot of possible damage can be prevented or reduced if the resistance is well thought out and civilized.
1
Under the circumstances if taxes are cut, the deficits are going to increase and with them the national debt, because there are not the means to increase economic growth by shifting money from the government to the taxpayers. The middle and lower income taxpayers have not seen wage/salary increases in decades so that money will just go to pay off debts, and the prospects for the domestic consumers to absorb a great increase in goods and services are low so high income taxpayers will save their money rather than spend or invest. The focus should be on stimuli that actually increase economic activity and will tend to sustain it. There is no shortage of capital already looking for opportunities, so the tax cuts would be superfluous at this time.
11
It's probably an over simplification but our current dichotomy seems to be fixed mind sets vs. growth mind sets. The first group wants to keep things the way they are--or even turn back the clock to a perceived simpler time--because they are done learning new things. The second wants to evolve, learning new things in order to adapt to a perceived world in constant flux. They like learning new things. While Trump has many significant differences from his typical supporters--namely, tremendous wealth--he shares with them a fixed mind set.
7
Krugman is failing to identify what the problem is with Trump, he hates the responsibilities that go along with the office of President of the United States and at no time in his life has he been obliged to do anything that he really hates. He's stuck with the responsibilities and we're stuck with a man who is not likely to accept them if he can weasel out of them by any means available.
14
Ah, Mr. Krugman! Always good!
I would strongly recommend Evelyn Waugh's classic novel, "Scoop"--apart from various racial slurs which I just as strongly would deprecate. A major character in this book is the newspaper magnate, Lord Copper. Viscount Copper, if you must know.
In one of the final chapters, Lord Copper is shown sitting at his desk. His "noble head" is empty of thought. His chin rests on one fist. He is endeavoring to draw a cow. Now how does the tail go? Is it HIGHER than the ears? LOWER than the ears? Someone must know. He presses a buzzer. He could use some help.
No one--but NO ONE!--ventures to contradict Lord Copper. EVER! The preferred pattern is:
(1) "Oh definitely, Lord Copper." This means YES.
(2) "Up to a point, Lord Copper." This means NO.
Add to this the immeasurable satisfaction our noble lord derives from "speaking at length on any subject at all without fear of restraint or contradiction." H-m-m-m-m. . . .sound familiar, anyone?
What the President needs is a few good men--or women--who, when confronted by some plan, some proposed action of more than usual awfulness, will stand up--clear their throat--and intone the words:
"Up to a point, Mr. President."
Thank you again, Mr. Krugman. Insightful as usual. I wish there was less awfulness going on right now to be insightful ABOUT. But there it is.
I would strongly recommend Evelyn Waugh's classic novel, "Scoop"--apart from various racial slurs which I just as strongly would deprecate. A major character in this book is the newspaper magnate, Lord Copper. Viscount Copper, if you must know.
In one of the final chapters, Lord Copper is shown sitting at his desk. His "noble head" is empty of thought. His chin rests on one fist. He is endeavoring to draw a cow. Now how does the tail go? Is it HIGHER than the ears? LOWER than the ears? Someone must know. He presses a buzzer. He could use some help.
No one--but NO ONE!--ventures to contradict Lord Copper. EVER! The preferred pattern is:
(1) "Oh definitely, Lord Copper." This means YES.
(2) "Up to a point, Lord Copper." This means NO.
Add to this the immeasurable satisfaction our noble lord derives from "speaking at length on any subject at all without fear of restraint or contradiction." H-m-m-m-m. . . .sound familiar, anyone?
What the President needs is a few good men--or women--who, when confronted by some plan, some proposed action of more than usual awfulness, will stand up--clear their throat--and intone the words:
"Up to a point, Mr. President."
Thank you again, Mr. Krugman. Insightful as usual. I wish there was less awfulness going on right now to be insightful ABOUT. But there it is.
12
My only contribution. Was not every episode of Rod Sterling's "Twilight Zone" a classic?
This insane "chicken little" chatter is getting old about Trump. You hate him so just admit it but the world is not coming to an end. The tax cuts are needed and there is never a revenue lost on taxes not yet collected. Cut the budget and take a hit for a while. This is America and us Patriots will forgo government aid if we can keep more of our paychecks. If liberal states want to milk their citizens dry than so be it. Let people vote with their feet. We have a reverse Great Migration happening and NY bleeds 250,000 economic emigrants. Thats why they insist on perserving the Illegal population for cosmetic purposes. Certain amounts of borrowing are ok but we have a problem when the deficet is the largest since the end of WWII. The Government should only cover our foriegn relations, critical infurstructure and end this never ending "General Welfare" clause power grab.
3
Taxes? Seriously? I'll be pleasantly surprised if most of us are still ALIVE three and a half years from now.
49
"...a consummation devoutly to be wished..."
1
Can we just stop for a moment and reflect on how sad it is that Republicans don't actually have a tax plan?
Forget your political leanings for a second. This is what the GOP does: they cut taxes. It's kinda their thing. They should be bursting at the seams with zillions of tax reform ideas, but somehow they've been caught with their pants down when the President shifted to tax reform.
President Trump has been (rightfully) called shallow, but the inability to produce a tax reform plan demonstrates what a facade the entire GOP has become.
Forget your political leanings for a second. This is what the GOP does: they cut taxes. It's kinda their thing. They should be bursting at the seams with zillions of tax reform ideas, but somehow they've been caught with their pants down when the President shifted to tax reform.
President Trump has been (rightfully) called shallow, but the inability to produce a tax reform plan demonstrates what a facade the entire GOP has become.
15
Dr. Krugman, AMEN!
But ENOUGH with the Trump screed.
What Krugman, and other economists, need to do is provide the American public with an alternative tax plan. Then employ rhetorical repetition. We have to move past the "whah- whah" phase, and get busy.
My fear is that the opposition to Trump is a mirror image of the opposition to Obama. Just say, "No, no, no," and not offer up persuasive alternative plans.
I happen to be 100% for total tax reform. I believe that the current tax code is an immoral and ineffective MESS. I would propose changing the brackets by using the "Laffer Curve" as a common sense weapon. Drive a wedge between small business and Wall Street, by demonstrating that the government has the acumen to distinguish between hard earned capital gains over the lifecycle of a family as opposed to the lifecycle of overnight trading.
Turn the nonsensical into cogent analysis. Dramatically cutting corporate tax rates, but also simoultaneously raisie the tax rates on the extremely wealthy. Create the incentives for capital investment, and not investments for personal enrichment.
These are just some of my random thoughts for what could be included in an alternative tax plan. We need the "Dr. Krugman's" of the world to agree on the most excellent alternaive tax plan, and not just say, "No."
But ENOUGH with the Trump screed.
What Krugman, and other economists, need to do is provide the American public with an alternative tax plan. Then employ rhetorical repetition. We have to move past the "whah- whah" phase, and get busy.
My fear is that the opposition to Trump is a mirror image of the opposition to Obama. Just say, "No, no, no," and not offer up persuasive alternative plans.
I happen to be 100% for total tax reform. I believe that the current tax code is an immoral and ineffective MESS. I would propose changing the brackets by using the "Laffer Curve" as a common sense weapon. Drive a wedge between small business and Wall Street, by demonstrating that the government has the acumen to distinguish between hard earned capital gains over the lifecycle of a family as opposed to the lifecycle of overnight trading.
Turn the nonsensical into cogent analysis. Dramatically cutting corporate tax rates, but also simoultaneously raisie the tax rates on the extremely wealthy. Create the incentives for capital investment, and not investments for personal enrichment.
These are just some of my random thoughts for what could be included in an alternative tax plan. We need the "Dr. Krugman's" of the world to agree on the most excellent alternaive tax plan, and not just say, "No."
10
Professor Krugman has put out dozens of columns explaining various ideas on economic policy, sometimes including taxes.
He is, after all, an economist -- and apparently a pretty darned good one (Nobel Prize).
With a few minutes of searching, one can find a rather large amount of ideas about economic policy from Professor Krugman.
He is, after all, an economist -- and apparently a pretty darned good one (Nobel Prize).
With a few minutes of searching, one can find a rather large amount of ideas about economic policy from Professor Krugman.
Mr. Emoluments & his House of Grifters move from taking from the neediest with ZombieCare to giving to the the uber wealthy with "tax reform".
8
A lot of what we're going through is reminiscent of the 1988 John Carpenter movie "They Live" -- where the elite in society hide their appearance and control the population with subliminal messages everywhere: "obey, consume, conform, submit, buy, yield, marry and reproduce, watch television, stay asleep, money is your god, do not question authority, do not protest, do not think/no independent thought, art is terrorism" -- you get the idea. The aliens rob Earth of its natural resources and cause global warming before they move on like locusts to the next world. They have humanoid skull-like faces that can only be perceived with special sunglasses or contact lenses. So the question is: where can we get these Trump supporters their new specs? Maybe that's the solution to our woes?
(Also, Trump is not really as immature and omnipotent as this kid in the Twilight Zone -- aging has heavily infused Trump with fear coupled with a strong sense of self-preservation. He has some idea of and worries about what he can get away with.)
(Also, Trump is not really as immature and omnipotent as this kid in the Twilight Zone -- aging has heavily infused Trump with fear coupled with a strong sense of self-preservation. He has some idea of and worries about what he can get away with.)
1
Manly man Donald Trump will go to war with North Korea before the middle of the year, 7/1/17, The reason is that he needs an enemy/whipping boy, just like Kim does. Kim needs to keep his people's minds from thinking about food (they are starving) and DJT needs to keep our minds from thinking about his inability to run the country.
6
If foreign threats didn't arise naturally from foreign dictators, domestic dictators couldn't survive.
Professor Krugman you are just brilliant.The Twilight zone analogy is right on the mark.I am sure Mr Trump;s team will improve because he is really a fast learner.
4
Amen. Mr. Krugman's plea to colleagues about the Trump tax plan, "Don't pretend this is normal."
9
As always, the professor is right on point. Brilliant analogy.
4
Remember the preamble to "The Twilight Zone"? Well, here is the new preamble: “You are about to become part of a gigantic social experiment. It is an experiment that encompasses the entire U.S.A. as well as having effects on the Global Economic and Political Systems. It is an experiment that will use the ideas of Ayn Rand to Minimize all constraints on Capitalism in America as well as minimizing or eliminating the American social safety net.” http://earthjustice.blogspot.ca/2016/12/you-are-about-to-enter-new-dimen...
7
What we have now is the "Stop me if you can!" flavor of Randian narcissism.
4
Trump's empty actions, including this latest tax 'plan' may look ridiculous to knowledgeable people, but to his base of 'unsophisticated' voters (which is how GOP politicians say it politely) it looks like real action. Trump's theatrical delusion making also gets a massive boost from Fox 'News' and the rest of the right wing media bubble. So we're aghast, but his base is in awe.
17
Your best column ever! Thank you Dr. Krugman.
If the analogy fits, you must admit. This is the scariest, most self-absorbed presidency ever.
Remember all those "naked Donald Trump" statues that popped up all over NYC during the campaign? Let's bring them back, this time to Congress. Maybe just maybe then someone will have the gumption to yell, "the emperor has no clothes!"
If the analogy fits, you must admit. This is the scariest, most self-absorbed presidency ever.
Remember all those "naked Donald Trump" statues that popped up all over NYC during the campaign? Let's bring them back, this time to Congress. Maybe just maybe then someone will have the gumption to yell, "the emperor has no clothes!"
5
A more modern TV comparison would be "Game of Thrones" King Joffrey. He is a psychopathic teenager who finds himself falsely crowned King. If he doesn't like you or anything you say, he will have his guards chop off your head or worse. Needless to say, everyone walks on egg shells around him. Sound familiar?
3
Speaking of normalizing this group of grifters, sycophants, and ignoramuses, take a trip through la-la land with David Brooks today. He seems to believe that, as we haven't been reduced to a pile of radioactive ash or dropped the Dow below 10,000 yet, that all is hunky-dory.
7
Another episode from a 1960's tv show that we are all living, from the original Star Trek, the episode "Squire of Gothos". I man-child who resembles Trump terrorizes Captain Kirk and the crew on a planet where he has complete control. In the end disembodied voices (his parents) call him home and tell him to stop terrorizing his playmates. He whines about never being allowed to have any fun! The parents apologize to Kirk and crew and the episode ends. If only we had somebody willing to discipline this man child. The Republicans who created him are useless!
6
The Republicans who created him are useless!
The Republicans who created him are salivating over their coming tax cuts and deregulation! Now if they can only stop tripping over each other in dividing up the spoils.
The Republicans who created him are salivating over their coming tax cuts and deregulation! Now if they can only stop tripping over each other in dividing up the spoils.
3
Great analogy. That little boy is nearly as creepy as Trump himself.
4
Ah, the only left for Trump to do is fiddle.
2
A remarkable number of readers who are skeptical of Donald seem to enjoy science fiction. Me too.
But we all know real life requires reality.
But we all know real life requires reality.
I so agree. Trump or his White House people put some weird thing out. Sometimes in a tweet. And the news goes all out 'analyzing' it. Instead they should just say. "Wake me when you are serious."
7
I believe we were all wished into, 'The Corn Field', on the night of November 8.
5
In "The Gondoliers" by W.S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan, the impoverished Duke of Plaza-Toro reinvents himself in the second act as The Duke of Plaza-Toro, Ltd. and becomes wealthy.
If this is how the tax plan works out, we may all become LLCs.
If this is how the tax plan works out, we may all become LLCs.
5
It was my fav show as a kid.
This family, the Humpty Trumpties, deserve 2 Twilight zone episodes.
This family, the Humpty Trumpties, deserve 2 Twilight zone episodes.
5
Dr. Krugman,
This is absolutely spot on! The media CANNOT let up on reporting facts versus fiction, collusion, Trump's tax release (before any kind of real tax policy reform discussion can be had), and the media cannot allow this circus of an administration be "normalized".
Ethical and moral journalists are needed now more than ever to report on these issues and keep Americans well informed, fleecing out fact from fallacy.
What a pleasure it was to read your column in contrast to that of David Brooks this morning!
This is absolutely spot on! The media CANNOT let up on reporting facts versus fiction, collusion, Trump's tax release (before any kind of real tax policy reform discussion can be had), and the media cannot allow this circus of an administration be "normalized".
Ethical and moral journalists are needed now more than ever to report on these issues and keep Americans well informed, fleecing out fact from fallacy.
What a pleasure it was to read your column in contrast to that of David Brooks this morning!
4
I am afraid the public is starting to normalize the president's immature-insane-idiotic behavior so that we expect nothing more from him than empty words like "It's gonna be great, I mean really super-duper..." But, as you say, the news media must be the ones to lead the way and call it like it is: the emperor is not wearing any clothes.
7
Professor Krugman, the contempt in this article is palpable. And while it is entertaining (in a way) and speaks truth, I'm not sure it's helpful. A bit like some color commentary on a slow motion train wreck. It will convince none of the people who need persuading. Wouldn't your time be better spent intensely lobbying those who could be converted?
3
It is helpful. It helps us vent our frustration and to know there are many out there who feel the same.
6
Before Trump, when I awakened in the morning my first thought would be "don't the birds chirping sound beautiful", "what exciting thing is going to happen at work today?", etc. Now, when I awaken I uniformly wake up with a sense of dread "it is a combination of not wanting to think about what horrible half-baked gibberish came out of his mouth (think AP interview) and then wondering what the hell he will do today that will end up screwing his citizens, the environment, or set off a nuclear holocaust".
I feel like he is trying to push the world back into the dark ages with him and his family rapping and pillaging the entire earth along with his BB Friends Putin, Erdogan, and all their plutocratic courtisans.
I feel like he is trying to push the world back into the dark ages with him and his family rapping and pillaging the entire earth along with his BB Friends Putin, Erdogan, and all their plutocratic courtisans.
13
Excellent metaphor, Dr K. The White House is but a TV studio, each day scripting and airing a new episode of a (non) reality series staring the great imposter. Yes, panicking to produce more sound and fury for his Saturday PA rally, he nudged his two Goldman Sachs wizards Cohn and Mnushin, to work up a treatment for a plan to plan for a plan for tax reform. He previously had released his 2005 taxes probably to demonstrate to his fellow greedionaires how the AMT screwed them royally. Yet his faithful will give him a raucous welcome and cheer all his bluster on Saturday as he upstages the Correspondent's Dinner at another rally. When he leaves the nation in rubble he'll remain the hero of this 35 percent faction of star gazers who'll want monuments, roads and buildings named after a man whose already got his name flashing in neon all over the world. What would be left for his legacy. Landfills that's it. Trump Dumps.
3
Zombies. The Twilight Zone. What's next from Krugman Paul? How about Gilligan's Island? Gunsmoke? Laugh In?
Voodoo jurinalism is alive and well at The Times.
Voodoo jurinalism is alive and well at The Times.
1
krugman preaches anew
the choir choruses his words
the pews are empty
the choir choruses his words
the pews are empty
1
"Boy, he sure is givin' them libruls fits, ain't he?" -- Trump voter.
4
The nation is a damn sight better off from the huge chasm left by Bush eight years ago when the economy was in freefall, leaving in its wake a record deficit of $1.3 trillion (an unprecedented unsustainable 10% of the economy) after more than doubling the national debt, and raking up trillions more in unbudgeted costs for two wars. While stablizing the economy and containing our war footing, the Obama administration grappled fiscally with that massive deficit reducing it at a faster rate than during WW2 demoblization to a more managable $500 billion (2% of the economy). Now in one fell swoop so-called president trump rather than building on a sound fiscal construct is recklessly throwing it all away. This is sheer lunacy. God help us.
9
White House staff: "Ya' dun reeal goood, Donny, ya' dun reeal goood."
2
bigly... or big lie?
They most relevant point in this piece is that the media needs to stop normalizing this fool. That needs to start at the paper of record. Brooks needs to justify himself, yet is no way to justify presenting Trumpy as normal.
5
it was written in crayon, wasn't it?
2
His only super power is the one that 62,979,636 misguided/ uninformed/ racist/ gullible/ gun-loving/ faux-Christian (or any or all of the above) voters gave him.
Trump is stupid. It's not hard to see. He's just a man who got rich at the real estate casino. The end.
2
Noted american journalist H L Mencken once observed that “Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard”. Well that’s happening big time. He also predicted “on some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron".
6
Competent lawyers say the Muslim ban was unconstitutional; competent scientists that climate change is real; competent economists that tax cuts don’t pay for themselves; competent voting experts that there weren’t millions of illegal ballots; competent diplomats that the Iran deal makes sense, and Putin is not our friend. For so-called president trump competence is not only ignored but ridiculed and excluded.
5
I disagree with Krugman's assessment of Trump's tax plan but agree with his overall comparison of Trump and his administration's handling of Trump like a spoil child. To the tax plan in particular, I think what Trump is doing is putting out a piece of paper to give Paul Ryan cover to write a tax plan that, as Krugman has noted in the past, has been and would be a disaster if it ever became law.
1
Cutting corporation taxes to 15 percent is probably a good move. Allowing pass through income via private partnerships, S corporations and LLC's is stupid. It is personal income period. Death taxes are at a very high level and should stay there. Three tax levels will delight CPA's because it will cause all sorts of shenanigans to stay in a lower tax level. The top tax brackets should either stay the same or be increased via a reduction in dedications or increased to offset the decrease in taxes collected from the 15 percent corporate tax. Carried interest is income, pure and simple. Interest charged via inter company loans is not an expense
Trumps one page notes are a joke and will go nowhere. His proposed cuts in health care and tax deductions for the middle class is not only stupid, it is just plain mean. Of course his goal all along was more money for Trump.
Trumps one page notes are a joke and will go nowhere. His proposed cuts in health care and tax deductions for the middle class is not only stupid, it is just plain mean. Of course his goal all along was more money for Trump.
4
As they say, "Elections have consequences." Frankly, few people (regardless of political leanings) expected a political party that owns the White House, both chambers of Congress, and the Supreme Court to be so stunningly ineffectual in its first 100 days of administration. We can see from the ACHA draft(s) and the "tax reform plan," however, the governing party's first priority: further enrichment of the rich. It seems that many--perhaps most--working class Trump voters are willing to give the man-child more time. If the current trend continues, they eventually will realize that they have been screwed. Sure, Trump has promised that he'll improve their lives. But they overlooked one detail: Trump actually is a Republican. Don't despair. We're fully 6.8% through this presidency; only 1,360 days to go.
24
"Government is inherently incompetent. Elect us and we will prove it to you." is a winning political slogan in the God-blessed USA.
3
"It's a _Good_ Life" is a classic short story by Jerome Bixby. Credit where credit is due, please!
5
When the uninformed and the stupid put ignorance, greed and hatred on a pedestal, Donald J. Trump is what they got. Now, the entire country and the world is suffering for it. This is serious, deadly serious.
10
All excellent points, but I am much more concerned about t***p sending us all to the corn field.
4
The staggering incompetence and ignorance of this Trumpublican administration is astounding, and may protect us from the worst of his idiotic domestic policies. However, Im not so sure about the South Koreans or Japanese.
5
We need to all be glued to Fox News. It's the only way to comprehend how almost half of America believed that America was going to hell in a hand basket under Obama but that happy times are here again with this gnat-brained narcissist who changes position mid-sentence. And if we watched Fox, we'd know for sure which advertisers to boycott.
16
I have tried to watch it, truly. But I get ill each time. And thus I turn away. Baffled, that so many of my fellow Americans watch this stuff, are enraptured by this, allow themselves to be programmed by such obnoxious propaganda. Despaired I am, that these sheep have the voting power in our outmoded system, to direct the decline of our country.
4
Secretary Mnuchin would never have presented such a vague proposal when he was at Goldman Sachs. Why would he do it to the American people? Secretary Mnuchin is being sucked into a game of follow the leader with his credibility
10
Is this why I just heard that Kellyanne was turned into a plastic ficus, and Bannon is now bereft of tongue?
Mr. Mummy, how lost in space are we?
Mr. Mummy, how lost in space are we?
5
I've been begging every person in and out of the media not to normalize Trump. He is petty and dangerous and cruel and amoral.
One thing is for certain, he has a mouth on him that can suck the light out of the universe whenever he has a "great" plan or idea. Now I can imagine what it must have been like to watch the Hindenburg explode.
One thing is for certain, he has a mouth on him that can suck the light out of the universe whenever he has a "great" plan or idea. Now I can imagine what it must have been like to watch the Hindenburg explode.
7
Thanks, Comey!
10
Trump waged a war on the media and won. The media must regain its credibility with most on the right and many in the middle. Until then, Trump and his gang of hoodlums and thieves will run rough-shod over planet Earth.
5
Sounds a lot like Hans Christian Anderson's, "The Emperor's New Clothes." No one is willing to tell Emperor Trump that his "new clothes" are imaginary! So sad!
8
On that Twilight Zone whenever the child did something particularly monstrous like turn a man into a jack in the box his parents would tell him to wish it into the "cornfield ". Maybe Ivanka should start telling Daddy to do that.
5
Donnie the Dunce is such a complete fool that he neither understands that the one page "tax plan" is not a plan, nor does he understand that he has fooled no one by having clowns like Cohn and Mnuchin stand up and make ludicrous statements that nobody with a working brain can believe.
Maybe we need a "Donnie channel" on cable that broadcasts nothing but information that makes him feel good, so that he spends his time watching that, and the rest of us can get on with life in the real world without his interference. Wouldn't that be nice?
Maybe we need a "Donnie channel" on cable that broadcasts nothing but information that makes him feel good, so that he spends his time watching that, and the rest of us can get on with life in the real world without his interference. Wouldn't that be nice?
11
Well said, Mr. Krugman. Now would you just mosey on down to David Brooks office and have a talk with him?
6
When, when, when, oh when, impeachment, conviction, prison?
8
Yes, please media, do not let this pass as normal.
6
You cite one Times report to show that the entire White House is sick of Trump. Good reporting!
What happens when you staff the Executive branch in the White House with Wall Street Pirates?
You get the Wall House.
It should be repainted Red.
You get the Wall House.
It should be repainted Red.
4
Spot-on column that nails the Trump and his flimflam but very dangerous presidency. And we thought Reagan was a lightweight! We are really on the negative side of the graph now with Trump and Trumpism.
Here's hoping the responsible academic and media sectors keep the pressure front and center on the egotistical Emperor Trump and his well-dressed gang of pirates pretending to be "running"--but certainly not managing--the government of the most powerful country in the world.
As the D.C. swamp thickens and destroys this country for pure greed and self-interest, the profligate Republicans likely will have no interest in impeaching their gold-plated goose that lays rotten eggs, no matter what Trump does or how bad it gets.
But here's another hope: With Trump's generally lazy, spoiled nature and his fragile and needy ego being what it is, maybe all this criticism and pressure will cause the thin-skinned, incompetent child-man to find a way to step down from office--perhaps to spend more time with his family (of "grifters," as Tim Egan wrote about today.
Hope is a thing with feathers, but at least it is a hope. Of course, then we are stuck with Pence, who is another kettle of rotten Republican fish.
Here's hoping the responsible academic and media sectors keep the pressure front and center on the egotistical Emperor Trump and his well-dressed gang of pirates pretending to be "running"--but certainly not managing--the government of the most powerful country in the world.
As the D.C. swamp thickens and destroys this country for pure greed and self-interest, the profligate Republicans likely will have no interest in impeaching their gold-plated goose that lays rotten eggs, no matter what Trump does or how bad it gets.
But here's another hope: With Trump's generally lazy, spoiled nature and his fragile and needy ego being what it is, maybe all this criticism and pressure will cause the thin-skinned, incompetent child-man to find a way to step down from office--perhaps to spend more time with his family (of "grifters," as Tim Egan wrote about today.
Hope is a thing with feathers, but at least it is a hope. Of course, then we are stuck with Pence, who is another kettle of rotten Republican fish.
7
As always it is a breath of sanity to read Mr. Krugman' column. Twilight Zone is the perfect analogy for the Trump administration and its weird fantasies and spooky disconnect with the real world and actual life.
Yet Fox viewers like Trump and the majority of his followers now believe the complete utter lie about Pres. Obama wiretapping Trump's campaign despite the FBI and intelligence agencies flatly denouncing this as a lie. They also believe the racist lie about Obama's imaginary birth in Kenya and Hillary Clinton's running of a child sex ring from a Washington pizza place.
Trump is not just immature but probably mentally unstable. But what accounts for his followers believing every insane lie he spouts? Mass delusions or hysteria?
Stupid, vicious, bigoted, greedy, and crazy. America and Americans are better than this. This is a malignant cancer on the body politic.
Yet Fox viewers like Trump and the majority of his followers now believe the complete utter lie about Pres. Obama wiretapping Trump's campaign despite the FBI and intelligence agencies flatly denouncing this as a lie. They also believe the racist lie about Obama's imaginary birth in Kenya and Hillary Clinton's running of a child sex ring from a Washington pizza place.
Trump is not just immature but probably mentally unstable. But what accounts for his followers believing every insane lie he spouts? Mass delusions or hysteria?
Stupid, vicious, bigoted, greedy, and crazy. America and Americans are better than this. This is a malignant cancer on the body politic.
8
".... what accounts for his followers believing every insane lie he spouts? Mass delusions or hysteria?"
Perhaps it's desperation....a need to believe in the honeyed words of a man who has learned to speak their language and a refusal to acknowledge the unfolding truth of their betrayal because he was their last hope to have their worldview validated and for a better life.
Perhaps it's desperation....a need to believe in the honeyed words of a man who has learned to speak their language and a refusal to acknowledge the unfolding truth of their betrayal because he was their last hope to have their worldview validated and for a better life.
On day ninety-eight, this one -piece of paper is the most pitiful example of the inadequate presidency of our forty-fifth president.
6
Trump's popularity at 40% and Obama collects 400,000. This is more like the Outer Limits. Keep in mind the Twilight Zone lasted only a half hour but the Outer Limits lasted an hour so it was twice as painful to witness. Alright you could have turn them off but you sat thru them hoping for the best, waiting for an original idea which never comes.
Is it clear yet both parties are failing?
Is it clear yet both parties are failing?
1
Both parties are clearly failing. But Obama's collecting $400,000 from Wall St is not (yet, anyway) an example of this. It's too early to pass judgment on this - one would need to know first what he does with this $400,000. If it's to further one or more of his publicly-stated goals (these haven't included personal enrichment as far as I know), then I have no problem with this. I'm reminded of those who criticized as hypocritical Obama (and others) for decrying "special interest" money and role it plays in buying elections while simultaneously accepting corporation donations to pay for campaign funds. One generally has to work with the system that's in place before being able to change it, though sometimes it's possible to simltaneously work to dismantle the system that one is currently using. The alternative is to refuse to do so and forment armed resistance and a bloody revolution. Hopefully, we've not yet reached that point of desperation.
Philip
I not following. How does seeking honesty, integrity and (yes) virtue in our government lead to violent revolt? Isn't a prostitute accepting money after the act (s) a defining point.
I not following. How does seeking honesty, integrity and (yes) virtue in our government lead to violent revolt? Isn't a prostitute accepting money after the act (s) a defining point.
Why aren't people talking about the elephant in the room? There is a Huge amount of evidence from the stories and leaks around Trump that HE IS FUNCTIONALLY ILLITERATE! This accounts for everything:
The yawning Ignorance that never is abated.
The childish vocabulary and verbal skills.
The self absorbed obsession, tied to a very defensive thin skin
The lack of any interest in Briefings.
Watching six hours of Fox News a day, and more.
Changing his mind, which each new tidbit he learns.
We hear that Trump is lectured by his foreign leader guests, later finding out, as he pontificates in his shocking naivety, that he "learned so much about X... Who knew that it was like this..." Canada lectures on Trade and NAFTA, China on Asia Policy and Korea, Merkel on Trade and the EU...
Dear God, the man is not prepped, nor cares to be! He's not supposed to be walking into these meetings in "diapers," but he is. Why? HE REALLY DOES NOT KNOW! HE CAN'T READ BRIEFINGS TO GET PREPARED!
For Trump, Everything is "winging it." It's all he's got. The horror is that despite his shocking lack of skills, knowledge, and experience, he thought the hardest job in the world would be "easy" for him. He is 70 years old, but he knew that little about the US Presidency - stuff even little kids learn in school...
He's truly Insane. Congress must face facts, before they kill us all! The Right used to say that all they needed was a trained monkey who could sign his name. They were not joking!
The yawning Ignorance that never is abated.
The childish vocabulary and verbal skills.
The self absorbed obsession, tied to a very defensive thin skin
The lack of any interest in Briefings.
Watching six hours of Fox News a day, and more.
Changing his mind, which each new tidbit he learns.
We hear that Trump is lectured by his foreign leader guests, later finding out, as he pontificates in his shocking naivety, that he "learned so much about X... Who knew that it was like this..." Canada lectures on Trade and NAFTA, China on Asia Policy and Korea, Merkel on Trade and the EU...
Dear God, the man is not prepped, nor cares to be! He's not supposed to be walking into these meetings in "diapers," but he is. Why? HE REALLY DOES NOT KNOW! HE CAN'T READ BRIEFINGS TO GET PREPARED!
For Trump, Everything is "winging it." It's all he's got. The horror is that despite his shocking lack of skills, knowledge, and experience, he thought the hardest job in the world would be "easy" for him. He is 70 years old, but he knew that little about the US Presidency - stuff even little kids learn in school...
He's truly Insane. Congress must face facts, before they kill us all! The Right used to say that all they needed was a trained monkey who could sign his name. They were not joking!
President "Clear-and-Present-Danger."
5
I resist using the name of agent orange and often refer to him as the man-tantrum.
He is "waking up"— I use scare quotes because of the absurdity— to the realization that governance as US President is not at all what he thought. Wow! He's that dumb.
How long must we all endure and bear witness to this bull in our fragile China shop we call Earth!?
He is "waking up"— I use scare quotes because of the absurdity— to the realization that governance as US President is not at all what he thought. Wow! He's that dumb.
How long must we all endure and bear witness to this bull in our fragile China shop we call Earth!?
The GOP clown car with trump in the diver's seat is the total opposite of "American exceptionalsim". The dems already seem to be having trouble with their message, one from Perez, one from Pelosi and one from Schumer. Talk about mixed messages. Probably if we had 4 political parties, we wouldn't be in this mess.
There isn't one thing that PRESICAN'T TRUMP hasn't touched that hasn't turned to S. What all this does is point to fallacy that "democracy" works because clearly it doesn't (that is one person one vote, thanks to our electoral collage [sic]). The national IS held in check by a child who should have been removed from office under the 25th amerndment, section 4, but the politicians are gutless wonders dining on the public dime. It is hard to imagine that an official elected by the people would vote so out-of-whack for his constituents and still have the nerve to say he was voting for them. And, what's worse is that anyone with a shred of humanity would vote for the GOP platform and still be able to look his constituents in the eye, which according to recent articles, they also seem unable to do.
100 black days for america.
There isn't one thing that PRESICAN'T TRUMP hasn't touched that hasn't turned to S. What all this does is point to fallacy that "democracy" works because clearly it doesn't (that is one person one vote, thanks to our electoral collage [sic]). The national IS held in check by a child who should have been removed from office under the 25th amerndment, section 4, but the politicians are gutless wonders dining on the public dime. It is hard to imagine that an official elected by the people would vote so out-of-whack for his constituents and still have the nerve to say he was voting for them. And, what's worse is that anyone with a shred of humanity would vote for the GOP platform and still be able to look his constituents in the eye, which according to recent articles, they also seem unable to do.
100 black days for america.
3
In another episode, Trump comes out with a new book called "The Best Ways To Serve the American People".
Of course, it turns out to be a cook book.
Of course, it turns out to be a cook book.
5
What Mr. Krugman fails to note is the tiny asterisk on that one page plan. Scroll to the bottom and you'll find *Tax plan details not available as the plan is currently under audit." We'll get the "details" about the same time Trump releases his tax returns. In other words, never.
3
This GOP government is cause for worry. As a horror segment, however, it is not so much gripping and scary as almost poignant. The tiny car stuffed full of grotesque clowns, aka the GOP Congress, and their ringmaster, Trump running around in circles, tripping each other up, changing their microscopic minds a mile a minute in an endless, mindless loop.
It would be laughable if it weren't such a waste. It would be delicious revenge to watch the country collapse on Trump's watch, if we weren't trapped in the rubble. Besides, Trump's avid, rabid supporters won't hold him accountable for anything and certainly won't vote for a rational, mature, intelligent person to rid us of him.
So what if his tax "plan" hurts his mob to the quick? So what if it benefits only him and his billionaire cronies, all of his cabinet and maybe his one hypothetical friend? Him Tough! Him Tarzen, swings from one hyperbolic lie to another with greatest of sleaze. His mob will stomp and cheer.
No need for a Twilight Zone episode when we have a genuine, psycho-sociopathic soap right before our eyes or in our faces, day after day.
So today's news that the economy grew at a slothly pace and the GOP/Trump "healthcare plan" again failed, somehow overnight, was bracing. The best news is no news; with this two-and-a-half ring circus the best action they could do is nothing. That way the building will not collapse, though rusting and rank inside.
It would be laughable if it weren't such a waste. It would be delicious revenge to watch the country collapse on Trump's watch, if we weren't trapped in the rubble. Besides, Trump's avid, rabid supporters won't hold him accountable for anything and certainly won't vote for a rational, mature, intelligent person to rid us of him.
So what if his tax "plan" hurts his mob to the quick? So what if it benefits only him and his billionaire cronies, all of his cabinet and maybe his one hypothetical friend? Him Tough! Him Tarzen, swings from one hyperbolic lie to another with greatest of sleaze. His mob will stomp and cheer.
No need for a Twilight Zone episode when we have a genuine, psycho-sociopathic soap right before our eyes or in our faces, day after day.
So today's news that the economy grew at a slothly pace and the GOP/Trump "healthcare plan" again failed, somehow overnight, was bracing. The best news is no news; with this two-and-a-half ring circus the best action they could do is nothing. That way the building will not collapse, though rusting and rank inside.
4
Trump is like those slimy mortgage brokers who sold the gullible a house with a mortgage they could not possibly afford when the real bill came due. Only now he wants to again bankrupt the nation so the bankers can pocket a few bucks.
3
And still despite all the clear evidence that our president is an impulsive man-child, we still have all his boosters still fully in support of him as shown in the latest Post-ABC poll. We are indeed living living in the Twilight Zone, but half of us think it's great to be here and want to stay.
3
Their 7 1/2 year effort to repeal and replace ObamaCare had absolutely nothing to do with the nation's health. It was designed solely to deny Obama the superb achievement of giving this country a basic healthcare system. 60 votes to "repeal and replace" in the House. Give me a break.
The TrumpCare fiasco serves the Republicans right. Justice has been done.
The TrumpCare fiasco serves the Republicans right. Justice has been done.
2
Emperor has no clothes. But he's still the Emperor.
Republican/"Freedom" party/ Libertarian/conservative/Trumpian "policy" on taxes has always been about transferring wealth to those who don't need it from those who don't have any while looking for ways to destroy the social safety net.
This was always the genesis of "Voodoo" economics which was never about growth or making the country better but merely about blind ideology.
This was always the genesis of "Voodoo" economics which was never about growth or making the country better but merely about blind ideology.
We have government by Tweets, sentence fragments, scraps of paper and cozy deals for friends and family – with everyone too terrified to tell the Addled Leader that he may want to re-think anything.
Instead of pretending that cogent analysis of this mess is possible and, worse, debating what clever signals are being sent to domestic and foreign politicians, the media need to take a collective deep breath.
Let’s all just agree that the only thing Donald Trump has accomplished in his first 100 days in office is to create a public confusion which mirrors the messiness of his mind
Instead of pretending that cogent analysis of this mess is possible and, worse, debating what clever signals are being sent to domestic and foreign politicians, the media need to take a collective deep breath.
Let’s all just agree that the only thing Donald Trump has accomplished in his first 100 days in office is to create a public confusion which mirrors the messiness of his mind
4
"the child-man in chief" Another way to look at Trump. Just what we need. At least this one does not attempt to cut him slack or pretend that the destruction, suffering, terror that he causes every day is O.K. because he is lust learning, or he did not really mean that.
The fact is that Trump is not a child. He is psychologically and very probably organically not able to learn anything new because his self centered focus and the habitual responses that drive and protect it are, at this late point, hard wired into his consciousness. Learning requires unencumbered brain space and the ability to generate new thought patterns. It is highly unlikely that Trumps brain can accommodate and develop new behavior patterns, especially when the new patterns would require the deletion of those hardwired reactions. Such new patterns terrify Donald and the habitual, hardwired response is a primal reaction to what is seen as death.
The solution to Trump is not therapy or sycophants and boot licks who try to deep him from blowing up the planet. It is impeachment.
The fact is that Trump is not a child. He is psychologically and very probably organically not able to learn anything new because his self centered focus and the habitual responses that drive and protect it are, at this late point, hard wired into his consciousness. Learning requires unencumbered brain space and the ability to generate new thought patterns. It is highly unlikely that Trumps brain can accommodate and develop new behavior patterns, especially when the new patterns would require the deletion of those hardwired reactions. Such new patterns terrify Donald and the habitual, hardwired response is a primal reaction to what is seen as death.
The solution to Trump is not therapy or sycophants and boot licks who try to deep him from blowing up the planet. It is impeachment.
3
The damage this guy can and will do is not always apparent. His leadership is justification to all of us that lying and bullying really do pay off. He is not qualified to lead the country. He is a textbook example of a mental illness and the sooner we dump him the better. This country was bad enough before the days of Trump.
2
How can you tell Trump is lying? He is speaking.
Trump is the President in order to make money; huge amounts of money taken from the middle class taxpayers. He is making money by having his businesses charge the United States Government every time he visits one of his properties. He is making money to change the laws so as to make his businesses more profitable. He is making money in direct violation of the emoluments clause by taking payments in cash and in-kind from foreign governments. He is making money by changing the tax laws to his benefit, and knows he cannot afford to release his tax returns for what they will show that he is hiding.
Trump is first and foremost for himself and his own. Then he is for his kind; the uber rich. The working poor and the middle class will get nothing from this President; he is already trying to take their healthcare and raise their taxes.
Trump is a disaster for the United States. Pray he does not start a war.
Trump is the President in order to make money; huge amounts of money taken from the middle class taxpayers. He is making money by having his businesses charge the United States Government every time he visits one of his properties. He is making money to change the laws so as to make his businesses more profitable. He is making money in direct violation of the emoluments clause by taking payments in cash and in-kind from foreign governments. He is making money by changing the tax laws to his benefit, and knows he cannot afford to release his tax returns for what they will show that he is hiding.
Trump is first and foremost for himself and his own. Then he is for his kind; the uber rich. The working poor and the middle class will get nothing from this President; he is already trying to take their healthcare and raise their taxes.
Trump is a disaster for the United States. Pray he does not start a war.
3
After Trump's victory on Nov.8 last, we who were so shocked that a non-thinking bully could be our next President were told not to be so angry at our fellow Americans who put him in office. We were told to respect the man and the office as well as our fellow Americans who have long felt disrespected and ignored by the elites. I tried. I even read "Hillbilly Elegy" to learn about those fellow Americans.
I've since concluded that I was misguided in my attempts at understanding and sympathizing with their plight. Last November, those "forgotten Americans" who voted for Trump weren't voting to change America. They were instead giving the "middle finger" to the rest of the country who think good governance is needed at a time like this. They prove my assertion every day in polls that show no matter how ignorant or dysfunctional the Trump administration is, they stick with the guy. That only happens if people are governed by unquenchable rage instead of a desire for constructive change.
So no, Dr. Krugman. Don't expect those enraged, middle fingering Americans who form the nucleus of Trump's base to abandon him because of a sheet of paper that proposes to change our 70,000 page tax code. No amount of incompetence or danger to our republic offered up by Donald Trump will dissuade them from their continuing support for him. And no amount of sympathy and understanding for their plight will bring them to reason either. I, for one, am done with that.
I've since concluded that I was misguided in my attempts at understanding and sympathizing with their plight. Last November, those "forgotten Americans" who voted for Trump weren't voting to change America. They were instead giving the "middle finger" to the rest of the country who think good governance is needed at a time like this. They prove my assertion every day in polls that show no matter how ignorant or dysfunctional the Trump administration is, they stick with the guy. That only happens if people are governed by unquenchable rage instead of a desire for constructive change.
So no, Dr. Krugman. Don't expect those enraged, middle fingering Americans who form the nucleus of Trump's base to abandon him because of a sheet of paper that proposes to change our 70,000 page tax code. No amount of incompetence or danger to our republic offered up by Donald Trump will dissuade them from their continuing support for him. And no amount of sympathy and understanding for their plight will bring them to reason either. I, for one, am done with that.
4
The antidote to Trump-swag is a balanced, rigorous 'Winners and Losers' analysis. It is also a telling reminder that we are what we spend (and tax) and not who we say we are. What is different about this administration is that one must also include the President as a prime beneficiary of his own policies -the presumption being that this is not accidental.
The Winners and Losers for the bullets-as-substitute-for policy tax pronouncement could not be clearer. Trump, Trump's family and the rich are the winners. The big losers are....the rest of us with special sympathy for those concerned about what a $4 trillion deficit will do to the economy. And the other big loser is 'truth and integrity in politics'.
The Winners and Losers for the bullets-as-substitute-for policy tax pronouncement could not be clearer. Trump, Trump's family and the rich are the winners. The big losers are....the rest of us with special sympathy for those concerned about what a $4 trillion deficit will do to the economy. And the other big loser is 'truth and integrity in politics'.
3
you know parsing our so called president's words, like dr. krugman does, can make him sound bad ("ludicrous", "vile", i think are the words he uses). what ever happened to Kellyanne? She could explain everything, and in a pleasant way. She could even cuddle up on a couch with a cell phone like an oblivious teenager, zoning out all that clutter of the supposed grown-ups in the room (And the picture of this, given the Republican agenda, was total theatre of the absurd.) Let's here more from Kellyanne. Even if her client is now seen as beyond repair, or belief, she could tell us daily the techniques his spinners and propper-uppers subject us to on a regular basis. Sort of clue us in on the tricks of the trade. for example, in explaining something to make it sound better (or plausible, as in coherent) do you relate it to some platitude, or do you start first with the platitude, and then make up stuff to make it sound related? Bring back Kellyanne. you have to admire someone who can remain calm and collected, even soothing, while everyone around her is yelling, "You're lying, You're lying!" (who was she texting in that photo? did it say, "you won't believe what they're doing now.")
Reality check: The president would have to do something truly horrific to be impeached by this Congress. In case people have forgotten their high school government classes, the House of Representatives -- controlled by the Republicans -- would have to vote articles of impeachment. The Senate -- controlled by the Republicans -- must then vote to remove him from office. It's not going to happen.
2
Therefore, we should support and vote for every Democrat running in upcoming state and federal elections from now on.
1
One of my favorite rhetorical devices is to invoke similes and metaphors employing great scenes from "The Twilight Zone," whether it is the way William Shatner was scoffed at (and ultimately arrested) for trying to warn the airline personnel about the gremlin tearing the wing apart (climate change), or the rustic old giant woman plagued by the crew of a tiny spacecraft which proved to be from NASA (our view of other cultures), to the trust given to alien invaders before our translators realized that "To Serve Man" was actually a cookbook (supply-side economists). There are dozens more that flash through my mine without even giving it more than a moment's thought.
But Dr. Krugman's metaphor of Trump as the Billy Mumy character, Anthony Fremont, in "It's a Good Life" is absolutely precious. Spot on!
Trump is a child bully who has been given power far surpassing his temperament or his worth, a sociopath without conscience or understanding, whose chief need is for effusive praise that he doesn't care whether or not it is sincere.
Good job, Dr. Krugman! And if you ever return from wherever that good boy, that VERY good boy, Anthony sends you, please tell us what it was like.
But Dr. Krugman's metaphor of Trump as the Billy Mumy character, Anthony Fremont, in "It's a Good Life" is absolutely precious. Spot on!
Trump is a child bully who has been given power far surpassing his temperament or his worth, a sociopath without conscience or understanding, whose chief need is for effusive praise that he doesn't care whether or not it is sincere.
Good job, Dr. Krugman! And if you ever return from wherever that good boy, that VERY good boy, Anthony sends you, please tell us what it was like.
16
Dr. Planarian, let us please credit the creators of the (printed) stories (transferred to TV by Rod Serling). "To Serve Man": Damon Knight. "It's a Good Life": Jerome Bixby.
Readers, can you supply any more missing credit?
Readers, can you supply any more missing credit?
I am writing a public comment to a newspaper opinion piece, not a doctoral dissertation. I plagiarized nothing, and usually do not pay all that close attention to the credits at the end of TV shows, particularly nowadays when it goes by so fast that it requires frame-by-frame on my DVR.
Not to denigrate the great writers of that show, but I rarely research these comments beyond what is stored in my own memory.
Even Dr. Krugman did not credit the writers of "It's a Good Life," as it would have been irrelevant to the point he was trying so successfully to make.
Not to denigrate the great writers of that show, but I rarely research these comments beyond what is stored in my own memory.
Even Dr. Krugman did not credit the writers of "It's a Good Life," as it would have been irrelevant to the point he was trying so successfully to make.
1
"Readers, can you supply any more missing credit?"
"Time Enough at Last," by Lyn Venable.
"An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge," by Ambrose Bierce.
"Time Enough at Last," by Lyn Venable.
"An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge," by Ambrose Bierce.
1
Even a poor candidate could have beaten Trump, and all this would have never occurred. It would be a nightmare, not reality! Instead, the DNC, in their hubris, ran the un-indicted felon, Hillary. Now you see what we have.
Another "spot on" analogy of the tortured, frightful world we have all entered under Herr trump.God must have loved the ignorant, the stupid, and the morally obtuse because he made so many of them and they have found their fuhrer of hate and deliverence in the monstrous fraud that calls itself trump.We are on thin ice with this megalomaniac in charge.
3
Can I assume this means, Mr. Krugman, you will not be flown down to Camp David this weekend, to schmooze with President Trump about the economy and what to do about it? Or, wait! Camp David is out. Too rustic. How about the Old Post Office cum new Trump Hotel? Really, if you want the President's ear you have to offer him French fries or distract him with ice cream.
3
Dennis the Menace could have been your poster child. Just think about that hair.
Nothing to come out of this White House shows signs of any thought or reason. This skeletal tax plan is no different. When you ask the public if it is OK for the government to screw you, most say NO. Not that hard to understand, and yet like Night of the Living Dead, they just keep coming and coming and coming and....
1
I'm ready for a good impeachment!!
5
The real shame is that we the rest of the world have to deal with this global world that America has selfishly rammed down our throats while America itself sulks like a spoiled brat over her lost exceptionalism. She has no regard for anything that can't be exploited. America you are a disgrace.
Trump has no idea what he's doing. That's clear. The electoral college elected a nincompoop for president. God help us.
2
We have to stop referring to Donald Trump as a child-man. Let's take children out of this equation. Instead let's use no euphemisms. Donald Trump is simply an immoral imbecile. He has proven this repeatedly. His ideas, if he has any, are idiotic. Now that the reality of him, again, being a failure are setting in, he's stupidly beating the war drums with North Korea. But what the imbecile in chief doesn't realize, is North Korea is led by a person as reckless as he is. This will not end well. Impeachment could not come too soon.
3
Breaking news: an erratic unpredictable selfish narcissistic fool president is bad for the economy.
5
We are in this pickle because the racial and economic losers in this country, i.e. Cain's spawn (a.k.a. white trash) want revenge for assumed insults. The only hope is to get the 42% who couldn't be bothered to vote to get off their hinnies and vote this fool and his enablers out off office.
2
Dear Professor Krugman,
Methinks a few words from the Bard's "Hamlet, Prince of Denmark" might further illuminate your insightful thoughts --
Hamlet: Do you see yonder cloud that's almost in shape of a camel?
Polonius: By the mass, and 'tis like a camel, indeed.
Hamlet: Methinks it is like a weasel.
Polonius: It is indeed like a weasel.
Hamlet: Or like a whale?
Polonius: Very like a whale.
I thought this might explain some of the goings on in the State of the White House where "there must be something rotten," we in Canada feel certain.
The only difference: Hamlet feigned madness. The Prince in the White House is truly stark raving mad.
Ashis Gupta
Canada
Methinks a few words from the Bard's "Hamlet, Prince of Denmark" might further illuminate your insightful thoughts --
Hamlet: Do you see yonder cloud that's almost in shape of a camel?
Polonius: By the mass, and 'tis like a camel, indeed.
Hamlet: Methinks it is like a weasel.
Polonius: It is indeed like a weasel.
Hamlet: Or like a whale?
Polonius: Very like a whale.
I thought this might explain some of the goings on in the State of the White House where "there must be something rotten," we in Canada feel certain.
The only difference: Hamlet feigned madness. The Prince in the White House is truly stark raving mad.
Ashis Gupta
Canada
2
Dear Dr. Krugman- you are correct- I wish you had not been so enthusiastic about pushing for a flawed candidate, who was probably the only one who could lose against loser Trump.
This is a perfect analysis of what is going on.
So what can we do? How can we stand by and let this man rule the country?
Its so obvious he is a joke as a leader. Yet what law or provision could remove him from office? Who could start these proceedings to change this insane situation?
So what can we do? How can we stand by and let this man rule the country?
Its so obvious he is a joke as a leader. Yet what law or provision could remove him from office? Who could start these proceedings to change this insane situation?
It is easy to rail against Trump BUT in the meantime (or out of the headlines) the little stuff is eating the country alive. We need net neutrality and to actually invest in broadband everywhere as we did with rural electrification. We need as consumers to be protected from the abuses of banks and big business. We need to keep our promises to our veterans and staff the Veterans Administration. We need to repair roads and bridges. What do we get? None of the above. Repeal everything while the very rich rub their hands in glee.
25
Trumposity is about as contained as Billy, who grew up to incinerate folks who got in his way . . . Lordy, lordy, lordy, who will get America out of this twilight zone?
http://www.thecriticalmom.blogspot.com
http://www.thecriticalmom.blogspot.com
I'm no expert in tax policy. I fill out my own taxes, that's about it.
But what they released couldn't have taken more than 15 minutes to draft. It was a page of a few bullet points. Anyone could have done that in a few minutes.
There was no process behind that document, no policy discussion, no analysis, nothing. My own guess is that whatever discussions (if any) have been going on at Treasury, this bullet point document reflected none of that.
I bet Trump had his White House staff draw that up earlier in the week, maybe float it past Mnuchin so he saw it before they put him out in public, but probably didn't involve him in drafting it at all.
When I see how the administration treats the cabinet, it is a mystery to me why they don't all quit. Or get together and remove him from office via the 25th amendment. Tillerson is obviously incompetent, but he is constantly undercut by other weird foreign policy efforts. Like Trump's lawyer drafting peace deals, or not being told the Mexican foreign minister is in town, or Trump hosting two ex-presidents from Columbia. The list goes on.
Why do they hang around to be embarrassed like this? What is their motivation? It will just continue. Mnuchin should quit over this. The fact he apparently won't makes me think he's an idiot over his head too.
But what they released couldn't have taken more than 15 minutes to draft. It was a page of a few bullet points. Anyone could have done that in a few minutes.
There was no process behind that document, no policy discussion, no analysis, nothing. My own guess is that whatever discussions (if any) have been going on at Treasury, this bullet point document reflected none of that.
I bet Trump had his White House staff draw that up earlier in the week, maybe float it past Mnuchin so he saw it before they put him out in public, but probably didn't involve him in drafting it at all.
When I see how the administration treats the cabinet, it is a mystery to me why they don't all quit. Or get together and remove him from office via the 25th amendment. Tillerson is obviously incompetent, but he is constantly undercut by other weird foreign policy efforts. Like Trump's lawyer drafting peace deals, or not being told the Mexican foreign minister is in town, or Trump hosting two ex-presidents from Columbia. The list goes on.
Why do they hang around to be embarrassed like this? What is their motivation? It will just continue. Mnuchin should quit over this. The fact he apparently won't makes me think he's an idiot over his head too.
20
Maybe you're right! "Mnuchin ... [is] an idiot over his head too." but they are all drunk on power.
1
Four months on the job. Get over yourself
2
And I think a fourth? if I'm not mistaken - rally on Saturday in Harrisburg!
Introducing President Manbaby!
6
Clown show? Clown show? Mr. Krugman comparing the White House to a clown show is insulting to hard working honest clowns.
12
Trump, thin skinned in victory and vindictive in life, has, since the victorious election has been practicing a time worn tradition. "To the victor go the spoils". The "tax plan" easily fits into that category, as do the repeated trips to the Mar-a-Lago, the added security costs in NY at Trump Tower, the ridiculous Trump Care proposals that cut costs for the wealthy and screwed the sick and poor etc., The overt conflicts of interests also fall into this category. These actions can all be seen as a form of raping and pillaging the village and taking what he feels he has always been entitled to in life. It's payback time and while he attempts to hide it in gibberish like MAGA, it's pretty clear that Trump is "getting his".
2
"In any case, I’d like to make a plea to my colleagues in the news media: Don’t pretend that this is normal" This is what has been bothering me, as I see the media day after day trying to sound as if Trump is really after all normal. Every indication points to quite the opposite. I do not consider Half-Pence any bargain but believe he is normal but way too right wing for my taste. Can anyone contemplate four years with this deranged man as President? It is only a matter of time and a short time at that when we will be in the ditch. All those Republicans who defend his deviations from the norm, know that you are vetting a high grade moron who happens to be an idiot savant at the art of the con...
4
There's only one good thing about this -- it's DOA. There's the snowball's chance in hell that Trump will get anything like this through the senate.
The Trump Zone has a feature Dr. Krugman isn't talking about -- reality doesn't matter in the Trump Zone, it's all just reality-show, aka kayfabe.
Trump has given up on being president of the United States. All that he is doing now is holding his most-rabid base. And they don't expect, or perhaps even want, him to deliver the theater he projects. Health care seems to be the defining test here -- his people don't want the AHCA (only about 17% of America does and they must all be really rich), but for inexplicable reasons they rationalize Trump's complete switcheroo with "he tried." He tried what?
This "tax plan" is exactly "he tried," and nothing more.
Mr. Trump is the "my dog ate it" president -- nothing actually gets handed in for any grade other than F. But his people still love him -- poor little Donnie Dimbulb, "he tried."
The Trump Zone has a feature Dr. Krugman isn't talking about -- reality doesn't matter in the Trump Zone, it's all just reality-show, aka kayfabe.
Trump has given up on being president of the United States. All that he is doing now is holding his most-rabid base. And they don't expect, or perhaps even want, him to deliver the theater he projects. Health care seems to be the defining test here -- his people don't want the AHCA (only about 17% of America does and they must all be really rich), but for inexplicable reasons they rationalize Trump's complete switcheroo with "he tried." He tried what?
This "tax plan" is exactly "he tried," and nothing more.
Mr. Trump is the "my dog ate it" president -- nothing actually gets handed in for any grade other than F. But his people still love him -- poor little Donnie Dimbulb, "he tried."
4
Trump's failures are America's gain. Resist!
1
Thank God for Mad Dog Mattis. The only adult in the room, and the only one to spank this unruly, spoiled Commander in Chief. But mark my words: I don't think General Mattis will last long in this administration.
3
It is ironic that the most decent person in this crowd is called "mad dog".
2
See you in the cornfield, a place I fear we are all headed if Timmy, I mean Donnie, continues to just satisfy his own childish needs aided by his swampful of sycophants and grifters.
Perhaps David Brooks could read this. His column today said everything is fine.
6
As so often happens, H.L. Mencken may have best described our current situation:
"As democracy is perfected, the office of president represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron."
"As democracy is perfected, the office of president represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron."
4
I forget, are deficits good again?
I keep misplacing my copy of 'The koch brothers guide to childish gop politics.'
Can I borrow someone else's?
Thanks.
I was right, now that the black guy left Washington deficits are good again.
The koch owned gop is first and foremost fickle.
I keep misplacing my copy of 'The koch brothers guide to childish gop politics.'
Can I borrow someone else's?
Thanks.
I was right, now that the black guy left Washington deficits are good again.
The koch owned gop is first and foremost fickle.
4
At first I was hopeful that some of the folks Trump picked for cabinet positions
would have the self dignity to rein in this ignorant man child. But I now have a different view. Trump has become their "Useful Idiot". While in "service", Tillerson will enhance his worldwide business relationships, Mnuchin and Ross will tilt/modify banking laws to allow more rape and pillage of lower income mortgage holders and destruction of businesses thru buyouts. Sessions, Price and DeVos will move their racist ideology to a new level. Carson and Perry... Well, I dont know. I guess they will just arrange a play date and stay out of the way. All this goes on while the man child plays with himself watching the Fox women on cable. My only hope is that the military men, Mattis Kelly and perhaps Zinke, who have proven their total dedication to this country will eventually put Trump in some sort of corner and save us from God knows what horror in foreign policy.
would have the self dignity to rein in this ignorant man child. But I now have a different view. Trump has become their "Useful Idiot". While in "service", Tillerson will enhance his worldwide business relationships, Mnuchin and Ross will tilt/modify banking laws to allow more rape and pillage of lower income mortgage holders and destruction of businesses thru buyouts. Sessions, Price and DeVos will move their racist ideology to a new level. Carson and Perry... Well, I dont know. I guess they will just arrange a play date and stay out of the way. All this goes on while the man child plays with himself watching the Fox women on cable. My only hope is that the military men, Mattis Kelly and perhaps Zinke, who have proven their total dedication to this country will eventually put Trump in some sort of corner and save us from God knows what horror in foreign policy.
2
Just as the immature child in The Twilight Zone episode rained disaster down on those around him whenever he was frustrated, Trimp seem bent on starting a nuclear war with North Korea.
1
So, we're doomed, right?
3
It's all true. It can't be hidden, obviously from the 4th estate: this column and others. What we need to face here is the fact that there is a lot of something keeping Trump in his position, and none of that is affected in the least by any rational discourse coming from the likes of the NYTimes. Unless it is affected and all the enabling rable trying to paint a picture of normalcy when our situation is existentially at risk realizes in some fundamental way that we are in trouble. Right now it gets about a 40% showing in the polls and over 90% approval from Trump voters. That's a lot of bricking up the facade behind which the reality of Trump is clearly evident. It takes time to knock that down, more than a hundred days apparently. It would seem that it can't last and even the opportunists sucking at the teet of Trump's power will realize it's not worth it. And suddenly, Trump will be gone.
1
America might as well face it: Trump will never put on his big-boy pants. He likes his policy Huggies, vague and comfortable, and capable of soaking up the frequent and embarrassing leaks from his office.
4
Hey, we are talking about current POTUS here. Show some respect!
Wait until he is impeached for being a traitor. That should be coming shortly. All indications are Comey is on the verge of purging his mistake.
Seems numerous connections to Russian influence inherent to Trump's inner circle are features not flaws.
Must be correct, saw it on twitter.
Wait until he is impeached for being a traitor. That should be coming shortly. All indications are Comey is on the verge of purging his mistake.
Seems numerous connections to Russian influence inherent to Trump's inner circle are features not flaws.
Must be correct, saw it on twitter.
3
The Times Opinion columnists e.g. Krugman,Kristof,Leonhardt,Egan, Blow,Collins,Ratner,Greenhouse,Dowd,Brooks,Douthat, are virtually all,Trump haters.
The lack of diversity of opinions is shocking and embarassing for a media outlet that touts "diversity".
The lack of diversity of opinions is shocking and embarassing for a media outlet that touts "diversity".
1
Aaah, those were the days ... if only today's most dangerous creeps were locked inside a TV set.
A single page "plan" is right up Trump's alley. Just envision it, Trump cannot read well, he must have PowerPoint level information. His "advisors" came up with a rerun of Reagan/Bush/Brownback tax ideas that gave Trump Inc. the best money saving tax cuts, popped these "ideas" into a PowerPoint and handed it out to the press and the prez at the same time.
I think that the Simpson's Trump's 100 Day video explains it best
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qo3fT0xPeHs
Trump expects Fox News commenters to read, comprehend, and interpret important information and they explain it to him over the air on their TV shows.
What else did we expect?
I think that the Simpson's Trump's 100 Day video explains it best
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qo3fT0xPeHs
Trump expects Fox News commenters to read, comprehend, and interpret important information and they explain it to him over the air on their TV shows.
What else did we expect?
4
Thank you...
Held over!
Trump's Zombie Lemming Circus troupe smokes sold out Broadway smash comedy "The Pit and The Pendulum"!
Trump's Zombie Lemming Circus troupe smokes sold out Broadway smash comedy "The Pit and The Pendulum"!
The original story It's a Good Life! (1953) frightened me even more than the Twilight Zone adaptation:
http://ciscohouston.com/docs/docs/greats/its_a_good_life.html
Don sez: "Here's my tax reform bill, or a few notes about what it might propose. I like double-spaced notes on a single sheet of paper.
"I will not duplicate that other bo...---I mean, fellow's infernal complicayshun.
"The original ACA draft bill? More than 1000 pages long! Nobody can read 1000 pages! Did he think he was Mailer? Sad! Terribly sad!
"Another reason MY 'Let's Make America Great Again's Trumped-up Tax Reform Plan', is stripped-down-dirt-bike simple is because I WAITED until the last second, before telling Steve and Gar', uh, Mnuchkin and Cohn to get it on my desk by 6:00 a.m. It was already past 2:00!
"If I give 'egghead' Goldman Sachs bankers time to think before handing me a quick-and-dirty sketch of my desires, what do I get?
"Five hundred pages at least! Shall I sack them too?!
"The worst fate for rules I want to force through by ignoring Congress, by issuing executive orders left and right, is some disloyal, corrupt and probably-of-questionable-rac---oops!---I mean ethnic-background, 'so-called' Federal Judge might take out his---or worse, her---spite on me and
"...Thwart my will!
"Who's President, here, eh?
"Next worst fate would be feeding Congress concrete information about a real bill that is MEANT to slap them upside the head!
"Hey, are you a FRIENDLY reporter?"
http://ciscohouston.com/docs/docs/greats/its_a_good_life.html
Don sez: "Here's my tax reform bill, or a few notes about what it might propose. I like double-spaced notes on a single sheet of paper.
"I will not duplicate that other bo...---I mean, fellow's infernal complicayshun.
"The original ACA draft bill? More than 1000 pages long! Nobody can read 1000 pages! Did he think he was Mailer? Sad! Terribly sad!
"Another reason MY 'Let's Make America Great Again's Trumped-up Tax Reform Plan', is stripped-down-dirt-bike simple is because I WAITED until the last second, before telling Steve and Gar', uh, Mnuchkin and Cohn to get it on my desk by 6:00 a.m. It was already past 2:00!
"If I give 'egghead' Goldman Sachs bankers time to think before handing me a quick-and-dirty sketch of my desires, what do I get?
"Five hundred pages at least! Shall I sack them too?!
"The worst fate for rules I want to force through by ignoring Congress, by issuing executive orders left and right, is some disloyal, corrupt and probably-of-questionable-rac---oops!---I mean ethnic-background, 'so-called' Federal Judge might take out his---or worse, her---spite on me and
"...Thwart my will!
"Who's President, here, eh?
"Next worst fate would be feeding Congress concrete information about a real bill that is MEANT to slap them upside the head!
"Hey, are you a FRIENDLY reporter?"
1
Look at the staff Trump picked............Goldman Sacks, America.
2
oh, how the wonky paul ryan must be tearing his eddy munster hear out!!??
Eaxctly the (Hahaha) ELEPHANT in the Room!
It is precisely because POTUS has no "attention span" besides his moment-to-moment rating on Fox News;
precisely because his "interests" (such as they are) can be contained in simple "rape-pillage-destroy" for personal gain (Winner take ALL) philosophy;
precisely because he has zero control of the childish ID inside that teensie unformed brain leaning towards dementia at his advanced age;
precisely because all of his thoughts are expressed in a poor third-grade manner and spelling - as this appears to be his full level of education and understanding of the world at large and government complexities;
precisely because his team and campaigners may have conspired with Russians to undermine our democracy;
precisely because he has routinely and repeatedly threatened the Courts and Judges and routinely and members of Congress for doing their jobs of reigning in his Majesty's Pleasure;
precisely because he is a THREAT to women and their HEALTH here and abroad;
precisely because he is a THREAT to our Planet and the Environment;
precisely because he'd prefer his non-elected children RUN the Government and Presidency for him while he golfs his way into History;
precisely because he chose the Prigservative Mike Pence (that's what you call a 57 year old PRIG who has been embalmed since the 1950's) who was chosen as a VP from a psycho POTUS who himself can't abide any On stage competition.
This is NOT Normal!
It is precisely because POTUS has no "attention span" besides his moment-to-moment rating on Fox News;
precisely because his "interests" (such as they are) can be contained in simple "rape-pillage-destroy" for personal gain (Winner take ALL) philosophy;
precisely because he has zero control of the childish ID inside that teensie unformed brain leaning towards dementia at his advanced age;
precisely because all of his thoughts are expressed in a poor third-grade manner and spelling - as this appears to be his full level of education and understanding of the world at large and government complexities;
precisely because his team and campaigners may have conspired with Russians to undermine our democracy;
precisely because he has routinely and repeatedly threatened the Courts and Judges and routinely and members of Congress for doing their jobs of reigning in his Majesty's Pleasure;
precisely because he is a THREAT to women and their HEALTH here and abroad;
precisely because he is a THREAT to our Planet and the Environment;
precisely because he'd prefer his non-elected children RUN the Government and Presidency for him while he golfs his way into History;
precisely because he chose the Prigservative Mike Pence (that's what you call a 57 year old PRIG who has been embalmed since the 1950's) who was chosen as a VP from a psycho POTUS who himself can't abide any On stage competition.
This is NOT Normal!
1
we scrimped and cheated on education for years... we enshrined obsolete and mean religious positions... we turned over the direction of our history to he military and their enablers... we wallowed in junk media and "reality" programming... we confounded science with fiction...
and now we got what we deserved: a mindless,greedy, corrupt administration headed by a reality tv star with only the most tenuous grasp on real reality, eager to move us into the Middle Ages for fun and profit.
heavens be praised!
and now we got what we deserved: a mindless,greedy, corrupt administration headed by a reality tv star with only the most tenuous grasp on real reality, eager to move us into the Middle Ages for fun and profit.
heavens be praised!
You may you may want to send a copy of this commentary to your colleague Mr. Brooks.
3
While it's obvious to most of us that the 'emperor has no clothes', well, maybe his bathrobe, late at night, pecking away dumb thoughts on his smart phone, his base looovvvves him. The man-child can do no wrong-go figure...
3
Come on, what do you expect from greedy, ignorant (brainwashed), misogynist bigots (everyone of those trumpers fits into at least one of those categories)?
Thank you conservative America, ya done us proud!
2
there you go with more fake news. everyone who wants a job can get one. the economy is great and we're going to pay less taxes. ..................................have those big boats turned around yet ?
1
OK. So now I don't know what to think. I always read Brooks before Krugman because alphabetic order. David seems to think that having an ineffectual and quixotic leader who zooms of in random directions is OK and not the disaster all sane people initially feared. Krugman not so happy with that. I guess I'll wait for Douthat to weigh in and and break this tie.
Dr. K, read David Brooks column today and then walk over and give him a thump on the head for all of us. "Normal" ?, this man child is anything but normal.
2
Going off half-cocked by the cockamamie Trump White House is what we're going to see until this administration and the freedom-caucus House get kicked out of power.
Ryan has never delivered a budget and Trump can't govern either. Both know how to fill their pockets but that's all they know. Well, That and lying about it or blaming Obama and the democrats, even when they control the whole government!
The comparison of Trump to the Twilight Zone is perfect. I read the the short story by Jerome Bixby that it's based on when I was in middle school and it's what Trump would do if he had telekinetic powers. He's going to destroy anything and anybody he doesn't like and the people who wanted him to harm immigrants, women, and the poor will probably get what they want, along with his voter-base themselves.
World-wide recession and war? That's probably his next stop, in the Raving Mad Oligarch Zone.
Ryan has never delivered a budget and Trump can't govern either. Both know how to fill their pockets but that's all they know. Well, That and lying about it or blaming Obama and the democrats, even when they control the whole government!
The comparison of Trump to the Twilight Zone is perfect. I read the the short story by Jerome Bixby that it's based on when I was in middle school and it's what Trump would do if he had telekinetic powers. He's going to destroy anything and anybody he doesn't like and the people who wanted him to harm immigrants, women, and the poor will probably get what they want, along with his voter-base themselves.
World-wide recession and war? That's probably his next stop, in the Raving Mad Oligarch Zone.
6
Rudy Giuliani, Sebastian Gorka, Jeff Sessions, Sean Spicer and Donald Trump wave America First flags, meaning, white men first. Their idea of making America first is somewhere around Giuliani's squeegeee project of incarcerating pesky citizens akin to deporting those who came in to work for low wages now pawns in private jails, fodder for invoices being sent to taxpayers. Pawns in white men first.
20 million people in Northern Africa are headed for starvation due to famine and Trump's white men drop bombs on Yemen, millions of dollars in weaponry killing just 36 people in Afghanistan. Rudy "cleaned up" NYC pretty much the same way. Starved them out, would have bombed them if he could.
Trump might as well be dropping bombs on our national parks, giving away millions of miles for mining and fracking after immobilizing the country with McConnell, the rich get richer with the new budget and tax reform and no health or welfare, you'll never be able to vote them out after Trump finishes with us.
Of course Sean Spicer thinks Hitler wasn't that bad. Holocaust Centers are the same as the private jails undesirables like Rudy's squee-gee men are a fountain of Erik Prince's Blackwater invoices or Dick Cheney's Haliburton bills we paid after they murdered countless people. We paid Cheney and Prince the same way this Trump White House is bringing it home right now. Bombing us daily with decrees, executive orders we cannot stop or hide from, bombs.
20 million people in Northern Africa are headed for starvation due to famine and Trump's white men drop bombs on Yemen, millions of dollars in weaponry killing just 36 people in Afghanistan. Rudy "cleaned up" NYC pretty much the same way. Starved them out, would have bombed them if he could.
Trump might as well be dropping bombs on our national parks, giving away millions of miles for mining and fracking after immobilizing the country with McConnell, the rich get richer with the new budget and tax reform and no health or welfare, you'll never be able to vote them out after Trump finishes with us.
Of course Sean Spicer thinks Hitler wasn't that bad. Holocaust Centers are the same as the private jails undesirables like Rudy's squee-gee men are a fountain of Erik Prince's Blackwater invoices or Dick Cheney's Haliburton bills we paid after they murdered countless people. We paid Cheney and Prince the same way this Trump White House is bringing it home right now. Bombing us daily with decrees, executive orders we cannot stop or hide from, bombs.
5
And, in the Twilight Zone motif, when will the Trump fanatics getting aboard his spaceship, turn back to us and say "It's a cookbook!" about his plans for his "people"?
13
"After all, any hint of discontent could bring terrible retribution."
Excactly.
Excactly.
1
There is a lot of childish petulance on display. It is in the White House, and Congress, and in our media too. There are precious few grownups supervising this disaster.
However, there has been precious little policy made or pursued. The children are not up to that. They run around and shout, but that's it so far.
No policy. Nothing done.
However, there has been precious little policy made or pursued. The children are not up to that. They run around and shout, but that's it so far.
No policy. Nothing done.
5
I don't believe Trump is a very bright guy, he may be shrewd, cunning and have an instinct for how to manipulate the simple minded, fortified by a total lack of shame or humility. His personal strengths have been cultivated with enormous amounts of inherited money, allowing him to achieve a level of success. People like Trump do not surround themselves with people who are smarter then they are, it makes them uncomfortable and insecure. Consequently, the people coming up with Trumps tax plan and other policy plans are not very bright either, ultimately leading to the kind of nonsense they are they submit as brilliance, It is all relative to the level of ability.
3
Thank you Dr. Krugman...especially for your appeal to the media not to pretend that what is going on is normal. Lately I have noticed a drift, even among notably liberal commentators and writers, to report on current crises of which there are many) as though this is business as usual, especially for a "new" president. If I were hired for a job and had not previous experience, even with a generous 100 days trial period to prove I could do it, a track record like DJT's would kicked me out the door in a NY minute. Would Trump have kept an employee for over 3 months who had no qualifications and threatened his financial empire with ruin? Don't think so.
So I am not ready to back off from evaluating Trump's actions. They ALL seem to smack of destruction for everyone except his family and cronies. And, Oh, by the way.....a note to Trump -- Hope you enjoy Mars when our planet dies. But remember, your ratings will go down because the only survivors will be that tiny portion of the 1% who will be like cannibals at your back.
So I am not ready to back off from evaluating Trump's actions. They ALL seem to smack of destruction for everyone except his family and cronies. And, Oh, by the way.....a note to Trump -- Hope you enjoy Mars when our planet dies. But remember, your ratings will go down because the only survivors will be that tiny portion of the 1% who will be like cannibals at your back.
Thank you. I am so sick of people (Republican people) trying to normalize Trump. He is not normal in any way shape or form.
3
It is disheartening and exasperating to watch the way the the news media continue to "normalize" Trump. Bizarre and erratic behavior that would never for a minute be tolerated in a Clinton or Obama is blithely rationalized for Trump.
Trump's handlers continue to exploit this "soft bigotry of low expectations" applied by the media to their advantage. It's a "win-win" situation for the Trump and the media as they exploit each other for ratings, profits and exposure, while the general public, left on the outside, is the real loser.
We have the misfortune of living in an entertainment age, with an entertainment-owned and operated news media and a reality-TV entertainer as President. Let's hope our liberal democracy can survive the entertainment onslaught.
Trump's handlers continue to exploit this "soft bigotry of low expectations" applied by the media to their advantage. It's a "win-win" situation for the Trump and the media as they exploit each other for ratings, profits and exposure, while the general public, left on the outside, is the real loser.
We have the misfortune of living in an entertainment age, with an entertainment-owned and operated news media and a reality-TV entertainer as President. Let's hope our liberal democracy can survive the entertainment onslaught.
2
Krugman talks about " tax exemption for 401(k) retirement accounts". It sounds as though he is referring to the fact that a person can put money in a 401(k) plan and not pay income taxes on that money AT THAT TIME. All things being equal, that is no income tax savings at all for the person. A simple example shows why.
Suppose you invest $100, and it doubles after a time. Suppose your income tax rate is 20%. If you pay the tax up front, you have $80 to invest and at the end, you have $160. If you don't pay the income tax up front, you have $100 to invest, which at the end goes to $200, You pay the 20% tax on that and are left with...$160!
There is a savings in using pretax money, but it has to do with cap gains, not income tax. If you pay the income tax up front, you have to pay cap gains in addition, while if you pay the income tax at the end, you never pay any cap gains.
I wish Krugman were better at saying what he means.
Suppose you invest $100, and it doubles after a time. Suppose your income tax rate is 20%. If you pay the tax up front, you have $80 to invest and at the end, you have $160. If you don't pay the income tax up front, you have $100 to invest, which at the end goes to $200, You pay the 20% tax on that and are left with...$160!
There is a savings in using pretax money, but it has to do with cap gains, not income tax. If you pay the income tax up front, you have to pay cap gains in addition, while if you pay the income tax at the end, you never pay any cap gains.
I wish Krugman were better at saying what he means.
Be glad the remedies Trump pushes are so wacko. Think the destruction of the ACA with no backup. A Wall which Mexico is suppose to pay for, but may cost the US $25 billion and do nothing. A tax plan which eliminates corporate taxes into the treasury, allows him have his personal tax decreased by 70%, and increase the deficit by $700 billion a year. We won't talk about his sabre rattling.
I remember the Twilight Zone episode and I also remember Toby Young's How to Lose Friends and Alienate People.
Having never had access to Fox News but only having the occasional glimpse I wonder whether if Trump is really the little boy or simply another town person seeking to curry the favour of the little boy for personal gain.
Mr Trump's world is magical and summon's up all the forces of belief and superstition. The little boy is the power of America First and Mr Trump is as much a victim as America's middle class who have long trumpeted it can't happen here.
Welcome to the Twilight Zone.
When Nixon abrogated Bretton Woods little boys like Laffer, Reagan, Clinton and Ryan were given far too much magical power. I remember when Carter warned us about the Twilight Zone.
Having never had access to Fox News but only having the occasional glimpse I wonder whether if Trump is really the little boy or simply another town person seeking to curry the favour of the little boy for personal gain.
Mr Trump's world is magical and summon's up all the forces of belief and superstition. The little boy is the power of America First and Mr Trump is as much a victim as America's middle class who have long trumpeted it can't happen here.
Welcome to the Twilight Zone.
When Nixon abrogated Bretton Woods little boys like Laffer, Reagan, Clinton and Ryan were given far too much magical power. I remember when Carter warned us about the Twilight Zone.
1
All this may be true, but to Trump's supporters he is going a great job; better than any President we ever had or ever will have. Please get on the same page as the rest of America, or it will be the cornfield for you.
1
Let's not forget the Democrats share the blame for the debacle in the White House. Clinton had the nomination sewn -up before the first primary. The use of old-style back room politics blocked viable candidates who had a better chance of defeating Trump. We need to get good people, both Democrats and Republicans, into office in the mid-terms and next general election.
1
Here are some elements of a good tax reform, but they must be considered a package:
- Make all corporations Subchapter S. That is all corporate income is a direct pass through to shareholders whether distributed as dividends or not.
- Add tax brackets at the top or move existing tax brackets higher. The highest tax bracket should go back to a very high value, remember the 91% tax bracket back in Eisenhower days, the most prosperous days in the history of the U.S.?
- Treat capital gains as ordinary income after adjusting for inflation.
- Make the tax bracket thresholds multiples of the minimum wage. For example, the highest tax bracket could apply to income above 100 times minimum wage and could be 91%.
- Make all corporations Subchapter S. That is all corporate income is a direct pass through to shareholders whether distributed as dividends or not.
- Add tax brackets at the top or move existing tax brackets higher. The highest tax bracket should go back to a very high value, remember the 91% tax bracket back in Eisenhower days, the most prosperous days in the history of the U.S.?
- Treat capital gains as ordinary income after adjusting for inflation.
- Make the tax bracket thresholds multiples of the minimum wage. For example, the highest tax bracket could apply to income above 100 times minimum wage and could be 91%.
Mr. Krugman, this is a thought-provoking article, as was that Twilight episode you mentioned.
Here is how my thoughts were provoked: For seven years, Republicans railed against the Affordable Health Care Act and tried to repeal it numerous times. In 2017, when they finally had a chance to replace it with something--anything--else, they had no genuine replacement ready. They wasted those seven years.
My point here is that the country cannot waste the next three-plus years of Trump's presidency plotting how and with whom we will replace him. Instead, we must work diligently and wisely to build up the electorate that opposes Trump, and we must begin to groom leaders of the future.
Here is how my thoughts were provoked: For seven years, Republicans railed against the Affordable Health Care Act and tried to repeal it numerous times. In 2017, when they finally had a chance to replace it with something--anything--else, they had no genuine replacement ready. They wasted those seven years.
My point here is that the country cannot waste the next three-plus years of Trump's presidency plotting how and with whom we will replace him. Instead, we must work diligently and wisely to build up the electorate that opposes Trump, and we must begin to groom leaders of the future.
3
Every day there is something this so-call president says/does that causes extreme alarm. Every day I practice breathing and meditation exercises to manage my stress related to this.
While I always try to look for the silver lining, this has been rather difficult. I did hear a little glint of silver today, with the NPR interview with Tillerson. While I don't agree with Tillerson's thinking on everything, I had a moment of thinking there's an adult in the room.
While I always try to look for the silver lining, this has been rather difficult. I did hear a little glint of silver today, with the NPR interview with Tillerson. While I don't agree with Tillerson's thinking on everything, I had a moment of thinking there's an adult in the room.
2
It is clear that Putin has worked feverishly to attack western democracy.
Unconstrained by campaign financing laws or a shred of ethics, they have engaged in the Brexit campaign, and the US and EU presidential campaigns, to weaken NATO, trade and cooperation with the hopes of ending western imposed economic sanctions against them.
Installing ineffectual leadership favorably inclined toward Russia weakens the US and provides a window for Putin to expand unchecked.
Trump is Russia's Yeltsin, advancing bad economic policy and ruinous fiscal policies which impede the nation's progress.
While China has tried to moderate North Korea's behavior in the region to improve peace and stability in the region, Russia has accelerated economic development with North Korea.
Putin is working on all fronts to attack the west through all means available. Congress must recognize and respond to the threat regardless of party affiliation.
Unconstrained by campaign financing laws or a shred of ethics, they have engaged in the Brexit campaign, and the US and EU presidential campaigns, to weaken NATO, trade and cooperation with the hopes of ending western imposed economic sanctions against them.
Installing ineffectual leadership favorably inclined toward Russia weakens the US and provides a window for Putin to expand unchecked.
Trump is Russia's Yeltsin, advancing bad economic policy and ruinous fiscal policies which impede the nation's progress.
While China has tried to moderate North Korea's behavior in the region to improve peace and stability in the region, Russia has accelerated economic development with North Korea.
Putin is working on all fronts to attack the west through all means available. Congress must recognize and respond to the threat regardless of party affiliation.
1
All true, Professor Krugman, and well done eloquent, impassioned commenters. But here's the thing; I am coming to believe that what Trump's devoted base really loves about him is that he infuriates and terrifies liberal elites in blue states (most of us here). Trump voters loathe us, and our way of life (whatever they construe that to be). He is their weapon, the spear upon which they skewer their reviled enemies, godless Democrats. The more we react to Trump's provocations, and the happier they are with him. Got to be a way to solve this problem; if only we could ignore him...
19
Yes, Trump leads The Revenge of the Class Dunces.
There's no more adult supervision after graduation in the USA.
There's no more adult supervision after graduation in the USA.
3
Edna: "The more we react to Trump's provocations, and the happier they are with him. Got to be a way to solve this problem; if only we could ignore him..."
Well for one thing, instead of ignoring the Bully Disciples of Trump living amongst us (Family & Friends mostly) we could put our phones down for a minute and begin challenging those that prefer ignorance and factions to reality. As Ghandi showed us time and time again you have a god given right to resist and compel those around you to respect each other. But, it starts at home and no matter the pain inflicted, Bully's don't own you and they hate more than anything else to be confronted with facts crossed with non-violent humility. Challenge them and resist them at home and dispel their silly logic that Trump cares for them. As their thinking clears imagine what we could do then.
Well for one thing, instead of ignoring the Bully Disciples of Trump living amongst us (Family & Friends mostly) we could put our phones down for a minute and begin challenging those that prefer ignorance and factions to reality. As Ghandi showed us time and time again you have a god given right to resist and compel those around you to respect each other. But, it starts at home and no matter the pain inflicted, Bully's don't own you and they hate more than anything else to be confronted with facts crossed with non-violent humility. Challenge them and resist them at home and dispel their silly logic that Trump cares for them. As their thinking clears imagine what we could do then.
Debt ceiling
Hey... I made an "It's a Good Life" meme about the Trump administration back in December! Great minds... and all that, Paul Krugman!
Yes, Donnie's raucous behavior does certainly remind me of "The Twilight Zone", and I have been trying to change the channel since January, but to no avail. Actually, I am more of a fan of "StarTrek", from a slightly later era.
And, the Transporter Room had a gross malfunction, in that it sent Trumpenstein into the Parallel Universe, but inadvertently brought him back. Oy vey!
https://thetruthoncommonsense.com
And, the Transporter Room had a gross malfunction, in that it sent Trumpenstein into the Parallel Universe, but inadvertently brought him back. Oy vey!
https://thetruthoncommonsense.com
Spock was here, but he beamed up to look for more intelligent life elsewhere.
Great comparison to that Twilight Zone episode Paul! Now every time I see Trump saying something ridiculous I will hear that Twilight Zone theme music in my head.
4
At 53 I may not live long enough to see it, but I long for day when objective historical analysis is written about this period. 45 will go down as the worst president in US history, by a margin so wide it can never be surmounted, and future generations will marvel in confusion at how he ever got elected. These are shameful times.
6
The show is nearly a perfect analogy of all things Trump. You have the fearful crowd of GOP back-benchers, bowing and scraping to gain favor or at least avoid the dreaded attack; You have the victim, who could be anybody, the press, the Dems, Flynn, Arnold, anybody; You have Priebus whispering the rational solution in 'it's' ear.
We have an 8 year old monster in the WH people. Be afraid. Be very very afraid. Keep in mind who represents the GOP; those cowards in the background.
We have an 8 year old monster in the WH people. Be afraid. Be very very afraid. Keep in mind who represents the GOP; those cowards in the background.
1
Now read Brooks thought. According to Brooks Trump is becoming normal. Now that is scary.
1
The Trump administration's "plan" is just as ridiculous as you say, Mr. Krugman. Yet, much of the media (especially, of course, Fox News and talk radio) and nearly all Republican members of Congress seem to treat what should be a joke as worthy of serious consideration and even praise. The dishonest enablers are at least as culpable as the child-man for the untold damage done by his tantrum-based "initiatives".
3
The humour in this editorial is only tempered by the accuracy. The problem is that to 40% of the country, the very idea of the comparison is precisely what they want.
The challenge for all of us is to penetrate the bubble who frankly do not care. If the rapture is coming anyway, why care?
When the NYT comes up with that answer, media will again be relevant. My fear is that as in the 1930's, the realization will only come when everything that is important will be destroyed.
The challenge for all of us is to penetrate the bubble who frankly do not care. If the rapture is coming anyway, why care?
When the NYT comes up with that answer, media will again be relevant. My fear is that as in the 1930's, the realization will only come when everything that is important will be destroyed.
1
As per The Peter Principal, Donald Trump is an charlatan who surpassed his level of incompetence decades ago but managed to maintain a facade of success (bolstered by inheritance) by lying, cheating, bribing, suing, stealing and especially fleecing lazy fools who fell for his many scams.
The difference between past and present is that most of his past victims paid the price for falling for his scams and (hopefully) learned their lessons and assumed responsibility. This time around, the voters who put a phony and fraud in the White House seem committed to denying their foolishness and conveniently ignorant to their culpability.
The difference between past and present is that most of his past victims paid the price for falling for his scams and (hopefully) learned their lessons and assumed responsibility. This time around, the voters who put a phony and fraud in the White House seem committed to denying their foolishness and conveniently ignorant to their culpability.
1
Just like thinking people thought would happen. Trump is now CEO of the corporation that is America (Citizens United) and he will now lead his new corporation into his 4th, or fifth, or 6th bankruptcy….but who's counting?
I see the Twilight Zone episode where William Shatner was the only person able to see a monster tearing a wing off the plane. However, in this case most of us see the monster!
Trump's incompetence at getting legislation passed is his most admirable attribute. Yes, we are living in bizarro world.
1
If giving rich people more money "unleashed economic growth" we'd be bursting at the seams and the minimum wage would be $50/hour. It never ceases to amaze that decade after decade, republicans and some democrats can insist - with a straight face - that if we just PLEASE give the Lloyd Blankfeins of the world one more platinum yacht, the tide will finally rise for the rest of us. Such utterances should be laughed out of the building, not reported as "breaking news".
1
@gemli. You are usually, almost always, spot on correct but I disagree that we will have to wait until 2020 for relieF. If so, this nation will be destroyed by then or in a new civil war.
There is plenty of fault to go around and the media has its share but so does the arrogant campaign of HRC, who assumed she would be the first women president and as its turned out, half of the women voters voted against her and not necessarily for Trump.
But the major part of the blame goes to the Republican party whose lust for power and winning at any cost, has rendered itself morally bankrupt and anti-patriotic, because it always puts its short term interests above the good of the American people, the rule of law the Constitution and its magical thinking that only conservatives have the exclusive right to govern and those who disagree are traitors or terrorists or incompetent knaves.
Now they have what they wanted (as the result of a corrupt election with the aid of Putin and the FBI), total control of the government and whamo they are exposed as unfit and incompetent and corrupt. Worse the people see it and if they continue hurting America with a regime of foreign agents and kleptocrats, they will lose their majorities in both houses of Congress and Trump and Pence will be impeached and the Democratic Speaker of the House will become president and the cleanup shall begin.
There is plenty of fault to go around and the media has its share but so does the arrogant campaign of HRC, who assumed she would be the first women president and as its turned out, half of the women voters voted against her and not necessarily for Trump.
But the major part of the blame goes to the Republican party whose lust for power and winning at any cost, has rendered itself morally bankrupt and anti-patriotic, because it always puts its short term interests above the good of the American people, the rule of law the Constitution and its magical thinking that only conservatives have the exclusive right to govern and those who disagree are traitors or terrorists or incompetent knaves.
Now they have what they wanted (as the result of a corrupt election with the aid of Putin and the FBI), total control of the government and whamo they are exposed as unfit and incompetent and corrupt. Worse the people see it and if they continue hurting America with a regime of foreign agents and kleptocrats, they will lose their majorities in both houses of Congress and Trump and Pence will be impeached and the Democratic Speaker of the House will become president and the cleanup shall begin.
1
I'm wondering how long it will take media pundits to realize there is no method to his madness. One day he's pulling out of NAFTA, that night he's just renegotiating NAFTA, and by the next day, he's re-negotiating then pulling out of NAFTA. There are millions of jobs at stake, corporate agreements, integrated systems - including electric grids, water and financial systems. This kind of confusion impacts currency values and the stock market. The words (yes they do count) and actions of this president impact the lives of so many people that he must somehow be held accountable.
1
And let's not forget that actor in the forefront of that still from Twilight Zone: the multitalented Billy Mumy, who went on to play Will Robinson in Lost in Space. One of the finest child actors of the 1960s.
2
Just read that the Trump tax plan makes no mention of a revenue neutral or of anything to pay for the tax cuts! Wonder if Ryan and his minions, ilk, or 'wonks will allow for the 'deficit ceiling to rise?
2
And today it was announced that the GDP growth rate in the first quarter was the worst in three years. If Trump means to go on claiming various economic results as his doing, the way he started immediately after taking office, he now has this to sulk about as well as weakening jobs numbers.
Let's hope he decides to rescue his First 100 Days (not that he cares about such a "ridiculous" milestone) by declaring victory in his careless face-off with North Korea during the next 24 hours. Then let's hope that he and his juvenile counterpart on the other side don't start a second face-off over who won the first one.
Let's hope he decides to rescue his First 100 Days (not that he cares about such a "ridiculous" milestone) by declaring victory in his careless face-off with North Korea during the next 24 hours. Then let's hope that he and his juvenile counterpart on the other side don't start a second face-off over who won the first one.
9
Thank you for the laugh of the day.
The great mystery is that the Trumpet has neither been impeached yet, nor has he offered to resign. Clearly he must be frustrated by his gross ineptitude. I guess he has never learned to back away from that which he cannot understand. What a fool!
Love that line, "...pieces of paper whose goal is to soothe the big man's temper tantrums." We have a blaring, off-key Trumpet in the White House of Cards.
The great mystery is that the Trumpet has neither been impeached yet, nor has he offered to resign. Clearly he must be frustrated by his gross ineptitude. I guess he has never learned to back away from that which he cannot understand. What a fool!
Love that line, "...pieces of paper whose goal is to soothe the big man's temper tantrums." We have a blaring, off-key Trumpet in the White House of Cards.
8
Worst president in the history of the United States in only ONE HUNDRED DAYS! Congratulations to the Trump voters for putting this nation's future in the hands of a CLOWN!
10
The notion that NYTimes—and all respectable arbiters of a general welfare & US community of interests—should curry up to Trump is not just machiavellian, nor cynical Electoral collegiality.
Trump: th loose cannon, th wild card, even paradoxically ungovernable; & profoundly compromised by his capital holdings. OK, ok.
Premised (a case study): T playing Archetype of th rube, th hayseed, with respect to Education & understanding complexities of government & civics generally--i can name hundreds who arent ignorant. I can describe a Legacy [resulting from policy makers & heads of state] that has stumbled thru two or three centuries, with a few achievements: social security, medicare, even a pitiable form of health care--pitiable, & pitiful--but IT'S THERE!
In my hypothetic T embodies ALL ignorant & duped voters--i.e., The Electorate.
On a daily real-time basis, watching him, moment by little moment, confronting issues & facts [his de facto practicum in ‘government’] one wants to learn he's Learning--really it's another 'reality show' except it's played for Keeps].
If Trump becomes literate, in civics and economics, enough to make it thru 4 years, prospects for a revival, of democracy would seem possible, th ignorant becoming responsibly informed, and able once again, to deliberate on core civil principles.
Not too long ago [in a Twilight Zone circa th '50-'60s] Institutions of PUBLIC Higher Education included such civics & government inquiries in the essential curricula.
Trump: th loose cannon, th wild card, even paradoxically ungovernable; & profoundly compromised by his capital holdings. OK, ok.
Premised (a case study): T playing Archetype of th rube, th hayseed, with respect to Education & understanding complexities of government & civics generally--i can name hundreds who arent ignorant. I can describe a Legacy [resulting from policy makers & heads of state] that has stumbled thru two or three centuries, with a few achievements: social security, medicare, even a pitiable form of health care--pitiable, & pitiful--but IT'S THERE!
In my hypothetic T embodies ALL ignorant & duped voters--i.e., The Electorate.
On a daily real-time basis, watching him, moment by little moment, confronting issues & facts [his de facto practicum in ‘government’] one wants to learn he's Learning--really it's another 'reality show' except it's played for Keeps].
If Trump becomes literate, in civics and economics, enough to make it thru 4 years, prospects for a revival, of democracy would seem possible, th ignorant becoming responsibly informed, and able once again, to deliberate on core civil principles.
Not too long ago [in a Twilight Zone circa th '50-'60s] Institutions of PUBLIC Higher Education included such civics & government inquiries in the essential curricula.
1
looking for something cheerful in present political machinations, noting a couple of remarks here--editorially, & from the NYtimes no less!--that suggest a wiser tactic than the ordinary liberalist stereotyping (cum bigotry, respecting a 'natural politics' in the matter) of 'our adversaries'!
1. ". . . Trump could pull it off. He has already changed course when presented with new information . . ." --the article gives credible instances of this behavior.
2. ". . .the more [Republicans] repeat the repeal rhetoric, the more converted they become to the cause. . . . that self-perpetuating loop . . .";
an important critique of this NYTimes line leads me to notice how, IN FACT
Trump is not an ideologue of th DYED-IN-THE-WOOL stripe, as certain of our formidable antagonists ARE--here i principally mention Paul Ryan, & let's not leave out McConnell. These Republicans will not learn from facts, evidence, or increasingly substantial records, from data.
Such wilful oblivious persistence is a hallmark of the IDEOLOGUE.
One doesn't excuse certain Trumpisms, or bizarre or ignorant behaviors, but i am delighted to see he is capable of CHANGING his rather pro forma & boilerplate Tea Potty litanies.
upon occasion.
Best spin i can put on this moment is
to believe i'm witnessing, in real time
a main player who is NO SLAVE to his
or to his so-called party's
simple ignorance.
They don't OWN him--for now. Perhaps he can be bought tho. I suggest NYTimes invest in such a prospect.
1. ". . . Trump could pull it off. He has already changed course when presented with new information . . ." --the article gives credible instances of this behavior.
2. ". . .the more [Republicans] repeat the repeal rhetoric, the more converted they become to the cause. . . . that self-perpetuating loop . . .";
an important critique of this NYTimes line leads me to notice how, IN FACT
Trump is not an ideologue of th DYED-IN-THE-WOOL stripe, as certain of our formidable antagonists ARE--here i principally mention Paul Ryan, & let's not leave out McConnell. These Republicans will not learn from facts, evidence, or increasingly substantial records, from data.
Such wilful oblivious persistence is a hallmark of the IDEOLOGUE.
One doesn't excuse certain Trumpisms, or bizarre or ignorant behaviors, but i am delighted to see he is capable of CHANGING his rather pro forma & boilerplate Tea Potty litanies.
upon occasion.
Best spin i can put on this moment is
to believe i'm witnessing, in real time
a main player who is NO SLAVE to his
or to his so-called party's
simple ignorance.
They don't OWN him--for now. Perhaps he can be bought tho. I suggest NYTimes invest in such a prospect.
1
Long of ego, tie, and hair
Short of all maturity
Self-adulation laid bare
He is stealing our security
Short of all maturity
Self-adulation laid bare
He is stealing our security
7
I have been saying this is comments for months, we are living in the Twilight Zone! Our "so called" president is exactly that. Why do these billionaires who don't need more money hang around with this clown? I would run the other way as fast as possible.
5
Dr. K, this paper (New York Times) is unfortunately one of the worst offenders in both "false equivalency" (giving equal treatment to two sides of an argument in politics, even when one side is patently crazy, false, minority lunatic fringe) and in normalizing the Trump craziness, such as releasing a handful of bullet points and calling it a "tax plan". C'mon New York Times - you're not free, we all pay for our subscriptions - can't you do a little better? Please?
6
Whatever they report, you decide.
cone and munchkin look like fools in delivering the tax "plan".
Why do they let themselves be used like this or do they actually like what they are doing. Either way they are pitiful excuses for sentient beings.
Why do they let themselves be used like this or do they actually like what they are doing. Either way they are pitiful excuses for sentient beings.
1
Spot on, and a tonic after reading Brooks' recent series of rationalizations.
3
" I thought it would be easier" says Donald. Well, the " elite " educated folks certainly knew better. That's one of the MANY reasons we didn't vote for YOU. Seriously.
4
Doesn't anyone remember trickle down ?
4
It featured a small town terrorized by a 64-year-old who for some reason had monstrous superpowers, coupled with complete emotional immaturity, and the backing of the Times.
The president is so predictable in his tweets and tantrums that anyone / any country willing to put in the time and resources can play him like a violin--or Pavlov's dog.
That's the real danger here.
That's the real danger here.
4
Why does everybody allow this man continue?
1
Because he sees the truth AND BECAUSE OF FREEDOM OF SPEECH!
What truth? The one that says people with pre-existing conditions
and other issues are going to die anyway so don't let them get insurance?
and other issues are going to die anyway so don't let them get insurance?
1
"Mars"...the perfect place for a supporter of the spaceshot loser in the white house.
This is what it is like living in Scotland under the SNP and Nicola - Queen of Scotland - Sturgeon. Lack of policy; tantrums; fear of retribution from cybernats; debate reduced to 140 characters or less; weakening economy; worsening literacy and numeracy; poorer standards in healthcare; under investment in infrastructure. Welcome to the club. I'm a reasonable man and I'd like to show empathy but, so long as the NYT chooses to champion Sturgeon and independence for Scotland whilst the rest of us suffer as a consequence of her mindless pursuit of indyref2; this smacks of little else than hypocrisy.
1
Your pleas should extend to the GOP members of Congress, too, who have, for decades, behaved like selfish, temperamental toddlers, who took their toys and went home when they were denied their petulant ways. They laid the groundwork for this twilight zone nightmare we are living. Time for someone to step up -- McCain, who fashions himself the elder statesman, Graham, who can be sane, wise and coherent when he chooses to be. Can't think of anyone else, sadly, and tellingly. If the GOP wants to salvage anything resembling a modicum of credibility, they need to stop playing the role of petulant child and start doing their jobs, representing the interests of the American people -- the living, breathing kind, not the "corporations are people, too" kind, or the "only the wealthy matter" kind. And if it weren't for our corrupt post-Citizens United political system, they'd free themselves of the shackles of their corporate and obscenely, revoltingly wealthy donors, and become, perhaps, the heroes of We, the People. The living, breathing people. Otherwise, they should not be surprised when We, the People rise up, in our own version of the French Revolution, in response to the Clown in Chief and his family's offers of cake.
3
The blind leading the blind while the sighted look on in horror as they all teeter on the edge.
2
Unfortunately, the media has been playing "Let's Pretend" [another old show] that this is normal'" with Donald Trump from the very beginning. Most psychologists (including me) and other mental health professionals know that Mr. Trump suffers from Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD). Yes, yes, I know you're never supposed to diagnose from a distance, but when you are talking about the most powerful person on the planet and the evidence is so blatantly obvious and clear, it's time to face the frightening truth; it's not that the "tax plan" is not normal, it's the man, himself. The President is mentally, not just "temperamentally," ill. As an NPD, he needs constant approval and everything he does must be the biggest and the best from his inauguration crowd down to the chocolate dessert he served Chinese President Xi as he told him cruise missiles were headed to Syria. And, if his sense of entitlement, self importance, and superiority are challenged, then you see the ugly side of that lacks empathy, is arrogant, and is cruel and destructive. And while you "don't even want to think about foreign policy," the front page indicates we are on the very brink of war with North Korea.
26
Thank you, Dr. Wortman! It's time for professionals to diagnose what ails this so-called President and it isn't pretty!
Trump should make it simple.
Pay taxes to him.
IF Louis XIV could be France ( 'L'etat c'est moi') and De Gaulle could be France ("Je suis la France"), Trump can be USA--re-branded as Trumpland.
He certainly acts like it.
Pay taxes to him.
IF Louis XIV could be France ( 'L'etat c'est moi') and De Gaulle could be France ("Je suis la France"), Trump can be USA--re-branded as Trumpland.
He certainly acts like it.
1
I feel like I'm in the Twilight Zone, except I can't turn it off and the horror is in full color. Some day, hopefully not too far into the future, the current occupants of the White House will move on and then there will be exposes about the frightening debates and decision making that hasn't made it into today's media. Only then will we know how close we've become to being branded a banana republic.
2
We did have a taste of this scenario with "W" and "Darth Vader Cheney" - and the resultant endless war that produced. Let us just hope Trump's petulance does not result in an itchy nuclear-codes finger.
3
Just think though. 100 years from now when we are all gone, Barrett's Quotations will have the Donald Trump quotation from his failed presidency. - "I thought it would be easier."
1
Bartlett's Familiar Quotations.
As an ex-New Yorker, I warned you that Trump is a "street hustler" with delusions of grandeur. Now that he has taken over the asylum with his friends, you not only have to hold on to your wallet but worry about your survival--and the world's, too!
2
We are dealing with a man who thinks he should be able to make things happen just by his commanding it be so. This is not a President, this is a dictator from a third world country. That he thinks this is how a President should behave shows his lack of lack of ability cognitively. It shows his lack of mental capacity to adapt. He is dangerous. And we the people pay the price. I can only hope that those in the government with the ability to do something about this finally do something to get him out of office. The price is too high for the rest of us.
1
One thing the Trump Zone has spawned is better, more serious journalism as a whole. Trump wasn't seen as an electable candidate during the presidential race, and was treated as entertainment by many journalists. His election had a sobering effect. However, while news organizations need to stay on point and not normalize the abnormal, there is the danger that the public will tire of every reported tweet, outrageous as the tweets may be. What needs to be done, in my opinion, is to laser focus on the important, and the dangerous. Trump's use of the military to deflect news of Russia's involvement in the election and the possibility that his own staff may have been complicit in that effort is dangerous. I am hoping the NY Times will stay on this story, just as they did the Bill O'Reilly story. I give the NY Times full credit in helping to get rid of the arrogant, nefarious O'Reilly from Fox News.
I am wondering just how far Republicans will allow Trump to go before they find grounds to impeach him. Will it take the start of a nuclear war with North Korea before they say enough? Do they not even understand that their and their families' futures are riding on the whims of a narcissistic man-child? Are they not frightened as well? Are they really blind to the dangers this man poses?
One other thing, great analogous comparison of the child in the Twilight Zone episode and Trump. Did you notice the boy's hair?
I am wondering just how far Republicans will allow Trump to go before they find grounds to impeach him. Will it take the start of a nuclear war with North Korea before they say enough? Do they not even understand that their and their families' futures are riding on the whims of a narcissistic man-child? Are they not frightened as well? Are they really blind to the dangers this man poses?
One other thing, great analogous comparison of the child in the Twilight Zone episode and Trump. Did you notice the boy's hair?
The media is starting to normalize this man-child.I am hearing more and more of "this certainly isn't normal but....".Would-be serious pundits wrinkle their brows and speculate on the "positive effects of Trump's policies."Mark Halpern states that cutting taxes will "probably" stimulate our "lagging economy."
On a side note. I have an S-Corp in California with 45 employees.If Trump's supposed plan taxes my "pass thru income" at 15%, I will make more money personally but I will not likely hire any more people.I don't have enough DEMAND for what we produce.It looks like here we go again with "supply side" economics.Trump has turned the government over to the big wall street boys.Probably because the only thing he can understand is that he and the "royal" family will make more money.Trump's and his policies are like a hologram.They look real on the stage but don't really exist.His" Apprentice" days image will not save him in the real world.
On a side note. I have an S-Corp in California with 45 employees.If Trump's supposed plan taxes my "pass thru income" at 15%, I will make more money personally but I will not likely hire any more people.I don't have enough DEMAND for what we produce.It looks like here we go again with "supply side" economics.Trump has turned the government over to the big wall street boys.Probably because the only thing he can understand is that he and the "royal" family will make more money.Trump's and his policies are like a hologram.They look real on the stage but don't really exist.His" Apprentice" days image will not save him in the real world.
1
The Trump Administration will be a civil war among billionaires fighting over how to better enrich themselves.
4
Right on!
That child actor-Bill Mumy- grew into an adult who appeared in the "Babylon 5' series as a regular alien character. At the center of that series were two powerful alien races who sought allies by asking 'What do you want?' or 'Who are you?". Along with a god-like alien who considered them all his children. Mixed with gender, faith, ethnicity, socioeconomics, politics, education, philosophy, morality, etc. Babylon was the site of the Tower of Babel.
Mumy was also a regular on 'Lost In Space'. Which is a pretty apt description of Donald Trump.
That child actor-Bill Mumy- grew into an adult who appeared in the "Babylon 5' series as a regular alien character. At the center of that series were two powerful alien races who sought allies by asking 'What do you want?' or 'Who are you?". Along with a god-like alien who considered them all his children. Mixed with gender, faith, ethnicity, socioeconomics, politics, education, philosophy, morality, etc. Babylon was the site of the Tower of Babel.
Mumy was also a regular on 'Lost In Space'. Which is a pretty apt description of Donald Trump.
1
All of Trump's policy proposals are hollow. He is terrible at defining our problems and then seeks to fix what doesn't need fixing i.e. putting up a border wall, lowering fuel stds., banning Muslims and on and on. His words are meaningless. He is bag of wind that conveys the simplest of thoughts. The sad truth is that intelligent people should not have to waste their time with this simpleton but unfortunately his position demands we sit up and take notice.
2
Why oh why does nobody in Washington stand up to the man-child and say the truth? He can of course fire many, but he cannot fire Senators or Representatives.
2
I think more along the lines of Trump being an easily molded puppet who tries to please everyone to gain acclamation and approval. As the Executive is now staffed, it appears Trump is following, not leading the executive branch. All his chosen underlings are from big finance and appear to be using him. The single page tax cut proposal is by design for Trump's approval. The underlings will be filling in the blanks to sack America and Trump will sign off on it. Just like Trump has proclaimed his success is based on using other people's money, he is using other people's minds as well. He's a follower, not a leader. Anybody of any moral fabric would know the tax cuts will rip off the country.
Krugman with another dinger. Well done. Touch em all Doc.
no people, no process, no policy.
No precedent?
No president.
No precedent?
No president.
2
This morning I heard on one of the news programs that our "illustrious" leader said that he didn't know the job would be so hard and that he misses his freedom and everything he was able to do. Well, thank heavens this job has't interfered with his playing golf. Hey, if the job is too overwhelming...RESIGN. A large part of the population would be very happy to accept his resignation.
3
Yes, reading the news today is largely depressing and at times frightening. Also angering. Observers like Mr. Krugman who are reacting to the
dangerous policies of trump, who understand the economic and political systems so well, had their chance (the last one?) to
help elect a person who could prevent the nation, so evidently on the wrong track in the Obama administration, from falling into worse
hands, the worst hands ever. Instead they chose to present a relatively rosy picture of the nation's condition and picked a candidate in Hillary
who would continue policies that favor the richest in the nation.. Even had she had won, eventually their abuse of
the working and middle classes in the future would signal a "populist" demagogue to come along and attract a great portion of our
disillusioned nation. So today, we see the only role left to those, like Mr. Krugman, who could have staved off the catastrophe by supporting a candidate who truly favored the people, Bernie Sanders. is, unfortunately, to complain.
dangerous policies of trump, who understand the economic and political systems so well, had their chance (the last one?) to
help elect a person who could prevent the nation, so evidently on the wrong track in the Obama administration, from falling into worse
hands, the worst hands ever. Instead they chose to present a relatively rosy picture of the nation's condition and picked a candidate in Hillary
who would continue policies that favor the richest in the nation.. Even had she had won, eventually their abuse of
the working and middle classes in the future would signal a "populist" demagogue to come along and attract a great portion of our
disillusioned nation. So today, we see the only role left to those, like Mr. Krugman, who could have staved off the catastrophe by supporting a candidate who truly favored the people, Bernie Sanders. is, unfortunately, to complain.
There is a cold hard truth that we had better understand is that his supporters, the loyal 40% are going to go down with the ship. It will only be as the bow goes into the water that they will jump, with sheepish looks on their faces, with their final words being " I never thought.....". And some on then extreme right will never be convinced. We saw this last minute abandonment with Richard Nixon and George W. Bush. It's unfortunate that the entire country has to suffer for these voter's stupidity.
2
We thank you and Hans Christian Andersen for the tale of "The Emperor's New Clothes".
I am still trying to figure out who plays the part of the two weavers, Ivanka and Jared, perhaps?
I am still trying to figure out who plays the part of the two weavers, Ivanka and Jared, perhaps?
Yes, Trump can be said to be infantalizing the Presidency and he's being aided and abetted by the people surrounding him. To say this is also an insult to children.
I'll state it differently: Trump needs psychiatric help--a loving family would get him that help.
I'll state it differently: Trump needs psychiatric help--a loving family would get him that help.
I had heard early on that he had instructed his staff that he didn't want long, detailed memos and briefing papers. One page only, with bullet points, wide margins, and plenty of white space. In looking at this "tax plan", I see it meets all those criteria.
Sad.
Sad.
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Trump needs to concentrate on what it means to be president. He cannot get away with feel good pronouncements; he needs substance, something he has so far failed to produce. So put down your twitter finger Mr. president, play a little less golf and read some memos on policy issues, and when you are all frustrated with the media, the Congress and polls, perhaps you should have a drink rather than going off on a rant. As a wise former law partner of mine said, Think twice before you hit the send button.
7
In 2006, President Reagan crafted a tax reform (reform in the sense that it wasn't just a cut, but was intended to be revenue-neutral by eliminating loopholes to pay for lower tax rates. He did so with full bi-partisan cooperation and, in thanking the major movers of the bill, he thanked 6 people from Congress, 3 of them Democrats (Dan Rostenkowski & Dick Durban came to mind). Since then, Republicans have slammed the door on bi-partisan input, let alone active participation, and, instead of tax Reform, have crafted bills intended almost entirely of Tax Cuts, disproportionately favoring those who least need tax relief & punishing the middle class. JFK was the first president who tried tax cuts in hopes of increasing production and producing enough revenue to more than make up for the revenue lost by the cuts. It failed. Reagan also claimed, in his two big tax cuts that cutting taxes to corporations & the rich would spur production & produce positive numbers. He was wrong both times, as revenues fell. Dubya claimed the same discredited argument for his two big tax cuts to the rich & corporations, producing the Recession of 2001 & the MOAR (Mother of all Recessions) that brought us to the edge of national bankruptcy in 2008. Now, the GOP is making the same discredited claim once again. Rachel Maddow received criticism for showing Trump's 2005 1040, where he paid 24% in taxes. Applying his current policy, that rate would fall to 3.5%. Hmmmm...
1
What is most remarkable is how many people still fail to see or admit to themselves that the Trump campaign for the average working family was a complete con. He said then that he thought a modest tax increase on the wealthy including himself would be good. Instead we get a tax cut propssal designed for billionaires! Comee on folks wake up and admit it, we were conned.
Perhaps this 'plan' is short on specifics and may be no good, but does anybody really think it is fair to go the Bernie way and just raise taxes on everyone that earns more than you and not question why we continue to pay for people here illegally or people here legally but make terrible choices?
Right under our noses, Russia morphed from Communism to being a Capitalist society with the wealthy embedded in the Government.
Now, following Trump's lead, the wealthy are embedded in American government.
Capitalism has evolved from being the best system to one of piracy and crime.
Now, following Trump's lead, the wealthy are embedded in American government.
Capitalism has evolved from being the best system to one of piracy and crime.
1
I might have gone with "Walking Distance" over “It’s a Good Life.” That's the "Twilight Zone" episode where a grown adult accidentally revisits his hometown as it looked when he was a child. He even manages to permanently maim a young version of himself such that the character leaves the episode with a limp.
I feel like this metaphor is appropriate for the "Make America Great Again" campaign. The only problem is the entire nation will be limping by the time Trump is done.
I feel like this metaphor is appropriate for the "Make America Great Again" campaign. The only problem is the entire nation will be limping by the time Trump is done.
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Time to repeal and replace Trump. People need to be openly calling for this and reviewing the state of the argument, before the Korean peninsula gets blown up to appease Trump's ego.
"whatever it was, was something like, say, the 2001 Bush tax cut; I strongly disapproved of that cut, but at least it was comprehensible. "
Obama continued it. And when it was modified it wasn't completely rolled back to pre-W/Obama rates as it should have been.
Obama continued it. And when it was modified it wasn't completely rolled back to pre-W/Obama rates as it should have been.
Looking at the modern republican party one cannot find, anywhere, a profile in courage. I would bet that if Ryan and McConnell initiated impeachment against the so called president, insuring president pence, their poll numbers would shoot up. As I'm sure t rump's would also were he to abandon his Genghis Khan act and begin to show some moderation.
His solid support comes from approx. 20% of voters yet republicans are afraid to call him out on anything.
I, for one, am hoping he lasts until the 2018 election by when he will be the only face of the republican party, maybe the turtle impression McConnell does will also represent them.
With a democratic Congress impeachment of the entire mess is more likely and Nancy Pelosi would be third in line.
His solid support comes from approx. 20% of voters yet republicans are afraid to call him out on anything.
I, for one, am hoping he lasts until the 2018 election by when he will be the only face of the republican party, maybe the turtle impression McConnell does will also represent them.
With a democratic Congress impeachment of the entire mess is more likely and Nancy Pelosi would be third in line.
And to think that these "Yes, Mr. President" minions ran Wall Street. Little spine, but lots of "What's in it for me", motivation. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.
1
JFK had it right. The folks who voted for Trump voted for themselves and did not bother asking what would be best for the country.
That single sheet of paper that Trump released as his tax plan couldn't have contained anything of substance since it consisted of very short paragraphs and lots of indentations, with wide borders top and bottom. It's hard to believe that the cronies that cluster around Trump every time he releases a "major" statement can keep their dignity and their pride. They are so clearly working for the Emperor with no clothes.
Rachel Maddow and Lawrence O'Donnell are among the few in the media who don't pretend that Trump's idiotic and dangerous and destructive behavior is normal. The CEO's of the 3 major "objective' TV channels must be pressured to stop requiring that their talking heads treat Trump as normal--that's not being objective--it's being deceitful.
Rachel Maddow and Lawrence O'Donnell are among the few in the media who don't pretend that Trump's idiotic and dangerous and destructive behavior is normal. The CEO's of the 3 major "objective' TV channels must be pressured to stop requiring that their talking heads treat Trump as normal--that's not being objective--it's being deceitful.
22
Have Trump's voters caught on yet? Or are they still clinging to the notion that he is working for them?
If there was any indicator that Trump is firmly planted on the side of the wealthy and deep-pocketed corporations and not the little guys, this would be it. Detailed plan or not, there should be no uncertainty about where he stands, and it's positively pathetic that people are still buying his con artist baloney.
This is not a sincere attempt to reform the tax code. It's a campaign promise--and let's be clear he's still in campaign mode--with little in the way of rigor to back up his assertions.
If there was any indicator that Trump is firmly planted on the side of the wealthy and deep-pocketed corporations and not the little guys, this would be it. Detailed plan or not, there should be no uncertainty about where he stands, and it's positively pathetic that people are still buying his con artist baloney.
This is not a sincere attempt to reform the tax code. It's a campaign promise--and let's be clear he's still in campaign mode--with little in the way of rigor to back up his assertions.
What's most interesting is that last year the prospect of a Trump presidency inspired many thoughts about what it would be like. I never really thought that all the king's men wouldn't be able to smooth over the incompetence and irregularities Trump causes. While Trump may be a disaster, like a storm, he must just be waited out...The Donald is moving up the coast...
3
Last I heard, the blusterer-in-chief promised to bring back jobs, then started a trade war over Canadian lumber that the National Association of Home Builders says will cost 8,200 full-time jobs and result in a loss of $500 million in U.S. wages and salaries. The Art of the Deal is really the Art of the Steal; Trump has brought so much sleaze and corruption into the White House it will take years to eradicate the stench -- long after his impeachment and the imprisonment of some of his cronies.
1
I would also predict that Trump's threat of an imminent nuclear war with North Korea will rise in direct proportion to the languid investigation's progress into his association with Russia during his campaign.
What is more like a frightening episode of the Twilight Zone, or perhaps, the old movie,"Invasion of the Body Snatchers," is how millions of Americans, who heard and witnessed the same things coming out of Trump's mouth as other, more rational voters did, could vote for him and still enthusiastically support him.
It's hard to comprehend that the GOP has turned into an irrational, fact-denying, hard-core cult.
It's hard to comprehend that the GOP has turned into an irrational, fact-denying, hard-core cult.
1
At just under 200 words, the document exhausts DJT's attention span. It would've be easier if they had filmed Steve Mnuchin reading in and then played the tape on the Oval Office TV, the medium Trump prefers over words and paper.
It's not a tax plan. It's barely a plan to begin thinking about making a plan. Reporters have to stop treating this stuff as normal.
It's not a tax plan. It's barely a plan to begin thinking about making a plan. Reporters have to stop treating this stuff as normal.
1
In this era of going for the max $$ bang by ferociously competing media of all kinds, there’s no incentive for analytical thinking, of established truths vs. wishfully-thought superficial and mediocre blasts. Only when the pain will be felt in their pocketbooks will T’s supporters start to slowly apply the brakes on this victory ride. Only then will compassion hit home.
I received last night a telephone call saying the department of grants had selected me to get S9200. When I said I did not understand a few times the other end of line give up. Is Trump tax plan a similar give away to a select people. It seems like the government is giving free money. I confess to not understanding.
1
This tax proposal will neither help the coal miners nor the Midwest laid off workers. They do not pay any taxes. The bill will not place them in jobs because there is no demand for the product (coal). The industry that needs the skills of these Midwest workers does not exist anymore. May be it will make Trump & Co. benefit and funnel money into the pockets of Alibaba and the forty thieves in the WH now.
1
@gemli. You are usually, almost always, spot on correct but I disagree that we will have to wait until 2020 for relieF. If so, this nation will be destroyed by then or in a new civil war.
There is plenty of fault to go around and the media has its share but so does the arrogant campaign of HRC, who assumed she would be the first women president and as its turned out, half of the women voters voted against her and not necessarily for Trump.
But the major part of the blame goes to the Republican party whose lust for power and winning at any cost, has rendered itself morally bankrupt and anti-patriotic, because it always puts its short term interests above the good of the American people, the rule of law the Constitution and its magical thinking that only conservatives have the exclusive right to govern and those who disagree are traitors or terrorists or incompetent knaves.
Now they have what they wanted (as the result of a corrupt election with the aid of Putin and the FBI), total control of the government and whammo they are exposed as unfit and incompetent and corrupt. Worse the people see it and if they continue hurting America with a regime of foreign agents and kleptocrats, they will lose their majorities in both houses of Congress and Trump and Pence will be impeached and the Democratic Speaker of the House will become president and the cleanup shall begin.
There is plenty of fault to go around and the media has its share but so does the arrogant campaign of HRC, who assumed she would be the first women president and as its turned out, half of the women voters voted against her and not necessarily for Trump.
But the major part of the blame goes to the Republican party whose lust for power and winning at any cost, has rendered itself morally bankrupt and anti-patriotic, because it always puts its short term interests above the good of the American people, the rule of law the Constitution and its magical thinking that only conservatives have the exclusive right to govern and those who disagree are traitors or terrorists or incompetent knaves.
Now they have what they wanted (as the result of a corrupt election with the aid of Putin and the FBI), total control of the government and whammo they are exposed as unfit and incompetent and corrupt. Worse the people see it and if they continue hurting America with a regime of foreign agents and kleptocrats, they will lose their majorities in both houses of Congress and Trump and Pence will be impeached and the Democratic Speaker of the House will become president and the cleanup shall begin.
Trump's effort to humiliate North Korea in this wretched condition of his White House and domestic policy seems calculated to do little more than expand the scope and danger of this presidency. In any case, it is broadly speaking our empty illusions about ourselves which have made Mr. Trump possible. Let's hope we don't suffer the total scope of what we deserve for these illusions, including the absurd belief that we can dominate the world militarily, afford an adequate social safety net and throw off the tax costs of doing so.
2
Dr. Krugman, your recollection of that "Twilight Zone" episode was priceless. Perhaps the media powers that be will dig into the t.v. archives and rerun it, and in prime time. Rachel, are you listening? What continues to astonish me, as the incoherence, embarrassments, and ineffectiveness of this Woeful House mounts, seemingly by the day, is that there seems to be no pushback by Trump's staff to his lunacy, or even resignations. These total sycophants are stripped of any independent judgement or worse, personal dignity. Haven't they experienced enough? And what did you do in the Trump Administration Daddy?
Thank-you for a perfect column, Dr. Krugman.
Every day watching the news normalize Trump is incredibly depressing, following every utterance as if it had value.
There's no solid reason that Trump should continue in the White House, including his team.
We have plentiful evidence of his team's collusion with the Russians in changing the election result. We see that the result of propaganda fed to an ignorant public is just as harmful as skewing voting machines, even more so. This is treason.
We need an independent prosecutor to put all of the pieces together, including the Trump team's financials and remove the entire lot from office. Finally, we need to do what South Korea did: call for a new election for president/vice president in 60 days.
It is high time for the US justice system to clean up the mess.
Every day watching the news normalize Trump is incredibly depressing, following every utterance as if it had value.
There's no solid reason that Trump should continue in the White House, including his team.
We have plentiful evidence of his team's collusion with the Russians in changing the election result. We see that the result of propaganda fed to an ignorant public is just as harmful as skewing voting machines, even more so. This is treason.
We need an independent prosecutor to put all of the pieces together, including the Trump team's financials and remove the entire lot from office. Finally, we need to do what South Korea did: call for a new election for president/vice president in 60 days.
It is high time for the US justice system to clean up the mess.
3
The sad truth is that unless the FBI uncovers irrefutable evidence that he colluded with the Russians the Republicans will not move against him. There is an old adage that to find corruption one should "follow the money". 45's seeming erratic behavior lie in his finances. A thorough examination of his past financial associations and his current creditors will reveal the only true motivation he has. This investigation avenue may also meet resistance from the some billionaire class elites that might be exposed as well. I have no doubt that tracks are being covered as we speak. Let's hope that some principled insider will come forward before it's too late.
The other sad truth is that a Democrat would have already been impeached with the circumstantial evidence uncovered so far. Why is that?
The other sad truth is that a Democrat would have already been impeached with the circumstantial evidence uncovered so far. Why is that?
4
This is good. And I think of the TZ episode where the guy is flying in a plane in a horrific storm and looks out the window and sees gremlins trying to destroy the plane. The the :stewardess" looks out the same window and there is nothing there. He looks out again and there it is. The plane lands, with an ambulance waiting. Later a mechanic is looking over the plane. It happened. Someone/thing tried to destroy the plane.
Donald Trump will never get well, will never be lucid, and will never be able to actually function as our President. His combination of profound ignorance, sociopathy, mendacity, complete self- absorption, and disdain for the idea of performing even his basic responsibilities is clearly irreversible at age seventy. These traits were all on full display before the election, and I will never understand how the American people elected him regardless.
Obviously the urgent issue now is for other high officials, especially Republicans, to finally speak the truth and to begin the process of his removal from office. If they and we fail to do so we are dooming ourselves to a nonfunctional executive, until something disastrous occurs. And what if that event is irreversible, and what if it involves a nuclear weapon?
Obviously the urgent issue now is for other high officials, especially Republicans, to finally speak the truth and to begin the process of his removal from office. If they and we fail to do so we are dooming ourselves to a nonfunctional executive, until something disastrous occurs. And what if that event is irreversible, and what if it involves a nuclear weapon?
2
I wonder how Trump supporters will wiggle around and come to support this supposed tax policy? It clearly gives more wealth to those elites who they so severely disdain. How do they accept Secretary Mnuchin and the rest of Goldman Sachs in the Oval Office? They used to think that just talking to Goldman Sachs was evil.
Are Trump supporters and the GOP using a sort of 'situational ethics'? It's Okay for Trump because he's Trump but not for anybody else? Or is it just plain hypocrisy? The Trump Zone stinks.
Are Trump supporters and the GOP using a sort of 'situational ethics'? It's Okay for Trump because he's Trump but not for anybody else? Or is it just plain hypocrisy? The Trump Zone stinks.
1
In the first 100 days other presidents have worked with staffers and congress to submit bills for passage. The Trump administration has only provided cheerleading (as in the AHCA) or wish points (as in the tax plan or wall building). Since Trump's attention span is reputedly just 30 seconds or so, it sounds like it will be impossible to do that for the next four years unless Trump clearly designates someone to do so and supports all of the nuts and bolts in a bill (meaning don't change your mind on things based on the latest cable news criticism) to get something passed. And that is not very likely to happen.
I also worry about what happens at the end of the Trump Presidency. If Trump resigns from boredom (or just a fit of pique) or is removed from office for "high crimes and misdemeanors" we get another scary President in Mike Pence. Pence could actually be a greater disaster than Trump -- he knows how to work the levers of political power and the GOP Congress just loves this radical Christian Soldier.
246
Mike Pence is great impeachment insurance - maybe that's why Trump picked him.
1
Hulu's The Handmaid's Tale provides us with one vision for a Pence America.
I just had an even more terrifying thought. What if Pence also gets caught up in the Flynn or other scandal and both he and Trump are forced out of office at the same time? By current Presidential Succession we would then get Paul Ryan as President. I am so glad that I am not a young person facing the dangerously uncertain future now being created in the marshy land of DC. The future may always be uncertain, but it has rarely been this frightening.
1
It is particularly terrifying to recall that, in the short story on which that Twilight Zone episode was based (It's a Good Life, by Jerome Bixby), the village exists in isolation from the rest of the world, which may have been destroyed:
"It did no good to wonder where they were ... no good at all. Peaksville was just someplace. Someplace away from the world. ... He had taken the village someplace. Or had destroyed the world and left only the village, nobody knew which."
"It did no good to wonder where they were ... no good at all. Peaksville was just someplace. Someplace away from the world. ... He had taken the village someplace. Or had destroyed the world and left only the village, nobody knew which."
112
The disappearance of the rest of the world was brought into the Twilight Zone adaptation. That's why the town in which it takes place is called Peakville "in what once was Ohio."
Thank you, thank you, Liz, for knowing more than TV and sharing it with us. That story was terrifying before The Twilight Zone was invented.
Liz: Good to see that someone else is steeped in the original ...
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/28/opinion/living-in-the-trump-zone.html...
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/28/opinion/living-in-the-trump-zone.html...
1
All true, but his latest blunder on North Korea, "A major, major conflict, absolutely could be catastrophic. Let's hope Kim Jong Un is more reasonable than Trump. Strange when Kim Jong Un is the only adult in the room. America's intellectual wasteland has given the world "A monkey with a razor", except the razor is a nuclear bomb.
2
Personally, it feels more like the "Gremlins" episode.
That's the one where William Shatner is a frightened passenger on an airplane, trying to stop an unrecognizable bogey man from sabotaging the aircraft and causing the flight to crash and burn.
Seems like government sabotage from within, Steve Bannon's "dismantling of the administrative state", is the primary goal. Create distractions, to distract the rubes, while robbing the bank.
I hope this unwatchable show doesn't last the full 4 years.
That's the one where William Shatner is a frightened passenger on an airplane, trying to stop an unrecognizable bogey man from sabotaging the aircraft and causing the flight to crash and burn.
Seems like government sabotage from within, Steve Bannon's "dismantling of the administrative state", is the primary goal. Create distractions, to distract the rubes, while robbing the bank.
I hope this unwatchable show doesn't last the full 4 years.
1
Well, the numbers are in... Or the number. Today, the Bureau of Economic Analysis within the Commerce Department reported the first quarter gross domestic product 'advance' estimate... Drumroll, please... 0.7%, a significant decline from the previous three quarters.
In today's NYT article by Nelson Schwartz, he reported in The Takeaway section that "...before the [BEA] report, Wall Street had been looking for growth to come in at 0.9 percent. What is more, many experts said the data was [sic] skewed by seasonal factors, like unusually warm temperatures in many parts of the country..."
So not only was there no 'Trump bump', but his presidency has created 'US warming' that affects our economy.
Man, would I hate to be Wilbur Ross when that little boy gets ahold of him.
In today's NYT article by Nelson Schwartz, he reported in The Takeaway section that "...before the [BEA] report, Wall Street had been looking for growth to come in at 0.9 percent. What is more, many experts said the data was [sic] skewed by seasonal factors, like unusually warm temperatures in many parts of the country..."
So not only was there no 'Trump bump', but his presidency has created 'US warming' that affects our economy.
Man, would I hate to be Wilbur Ross when that little boy gets ahold of him.
Why do his followers continue to support him? I think it's the bully syndrome.. the 'friends' of the bully who do anything to appease and support him lest he turn his anger and retribution on them. This man is truly not temperamentally fit to be the president of this country.
9
Now I can't get out of my head the idea of staffers in the White House constantly saying "That's a good thing you're doing, Donald. A very good thing!"
2
One other good thing about the Trump administration -- At least now we have a firm idea of how the story of Chance, the brain-vacant gardener in the Kosinski novel Being There, turns out. In the book, Chance keeps rising higher and higher in the public's estimation even though he's a complete idiot who knows very little. The book ends before we discover where his career leads -- to the White House or...
Now we can glimpse what happens when someone like Chance who is all facade rises to a job that exposes their incompetence. It's not a pretty sight.
Now we can glimpse what happens when someone like Chance who is all facade rises to a job that exposes their incompetence. It's not a pretty sight.
3
The US is now a bad joke, a laughing stock, a dystopic novel. If only ....
Yes, Paul, this is NOT normal!
Yes, Paul, this is NOT normal!
It also seems that he is trying to "appear" to be President, without actually doing the work. As though he were still a TV star trying to improve his ratings. All form, no substance.
Maybe he thinks he is in an episode of West Wing?
Maybe he thinks he is in an episode of West Wing?
1
I just wish that some reporter would pose the question to Sean Spicer or the President, when told that the tax cuts will be more than off-set by the gains to the economy, "And that would be just like it worked in...Kansas?" Kansas was the state laboratory for Trump's so-called tax plan. And look where it got them.
5
Does the Times agree that if things continue all the way to the fourth year just as they are we will look back and say we are most definitely not better off?
Well, except for the First Family.
Well, except for the First Family.
It would be interesting to learn what the financial benefit would be to each of the Trump cabinet members.
3
The irony of this -- if there is any irony -- is that the result it is "fake news." Daily. Ad infinitum ad nauseam. If any of these pundits or anchors had the guts to say, "This is not something we can take seriously [a one-page tax plan] and quit debating it like it's real and keep beating a dead horse all day, we might revive real, truthful, insightful journalism.
The media could also interject the latest daily con with episodes of Edward R. Murrow, Walter Cronkite, et. al. during periods of real news, and show how they handled it. Interlarded with that you could run the "Twilight Zone" episode and other relevant movies and TV shows, sort of like running "Bull Durham," "The Shawshank Redemption", and "Moonstruck" as cult classics.
The media could also interject the latest daily con with episodes of Edward R. Murrow, Walter Cronkite, et. al. during periods of real news, and show how they handled it. Interlarded with that you could run the "Twilight Zone" episode and other relevant movies and TV shows, sort of like running "Bull Durham," "The Shawshank Redemption", and "Moonstruck" as cult classics.
Yes, media, including all cable news, let's stop trying to search for normality in this Twilight White House...Trump and his minions have neither the intellect or political skills to craft any policy agenda that can gain support in Congress or the country.
3
Those within the White House shake in their boots on a daily basis to avoid Trump's wrath. If that fear takes its full grip on the Republican majority in Congress and his dangerous "plans" pass, no amount of therapy for him or for us will save America from itself.
3
This election's results are like a temper tantrum, and this guy's voter base like a child that can't see past his own hurt. As long as someone else hurts (liberals are mad, immigrants are hunted, allies and trade partners are defied), they're going to think that will make them feel better.
5
I am not a big fan of staff meetings but I have to wonder if trump and his people ever get together and hash-out a policy which all will follow when speaking about it?
One advisor says "Yes."
A second says "No."
A third says "Possibly, Maybe."
One would think that after the ballyhooed 100 days they could START to get their act together.
Guess not.
One advisor says "Yes."
A second says "No."
A third says "Possibly, Maybe."
One would think that after the ballyhooed 100 days they could START to get their act together.
Guess not.
The only person who exists is Donald Trump. The rest of us don't. So why would a "tax plan" deal with anything other than cutting the taxes of the only person who matters, Donald Trump?
This is so transparently ridiculous that it defies the imagination.
This is so transparently ridiculous that it defies the imagination.
3
I'm very glad that you are pleading that your media colleagues stop normalizing Trump's behavior. But they've already crossed that Rubicon. All over TV, online, etc., media figures keep striving to portray Trump as a normal president behaving in a normal fashion, just as they did with George W. Bush's incompetent administration, only Trump makes W. Bush look like Abraham Lincoln by comparison.
Van Jones proclaimed him presidential for making a spectacle of a military widow's grief; numerous pundits and newscasters still cannot stop kvelling over his bombing of that Syrian base, despite the lack of Congressional approval or his flipflop on Obama's plan to do something similar. Charlie Rose seems to fish each night on his show for something, anything, positive to say about Trump. None of these are Fox News people!
Legislatively Trump's first 100 days have been a bust, but it was clear this was coming if you just listened to his campaign's endless string of half-truths, lies, and exaggerations. He has no clue what he's doing. He also clearly is jealous of Barack Obama. He's surrounded by ideologues, thus that grotesque farce of a tax plan, the health care joke bills, the Mexico Wall threat and its failure, etc. This does not equal a successful administration. A dangerous debacle verging on catastrophe is more like it.
Van Jones proclaimed him presidential for making a spectacle of a military widow's grief; numerous pundits and newscasters still cannot stop kvelling over his bombing of that Syrian base, despite the lack of Congressional approval or his flipflop on Obama's plan to do something similar. Charlie Rose seems to fish each night on his show for something, anything, positive to say about Trump. None of these are Fox News people!
Legislatively Trump's first 100 days have been a bust, but it was clear this was coming if you just listened to his campaign's endless string of half-truths, lies, and exaggerations. He has no clue what he's doing. He also clearly is jealous of Barack Obama. He's surrounded by ideologues, thus that grotesque farce of a tax plan, the health care joke bills, the Mexico Wall threat and its failure, etc. This does not equal a successful administration. A dangerous debacle verging on catastrophe is more like it.
226
Trump has the whole pathetic USA doubling down on the worst mistake in its history.
1
The WHOLE pathetic USA, Steve? Trump has revived street protests like no president since LBJ.
Trump didn't even win the popular vote. If you blame the whole nation for this disastrous president, Steve, then enjoy your dream of superiority.
Trump didn't even win the popular vote. If you blame the whole nation for this disastrous president, Steve, then enjoy your dream of superiority.
1
I for one, would like to encourage Trump's staff to keep humoring him and let him think he's doing a bang up job. Let's keep him busy with stuff he's interested in - building stuff, ahead of schedule and under budget. He wants to build a wall - l say - go for it. Maybe he can be sold on the idea of creating a national park for golfers that features one of his amazing golf courses. Or maybe he can focus on fixing those aluminum guardrails that melt in the sun on those terrible NYC highways. Or redecorating JFK airport.
It's already clear to the rest of the world that our President is uninformed and completely unqualified for his job. So why keep up the pretense by making demands of him that he can't possibly live up to?
It's already clear to the rest of the world that our President is uninformed and completely unqualified for his job. So why keep up the pretense by making demands of him that he can't possibly live up to?
142
I agree with this sentiment, and urge that we all do the same -- keep humoring him and letting him think he is doing a bang up job. Otherwise I fear that he will feel cornered, with a need to compensate by the only way he seems to know how to restore approval, by lashing out with a military strike, with potentially disastrous consequences for the world.
fabulous
Imagine you receive word that your application to work in The White House has been approved. After countless years of study and work, you'll soon walk the halls of a building whose history you know incredibly well.
Can you imagine the feeling? The excitement of getting to work alongside the President of the United States, promoting policies that you know will help the economy and your fellow Americans? The anticipation as your first day nears?
You know it'll be difficult, that the hours will be long and the work tedious. That you'll see the less glamorous side of someone you idolize, but will sacrifice your personal life, your time, and possibly even your career helping this man accomplish his promises and earn a positive chapter in the history books.
However, it doesn't take long to realize that The White House is ruled by an overgrown baby, who's prone to temper-tantrums and has little interest in anything that doesn't directly affect him. He ignores your detailed papers, which are manipulated by senior staff for personal gain. And when you think you have him nailed on a policy, he very publicly turns on a dime. Every day brings a new emergency, enemy, and fall guy and you know it's just a matter of time before it's you.
Between all the lies, empty promises, power plays, and basic ignorance, you can't believe your reality. At night, despite a desperate need for sleep, you lie awake staring at the ceiling, terrified for the future of the country you so dearly love.
Can you imagine the feeling? The excitement of getting to work alongside the President of the United States, promoting policies that you know will help the economy and your fellow Americans? The anticipation as your first day nears?
You know it'll be difficult, that the hours will be long and the work tedious. That you'll see the less glamorous side of someone you idolize, but will sacrifice your personal life, your time, and possibly even your career helping this man accomplish his promises and earn a positive chapter in the history books.
However, it doesn't take long to realize that The White House is ruled by an overgrown baby, who's prone to temper-tantrums and has little interest in anything that doesn't directly affect him. He ignores your detailed papers, which are manipulated by senior staff for personal gain. And when you think you have him nailed on a policy, he very publicly turns on a dime. Every day brings a new emergency, enemy, and fall guy and you know it's just a matter of time before it's you.
Between all the lies, empty promises, power plays, and basic ignorance, you can't believe your reality. At night, despite a desperate need for sleep, you lie awake staring at the ceiling, terrified for the future of the country you so dearly love.
260
Trump is America's Choice, over the best prepared person ever to run for the presidency.
The Class Dunces have their revenge now.
The Class Dunces have their revenge now.
Brilliant, just brilliant. Beautiful writing.
I knew. Why didn't others before he was elected? He lives in a world of many trillion dollars, so why should he climb down a few steps. We citizens are the ones living in a fool's paradise because all he needs is too many dollars to be concerned with. And look at his relatives: None look real.
This is NOT normal. And six is an over-estimation of Trump's psychological age. More like the "terrible twos."
Trump is a clinical Narcissist. Nobody in Congress or the press seems to be grappling with the implications of his mental illness on his ability to function, let alone govern. Why are we waiting for evidence of crime when we have ample evidence of staggering unfitness that endangers us all?
Some people have tangled with clinical Narcissists before and we are terrified to have one in the White House. Narcissists are incapable of insight, learning, or empathy. They are wildly inconsistent. They cannot be persuaded by facts if their feelings say otherwise. They are full of rage. They need the constant mirroring of other people to even know they exist ("Yes, Mr President!"). This is because they are indeed arrested in psychological toddlerhood.
If you have never dealt with a Narcissist, it is almost impossible to fathom the degree of disconnect from objective reality, the instability of self, the incapacity for insight, and the need to project of internal rage onto external targets.
Trump is a psychological black hole. This is what scares me, way more than Russia.
Trump is a clinical Narcissist. Nobody in Congress or the press seems to be grappling with the implications of his mental illness on his ability to function, let alone govern. Why are we waiting for evidence of crime when we have ample evidence of staggering unfitness that endangers us all?
Some people have tangled with clinical Narcissists before and we are terrified to have one in the White House. Narcissists are incapable of insight, learning, or empathy. They are wildly inconsistent. They cannot be persuaded by facts if their feelings say otherwise. They are full of rage. They need the constant mirroring of other people to even know they exist ("Yes, Mr President!"). This is because they are indeed arrested in psychological toddlerhood.
If you have never dealt with a Narcissist, it is almost impossible to fathom the degree of disconnect from objective reality, the instability of self, the incapacity for insight, and the need to project of internal rage onto external targets.
Trump is a psychological black hole. This is what scares me, way more than Russia.
22
"Narcissists are incapable of insight, learning, or empathy. They are wildly inconsistent. They cannot be persuaded by facts if their feelings say otherwise. They are full of rage."
Which is why therapy for a narcissist is usually a futile endeavor.
Which is why therapy for a narcissist is usually a futile endeavor.
1
Trump so dramatically illustrates the vulnerability of our system to celebrity politics. In the past we depended on a party system to winnow out the crazies and the lightweights. True, that system could give us the occasional Warren Harding, but celebrity politics, where a telegenic outsider with enough money can give us a president is really frightening. Krugman's description of Trump is not simply progressive hyperbole. Sadly, it strikes me as an all too accurate portrait of the man now carrying the nuclear football trigger.
13
If you have a spoiled con man sitting in the Oval Office, a man totally unqualified in every way to be president, this is the tax proposal you will get. Wake up mainstream media, wake up America, you are being bamboozled by someone that only cares about one thing...himself.
10
all true and all obvious when he was running for the nomination. however, many of the 'folks' love snake oil salesmen so he's know potus with the ability to destroy the planet either by war or environmental craziness.
thank you usa
thank you usa
3
oops....now potus, not Know potus
Trump doesn't have super powers. Fascism is permitted by the acquiescent consent of those who enable it who are motivated by their personal greed and hope to gain from it, which in this case is the Republicans. it is also driven in the short term by the hatred ginned up by demagogic mouthpieces like Rush Limbaugh who spew racism, misogyny and vitriolic hatred of the other.
In reality our GDP just weighed in at 0.7% - the slowest first quarter in years. Trump can't get it up except as a reality TV pitchman trying to convince us this is 'fake news.' The stock market rises on expectations regardless of the news, but it tends to get weighed down by reality in the form of earnings reports.
Trump is a traitor. He's also a clueless Fascist would be autocrat whose family is practicing flagrant public theft not only by having the taxpayer subsidize their billionaire lifestyle as if that come with the job, but by shredding any concept of emolument restrictions in our Constitution. While openly obstructing congressional inquiry into his consorting with Russia, Trump has also indulged in amassing a $107,000,000 slush fund raised from poorly accounted for foreign and business interests seeking to buy his favor. It is astonishing that our Congress, Senate, and even the main stream media has been so desensitized by the scope of Trump's unbound sociopath impulses that they haven't risen up with 10 different investigations and special prosecutors!
In reality our GDP just weighed in at 0.7% - the slowest first quarter in years. Trump can't get it up except as a reality TV pitchman trying to convince us this is 'fake news.' The stock market rises on expectations regardless of the news, but it tends to get weighed down by reality in the form of earnings reports.
Trump is a traitor. He's also a clueless Fascist would be autocrat whose family is practicing flagrant public theft not only by having the taxpayer subsidize their billionaire lifestyle as if that come with the job, but by shredding any concept of emolument restrictions in our Constitution. While openly obstructing congressional inquiry into his consorting with Russia, Trump has also indulged in amassing a $107,000,000 slush fund raised from poorly accounted for foreign and business interests seeking to buy his favor. It is astonishing that our Congress, Senate, and even the main stream media has been so desensitized by the scope of Trump's unbound sociopath impulses that they haven't risen up with 10 different investigations and special prosecutors!
19
One of my favorite Twilight Zone episodes. Omnipotent brats are far less cute and infinitely more frightening when they are 70 years old and have the nuclear codes.
5
That episode scared me out of my mind, and I refuse to include it on my list of favorites because that would imply that I'd like to see it again.
I also refuse to read the Jerome Bixby novella on which it is based.
I also refuse to read the Jerome Bixby novella on which it is based.
1
Dr. Krugman is correct in observing that Drumpf is not the new "normal", but unfortunately 80% (or more) of his voters still think he's doing "a good thing". They aren't fazed at all by his feckless & clueless behavior. They think they elected someone who will "drain the swamp", & really stick it to the Liberals, as well as the political & media elites they despise.
Perhaps they will wake up to yet another redistribution of wealth to Corporations & wealthy families via a "Conservative" tax plan (based on a curve on a cocktail napkin) that has yet to provide empirical evidence of its worth. Once more Ryan, et. al., are trying the same thing as Reagan & Bush 43, expecting different results. Don't be surprised at a Drumpf-Ryan-McConnell version of the Great Recession of 2008.
Perhaps they will wake up to yet another redistribution of wealth to Corporations & wealthy families via a "Conservative" tax plan (based on a curve on a cocktail napkin) that has yet to provide empirical evidence of its worth. Once more Ryan, et. al., are trying the same thing as Reagan & Bush 43, expecting different results. Don't be surprised at a Drumpf-Ryan-McConnell version of the Great Recession of 2008.
4
Whatever happens now will be amplified in the future. It will not be good. Trump and friends will become fabulously wealthy, Americans below the top 10% will suffer, the world will need a new vision to lead on. We are now heading into the abyss of the3rd world. Tax reform ala Trump will finally bring us the worst tax on the planet, the Value Added Tax. Designed by the rich for the rich and businesses. Sad we are falling so far so quickly.
3
Details, details, details! Trump's "tax plan" may be just a single page, double spaced cheat sheet, but it communicates exactly what was intended:
1) If the income disparity between the wealthy and everyone else was how he was elected, then making the wealthy and the biggest corporations even wealthier (and the rest of us poorer) is the perfect formula for a second term, and
2) the supply side, trickle down fantasy, while thoroughly disproven, continues to dominate so-called economic strategy on the right (wrong) side of the aisle.
1) If the income disparity between the wealthy and everyone else was how he was elected, then making the wealthy and the biggest corporations even wealthier (and the rest of us poorer) is the perfect formula for a second term, and
2) the supply side, trickle down fantasy, while thoroughly disproven, continues to dominate so-called economic strategy on the right (wrong) side of the aisle.
3
"We may all pay the price of his therapy? No, we WILL all pay the price of his therapy before we awake from this gathering nightmare.
The depth of this administration's dysfunction is symbolized by Sean Spicer's ludicrous assertion yesterday that Trump's failure, or disinclination, to vet his nomination for National Security Advisor was former President Obama's fault.
When in doubt, blame Obama, or Hillary, or the Democratic Party. Avoid all responsibility; dodge accountability. That's the stuff of great leadership. Harry Truman knew this; the buck stops -- wherever Obama is.
The depth of this administration's dysfunction is symbolized by Sean Spicer's ludicrous assertion yesterday that Trump's failure, or disinclination, to vet his nomination for National Security Advisor was former President Obama's fault.
When in doubt, blame Obama, or Hillary, or the Democratic Party. Avoid all responsibility; dodge accountability. That's the stuff of great leadership. Harry Truman knew this; the buck stops -- wherever Obama is.
7
Prose is inadequate
We need poetry to describe the current administration
We need poetry to describe the current administration
1
The 401(k) industry is sweating tax reform. It's afraid the Republicans might reduce the generosity of the tax expenditure for retirement savings. It runs at about $100 billion a year. With retirement savings such a broadly accepted priority--it has crisis status, even--that's probably not likely, even though the bulk of that expenditure, like all tax breaks, goes to those in the highest tax brackets. The 401k industry claims that the tax break for savings is revenue neutral because people pay income tax on retirement plan withdrawals; it's difficult to tell if that's true because the government doesn't bother to keep track of tax receipts from retirees' so-called Required Minimum Distributions from 401k, 403b and IRA accounts. The issue is politically, commercially, bureaucratically, and financially complicated. It's probably too labor-intensive for the administration's attention span (and under-staffing) to accommodate. But if the president is committed to cutting top tax rates he will need to find revenue, and the retirement tax expenditure is a very fat target.
1
tRump needs to hire Monty Python as staff advisors. Every time tRump reaches for a cell phone or starts to complain about how 'hard' a project is, John Cleese can then smack tRump upside his head with a large fish. At least then the pres can be silly for a reason.
5
Until the Republicans in Congress set aside party loyalty and shoulder the burden of national responsibility, the US is going to be preoccupied by the needs of the Toddler-in-chief.
8
My tax-plan napkin only says "Eliminate the carried-interest loophole." And it's a much better plan than Trump's.
5
Dumb and dumber com to Washington compliments of the Royal Republican Party via Joe Ignorant voter and Gerry Mander. That treasury secretary has the demeanor of a medieval executioner (really scary).
When will the people realize it is not the government institutions that have failed them, it is the second rate politicians with their hands in the cookie jar that are destroying America? It is one debacle after another coming from the Republican do-nothing, know-nothing corrupt Party.
Kick the bums out in '18.
When will the people realize it is not the government institutions that have failed them, it is the second rate politicians with their hands in the cookie jar that are destroying America? It is one debacle after another coming from the Republican do-nothing, know-nothing corrupt Party.
Kick the bums out in '18.
3
When we think of "forgiving" those voters who put us in this nightmare, there are days (already!) when, if we didn't know the sad state of the public education system and the fear of anything that appears to contradict it that our Puritan heritage has left us, we might find it impossible.
As those same voters find themselves further marginalized by the economic "policies" of DT and his minions, perhaps they will gain some understanding of and appreciation for their mistake. Perhaps then their support will dwindle and they will rejoin the rest of us in trying to repair the damage.
As those same voters find themselves further marginalized by the economic "policies" of DT and his minions, perhaps they will gain some understanding of and appreciation for their mistake. Perhaps then their support will dwindle and they will rejoin the rest of us in trying to repair the damage.
The truth here is quite non complex. The GOP is corrupt and always does what is in their personal interest and that of the very elite. Their reasons are couched in strange voodoo terms that appeal to "Trumpe "voters who no matter what still hate the Clintons and blame Obama.
Where is sanity? She apparently hasn't been seen on the street or at home for a very long time.
Where is sanity? She apparently hasn't been seen on the street or at home for a very long time.
He seems to be turning the United States toward a North Korea-style of governance.
4
What Rod Serling, brilliant as he was, did not bargain for was that a 6-year old with enormous power might have a constituency happy to be situated under the child's thumb. Now that's the Twilight Zone.
2
Good Twilight Zone analogy. But how about the episode with the airline passenger (William Shatner) who sees a horrible monster on the wing, destroying one of the engines. The crew and the other passengers see nothing. They think Shatner's character is crazy. Eventually he is subdued and carried off the plane (wow, that sounds familiar). We, the majority who voted against Trump, see him destroying our country. The rest of the passengers cannot or will not see the monster.
6
Dr. Krugman is correct about Trump when he concludes:
"Don't pretend that this is normal."
There is a solution - a possible viable solution - to the problem that is Trump.
GOP, RNC, and Republican leaders everywhere can bring to an end the ongoing deceptive, dangerous, and damaging solutions promoted by Trump.
Party leaders must immediately focus on the 2020 election.
Call it having 20/20 eyesight.
Trump is damaging not only the country and its citizens, but the GOP as well.
Trump is a world-wide embarrassment
Is the Party able to look down the road? I hope so, even though it is this failing that has put them and us in our current untenable position.
Let us hope that the GOP and its best leaders will consider the following:
Do not become an enabler of the Trump dictatorial juggernaut.
Fall on your sword - with grace, sincerity, decency, and dignity.
You will be the better for it ...... and so will we all.
By your patriotic action the Republican Party and the country you save will be your own. Spare us as a country from any further embarrassment in the eyes of the world.
Make this necessary sacrifice NOW and prepare for a worthwhile and reasonable campaign in 2020 with a decent and honorable candidate that we can support with dignity.
I beseech you to follow this course of action immediately - as time is obviously of the essence.
As indicated in this Op-Ed - the behavior of Trump and Trump himself are NOT normal.
The label abnormal is best applied.
"Don't pretend that this is normal."
There is a solution - a possible viable solution - to the problem that is Trump.
GOP, RNC, and Republican leaders everywhere can bring to an end the ongoing deceptive, dangerous, and damaging solutions promoted by Trump.
Party leaders must immediately focus on the 2020 election.
Call it having 20/20 eyesight.
Trump is damaging not only the country and its citizens, but the GOP as well.
Trump is a world-wide embarrassment
Is the Party able to look down the road? I hope so, even though it is this failing that has put them and us in our current untenable position.
Let us hope that the GOP and its best leaders will consider the following:
Do not become an enabler of the Trump dictatorial juggernaut.
Fall on your sword - with grace, sincerity, decency, and dignity.
You will be the better for it ...... and so will we all.
By your patriotic action the Republican Party and the country you save will be your own. Spare us as a country from any further embarrassment in the eyes of the world.
Make this necessary sacrifice NOW and prepare for a worthwhile and reasonable campaign in 2020 with a decent and honorable candidate that we can support with dignity.
I beseech you to follow this course of action immediately - as time is obviously of the essence.
As indicated in this Op-Ed - the behavior of Trump and Trump himself are NOT normal.
The label abnormal is best applied.
2
Reminds me corporate leaders that want what
They want and don't want to hear the truth and are
Only concerned for the next quarter and not the future.
Government is not a business
There are no shareholders, dividends or Wall Street rankings
The future is what matters most
They want and don't want to hear the truth and are
Only concerned for the next quarter and not the future.
Government is not a business
There are no shareholders, dividends or Wall Street rankings
The future is what matters most
PK, thank you for mentioning the creepiest half hour of TV I've ever watched in my life. It gave me nightmares as a kid, and the moment Trump was declared the winner the first thought that popped into my head was, "Anthony now has the nuclear codes."
175
Jay, I shouldn't repeat myself again and again, but someone nearly anonymous deserves the credit. That creepiest half hour was the TV version of one of the creepiest short stories ever written: "It's a _Good_ Life" by Jerome Bixby.
1
Thanks! I just added the collection "Mirror Mirror" to my Kindle.
Mr Krugman, you imply in your last sentence, that Trump is mentally impaired and may need therapy to avoid a dangerous situation.
How low is the bar for mental impairment when it comes to the President? and is it cause enough for professional attention from psychologists. Is a President able to be removed because he is psychologically unfit to carry out the task of governing?
How low is the bar for mental impairment when it comes to the President? and is it cause enough for professional attention from psychologists. Is a President able to be removed because he is psychologically unfit to carry out the task of governing?
Trump is a failure of a leader. He is too ignorant, too sketchy, too impulsive, too deceitful, too stuck on himself, too callow to be a leader.
A few days ago, we finally heard from President Obama. He reminded us what a real leader is. And he solicited leadership from young people, asking them to step up with responsibility, dedication and vision.
The base person in our highest office lacks every attribute of a leader, and the contrast with his predecessor and his potential successors could not be starker.
A few days ago, we finally heard from President Obama. He reminded us what a real leader is. And he solicited leadership from young people, asking them to step up with responsibility, dedication and vision.
The base person in our highest office lacks every attribute of a leader, and the contrast with his predecessor and his potential successors could not be starker.
8
I knew sooner or later someone would connect Trump to this Twilight Zone episode. Watch out! He's gonna tweet! You're very dishonest, Mr. Krugman, very unfair!
2
Dr. Krugman is not the first; I wish I could link to an earlier instance of that analogy. Maybe I can, if the search goes well and the thread stays open long enough.
1
I have posted 3 links to previous "It's a Good Life" analogies, wherever they may show up in this comment thread.
1
Dr. Krugman is not the first to make this connection; here are a few more:
https://medium.com/@beverlysuzannehill/donald-j-trump-reminds-me-of-a-cl...
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/01/trump-is-twilight-zone-epis...
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10028341594
https://medium.com/@beverlysuzannehill/donald-j-trump-reminds-me-of-a-cl...
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/01/trump-is-twilight-zone-epis...
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10028341594
Caution...we have entered into the No Spin Zone.
1
Trump next wants to expand his tv producing chops by developing a new reality show called "The Walking Dead." It'll be casting in every county in America except where there are pre-existing Trump golf courses.
There are obviously two kinds of people in America: the thinking and the unthinking. Let's see who wins. If you're not onto the "Big Sting" by now you're complicit or already dead. At this point folks should be paying more attention to what their Congressman is doing, anyway! Trump is a useful idiot, not an entertaining one. Bring pressure to bear on Congress and they will be forced to corral Trump. Trump brings the pain, we'll bring the repercussions.
There are obviously two kinds of people in America: the thinking and the unthinking. Let's see who wins. If you're not onto the "Big Sting" by now you're complicit or already dead. At this point folks should be paying more attention to what their Congressman is doing, anyway! Trump is a useful idiot, not an entertaining one. Bring pressure to bear on Congress and they will be forced to corral Trump. Trump brings the pain, we'll bring the repercussions.
1
Everything you say is true, but the dynamic as portrayed in that frightening, classic Twilight Zone episode was very different. The people surrounding Anthony (the monster) had every reason to adhere to his whims, as they could be "wished into the cornfield" or suffer even a worse fate. All of Trump's Republican craven enablers have no such excuse. Ryan, Chaffetz (boo boo on his foot and all), McConnell along with the rest of that cowardly clan who blindly support the child/monster are not the ones ultimately at risk. As you so succinctly state in the end - it's the the rest of us who have the most to lose.
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Submitted for your consideration:
Our Man Child in the White House would rather play (golf) than do chores that require attention to detail, lies constantly, and denies he said what he plainly did say, like a naughty 6 year old, and says of his new job "This is more work than in my previous life. I thought it would be easier." Spoken like a scared first grader.
This is not the Great Trump of the campaign. This is Trump Lite. Thus, Welcome to the TrumpLite Zone.
Our Man Child in the White House would rather play (golf) than do chores that require attention to detail, lies constantly, and denies he said what he plainly did say, like a naughty 6 year old, and says of his new job "This is more work than in my previous life. I thought it would be easier." Spoken like a scared first grader.
This is not the Great Trump of the campaign. This is Trump Lite. Thus, Welcome to the TrumpLite Zone.
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What would Republicans be saying if Hillary had been elected and wouldn't release her taxes?
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How in the world is this "child-man in chief" president? I'll take the Twilight Zone; it's less scary than reality.
There are any number of situations that would be major scandals in normal times. Russian interference in our election, possible collusion by Americans with that interference, the actions of Comey with respect to the election, the ethical morass that characterizes the White House, any number of instances of bluster and chest-thumping in the international arena, refusal to release his taxes. Today, the manure pile is so high that citizens and the media are just overloaded. The media can refuse to treat it as normal, but the situation is such a monstrosity that one cannot wrap one's head around it. Given the strengths of Dear Leader's first line of defense, the flying monkeys that work in the White House, and his second line of defense, the kowtowing (r)s in Congress that lays golden palm fronds in the path before him, I have a tough time seeing a path to dealing with any of this plague that is infecting government and society.
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Mr.Krugman, we, the people, are left with you, the media, to provide factual, comprehensive analyses of the continual stream of nonsense emanating from this White House. Please don't fall back into the "equivalence" style of journalism that led to this disaster in the first place. This is your (the media) "golden moment"...the time to make up for past deficiencies and pursuit of "circus stories" instead of the substantive issues we all face. At the risk of being melodramatic, the fate of the Republic may be in your hands and your ability to separate fact from "fake news".
This "tax plan" as you so aptly state is an attempt to further enrich the wealthy elements of our society to the increasing detriment of the middle and working classes. Mnuchin himself can't give us a straight answer as to how it affects middle class taxpayers. More craziness from an increasingly confused and incoherent administration. I'm beginning to think if we survive this Trump nightmare it will be a miracle.
This "tax plan" as you so aptly state is an attempt to further enrich the wealthy elements of our society to the increasing detriment of the middle and working classes. Mnuchin himself can't give us a straight answer as to how it affects middle class taxpayers. More craziness from an increasingly confused and incoherent administration. I'm beginning to think if we survive this Trump nightmare it will be a miracle.
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This is Highway Robbery if you catch my drift.
The proposed tax cuts will only be horded and hidden.
The Man is Donald the Menace. I mean, look at that hair!
The proposed tax cuts will only be horded and hidden.
The Man is Donald the Menace. I mean, look at that hair!
That's a slander on Dennis.
45 will find something that will make hugely headlines for his desperate need for self aggrandizement. I fear it will be a war.
"...being an effective staffer seems to involve finding ways to make him feel good..." Yup, borderline personality disorder.
I thought he might have dropped a nuke on Germany after the audience booed and hissed Ivanka.
I thought he might have dropped a nuke on Germany after the audience booed and hissed Ivanka.
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I can't help but point out that the Times' headline on Trump's tax sketch called it a "plan" and one that would reduce rates to "individuals." As Krugman states, it is not a "plan" and there is no way to tell net the impact on middle class individuals. A headline writer came to that conclusion somehow. Unfortunately, this sloppiness is not uncommon. Semantics can influence perceptions. Semantics matter.
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Do the Math! A family making $75K can't get a $50K tax cut. Lesser earners are virtually eliminated from this "benefit", i.e., Trump supporters will get a pittance compared to your average everyday wealthy/oligarch who will not put the $ back into the economy. Obviously, anyone with a third grade education(Trump voters) don't possess the ability to understand this issue and therefore, almost 90% of them would vote for him today if another election was held. It's Howdy Doody time and the peanut gallery could't be happier. ( For those of you who were not yet born, Howdy Doody was a childrens TV program during the late 40's and 50's with a clown named Clarabel and the audience was known as the peanut gallery).
There is an opportunity here for people currently working with the president. By speaking truth to power, resigning and telling one and all what they did they can become modern days heroes for their patriotism. Any takers?
How frightening and demoralizing that we've come to such a point.
Whenever I see a photograph of Trump in the Oval Office, sitting behind the Resolute desk with his haphazard pile of newspapers, and chorus of busy-looking sycophants, it feels like a tragic joke. That the highest office in our land - a position of aspiration and gravity for Americans of all political affiliations- could be so sullied by an impulsive ignoramus is as heartbreaking as it is perplexing.
In short- Trump is cheap. He cheapens everything he's involved in with his bombast, his juvenile need for dominance, his overriding selfishness, and his insatiable avarice which colors his every perspective and decision. He cheapens our nation by lowering the office of the Presidency into a reality show, with his incompetent 'contestant' cabinet picks, his foot in mouth statements on every issue, and allowing washed up, loser celebrities posture and joke in front of a portrait of Hillary Clinton.
This is not just sickening, it is incredibly dangerous. We need full and complete information on Russia, and Trump's complete taxes. We need to do everything we can to stop the blatant graft and nepotism of this administration. And we must take back the House and Senate in 2018 to mitigate the damage Trump will cause. If we can impeach Trump, then it is imperative we do so.
Most importantly, we must never allow anything like this to happen again.
Whenever I see a photograph of Trump in the Oval Office, sitting behind the Resolute desk with his haphazard pile of newspapers, and chorus of busy-looking sycophants, it feels like a tragic joke. That the highest office in our land - a position of aspiration and gravity for Americans of all political affiliations- could be so sullied by an impulsive ignoramus is as heartbreaking as it is perplexing.
In short- Trump is cheap. He cheapens everything he's involved in with his bombast, his juvenile need for dominance, his overriding selfishness, and his insatiable avarice which colors his every perspective and decision. He cheapens our nation by lowering the office of the Presidency into a reality show, with his incompetent 'contestant' cabinet picks, his foot in mouth statements on every issue, and allowing washed up, loser celebrities posture and joke in front of a portrait of Hillary Clinton.
This is not just sickening, it is incredibly dangerous. We need full and complete information on Russia, and Trump's complete taxes. We need to do everything we can to stop the blatant graft and nepotism of this administration. And we must take back the House and Senate in 2018 to mitigate the damage Trump will cause. If we can impeach Trump, then it is imperative we do so.
Most importantly, we must never allow anything like this to happen again.
1
The GOP use to like to drag around a big deficit and debt clock. But I think we need an incompetence clock, a falsehood clock, and maybe burn Trump hats every time he gets pants on fire rating. I do not want to be angry, scared and depressed daily.
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There's an old joke about falsehood clocks; here is how I first heard it, more or less:
A bunch of new arrivals in heaven are shown around by St. Peter. One hall contains lie clocks for individuals; they move when the person tells a lie. Abraham Lincoln's clock is at one minute past midnight; Mother Teresa's clock is at two minutes past midnight.
When asked about George W. Bush's clock, St. Peter says, "Oh, it's not here. God took it into his office to use as a ceiling fan."
I've heard that joke told about George W. Bush and Mitt Romney. Those versions are obsolete.
A bunch of new arrivals in heaven are shown around by St. Peter. One hall contains lie clocks for individuals; they move when the person tells a lie. Abraham Lincoln's clock is at one minute past midnight; Mother Teresa's clock is at two minutes past midnight.
When asked about George W. Bush's clock, St. Peter says, "Oh, it's not here. God took it into his office to use as a ceiling fan."
I've heard that joke told about George W. Bush and Mitt Romney. Those versions are obsolete.
Unfortunately, Trump's sensitive ego reflects quite well the sensitive ego of white, lower middle class Americans who feel they have been pushed aside and ignored by the liberal elite that (supposedly) runs this country. Trump, for some reason, has a massive inferiority complex. He compensates by his endless bragging. Similar mentalities can be found in bars and lodge halls across middle America. Of course, when it comes to the actual substance of Trump's proposals, they are self-serving and callous toward the less fortunate, millions of whom voted for him because they liked his bravura, in your face attitude. I have no idea what those of us who thought Obama was great and Hillary was okay can do about this situation.
I've been recommending this episode to all my friends for several months,..towards the end, when one man has the courage, all be it through drinking, to confront the little monster tyrant, it feels like watching Rand Paul or Jeb in the primary debates, with the same results as in the Twilight Zone episode....Off to the cornfield,.. while syncophants like Huckabee and Christie stood by in terror, just grateful it wasn't them.
One thing that's irritated me about the New York Times is its apparently assiduous reporting of verifiable "fact." It is failing to take the minor next step of telling its audience what is actually going on. This would not be just opinion.
I watched video a couple days ago, of a very senior Navy Admiral testifying in front of Congress. Concerning the position of the U.S.S. Carl Vinson, he basically said, "Oops, my bad." (Maybe his actual words were, "That's on me.") The press has been sugar coating Trump's lack of knowledge and control of our military since day one. Maybe that's somewhat necessary, to keep up the impression that everything is okay. An important thing, for the world's sole military superpower.
I wonder whether Admiral Harris could laugh about that, was angry, or was just sad. I'm only an enlisted veteran who helped operate the nuclear plant that pushed those ballistic missiles around the eastern Atlantic a few decades back. While I don't agree with much of our military policy, I still have very substantial respect for the professionalism and integrity of our military people. In the end, I'm sure that Admiral Harris is a (much) better man than me, and knows what he has to do to support the public impression of control. But the press, as Dr. Krugman says, is still doing its part quite poorly. Keep trying, please.
I watched video a couple days ago, of a very senior Navy Admiral testifying in front of Congress. Concerning the position of the U.S.S. Carl Vinson, he basically said, "Oops, my bad." (Maybe his actual words were, "That's on me.") The press has been sugar coating Trump's lack of knowledge and control of our military since day one. Maybe that's somewhat necessary, to keep up the impression that everything is okay. An important thing, for the world's sole military superpower.
I wonder whether Admiral Harris could laugh about that, was angry, or was just sad. I'm only an enlisted veteran who helped operate the nuclear plant that pushed those ballistic missiles around the eastern Atlantic a few decades back. While I don't agree with much of our military policy, I still have very substantial respect for the professionalism and integrity of our military people. In the end, I'm sure that Admiral Harris is a (much) better man than me, and knows what he has to do to support the public impression of control. But the press, as Dr. Krugman says, is still doing its part quite poorly. Keep trying, please.
Thank you for writing this column. May all pay heed.
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If the rest of the community lives in fear of the Man Child in the White House, what do Republicans live in fear of? Apparently the answer is paying taxes. The same people that have a particular loathing for corporate taxes are the ones who tell us that corporations are people. If that were true, wouldn't they want corporations to pay taxes at the same rate as people?
Of course not. Because as Saints Norquist and Rand taught us, all taxes are bad and the government should wither away. Grover N's idea came to him in 8th grade, not exactly six years old but hardly adult territory.
Why are all taxes bad? Norquist seems to think just because, while Ayn Rand's much deeper analysis has it that collectivists are robbing the job creators through taxes. None of this suggest that grownups should pay taxes as a normal part of helping government create the sort of domestic tranquility wherein business can thrive.
A very rich friend of mine smiles each April and proclaims that he loves paying taxes because it means he made money. He is, of course, a Democrat. It is very easy to proclaim all that is wrong with our government. That is free speech. But whatever our problems, this remains the strongest economy in the world, and in many ways the freest country. (Karl Marx also wrote about the withering away of the state.) The Man Child does not understand the function of the government, and yet he proposes that he knows how to fix it. Welcome to the Twilight Zone.
Of course not. Because as Saints Norquist and Rand taught us, all taxes are bad and the government should wither away. Grover N's idea came to him in 8th grade, not exactly six years old but hardly adult territory.
Why are all taxes bad? Norquist seems to think just because, while Ayn Rand's much deeper analysis has it that collectivists are robbing the job creators through taxes. None of this suggest that grownups should pay taxes as a normal part of helping government create the sort of domestic tranquility wherein business can thrive.
A very rich friend of mine smiles each April and proclaims that he loves paying taxes because it means he made money. He is, of course, a Democrat. It is very easy to proclaim all that is wrong with our government. That is free speech. But whatever our problems, this remains the strongest economy in the world, and in many ways the freest country. (Karl Marx also wrote about the withering away of the state.) The Man Child does not understand the function of the government, and yet he proposes that he knows how to fix it. Welcome to the Twilight Zone.
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I do feel like I'm in the Twilight Zone now. For all the years of my long life, I naively believed that Americans were the best educated and most intelligent of the world that always made the best decisions because I believed in the wisdom of the masses. Then along came Donald the Menace. Yes indeed, we are living in the Trump zone, but really, look at that hair. Can you believe it?
Its really bad when we are reduced to comparing our government with a twilight zone episode. Trump gives us a tome of which we can only interpret the title which he says make America Great again or to serve man. As we are swept up into his flying saucer of an administration we are cooked.
I don't think this is just the enabling of an immature, ignorant and inept leader with enormous powers. I wonder what international forces are at play in the return to fascist like thinking. I find it very frightening when I read about Brexit and Marine Le Pen and those in other nations that seem to want to destroy so much of what we have worked for to make the world a better and more peaceful place. Is this the next phase of capitalist greed? Is this the result of worldwide ignorance and the willingness of the people to swallow whatever myths they have been offered? Is it the fact that so much of what has been hidden from view is now being exposed because of the powers of technology? Do people feel so threatened that their precious belief systems are being challenged that they revert to applauding someone who tells them what they want to keep believing? I don't get it.
A single page document?! C'mon, that's grandstanding. A pose. No one takes that seriously, least of all the people offering it.
Clearly, Republicans don't give a whit about the economy at all. Just cut those high end brackets - and especially the estate tax. 'Cause what we really want is is a permanent aristocracy based on wealth and privilege. Gimme that Old Time Feudalism every time.
Clearly, Republicans don't give a whit about the economy at all. Just cut those high end brackets - and especially the estate tax. 'Cause what we really want is is a permanent aristocracy based on wealth and privilege. Gimme that Old Time Feudalism every time.
Thanks again, Paul Krugman, for having nailed. But with respect to this paragraph close to the end of today's op-ed (pasting in): "Clearly, Trump and company should just let it go and move on to something else. But that would require a certain level of maturity — which is a quality nowhere to be found in this White House. So they just keep at it, with proposals everyone I know calls zombie Trumpcare 2.0, 3.0, and so on"—let me ask: Why would they? It took the GOP seven years of huffing and puffing with respect to the ACA under President Obama and nothing got done (with respect to the ACA or anything else). Apparently this administration has learned from its GOP brethren in Congress how good a whipping boy can prove when they have nothing else (or better) to offer.
Thanks again, Tom Claire
Thanks again, Tom Claire
Trump should be glad that you weren't teaching macro at Wharton. I would have been afraid to walk into that class with this "tax plan " let alone turn it in for a grade.
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Juxtapose this column and that today by Tim Egan with your colleague David Brooks, and one sees the dilemma. As I said elsewhere, perhaps it is best left to the clowns. Maybe they will reach through laughter all those dark places that reason and decency seem unable to illuminate.
One cannot separate Trump from the Republican Party. They are two sides of the same coin. I agree the press cannot normalize trump or the Republican Party. Unfortunately it seems to be what too often happens.
The Republican Party is running a criminal enterprise, I would go as far as to call them a terrorist organization. They were immersed in and part of the Russian subversion of our election. It needs to be exposed and prosecuted. Maybe some day we will have a true Republican Party, but it will take the complete elimination of the current band of thugs and the collapse of their propaganda machine, including their Russian connections.
Politics ain't going to be the same after this. It is going to be a very painful transition.
Watch for the holier-than-thou band of republicans to arise from the ashes of trump. Don't believe them. They are lying.
The Republican Party is running a criminal enterprise, I would go as far as to call them a terrorist organization. They were immersed in and part of the Russian subversion of our election. It needs to be exposed and prosecuted. Maybe some day we will have a true Republican Party, but it will take the complete elimination of the current band of thugs and the collapse of their propaganda machine, including their Russian connections.
Politics ain't going to be the same after this. It is going to be a very painful transition.
Watch for the holier-than-thou band of republicans to arise from the ashes of trump. Don't believe them. They are lying.
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Mr Trump for all the prestige of his Presidency is a figurehead of leadership which the Congressional crowd who make the laws can choose to follow or not.
If he proposes a clearly ehregious plan they adopt whatever appears as less harmful in the public's perception yet is still very beneficial to their following and pass it as a perceivably lesser evil. People moan and groan about inequity but soon get back to work unless their jobs are offshored.
With control of the Presidency as well as Congress, and a Supreme Court which wears their true colors under black robes, those of us at the lower end of the economic spectrum don't stand a chance.
A bad time in the land of immigrants.
If he proposes a clearly ehregious plan they adopt whatever appears as less harmful in the public's perception yet is still very beneficial to their following and pass it as a perceivably lesser evil. People moan and groan about inequity but soon get back to work unless their jobs are offshored.
With control of the Presidency as well as Congress, and a Supreme Court which wears their true colors under black robes, those of us at the lower end of the economic spectrum don't stand a chance.
A bad time in the land of immigrants.
North Korea seems to associated with that same episode of the Twiglight Zone with its leader.
But it is the Monsters Are Due on Maple Street that may just as big a threat.
But it is the Monsters Are Due on Maple Street that may just as big a threat.
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Who figures that governing can be so difficult!!! 100 days went by and nothing to show for it except tantrums. For the rest of us, there is four years minus 100 days to go before we kick this clown out.
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I am looking forward to the many tell-all books from those in the front row of this ridiculous dramedy. Confidentiality documents aside, they will tell the story of a spoiled, petulant, dumber-than-a-rock orange man in way over his head with not a clue about what he's doing. Best sellers will abound and we will be able to laugh about it from the safety of a new president. That is, if we live through this.
I wonder if he's grabbing any women in the White House, between one-page, triple spaced executive orders?
I wonder if he's grabbing any women in the White House, between one-page, triple spaced executive orders?
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