Last year I reread “The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich” by William Shirer. I was dumbfounded just how similar the Nazi’s rise to power resembles Trumps Rise to power. It’s much easier to reach someone via hate than via decency. My Grandfather, who worked alongside General Clay in Germany after World War II, always cautioned us not to think what happened in Germany could not happen here.
57
You can not deal with a bully and his/her evil cohorts by being civil, nice and singing Kum ba ya songs.
You deal with a bully by equal and opposite force, by learning from and using his/her tactics against them and by crushing them with the same lack of humanity and concern that they show to others.
No one defeated Hitler by acts of kindness or by turning the other cheek.
Resist at any opportunity, at all times and with great and unyielding effort!
32
Would love someone to tell me how five or six thousand half-starved brown people, walking through Mexico on their way to the U. S., how those five or six thousand ragged refugees could possibly represent the EXISTENTIAL THREAT to 320 million of the richest, most powerful people on Earth that Trump and Company say they do!
As Lawrence O'Donnell put it, on MSNBC: "These five or six thousand people are a 'grain of sand' on a 'beach!'"
And yet, we're told that that single "grain of sand" should have the rest of the "beach" quaking in its boots!
Are we really that stupid?
45
Nov 6th: vote Republican= vote Absurdistan. vote Democratic=vote for common human decency
14
You left out the hacking and meddling of Julian Assange, James Comey, Benjamin Netanyahu and Vladimir Putin in the 2016 American Presidential campaign and election.
They picked Trump by inflaming and influencing his white supremacist nationalist right-wing misogynist xenophobic bigotes racist base. Trump won 63 million votes including 58% of the white voting American majority.
But the real steal is what Trump is hiding from the American people in his personal and family income tax returns and business records. Trump solemnly swore to preserve, protect and defend the Trump Organization profits arising from his occupation of the White House.
16
Trump's the name---hatred's the game.
17
Per President Trump’s admonition, I will not compre him to Hitler. But, I used to wonder how the Germans — cultured, civilized — could fall prey to such hatred and mistrust that led the Third Reich to power. I wonder no longer.
23
Well, we're all agreed then that the GOP must be voted out!! It will be interesting to see on November 7th whether enough Americans could be bothered to do so.
In a democracy you get the democracy you deserve, and I have a terrible feeling in my bones it's all going to end in tears; I still can't get over the fact that so many women voted for the Pu$$y Grabber in Chief!
19
Here's Mark Twain, satirically summing up a candidate's reaction to losing: "The people have spoken, the bastards."
But seriously...
The reason Trump's tactics work so horribly well is that, over the years, too much of the public has become ignorant, superstitious and vengeful. This evolution has not been random, but deliberate, as the forces that once supported slavery have engaged, since they lost the Civil War, in tearing down the institutions that further the higher ideals embodied in our founding documents.
And sadly, the Constitution itself contains a poison pill which locks in disproportionate power for the least educated, most anti-government and most racist parts of our country. The Senate is a body which represents states, and not people, and can essentially trample the public will. So in a very real sense, we do not really have a government of, by and for the people, but of, by and for a distinct minority of the people who share an ignorant and insular view of the world.
The South never got over losing the Civil War; and now, by steadily subverting American ideals, they've actually won it. In the end, I believe, the "peculiar institution" of slavery will bring down our democratic republic.
18
What seems clear to me and sends my trump loving "friends" to rolling their eyes is that we are still seeing the backlash of 8 years of an African American president. All those disenfranchised white men (and surprisingly women), those men wanting women to go back to being barefoot and pregnant instead of competing for their jobs, all the crazies worried that the government will take their guns and that brown immigrants are stealing the jobs that they most definitely don't want to do. They have an outlet, a mouthpiece, a kindred spirit in trump. He says what they feel out loud; they support him because they think he loves them. Growing up in NY and knowing trump's history, nothing could be further from the truth. trump hates the poor except in ways he can cheat them. He hates people of color, except in way he can use them to his advantage with the people that believe minorities are taking their jobs. I don't know exact statistics, but trump won many of the red states where education is at its lowest level in years. He makes them feel cared for, listened to, coddled. Much like he has his entire life. How the disenfranchised poor have been brainwashed to believe that this pseudo billionaire/millionaire cares about them is beyond credibility. I guess it's true that if you say the same thing over and over, someone is bound to believe it. I sincerely hope that everyone votes in November. This really IS the most important election in my lifetime!
25
You can draw a straight line from the lies of Reagan to the lies of the bigot in the White House. By and large though no matter what the bigot says the media is reluctant to call him a liar; doesn’t seem to matter how large the lie is.
On the political side of things democrats always fail the country and ignore the rule of law. Under the U.S. Constitution (see article 6) and international law Bush II and Cheney etc. should have been charged with war crimes. Obama failed to do so despite admitting the previous administration “ tortured some people.”
After obstructing everything Obama proposed to alleviate the worst financial crisis since the great depression and every judicial nominee put forth including not even holding a hearing for Merrick Garland you would think during this administration Senate democrats would have ground the proceedings to a halt. But no.
Democrats always bring a knife to a gunfight. Until the republican party is forced to pay a price for what they have done nothing in this country will change and the democratic party along with the media are unwilling to do what is required.
9
A good rule of thumb during the trump Administration:
Watch what a hustler does.
Listening to what they say is optional.
7
Trump and his enablers flame the culture wars.
Making America Hate does NOT Make America Great!!
12
I like the New York Times. However, as difficult as it is, I think op-ed writers should attempt to be apolitical when writing about our healthcare system, which is a mess.
George Soros was indicted for insider trading and you and other economists have had your differences with him among others.
Your honesty makes life more bearable for people like myself, attempting to make informed voting decisions.
As stated elsewhere, GOP now more accurately stands for Gaggle of Pinocchios.
8
The lying is mind-numbing and disgraceful. I've watched ads and had my mailbox here in Colorado stuffed with flyers from the local GOP congressman telling us what a horrible person his opponent is. Not a single word about policy or plans. And as far as those GOP members of congress who are not running this time around?We've had millions of military men and women in our history lose limbs and lives to protect our country. The current crop of spineless GOP congress members are worried about losing their jobs. This, despite not having to ever worry about health care if they did lose their jobs. I'm sorry, but I've come to the conclusion that there are a lot of stupid people out there and the GOP is counting on them.
13
Let's remember that lately, only a small number of Americans have actually voted! There's enough of the populace frightened of "illegals of a different color" and the same believe the daily 9-hour marathon of upside-down "facts" by Kilmeade/Limbaugh/Hannity and add a few who think they'll save on taxes, and voila! - Republicans win.
5
Can anyone tell me why Trump is not being charged with incitement to violence?
12
I glanced at Fox News Wed. night to see if they were covering the bomb scare which they were not of course. But they did introduce 1 of their "experts" on the caravan situation while prefacing it by asking "Why are Democrats silent about this?" with the expert making a shush sound while grinning. I couldn't stand to watch his "report" but it was obvious that the Republicans are promoting a line that the caravan was started by a group of mean old Democrats trying to bring more criminals into the US so us white law abiding citizens need to stand up to defend our country from these horrible people. Then you realize that it's no wonder why the bomber and other neocon nuts are trying to kill liberals.
8
Pres. Trump is the ultimate victim. The news media is against him when they quote his lies, that makes the media the enemy of the people. The migrant coming from horrible conditions are against Trump and embarrassing the poor president. The people want health care which not his policies so Trump is forced to lie and say that he wants to ensure everyone, see the people are making him lie. Poor President Donald Trump, you must feel sorry for hiim.
Dr. Joseph Kafer
3
“Well, you know, there’s a double-occupancy cell with Hillary Clinton,” Cruz said in Georgetown, Texas. “Y’all are gonna get me in trouble with that.”
And so Sheriff Cruz christens "Lock Him Up" as the Republican Anthem of Texas.
Instead of taking the initiative to treat the already festering sore of "Lock Her Up", Doc Cruz prescribes the next "joke" and blames its spread on his town folk.
That reckless huckleberry politicking demonstrates the difference between a Boss Hogg and a Beto O'Rourke.
7
Thank you Paul. The door to closet racism has widened. As I pondered the current situation with Trumputin the name McCarthy and McCarthyism of the past came to mind. Went to Wikipedia and pulled up Joseph McCarthy - former Republican Senator from Wisconsin. Senator for 10 years - 1947- 57. Interesting - people need to read the write up. Proof positive that history does indeed repeat itself. Think that Trumputin designed his personna after the example of McCarthy. Private Bone Spurs a clone to Tail Gunner Joe. All the methods and characteristics are there. Just substitute Donald Trump for Joe McCarthy as you read through the article. Enjoy.
1
health care reform is derailed by a failure of both parties to understand the true nature of the health care market. both parties have conducted their debate based on the premise that the markets for health care are characterized by free market capitalist principles. this is absolutely not the case. instead the markets are based on 4 interlocking govt sanctioned monopolies. Doctors enjoy a govt protected monopoly to practice medicine, and a govt protected monopoly to decide who can geta medical license. Doctors also enjoy a govt protected monopoly on access to prescription medicine, and pharmacists a govt protected monopoly to dispense it. Insurance companies enjoy a government protected monopoly to sell insurance. US Pharmaceutical companies enjoy a govt protected monopoly to sell drugs in the US. to say that these govt granted monopolies exist isnt advocating that they all be removed. however it is essential to recognize them for what they are if the two main purposes of health care reform, cost containment and guaranteed access, are to be achieved. usually when govt provides an industry a protected monopoly as in the case of utilities it creates a commission to control prices and ensure quality of service.going to a single payer system would not solve these problems. the entire range of costs; doctor salaries, medical school fees, pharmaceutical costs, shared pharmaceutical development costs, supplemental insurance costs will all have to be taken into consideration.
2
"Conservatives" are driven by fear.
Every Republican position is a lie.
"Conservatives" believe "testimony by authority" over science.
Since they "know" their god is on their side, every argument takes a similar vein, it's faith based belief. no evidence needed.
Republicans are just enriching the already rich, since they are the ones who financed the research, so they KNOW what's coming, and are trying to own every resource, "so our kind will survive the looming population apocalypse".
WE NEED BIG GOVERNMENT, TO PROTECT US FROM REPUBLICANS.
3
I prefer, “If they go low, we go with the truth.” Sadly, going “low” works with about 35% of the population who seem to have some predisposition for the Trump cancer. But many of these people will find that facts do matter when Trump’s decisions & Mr. Darwin catch up with them. For now Trump/GOP rely upon epithet politics which has no requirement that they defend, debate, or even explain, anything. This is fine with them (and doesn’t bother their supporters) … for one, they do not have to defend the indefensible, and, two, they prefer that their supporters not think, just vote … they are happy to do the thinking for their supporters.
Trump/GOP isn’t a group that is interested in true political representation to uphold our Constitution for the benefit of our nation as a whole, they are just in it for themselves and their donors. This is not intelligent governance, but political theater by some very poor actors.
Remember, if Trump/GOP had worthwhile accomplishments and policies they would be bragging about them constantly. There is a reason they are not doing so.
The only answer to the lies & distortions of epithet politics is to respond with facts and the truth, to call out the lies for what they are. That Democratic candidates & leadership are not doing this at each and every opportunity is disheartening. They cannot allow lies to control the conversation.
1
Hate to break it to you but the reality is that illegal immigration IS a matter of policy. Setting aside the inherent disrespect in simply ignoring another country's immigration laws and expecting to do so with impunity, the more poor, unskilled migrants that pour into our country the higher the price tag of health care soars as we have to provide care for ever more people while ERs are further overrun.
Meanwhile this influx of migrants also means more money needs to go to schools, to infrastructure, etc to handle the population increase which further dilutes the funding pool to cover the cost of healthcare.
Let's be quite honest here - these migrants are coming here in part because no other western nation would have them. Most Western countries use a points based system that prioritized educated, wealthy, skilled migrants. No country recognizes regional crime as a legitimate cause for refugee status. And every other nation seems to have the right to actually enforce their immigration laws without being labeled as racists.
If it's policy you're after, Paul, maybe consider the continued financial impact of illegal migrants who don't pay taxes, lack the skills for a modern economy and will soon be competing for ever fewer labor jobs as automation continues to displace unskilled workers.
2
What makes you and I irrational and totally compliant to the wishes of those we like?
Hatred and anger. They are the keys to conquering the human mind as carefully cultivating people by using these keys render a person totally loyal because that hatred and anger satisfies a need in everyone's instinctive primitive deep underlying character.
Hatred and anger are basic psychological keys that have been relentlessly cultivated by Trump in the most sinister ways just as it has before in other nightmares of history.
At this point, perhaps the best way to help those seduced by their basic instincts is to teach them they are being manipulated by professionals.
5
My local public radio station has been following the caravan from Honduras and interviewing the migrants. The migrants tell reporters that they heard about the caravan on social media, often citing FB or they learned about it from friends and family who learned about the caravan on social media. I felt like a conspiracy theorist when I said that the magabomber would have a maga hat in his closet. But I was right so I feel emboldened to speculate that perhaps Russians or possibly Americans working for Trump or the Republican Party spread rumors of a caravan on Honduran social media as an October surprise.
1
Suppose George Soros really did pay people to protest Brett Kavanaugh's SC nomination. Why is that not OK when it's fine for the Koch Brothers to pay Republicans to attempt the repeal of Obamacare, or to give multi-millionaires a huge tax cut?
10
Mr. Krugman on target, as almost always. Also to be noted that he is an excellent writer.
The behavior of the extreme right, which has taken over the Republican Party in full by now, is beyond either comprehension or belief.
The person who apparently has sent the pipe bombs to the individuals/organizations that are repeatedly targeted viciously and falsely by Mr. Trump during his white supremacist tribal meetings, long the favorite haunt of Mr. Trump while he otherwise completely ignores his presidential responsibilities, is a full-bore "deplorable" in the Trump supporter mold. He comes with MAGA hat, of course, and Trump-supporting stickers on his vehicle. Trumpist to the core and exactly the kind of person that Mr. Trump's intentional vitriol stirs up to violent action.
4
Paragraph 2 is problematic. It is legitimate for Americans to resist illegal immigration and, indeed, much immigration in general. The world is getting hotter, more polluted, more miserable. If we let in too many people, we will inevitably also go down the hole.
Nothing can be done for most of the poor countries. Expect massive die-offs. We might be able to save ourselves but probably not.
You haven't seen anything yet. Expect a militarized border here and in Europe within the decade. Machine gunners in watchtowers, the whole nine yards.
I agree with Krugman's other paragraphs.
1
"Let’s not romanticize the past. When Reagan talked about welfare queens driving Cadillacs, or a “strapping young buck” using food stamps to buy steaks, he knew exactly what he was doing."
Krugman, I lived next door to a welfare prince on the near east side of Detroit. At the beginning of the month he would offer to sell food stamps to me. Near the end of the month he would ask for money because as he would say: his "mother is hungry". In the interim there was a good deal of partying going on.
You are correct, Reagan knew exactly what he was doing. He would touch on topics liberals felt were off-limits to discussion.
Unfortunately it wasn't until WJC that meaningful welfare reforms would become law.
When Reagan referred to the Soviet Union as an "evil empire" he was again, spot on. Liberals were dumbfounded. The revolutions of the late 1960's and 1970's established you could not vilify the Soviet Union. It jus wasn't done. Guess again.
Reagan knew what he was doing. We don't have to romanticize anything about it.
"At the same time, the mainstream G.O.P. has gone all in on the kind of conspiracy theorizing — tinged with anti-Semitism — that used to be restricted to the fringe. For example, not only Trump but also senior senators like Charles Grassley have bought into the false claim that people protesting Brett Kavanaugh were paid by George Soros."
I wonder - how many have truly believe in the conspiracies and how many just find them useful tools to keep the base fermenting?
1
Why don't Republicans what all Americans to have affordable health care?
2
Gerrymandering has no effect whatsoever on electing Governors—where Republicans have dominated in recent decades.
Even before Trump, the Republican leadership was utilizing the psychological keys of hatred and anger to fool the followers into thinking that the Affordable Care Act, also known as "Obamacare" was bad for them. The followers didn't realize that the loss of their health care insurance would reduce their lifespans and result in less than optimal health through care. The Republican leadership fooled the followers into disliking health insurance that could save their lives and prevent bankruptcies from inevitable health problems. That is how powerful cultivated hatred and anger is. No one thinks clearly when enraged or full of hate.
Ultimately, the Republican base does not realize the Affordable Care Act was an act of caring for all Americans.
1
Health care and lies.
Many Americans are on medicare. But sometimes they find that when they move to a new community and try to find a new doctor (say a primary care physician or a specialist to treat an ongoing condition like vision problems (glaucoma) or cancer management) it is difficult to impossible to find a new doctor. A google search seems to provide an answer.
The American Association of Medical Schools states that there is a growing shortage of doctors in the US. This is due to an inadequate number being trained in medical schools.
This is part of a larger problem. States like California during the last several decades have shifted funding from university education to K12 to deal with growing populations, and in particular with large numbers of children, some recent immigrants. The result is that tuition at state universities has gradually increased. In 1965, tuition at the University of California was zero and there were scholarships to pay living expenses for students. Now students graduate owing a small fortune.
The most obvious cause is the influx of immigrants. The problem is that the immigrants have too many children and this forces the state to shift funding from universities to K12.
This seems to establish a direct link between illegal immigration and the exploding cost of health care in the US. It suggests that it may be liberals who lie when they suggest that the US has unlimited resources, and illegal immigrants impose no costs on the US.
1
Krugman claims that Republicans are creating a climate of hatred to avoid talking about healthcare.
It is clear that Trump is a terrible spokesperson for the right. But it is also clear that Democrats have been avoiding difficult questions when it comes to healthcare. I append a recent news article from the American Association of Medical Schools:
https://news.aamc.org/medical-education/article/new-aamc-research-reaffi...
This article predicts a shortage of up to 100,000 physicians in the US by 2030.
We might ask why there is such a shortage. And why health care costs are going up so much more rapidly than inflation in general.
The answer may be illegal immigration.
I have tried to make this point in previous letters to the editor. I looked at population growth as measured by the census and compared it with the production of new physicians.
During the period from 1986 to the present, the US population grew by 86 million an increase of about 36%. But the number of positions in US medical schools grew at about half that rate. That could explain the projected shortfall of doctors.
The problem is that an influx of illegal immigrants increases the number of poorly educated people with large families, and that in turn causes states to shift funding from universities to K12. Thus fewer students can afford medical school.
It is the Democrats who lie when they say that illegal immigration has no impact on availability of health care in the US.
1
Are you against for for taxes? Do you prefer, capitalism (free market: workers leave underpaid jobs, making employers raise wages, no need for welfare and taxes.) Or socialism (paid based on need, not work, requires taxation, strong government)
That's the republican advantage, most see it as that choice.
Do you or don't you like taxes?
(I support universal health care, above is the simple message for most.)
1
Seeing what is going on in the US is alarming to say the least. I can attest to the fact that health care is not free. Healthcare costs, but we also pay higher taxes on fuel, cigarettes, income etc. It is a choice. It seems to me that conservatives always want something for free; polluting (against carbon emission tax), not paying fair share of taxes by using loop holes; significant part of military spending corporate welfare/job subsidy. Not sure if tribal beats self interest.
1
Two years since the impossible taking over of the Presidency of the United States of America occurred, by an individual who openly shows his adoring followers, and a disgusted and disbelieving world, that he is the antithesis of all that America once stood for, such being empathy, decency, equal rights, equality, and all the dreams that caused millions to flee persecution and start over, swarming our shores and finding welcome at Ellis Island, going on to build what would become the greatest nation on Earth.
Nearly 100 years later, the America that welcomed those who gave it life and greatness, has become a stone cold predatory land, run by heartless predatory capitalists, all of whom, whether liberal or conservative, are entirely fixated and focused on owning and controlling the wealth of this nation.
Both parties have spent decades passing the baton back and forth, manipulating and managing the perception of the people, at times even working quietly together, so the long suffering poor and middle-class would remain blinded, docile and malleable, accepting any improvement in their lot, regardless how insignificant.
If the Democratic party had a soul, these last two years would have been spent in building on the Bernie Sanders platform, and letting the people know that beginning with these midterms, real change would begin to occur, a la the Sanders platform, but no, that would be loosening the purse strings, and such is no longer of interest to this Democratic party.
4
It's important to look to history when you feel despair over the current situation. First, our country has seen a time when average people were horrified over radical bombing campaigns and what many saw as an out of step Supreme Court. In the 1960s it was the Weathermen and "Impeach Earl Warren." Today it's Foxified crazies and the Heritage/Cato/Federalist Society Court infatuated with the era of quill pens and powdered wigs (and opposed to any government innovation post dating the Monroe Administration). Perceptions of extremism tend to inculcate a counter reaction and thus the eventual demise of extreme positions. Put simply: history shows the tide will turn. Second, this nation was founded not on despairing and lying down. We fight for our rights. To paraphrase Churchill, we will fight them in the House; we will fight them in the Senate; we will fight them in the state legislature and the courts; we will fight them in the city councils and the school boards. We will fight for our legacy and our rights. And we will prevail. The founders didn't give up when faced with the enormous task of getting rid of the British overlords. And we shouldn't give up in the face of Trumpism. Let's show what real patriotism is all about.
9
All very well and good, Cal Prof., but there exists one likely insurmountable impediment to restoring the fast fading dreams of our Founders, and that is the fact that throwing off the yoke of the British Empire was infinitely easier than what we now face 300 years on.
Our nations wealth, is now fully owned, and controlled by a few powerful elites, aligned with corporate America, who together have taken over the entire government, all three branches, and all agencies.
In addition to that, Police Departments throughout the nation have been nearly fully militarized, and given powers which no police department should have.
The masses are living in near penury, and the lucky are living paycheck to paycheck; the will to resist has been sapped, and along with it, the desire to vote, especially given that the majority have experienced that voting makes no difference.
We face one heck of a depressing future; personally I believe that change will not occur until the Masters go that one step too far ..., which they, in their hubris, always seem to do.
11
I am still bumping into Democratic Party leaning people who don't vote. And so many people who don't know their own country's political process. We are not a democracy but a Republic, and unlike a parliamentary system, coalitions need to be formed before the election. The fact that you can win without 50% of the vote is the fact that needs to be understood and worked with. The rules of the game are written and yet the left leaning moderates and liberals still don't understand. Form a coalition before the election and win!
7
Dr. K,
I caught President Obama's speech at a rally in Wisconsin for the Democratic candidates, on C-Span and he reminded me of the new G.O.P. solution to the rising debt and interest payments on the debt is to cut back on Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. He clarified the economic history and the gains in employment during this term as the economy recovered from the Great Recession. He reminded the audience that the gains during the last half was greater than the gains under the Trump administration.
Hopefully, C-Span will continue to carry the Obama rally speeches as well as the Trump speeches.
13
@james jordan: Did Obama remind folks he did not keep the US safe from foreign attacks, contrary to what he claimed. I don't suppose he said anything about his part in the attempt regime change in Syria and the current disaster in Libya?
Don't suppose Obama said anything about a Reset Button, Hillary and that red line in the sand?
All disasters of Obama's making.
Is it only an apparition we're being asked to vote for either European-Americans or African-Americans? The two political parties seem to represent one or the other of these groups of our citizens. Is this possible? Even the major issues appear to favor one or the other group. It seems frighteningly wrong to ask us to make such a choice.
Some days I think we all need to join the organizations whose policies we oppose. If we all became NRA members, for example, we might change its positions with which we disagree. We might, e.g., all become Republicans - a one-party system - and settle our differences from within and in primaries. This might stop this disastrous requirement that we are forced to choose between two groups of American citizens.
1
@PayingAttention
You had a one party system in the south for a hundred years, with discrimination and voter suppression. Read Robert A Caro's excellent series on the career of Lyndon Johnson, specifically the race for the Democratic nomination against Gov. Coke Stephenson of 1948. All the Republicans did, starting with Richard Nixon in 1968 was to reverse the parties. It is quite fascinating that Johnson, warts and all may go down as the best and most positive president on the social front.
4
I once lived in a community in Vermont where joining the opposition worked extremely well. After conflicts arose, Cross country skiers in the town joined the local snowmobile club, actually outnumbering those who owned machines. It was worked out how to groom both cross-country tracks and snowmobile trails alongside each other. The arrangement worked well. Trust and understanding increased, and the entire trail system expanded.
4
It is my fear that when trump supporters finally realize that they've been royally had, there will be no recourse - for them or the rest of us.
Republicans have become ruthless in their focus on total power, permanently, regardless of cost. As Davd Frum stated, (paraphrasing here) if conservatives can't win democratically, they will reject democracy. It appears they already have.
Now that they've packed the courts with like minded hard right judges, they will dictate the law. Key word here is dictate. Trump aspires toward dictatorial authority. He is a cruel, vengeful man, completely devoid of honor, empathy, kindness, generosity or any redeeming qualities.
If he is not stopped on 11/6, we may never recover, as he and what constitutes the current republican party will have cemented one party rule. We may no longer have elections, trump may refuse to step down. God forbid, but should that come to pass, it's checkmate - game over for democracy.
10
The main way Republicans can "get close enough to cheat" is because nearly 50% of the eligible electorate doesn't vote. We know who these people are because we know that in the US voting has always been skewed by income levels: the less you have the less you vote. These are largely working class people of all ethnic backgrounds, and though many of them used to vote, mostly for Democrats, they have become depoliticized. How has this happened? Ironically, polls of non-voters show they support a left-wing economic agenda in higher numbers than the vaunted "likely voters", which makes sense given their growing immiseration. Unfortunately, the Democratic leadership no longer offers them the things they say they want because it heartily endorses neoliberal economics, and since unions have collapsed under a corporate assault abetted by state and national governments Democrats have become dependent on corporate campaign financing, reinforcing their embrace of economic austerity for working people. Any political entity that takes up the left-wing agenda non-voters want could surely mobilize at least a fraction of them, and that would be enough to give Democrats a national majority for a generation. Will Democrats do so? So far there isn't the slightest sign that they will. So getting "close enough to cheat" will keep Republicans electorally competitive for quite a while to come.
8
It will take a catastrophic event, or series of events, to allow the country to return to decency. This will not happen before the upcoming mid-term elections, and might not happen even soon after Trump is re-elected in 2020. But without such a catastrophic event, such as the Great Depression, a war initiated by Trump, or a massive takeover of US industry by the Chinese, things will not change. The normal mentality, understanding and appreciation of facts by too many Americans allow the status quo to continue. But sooner or later they will "pay the piper", the "chickens will come home to roost". It will happen.
7
@J K Griffin Many of us are still in the Great Recession. Our economy is not so great.
I haven't yet understood how someone who has never paid for health insurance but finds themself with a serious condition that will cost huge sums, can suddenly jump into a plan as though they were perfectly well. If their premiums are adjusted to their condition, it makes sense. What I also don't understand is why someone before Trump hasn't done what he says he wants to about medicine cost. A medicine that 13 pills would cost $ 0.76 in April of 2010 went to $53 dollars fo 13 pills in October of 2010. Today 2 pills cost over $300. In Europe 2 pills would cost $0.04. This has happened to many generic medicines. Medicines that can help prevent stoke in patients with Afib cost about $150 for a thirty day supply. In Europe, about one half of that, As far as hospital cost goes, look at their charges for a Medicare patient. Then look at what the hospitals have to accept. The cost are manageable, but there has to be the will. Trump says he is going to try to do something about medicine cost. We can hope he is successful.
3
@Ron: As to your first question: That's why the ACA made it mandatory for people to get themselves insured, to prevent people to jump into a plan only when they get seriously ill. And there's always a transition period of course before things stabilize. The Republicans took that mandate away, but it was one leg of a three legged stool. And Republicans funded by the pharmaceutical industries always made sure that government would not be allowed to negotiate drug costs for Medicare. And I don't believe what Trump says he will do. That's only to get votes for now. Once he gets the votes, anything goes with him.
6
@Ron
If you recall, the ACA recognized your point about people wanting to wait until they became ill to try and buy insurance. The ACA said everyone must be in the game beginning at the start. The individual mandate and the other portions of the ACA would have eventually brought premiums down by averting the costs for conditions that would have been preventable is there had been access to timely care. It was working but the republicans attacked all of the
ACA and especially parts that helped individuals and small business to gain access to care through insurance. Trump and the GOP have already removed the mandate so everyone is going to pay out the teeth for insurance and pre-existing conditions will not be covered!!!! Trumps go it alone proposals will not see the light of day except for propaganda purposes. He has proven he is the most profoundly ignorant individual to occupy the Whitehouse when it comes to healthcare. (And most other subjects)
3
@Ron: Yeah right, just like he had a really great health care plan to replace Obamacare. You can hope all day long, but if you actually want to get something better, vote Democrat.
4
Trump focuses on hate and anger because his base likes that. They believe that he understands their anger, but he is simply manipulating them. I am convinced he couldn't care less about ordinary citizens and other people, such as green card holders.
The GOP has largely followed suit or kept quiet in order to pass its own agenda. Blaming Democrats works when people only watch Fox News and listen to people like Rush Limbaugh.
7
Clearly a dark period in American History. I am often mystified by the glowing optimism of those pundits who counsel, "Don't worry! The country has been through worse!"
I won't pretend that the Civil War was not worse. At the same time, Trump is unprecedented. Never have we had a president who was so dishonest, corrupt, divisive, childish, petty, untrainable, and unrestrained (by Congress).
Trump has inflicted enormous damage on the country in less than two years and that is with virtually everything breaking his way. No significant economic challenges. So if people claim "we have been through worse" I say, "yeah, but this clown is just getting started and he has plenty of time."
But let us not blame Trump for everything. He is simply an opportunist. The problem fundamentally is the electorate. The GOP has been lying like this for decades and it isn't like the truth is difficult to discover. In fact Mitch McConnell will occasionally tell you the truth: we are running the debt up so we can gut social welfare.
Frankly, I am not sure there is a solution to the problem of the electorate. We may just be too dumb to govern ourselves. Think about that. A good 45% is comfortable being governed by an incompetent, immoral fraudster. It is really horrifying if you think about it.
28
Remember what Gandhi said: “Poverty is a form of violence, the worst kind”
Before 2016 election I recall seeing graphs that showed the decline of health/well being of the white working class & it was the only major group with declining stats
This is tied to the phenomena of yesterday’s Time’s story on the decline of Sears & the reasonably generous social contract they had with their employees
The Graph in Figure 2 in this report from the Economic Policy Institute shows that the median wage has been flat since 1972 even though GNP has gone up 150% since then. https://goo.gl/w2btYa
Also note that in in the 28 years between 1945 and 1973 GNP had gone up 100% and wages for all groups across the boad went up in lock step with it
Quite simply this trend was not sustainable. That it lasted 45 years now without a major revolution is phenomenal. Sooner or later some monsters like Trump or worse would come along exploit this
Take another look at that graph. The inflection point is so hard it looks conspiratorial. It couldn’t have been sustained w/out being condoned by elites in both parties: malpractice & greed on their part
I have my own theory. RICO statutes went into effect in 1971 & declawed the mob. In the 50s unions had ties to the mob: if an Exec threatened to move a factory overseas he got a brick thru his living room window. A reminder that the opposite of cooperation was tit-for-tat violence. So for 45 years the violence has all been one sided. Now it’s spilling over
3
It would help if CNN and NYT did some reporting, instead of repeating the mantra 'desperate women and children fleeing unspeakable violence and poverty.' They claim mostly domestic abuse and gang violence, not political oppression. Surely,civil society outfits in those countries work to curb what seems like a culture of violence - how can US help? How can civil society and government agencies in US assist local actors to enact social and cultural change? What steps should US and OAS take to help create viable economies? Or are we to assume that emptying these countries of their people is the only solution? If the US is guilty of past misdeeds there: what were the wrong policies and when? What did we learn? How best can we course-correct? Democrats should spell out clear policies on immigration and foreign assistance, not issue vague sentimental statements. It is bothering to see CA citizens constantly depicted as either violent or helpless, their only salvation being to inspire compassion in the hearts of Americans and make it easy for American employers to hire them at the lowest possible wages, under the table, no benefits. Engaging with the people on the ground - those who do not leave - would open possibilities for meaningful change there and less smug handwringing here; for this, we need journalists to report, not pontificate: NYT should get out of the business of moralizing and do some in-depth unbiased factual investigative reporting in Central America.
2
@Georgiana Right on with both parties, which are two sides of the same coin. Mantras have there place.
We all know that deep down, Trump is completely elated that he, through his own words and actions, was able to convince a supporter to do something as heinous as sending bombs to his political enemies.
We all know, that if this country was in worse condition and did not have some institutions that check his power, this man would certainly be a Mussolini redux. Can you tell me anything about how he behaves that would gainsay that?
3
Mr. Krugman I agree with your column but it seems to me that Republicans have relied on Fear since Nixon and his law and order agenda. It just seems incredible that with the recent bomb mailings that trump can blame the Media? This guy loves the media, I think the media has created him! Forget Mary Shelly, we have our own monster destroying Democracy.
4
If no one you care about is ever going to be poor, or sick, or old, then vote Republican. Cutting Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid might save hundreds on your tax bill.
4
Social Security and Medicare are supposed to be self supporting with taxes paid by workers. If the liberal politicians have not over promised and taxed too little there is no need to make any cuts. Perhaps the plan is to back off on some benefits so that taxes on workers are not raised. Or maybe you want those payroll taxes increased.
Perhaps rescind that tax cut for the top five per cent and decrease the deficit. Easy money - except the top five per cent have bought politicians with campaign funding and they now obey their masters.
5
Social security would work a whole lot better if the cap was removed.
3
Thank you Dr. Krugman. You are becoming a serious advocate for rational policy on healthcare in America and you will go down in history for this. Those like you that have the compassion and social/moral understanding to see that capitalism must become a regulated economic system for all Americans will be remembered for centuries. You as an economist are aware that "socialism" is a word with multiple meanings and need not be of concern in this regard. Government can protect us from the many flaws of capitalism and we can have the best of both worlds --social medicine and capitalism. But health care is too important to be based on the profit motive. Imagine the huge health customer pool for making this work -- 325 million Americans. That is how insurance can be workable; large pools of people paying into it.
Most of the wealth nations of the world (and many who aren't wealthy) have national health systems. America with its ingenuity, imagination and economic experts like you, should be able to create one of the best health systems in the world. Please keep up the good work and be a leader in this field. We all thank you and look forward to the slow but steady creation of an efficient health system for all.
5
As a farmer who is struggling to survive, I agonize about how our government and political situation damages our country. I ran for our county Board of Supervisors in the two elections prior to the economic meltdown and stressed the need to work together, cut before forced to by the coming financial meltdown and to control conversion of farmland to housing and empty shopping centers. I passed there messages to the voters both in my native English and my Spanish learned in school, the fields and working in jobs supporting international customers. I lost twice. Even today people tell me they wish they had voted for me.
The policies of Trump I see harming farmers, farmworkers and our environment. Here in California we often go a bit overboard on regulation, but those affected usually get a voice. I look at politicians like Jon Tester, Dianne Feinstein, our current state assemblywoman and quite a few others who do look at compromise and commonsense as needed qualities to improve our country.
Obamacare (the Democratic and Republican compromise on coverage) far from great, but was the best that could be done and has been on balance very beneficial to the country. I talk to Trump supporters and point out issues, but never yell at them. Would that was the default for the national Republican party. Paul, please keep writing a balance of economics and political columns as we need both.
8
From a web site (Investopedia) catering to wealthy individuals with enough money to invest, the 5 top reasons for bankruptcy:
https://www.investopedia.com/financial-edge/0310/top-5-reasons-people-go...
#1 is Medical, followed by job loss, poor use of credit, divorce/separation
This shows how Republicans can get away with policies that aren't even good for their own. Most people aren't facing a medical problem at any given time. Yet, over time, most are likely to run into one. Only then do they discover how rigged the system is against the individual and in favor of insurance companies. Obamacare sought to get at this problem and save the individual from bankruptcy due to bad luck. The stated goal of Republicans is to take that protection away.
When you talk to any European they will tell you that it would be unthinkable to declare bankruptcy for lack of money due to a medical condition/accident.
10
The real problem is that unlike Democrats, the Republican plans allow those persons who are young and or healthy, to choose to pay a lower insurance premium that is more appropriate for the claims risk they present and to their individual needs. For example, young single men would not be required to pay for maternity coverage. All preexisting conditions would be covered and premiums kept lower on older and unhealthy persons by subsidizing the cost from the general treasury. That's what will happen with single payer. Did you think single payer would be free?
@Robert Winchester
Do you think our current patchwork system is free? Taxpayers subsidize insurance offered thru employment, as the portion paid by the employer is a tax deductible operating expense and the portion paid by the employee is not taxed as income. There are many examples of health care systems in other countries that are far less expensive with better outcomes.
All true Prof. Krugman. But I question how effective these arguments have been and will be in actually changing people's votes. How about hitting Trump at the level of "Lock Her Up!" and "Little Marco Rubio" and "Lyin' Ted"
Namely,
I think Elizabeth Warren has given Democrats a wonderful opportunity which, sadly, they haven't taken up. Trump challenged her to prove she had an Native American blood. She has just presented proof, and nominated I believe a Center for Battered Women to receive Trump's million dollar challenge.
Trump now has the opportunity to pay up and be a Loser, or refuse to pay and be a Welsher. Let's hear somebody shouting "Welsher" until he pays, then "Loser" if he does, or something appropriate if he denies DNA evidence.
2
Less than one one thousandth Native American. I wonder if future more precise tests show a far lower percentage. I wonder how many times she had the test done to get what she hoped was a favorable result.
Assuming the Democrats ever take over all three branches of government again, why don't they prioritize legislative fixes to the problems you mention? Why didn't they do this during Obama's first term? Do they assume they can use the same lack of laws to tilt the system in their favor, or did they just not have the foresight to dismiss the senate rules as the Republicans have done and pass legislative fixes to gerrymandering and voter suppression?
I agree with what Dr. Krugman has written.
But his arguments are irrelevant to Trump's base.
They want their economic status restored.
Trump [falsely] promised to do that.
HRC told them they would never regain their lost economic status and she ridiculed them and talked down to them and called them " deplorables."
But "deplorables"VOTE and their votes caused Trump to win Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan Wisconsin [64 electoral votes] Obama carried all these states in 2008 and 2012.
If the Dems do not propose and support programs to help the deplorables they will continue to vote to support demagogues like Trump.
Such programs exist and they do not require coal revival or environmental regulation gutting.
HRC did not propose them and she lost.
Maybe Dr. Krugman will.
5
While canvassing for Angie Craig, the Democrat running for Congress in my district against incumbent Jason Lewis, I have actually met two unicorns who voted for Obama twice and then voted for Trump. Believe it or not, I was excited to ask both of them why. And they both said they voted for Trump because they thought he would "shake things up." But they couldn't (or wouldn't) explain what exactly they meant by that.
One of them has tired of what's going on and regrets his vote. But the other hopes that Republicans run the table in the midterms so that things can get good and "shaken up." And before you accuse her of being a racist, I'll tell you that she's married to an African American and her kids are his kids.
If that's what we're up against, I'm pretty worried. But I'm still knocking on doors tomorrow . . .
5
And when they *do* talk about health care -- and some, like Leah Vukmir and Lt. Governor Kleefish here in Wisconsin, have to address it in their campaigns -- they lie about their newfound devotion to protecting pre-existing conditions and conjure up phony magic potions like "high risk pools".
3
President Clickbait's success is only made possible with help from the news media, including even the Times. Profits have never been higher and yes the stock market is great, or so we're told.
The stock market is a lousy measure of economic health as it only applies to those who own stocks. There are many other measures of economic health that for some reason the media avoids, probably because they require more explanation and would turn off readers.
Imagine this very newspaper without a mention of President Clickbait's antics at his rallies. It probably would not be widely read and advertising rates would plummet. If anything he should be paying the Times for all the free publicity.
Since we don't yet know if any of the mail bombs were actually able to detonate, it's a little silly to refer to "the attempted assassination of multiple prominent Democrats." Hyperbole, anyone?
1
No
3
Another reason Republicans win elections is that Democrats do such a poor job of telling middle class voters why they should vote Democratic. Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and the ACA were Democratic initiatives that Republicans opposed. Tell the voters over and over. Many probably don’t even know. Put the GOP on the defensive. Get them to play on your turf. Don’t let the GOP weaponize ignorance and hatred.
7
Dr. Krugman, I could not agree with you more. I have been apprehensive about the consequences of Trump's election since it happened. I'm no expert, but I have read a fair amount of 20th-century history, and the prospect is alarming.
Time for yet another re-read of Hofstadter's Anti-Intellectualism in American Life.
You've been teaching at Princeton and NYU. What do you think it would take to restore the ability to think critically to US voters?
3
A couple of years back I read an article in the Washington Post on Country Health Care Costs. The cost differential were substantial when compared with the US.
From memory I recall an Appendectomy in US $15,000, in Germany $5,000 and MRI in US $1,500, in Germany $300
I would guess if we could get our cost curves down to something similar to Germany it would go a long way to solving the Healthcare crisis in US.
3
I'm not sure what you mean by "And they will probably hold the House unless Democrats win by at least 6 percent." What is the 6 percent you refer to? Inevitably, though, it's the responsibility of the American people to educate themselves and to be critical thinkers, even if their public schools are failing them, in order to stewards of a democracy. When a politician demonizes an individual or a group, it should immediately inspire skepticism. It's ironic when Republicans cynically suggest that Democrats are communists, when their own party exiles its own members to political Siberia if they buck conservative orthodoxy on taxes and climate change.
In one way, the main stream press unwittingly became the enemy of the people by helping Trump get elected. Their constant coverage of Hillary's emails and their false equivalence with Trump's atrocities leveled the playing field for Trump. They continue this idiocy today by showing Trump's rallies and going on and on about the "caravan." They have rendered themselves Fox "News"'s right hand man. I can no longer watch the news, as it is playing havoc with my mental and physical health. It still pains me to remember Reagan's week-long funeral extravaganza. And the audacity to change the name of Washington National Airport, named after the father of our country, to Reagan Airport. The Republicans even proposed adding Reagan's likeness to Mount Rushmore. It makes me wonder how MSNBC pundits like Steve Smith, Nicolle Wallace, Rick Wilson, etc. could ever have been Republicans. What about that party ever attracted them?
2
Good column Dr Krugman -- nothing new (unfortunately!) but well put and deserving repetition.
I have a question: in all the coverage of the migrant caravan, I haven't seen any investigation of how this caravan was organized and paid for. You don't get thousands of people walking thousands of miles without preparation and supplies. Call me paranoid, but it strikes me as something a well-heeled political operative could arrange for the benefit of his masters.
Please ask the question of your journalist colleagues and encourage them to investigate.
1
@Richard Brown--Have you read anything about the caravan? It doesn't seem like it. Most of them literally have nothing other than the clothes on their backs. They are sleeping on the ground or in churches (if they're lucky). Good Samaritans are sharing sandwiches, water and sometimes rides. Nurses are volunteering to treat their dehydration and blistered feet from the sweltering heat. Many have already given up. They are harassed by police and residents. And this is not a one-off: these types of diasporas from Central America have been happening for years.
Organized, paid for, preparation and supplies? Please educate yourself.
4
Not sure any of this really explains Trump. At some point, you have to look at the people who voted for Trump and say they knew what they were doing. It was just a massive act of vandalism.
4
I don't feel hysterical about what we are calling the caravan but I am firmly opposed to letting it crash the borders of the United States for reasons that I consider legitimate and are not based on hatred or bigotry. Krugman has a point to make about shameful and distorted Trumpian public statements and those of some of his supporters. But an essay like this one that demonizes Krugman's political opponents sows fear and hatred among his political friends. Just read the comments and see what I mean. One leftist commenter makes a thinly veiled promise to take up arms and commit civil violence. That's the direction this country is spiraling in and that's what I fear.
2
@PWR
Have you ever looked closely at the statements of the 2nd Amendment people? The commenter you are referring to, has bought the 2nd Amendment people's argument and promising that that is a threat that works both ways. Try visiting the Fox News comments for an education on people threatening others!
3
Dr. K,
The irony of the Trump presidency is he blames the media for failing to recognize what he has done to improve the welfare of Americans. Media scenes from the campaign: debates with the other contenders for the GOP nomination, the GOP convention, and his attention-grabbing antics in debating Mrs. Clinton, one came away with the feeling that without the 24/7 attention of the media, this man would have never been elected President, even with the help of Russia.
HIs entertainer/distractor role has continued and he provides the grist for the highest ratings, greatest number of clicks than any other President in history. He is media's "dream" President.
The problem is: it does not appear that he has done anything to advance the welfare of the country. As far as I can tell, he is riding the Bernanke-Yellin economic recovery wave and he has accepted the poor advice of his advisors on trade, tariffs, et al, that has increased the cost of living for America's consumers, he ran up the interest payments on a swollen Federal debt from a huge unneeded tax cut awarded to the very wealthiest in our society, and he has given the incorrect impression that rolling back fuel use standards, and pollution controls on power plants, that he has done good for our economy and made it much more competitive in the global economy.
His talent as a distractor and his ability to capture the attention of the media has essentially dumbed down the public on the real problems we face.
1
So, If you only watch Fox "news" and only visit right-wing websites, how do we make any other information available to you? Also, how do we address the danger of untraceable voting machines in stats with "narrow" GOP victories? How do we reach those who stay home rather than vote?
3
I find it interesting that you and your colleagues have no mention of the fact that Trump said that there is no place for this in our society. You just harp on his disdain for the media. Trump might be a horror, however, you and your colleagues, on both sides, left and right, do everything you possibly can to inflame the rhetoric. I realize it sell papers, and it is all about PROFIT. However, for you to play the BLAME card, so to speak, is false media. You should be ashamed. You have an audience, to whom you should be preaching harmony and understanding. Yet, instead you promote vitriolic rhetoric. WHY?
1
It isn't as though the "right" is a monolith of a thoughtful middle class. What passes for the right wing is a group of angry and fed up white Christian citizens who follow Mr Trump because they mistakenly think he speaks for them. Certainly no one, but the right wing puppeteers even pretend to address their problems.
The rising stock market benefits only those who own stocks, but how many of Mr Trump's apparent base fall within that bloc? I suspect as many as there are millionaires which, as all of us know, is a handful of our 300+ million.
Let alone the poor, even moderately wealthy people don't own hotels, sports teams, manufacturing companies or keep their money in offshore accounts.
The Russians may have had a hand in our last election and appear to have a few fingers in this one, but the majority of those who were angry enough to vote for Mr Trump are hardly fans of Ivan. They may be chauvinists and the women who abide them, but the majority are as red white and blue as the flag they salute. He tapped into the undercurrent of distrust which he then used to mislead the dissatisfied into thinking he was one of them who through his hard work and smarts made the American Dream come true. Of course we all now know it was, as always, daddy's money.
The Democrats don't have a message because they believe the same as their counterparts, but are too enmeshed to admit it.
The disparity of wealth is ripping us apart and Mr Trump holds the bullhorn.
Vote women, November 6th
Check out businessman, Richard Master's perspective on Medicare-For-All, by Googling "Fix It Healthcare."
Here he details how MFA can provide health care for all American citizens and save $504 billion annually in overall health care costs. How about that, Republicans?
There are charts, graphs, and a You Tube video on the subject. Well worth a look!
3
One way to turn the tide is by removing from the hand of conservatives some of the weapons they use as wedge issues. The reactionary wave we are witnessing is not only in the US but all over the West and one common thread (along with globalization) is the perception of uncontrolled mass immigration. Right wingers will continue to take this issue and use it to bludgeon "bleeding heart liberals" stoking fear and resentment among the working class which was traditionally aligned with progressives. Here are some hard facts the Left needs to face: illegal immigration is illegal; immigration (both legal and illegal) will not stop any time soon so the question remains: where is the limit? The absolute commitment to preserve borders security needs to be clearly declared by progressive leaders who want to save half a century of progressive achievements and remove this issue from the Right's rhetorical arsenal. Sonia Nazario's article in today's Times is exemplary and so is John B. Judis' book "The Nationalist Revival"
2
Trump has never sought cuts to Social Security.
2
The greatest issue that gets no where near the coverage it deserves is the distorted representation we have in government thanks to the Republican efforts to the game the system in their favor. We're currently ruled by a majority-minority representing a minority of voters. Take the Kavanugh confirmation for example. Senate members representing roughly 40 million voters confirmed him to the supreme court on the slimmest of margins against the will of Senators representing more than 70 million voters. Our government has been captured through undemocratic means by a party acting against the will of the majority of Americans. Yet this is never talked about in any meaningful way in the news other than a NYTimes article here and there.
1
All of this makes eminent good sense and I would hazard that at least 60% of the country basically agree with it and are acutely embarrassed by the spectacle of Trump. After all its not like we are dealing with subtlety here. But perhaps 20% have (to quote John Meacham) decided to do a Faustian deal with the devil and for the sake of their 401ks are going along for the ride.The remaining 20% are out of reach. The thing is that Faustian deal looks to be about to come undone. Yes the S&P has risen as a result of the beneficial tax treatment of company earnings but that's a one time reset of stock values which unless it creates increased earnings won't be repeated and that seems unlikely since by now we should know trickle down never works. The S&P index as a mechanism for converting value into price looks broken- its movement is largely governed by algorithmic trading. A reasonable case can be made I think that the current consensus of continued global growth is shaky at best, think tariffs et al. But until this all unfolds you probably can't reach that 20%, although eventually you will.
For the moment my feeling is that if someone doesn't see this, I can't help them and my time is probably wasted even trying. Concentrate on getting the 60% to the polls and pray that this is enough to overcome the gerrymandering at least in the Congress; the Senate is so totally undemocratic that its probably out of reach fo a while.
1
Paul Krugman pays attention to both sides and that is how you begin to establish an informed opinion and perspective, of course knowledge of history past and present are also necessary tools. One point Dr. Krugman detailed was that Republicans will lie about their agenda and create false narrative for their opponents agenda, i.e, the notion that democratic leaders want open borders or the notion that if you are humane to an illegal migrant, you do not care about fellow citizens, the list is long.
The problem here is that like Trump, many supporters only listen to information that will fuel their beliefs. On one particular right talk show that I listen to, callers actually wanted to have all progressive cable channels removed from their cable subscription because they in no way wanted to watch much less support them. This is ignorance and to some degree belligerence. I listen to understand, without understanding we have what we now have.
RE: " they will probably hold the House unless Democrats win by at least 6 percent."
After the recent Presidential election and gerrymandering in other races I have asked the question here: "How much of majority do Democrats need to win?" because it has become clear that a simple majority is no longer sufficient for Democrats.
With all the voter suppression by the Republicans the question is also what percentage of turnout by the Democrats is necessary to overcome those who can no longer vote.
1
Thank you Paul Krugman for taking the time to reply to comments. I realize you cannot answer the thousands of comments but this engagement is great and I hope you can continue to reply to important points.
Could you comment on how much of an impact CMS being able to negotiate Medicare drug pricing would have? Regardless of the inaccuracy of Trump's estimate of savings, isn't this a step in the right direction?
Some parts of each of us have as sense of wanting to be decent to one another . . . to rely on the evolution driven civilizing instincts that enabled our species to collaborate and build our amazing civilizations. But, large other parts of our instincts remain from the warring troops of chimpanzees we've evolved from. And as Donald Trump, like megalomaniacs through history, has long discovered, it's not hard to provoke those warring instincts against "the other" by simply blessing their demonstration as acceptable and thus giving permission for them to blossom. Of course the Jews were Hitler’s other, just as dissenters are in Saudi Arabia, or the Uyghurs in China, or the free press in Trump's universe.
With the rise of the fundamentally decent Barack Obama to be an accepted leader, many of our instincts to war against "the other" were contained, but often quite resentfully. Those held-in resentments were easily stirred to be against immigrants, but much more currently and profoundly, against “the elites” who were building a civilization that many felt less and less a part of. The angry fact-less denunciations of Obama as a communist or "lock her up" are fodder to the resentful crowds that Trump lives to incite . . . to stir those fires of resentfulness.
Will the Lincoln’s better angels of our nature emerge as he stirred them during those last profound battles for them? Perhaps if we summon the courage to be the new abolitionists, or the reborn Freedom Riders or . . .
3
The incitement begins even before the crowds enter the Trump rally venues. The Trump rally on October 5 in Rochester sparked protests. I was not able to march with the protesters, but Star Tribune reported:
"Earlier in the afternoon, a large crowd of protesters marched through downtown Rochester holding Trump balloons and signs that read 'I am greater than fear” and “Remember to vote.'”
"The group stopped downtown, a block away from Trump supporters lined up outside the Civic Center, and chanted, “White, black or brown, all are welcome in our town.” Rochester police estimated about 500 people were in the march."
"Trump supporters were urged to not engage with the protesters. Recorded messages urged them not to touch protesters but to surround them and chant 'Trump, Trump, Trump' until they could be removed."
http://www.startribune.com/crowds-gather-in-rochester-ahead-of-trump-ral...
1
I'm glad to know this happened, as I've never seen any national (or even local, during local appearances) coverage of protests against the interminably occurring Trump rallies. Some might say that lack should promote less strife between Americans, but I feel better knowing about it.
1
I continue to be incredulous that an entire political party takes the position that access to health care shouldn't be a basic guarantee that comes with being an American. Yes, I'd be against a "government takeover of health care." I don't want to go to a government doctor or a government hospital with no alternatives. What we're talking about is health care finance: how to help people pay for health care or to pay for health care insurance. Of course it costs money. But it's vitally important. How do people justify this morally? People don't consume health care services because it's fun. They consume them when they need to due to illness or injury, or in the interest of remaining well.
5
@Cynthia
The healthcare available currently will not be available if their is single payer. That is the issue. There will be sufficient numbers of folks who will not work for the amount of money the government is willing to pay. Companies will not work for government pay.
1
What Paul Krugman says is true. Nevertheless, the Democrats have made themselves vulnerable. When class is the issue Democrats win. When race is the issue Republicans win.
Race is the Democrats' weakest issue. It is the issue where Democrat reforms have obviously failed, and where liberal hypocrisy is just as obvious. Since the civil rights legislation was passed and since the inauguration of anti poverty programs designed to help blacks, black rates of crime and illegitimacy have risen. Black academic performance has not.
Liberals praise school integration. Nevertheless, they avoid sending their children to public schools where the student body is largely black.
When I ask a white blue collar Republican why he votes Republican he does not tell me that strong labor unions force manufacturers to move production to low wage countries. He does not tell me that progressive taxation punishes success. He tells me what it was like attending a public high school where blacks were in the majority. He tells me about black crime. He, his friends, and his relatives have been victims. He tells me about jobs he did not get because of affirmative action.
These are legitimate complaints. Affluent white liberals, who live and work in safe, white neighborhoods, ignore them. Worse yet, they think anyone who raises them is immoral.
2
"Until recently, it looked as if the midterm elections might be defined largely by an argument about health care." FULL STOP
Now, on to hatred...
3
Thank you, Professor Krugman, from a historian, for getting so close and so often to the real dangers and for understanding so well how the fake ones are (and have been) used to obscure them. We are fortunate that we still regard our system as a democracy in which, by definition if not in practice, the laws are made by a majority of citizens and not by a demagogued 40% of them. Please hold on.
5
"So how do Republicans manage to win elections?" Simple, they cheat.
It would be fitting if the press would cover health care instead of concentrating on the immigrants moving toward our borders but like everything else, they only concentrate on ratings and money.
1
I've been puzzled for years why voters elect people who will work against their interests. Thanks for pointing out what you now make stupifyingly obvious. "...the strategy the right has been using for decades: distract working-class voters from policies that hurt them by promoting culture war and, above all, racial antagonism." Amazing how well it works but, as you point out, even the media falls for this distraction. No wonder voters lose sight of what really matters to them.
6
@Keith
I have asked myself the same question.The only answer I can arrive at is that fear and hate "Trumps" rational behavior.The very folks that put the Republicans in office are getting shafted the most. Loss of healthcare, the eventual loss of social security ,not to mention how farmers
are getting hosed from these trade wars. I don't get them either.
1
White working-class people are a lot less stupid than you think. Because the culture wars are more important to them than the economic wars are does not make them stupid. Yes, they traded their standard of living for a beer with Ronald Reagan and have been voting 60-40 GOP ever since, and they have no regrets. Reagan was a leader with the same values (and prejudices) that they have. Same for Donald Trump. That counts for much more than economics.
No point in preaching at them, don’t confuse politics with church. Don’t blame the Russians or Fox News either. Hillary was the problem, not her emails.
The Dems seem to understand what to do, namely run more candidates with lower middle-class credentials, people who grew up in a housing project or spent time in the military or are from the world of professional sports or maybe fast food.
The electoral college did what it was supposed to do, namely prevent a candidate with very strong but narrow geographic support from being elected. I can remember being grateful for it when George Wallace was running for president.
10
@kbaa Ironic that you think the white working-class is smarter than *you* think; then you list all the ways in which increasingly narrow-minded isolationism has created a segment of the population that regularly votes against its own best interests.
5
The National Popular Vote bill is 64% of the way to guaranteeing the majority of Electoral College votes and the presidency to the candidate who receives the most popular votes in the country, by changing state winner-take-all laws (not mentioned in the U.S. Constitution, but later enacted by 48 states), without changing anything in the Constitution, using the built-in method that the Constitution provides for states to make changes.
It simply requires enacting states with 270 electoral votes to award their electoral votes to the winner of the most national popular votes.
All voters would be valued equally in presidential elections, no matter where they live.
1
I have no choice but to watch Fox News at the gym. Today around 11 AM EST, they were determined to give full play to Trump's alleged effort to reduce prices for prescription medicine. He absurdly blames high US drug prices on subsidies to foreign countries; big pharma has to recoup lost profits by passing the cost on to US consumers. And no matter that news on apprehending the bomb suspect was breaking, they insisted on playing up the RX proposal. How stupid do they think we are?
6
The Republicans have nothing else to run on so the widespread use of FUD (Fear, Uncertainty & Doubt) is necessary toget people to do what the Republicans want. In this case it isgetting people to vote against their own self-interest. And thanks to our merry media is seems to work more often than not.
3
What would have happened if Lincoln allowed the South to secede? Perhaps the CSA would have torn itself apart in its own hatred or have been ostracized by the rest of the world, but the rest of the country would be spared from the internal divisions that now plague us. Perhaps we should ask them to secede now.
3
The rest of us? What about the slaves? White privilege rears its ugly head yet again?
2
Grassley, et al, are most certainly patterning their campaign against George Soros on the events of Orwell's Animal Farm, now a modern parable for these times, despite originally being an allegorical satire based on Stalin's Russia in which a cabal of devious pigs (Freedom Caucus ?) hijack a populist movement (Tea Partiers ?). It appears that the Senator and other wingers have chosen George Soros as their very own Snowball, a loyal and generous member of the community, who was wounded in battle in defense of the Farm, unlike the porcine dictator, Napoleon (The Donald ?), who ran and hid until the danger was over (bone spurs, perhaps?). Snowball eventually flees for his life after being demonized ("Lock him up!" ?) by Napoleon for political purposes. Poor Snowball becomes the ultimate scape-pig and, despite being miles away, is blamed for everything that goes wrong at the farm no matter how absurd the evidence. Any reasonable explanation is countered by the oft-repeated slogan, "If Napoleon says it, it must be true," (Fox News ?) quickly silences any dissidents. Orwell's purpose was to warn against demagoguery and a government based on lies. Distopian fiction? Sounds like it's happening for real.
4
The only problem with that story, you have to be able to read. Everything today is visual being fed to the people. Many people, too many , like our President don’t read.
Immigrants, legal in particular are under siege because of attacks from trump and his supporters across the country. Children, even babies, are still being seperated from their parents at the border. They are in cages.
Vote for the democrats
3
I have this great app which I activate every mornings to help me breed slowly and profoundly to start my mornings as stress free as possible ... I'm very concerned about Dr Krugman's anxiety!
I have been looking at state death rates by race and age and I have found a general pattern of rising death rates for whites aged 25 thru 64. For example the crude death rate for Texas white non-Hispanic females this age has gone up from 269.5 to 341.4. The change for males of the same background was from 454.6 to 539.0. At the same time, the crude death rate for white Texas females older then 64 went down from 5060.5 to 4073.4. For the same demographic group of males the decline was from 5637.4 to 4575.6. Most of the states that start from A to T show very similar changes in whites in the same age groups, they are the ones I have looked at. DC is the major exception where the death rate declines in both age groups.
1
And what if by hook or crook, republicans maintain control of both the House and the Senate? While I don't think that republicans losing control of the House of Representatives would end the accretion of power to the right, it would show that our democracy can still respond. If republicans maintain their majorities in both houses of congress, I will truly fear for our future.
6
Among all the columnists I have read recently Dr. Krugman is among the very very few who has recognized that the emergence of
Trump and Trumpism was not a result of some recent mutation(s) in Republican ideology. The gene(s) responsible for Republican ideology are essential: without them the party as we know it would collapse. It starts to reveal itself during the roaring 20's with Harding, Coolidge and Hoover who covered the range from crook to incompetent. Its efflorescence, however began with tricky Dick, the Godfather of the Republican clan. Reagan and Atwater ushered in the modern iteration of Republicanism with their "Southern strategy and not so covert racism. What is risible, at least to me, is watching the #never Trump Republicans wring their their hands and shake their heads when airing their views of the Donald. They can't believe he is a real descendant or at least the culmination of half a century "Hatred and Lies".
47
@Pessoa
You do know that these southern racists did not come from nowhere? Until the late 1980s, the southern racists were solid Democrats. The civil rights legislation of the 1960s passed only because of northern Republican support. For years, the Democrats' leader in the Senate was a former member of the KKK (Robert Byrd).
Maybe a more honest history of the parties is in order.
1
I agree with the basic thesis here, Dr Krugman, but the challenge for Democrats in responding to hysteria about the caravans is how they do it without appearing to hold the door open to untrammeled immigration, which few Americans want. Do you have an answer?
3
Dr. Krugman, you neglected to mention the Senate. A Senate that approves all Federal programs and resource allocation, and also controls the judiciary - and that overwhelmingly favors small red states - is institutionalized taxation without representation. When and how will we establish real democracy, one person one vote, and a Congress in which California, with 12% of the nation's population, will have 12% of the vote?
One suggestion: California and other large states could power aside the IRS through legal action and collect all Federal taxes on behalf of Washington. Then they could use that financial leverage to demand a Constitutional Amendment getting rid of the oligarchical slave-era remnants of the Electoral College and unrepresentative Senate, and outlaw gerrymandering while we are at it.
1
This is way too alarmist. I think, the other side is a bit misguided and a bit over the top, but this op-ed would have been a lot more convincing it weren't so alarmist. I know, it might seem that the other side is acting in bad faith at this point, but that is only because they don't want to anger the bully. The common folk on the other side are angry at the elites and they do not trust these prognostications that come from them, and all I see here is just preaching to the choir. The same fearmongering the other side uses is used here and this undercuts Paul's argument and moral superiority. Now granted, I do not think that Paul is acting in bad faith, I just think that he really cares, but the other side does not see that, because of the alarmism. I do not often comment on political topics, but I just could not help myself this time. If you tone down the alarmism, I am certain the middle-of-the-road guys will stop and listen, but right now this message only reaches the extremes, which is not conducive to civil discourse or America's well-being in general. But still, Paul is a really smart and discerning guy, and I just wish he could step back and see the bigger picture. This election is important for sure, but in the long-term, figuring out how to best take care of the poorer and least fortunate Americans is going to be a lot more important. You're not going to stop the bully, but you can save America by demanding that the elites take care of those who were left behind.
2
Unfortunately, if EVERYONE does not go out to vote (both Republicans and Democrats) the Republicans will continue to control all levers of Federal government power until the younger generation votes them out in 15 - 20 years. I hope by then it will not be too late. I have found that there is really no way to convince a Trump supporter that even one of Trump's policies might be bad for the country.
5
Democrats need a clear set of talking points to distinguish them from Republican party ... and then just refuse to talk about Trump. You simply cannot engage with gaslighting on his own terms.
For example - how to respond to the "caravan":
"You know, [inserter name of interviewer/reporter], these people are refugees. The Republicans refuse to engage on real immigration reforms or come up with solutions to decrease crime and violence in Latin America. They just want to build a stupid wall. So, let Trump build his wall, provided Mexico pays for it, as he promised would happen. In the meantime, Democrats are looking for comprehensive solutions that combine compassion for people in need but also address practical issues on border security, DREAMERS, and other undocumented immigrants living in the U.S."
Ditto health care. Ditto NATO and our real allies. Ditto the environment. Etc.
Is it too hard to just stick with the program and not get in a frenzy over what the Trump administration and his media proponganda outlets are saying on a given day?
5
@Gregg54
I agree that it's essential to engage in substance rather than just rhetoric. So I have a few questions for you.
- What solutions would you propose to decrease crime and violence in Latin America?
- Do you believe that it's the U.S. responsibility to police crime in Latin America?
- Would you support a military invasion of those countries if that's what it takes?
- Should the U.S. and its citizens bear the consequences of failed Latin American states? Of failed nations in other parts of the world?
Grab a clipboard get some signatures and put yourself on the ballot please!
1
@PWR
The US and it's big corporations are already responsible for the failed Latin American states via their successive puppet dictator torture states.
Wasn't our country founded on "No Taxation without representation"? It's time we bring that back. Then let's see what the Republican Party says...
25
I think the POT (Party of Trump) has opted for don’t tax and spend! A sure fire means of eliminating government as we know it.
10
@VRL
Does that mean I get to vote both in the state I live and the state in which I work? Both states impose taxes on me.
The Republicans masochistic base have and will continue to vote Republican no matter the personal cost to them, nor how odious their policies. They cheered getting rid of affordable health care which Republicans campaigned on and vowed to destroy, they fear the threat of a migrant caravan which Republicans tell them is shielding terrorists, they shrug off separating immigrant children from their parents, they chant "lock her up" aimed not only at Hillary Clinton whose life was recently threatened, but also at Dr. Ford whose life has also been threatened, and who was undoubtedly the victim of sexual abuse. They embrace the hatred, racism, misogyny, and xenophobia fomented by an amoral president playing to an audience he has no interest in beyond their applause and worship and votes.
The more the Republicans take away from their base, the fiercer their loyalty. Go ahead take away their Medicare, Social Security, their access to affordable health care. Feed them fear and mistrust of people whose skin is not white, and whose religion is not Christian. Their base revels in it. How do you overcome that? We have not had an answer to that question in all the years the Republicans have comfortably kept this base of voters eager to accept authoritarian control of their lives.
6
C'mon Paul be fair. The Dems aren't dwelling on immigration as an issue and it will not go away.
3
Have the Dems tried organising families which have individuals with pre-existing conditions, to create a Tea-Party type of movement, which, if covered widely by the 'sane' media, might shame healthy young folk into insuring themselves. That in turn would enable Insurance Companies to provide affordable coverage for these unfortunate individuals. In short, resuscitate the Social Contract that makes for a cohesive society. The Republican rallying cry is 'Freedom'. The Democrats' should be 'Unity: We stand together, or we fall together.' The Social Fabric, as of now, seems to be tattered by an Individualism running riot. If government can't cover the citizenry, citizens have to cover each other, what alternative is there? Civics is all it is.
4
U.S. = US= e pluribus unum!
I agree with you. I consider my self a fiscally conservative liberal democrat and only make my arguments with republicans based on the economy and money--the things they purport to understand. I love to bet money on my claims, since everybody has their own facts. What do you suggest as the most objective sources for the national debt, stock market performance under etc under democrats vs republicans?
1
Things may look scary, but I see a glimmer of hope. donald Trump is the most insecure person we have ever had in the white house. His bluster only betrays his history of bullying and every psychologist will tell you the bully is also a coward. His rallies betray more. He is holding them in only previous Trump country where he gets the adoration of his base. However, he was elected by many others who didn't really know the man. Today there are many who have declared that he would never again get their vote. He lost the popular vote in 2016. He's losing an enormous number of non base voters and making no effort to retain them or gain new. He is basically riding a diminishing wave of base adulation for a fall.
1
The media just can't help itself. They are addicted to sensationalism.
The only real story is climate change.
Please tell CNN and MSNBC to balance their coverage so that these distractions do not work. They are hugely responsible for why these distractions work. He and the R's are playing them like a fiddle. We dont need to hear the same thing over and over and over again. We are not idiots. Well, the majority of us anyway. There are a large number of us who apparently are but nothing you can say to them sinks in anyway unless you wrap it in lies and statements that evoke feelings of hatred and fear. Juicy stuff for sure. Nothing to do with truth but hey the truth is over rated anyway, apparently.
2
You can bet that is magnified on the social media where most people go to find their news. Turn up the hate, Bannon's go to move with Trump supporters. The Republicans seem to think that health care has diminished in peoples lives. The Trump reality tv mystique seems to be working still for the Republicans. As zero sum partisans like McConnell plan for the future cuts the Rs want after they retain the Congress.
1
In a sense Trump is somewhat correct when he calls the press "the enemy of the people" as they play right into his hands with their constant coverage of his rallies and tweets while ignoring his actual policies, such as they are. The press is inadvertently working against the education of the people.
4
Trump’s immigrant bashing is meant to scare voters. It is his go to tactic in the last days before an election. Bashing immigrants is not going to help his audience. Everybody knows central americans are fleeing failing economies, gangs and violence in search of safety. Trump’s tariffs have failed. Imports are rising strongly and exports have dropped. Soyabean sales have dropped. Trump’s farm supporters are getting hammered in spite of government subsidies
We pay a lot more per capita than in other affluent countries, and do not live any longer. This means that our system is not nearly as efficient as any of theirs, so its product, health care, is overpriced. The difference between what we pay and what they pay is a jobs-and-profits program, also called featherbedding or make-work (at least the jobs part is; we do not have a good or clear name for the profits part, which is in itself significant). The military-industrial complex has the same problem; its overpriced products mean that it, too, is partly a jobs-and-profits program.
These jobs-and-profits programs defend themselves by lobbying and brainwashing people into accepting their necessity. Their workers will defend their jobs and career paths, and their businesses will defend free enterprise and competition. They also make sure that any cuts in funding will reduce the quality and quantity of the product rather than just the jobs and profits, so that the cuts will quickly be restored (or, in the case of health care, the poor and sick will be unable to get the care they need).
Defeating the welfare part of these programs will not be easy, for this is the good welfare, the welfare that pays very well and whose recipients fail to see or admit that they are on welfare; the real situation is hidden under layers of complexity -- an essential part of the welfare.
1
The great conundrum of America's politics is that we have only one of our two major political parties, the Democrats, capable of sound and rational governance whilst the other, the GOP, possesses all the skills to actually win elections. A perfect storm for the nation. Since the electoral system is rigged in favour of Republicans and Democratic constituencies are notoriously feeble at getting out and voting, particularly for the midterms, how is power ever going to be wrested from the GOP on a consistent basis going forward?
1
Your concerns are well founded. We must VOTE VOTE VOTE if we don’t want single party rule.
Worse than red-baiting is orange-herrings perpetrated on a gullible cult-tranced base.
Last night Sinclair Broadcast local ABC news channel broadcast a lame attack on "socialized medicine" by exploiting Brazil's healthcare.Of course healthcare in Canada, Japan, Europe, and heaven forbid, Denmark, were ignored.
Regardless of the healthcare system, the rich will always have their concierge medicine. So why are they so concerned with destroying healthcare for the rest of us? Oh yea, they want to shamelessly steal those resources for themselves. Indeed, Brazilian socialized healthcare is superior to Republican's zero-healthcare solution.
Given that gerrymandering, Electoral College, voter suppression, lying, cheating, stealing and Russian assistance may not be enough for Republicans this cycle, they're now resorting to caravans and bombs. They have no intentions of losing!
Hey Lou (Dobbs), you should volunteer to retrieve any new bombs found - since they're fake, right?
Since Grassley and his ilk are paid for by the Kochs, Adelsons, Mercers, Uihleinands and ..., they automatically think that Soros alone can funding the majority of Americans who oppose the GOP brotherhood.
Trump must be incensed that the bomber(s) have hijacked his final pre-election narrative from the headlines. Indeed, he complain-tweeted that the poor GOP will lose votes - because their lying narrative about guaranteeing healthcare for those with pre-conditions as they try to sue the ACA won't get thru.
2
Dear President Trump,
I oppose your positions and I think you are a disgrace to the presidency and the American people. but I do have a problem, and perhaps you can help me with it:
no matter what I do or what I say or what I believe or how I vote, George Soros has never once offered me a dime. by your telling,and that of many other prominent Republicans, I should be on the Soros payroll, and yet I am not.
what am I doing wrong? how do I cash in and hop on the liberal gravy train you seem to know so much about?
thanks,
progressive voter
5
Glad to hear this from Texas; thank you.
Personally, I am trying like heck to hold out until November 7th (day after) before completely giving up on the people of this country. I am holding out one iota of hope that the tide WILL turn!
1
When I read Paul Krugman, I'm like a bobble-head toy, nodding away. I don't get how anyone can see our country's situation in any other way. Except of course, for their racism, which colors their every stupid decision. Their wish to harm poor people of color is a great example of cutting one's nose off to spite one's face, except that they are harming others, and not themselves, way, way too much.
When will Prof. Krugman call for secession, the only cure for this problem? A sign posted by NYC.gov I saw this morning said that NYC alone has more people than ND,SD,MT,ID, WY and a couple of other states COMBINED. We need to take our power back and make America great again and stop being ruled by dangerous idiots.
1
@Ellen Tabor
Is that because New Yorkers vote for such wonderful people. Between Mayor de Blasio and Governor Cuomo, you did not elect a single honest leader. New Yorkers have rejected women running for mayor and governor. Judging by the people New Yorkers elect, and the women New Yorkers reject, I think it's best that New Yorkers have as little electoral power as possible.
Thanks Dr. Krugman. My only issue with your column is that you don't point out that NY Times Columnist Maureen Dowd was one of the leaders in getting Trump elected. Ms. Dowd's neverending vendetta against the Clintons was the ongoing story on the Times editorial page throughout 2016. The Times should be ashamed of itself for promoting Dowd's blind hatred.
3
The last time the Fascists had a crack at the world 50,000,000 died and their own countries where left crushed, ruined and occupied by foreign armies how actually only did what needed to be done.
America was one of the allied powers involved in that bloody global war. Canada, The UK and all the British Commonwealth countries, Russia, did what had to be done. Crush Fascism.
Now the GOP has donned the jackboots and is leading the fall of American democracy stealing one election after another. Rule by the richest families is around the corner. The lying machine which started under Reagan is now perfected. They all lie in unison. The union is under attack by a people divided between truth and lies. Trump is the leading liar with the White House to spread his fear and lies. The GOP goosesteps to his tune.. ...
November 6th seals the fate of this nation.
6
I agree with the writing 100%, thank you for the inspiration, apreciatted indeeD. :P:D
[email protected]
2
In other words we all have to vote and make sure others vote.
No excuses about voting machines or gerrymandering or the weather or being busy or that you just have one vote (that's also all the Koch brothers each have) or that blah blah blah.
Vote!
Like Carville said in 1992, "It's the economy, stupid." If and when the market gives back all of its gains since 2017, or even before, those country club voters and suburban moms will vote out the Republicans and vote in the Democrats. If that foretells an actual economic recession, then workers who have lost their jobs will also vote team blue.
Benedict Arnold is a heroic patriot compared to today's treasonous Congressional Republicans. They make me physically sick. The older I get the more I realize that there's a genetic reason that the few "tough-guy" gun-loving Republicans I know were Vietnam draft dodgers like Trump. Cowards...deep in their psyche.
4
Dear Prof. Krugman, what you said is all true. I want to add that fear is used in many European countries run by close to fascist (no other name for them) governments like Poland, Ungary, Italy. Fear was used by Bannon in hit european trip to unify these right wing governments/countries. Fear and Nationalism have always gone together. The democratic constitutional garanties are just pieces of paper to defame to destroy. But there is a common denominator in all these countries, (can I include Israel?) and that is fear. In all of them fear of the different or the presumed enemy is used to unite the population around deprived governments and leaders. But more importantly fear was used by past dictators such as Hitler, Stalin or even by local powers like during the wich hunt in Massachussets, or by the inquisition, or the reformation, and so on. Fear can be created easily in difficult times to coalesce the population around the power. Fear is an irrational emotion that we can know where it comes from but we do not know where it can lead to.
Mala tempora currunt.
2
I'm going to be a lot more blunt than Mr. Rozenblit was in his earlier comment, and state that we now live in a fascist state. Autocratic, one-man rule. A Republican Congress that toadies to an insane man, and a Supreme Court with enough members who owe him for their seats to protect him.
Demonizing the press, people of color, non-Christians, the "other" - classic fascist tactics. And this Administration dispenses these tactics like gumballs.
We are going to look back and understand that yesterday, with the discovery of at least nine bombs sent to national Democratic leadership, was our Reichstag Fire.
Trump has already blamed the press for these bombs, and whether or not the Dems win back the House, he will certainly use this incident to consolidate his absolute rule. With the Senate in his pocket as well, he knows no one stands in his way.
Understand that dictators do not need the support of a majority of citizens to retain power. A large, rabid minority will do just fine. And in this case, Trump's supporters are some of the most heavily armed people in this country. His hate speech and their own bigotry will combine to produce a conflagration, the likes of which this nation hasn't seen since the Civil War.
Trump knows he may call out tens of millions of armed Americans to "enforce" his absolute rule. And they are just waiting for the word from him. Bet the rent on it. And get ready.
8
The ugliness and the dishonesty of the Republican Party is no longer hidden, but is there for all to see.
When I was younger, I would have had a good deal of faith that this ugliness and hatred was not representative of the United States I knew. Now, however, I fear that it is.
That is what I find really terrifying - that there no longer are "the better angels of our nature" in the United States, but that this is now what my country has become: a cauldron of ignorance and hatred led by a loathsome buffoon.
The midterms will tell me where we are.
5
"The problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color line" W.E.B. DuBois ,"The Souls of Black Folk".
The current administration and the Republican Party see the browning of America as an existential threat .This is not a new concept in our politics, lest we forget "The solid south" era.The Democratic Party espoused these racist views until the passage of the civil rights act of 1964.We are living out the result of Americas "Original Sin", the enslavement of human beings.
Oh, Paul, don't sell yourself short. Your - the media - are contributing greatly; just look at your column today. Your rabid dislike of ANYTHING the President does or says is pathetic at times, so only a blind cannot see it. So, please, for the good of our nation, lay off your hatred, and unite behind our Leader. Rebuild our nation by standing with the president, not against Him!
1
Seems to me we need to back up one step. If we allow at all that these people at our borders are a problem at all is to just abandon the field altogether. People, children, etc are always not a problem. For example there WAS no Jewish problem in 1930’s Germany, the problem was that that idea gained credence at all, being repeated over and over. We are all human soup, we are not a problem.
Nothing will change without a powerful, overwhelming message to Republicans and Democrats that we've had enough of this. The bastardization of democracy has to be stopped and reversed. Trump and Republicans (not necessarily the same things) have brought us to the brink.
I'm voting Democratic because that seems my best and only choice. Every word, every bit of a politician's life must be public knowledge. "Classified information", "closed meetings" has become nothing more than a politician's way of hiding the truth. No government body is sacrosanct.
There are so many reforms needed it's hard to know where to start, but voter and election reforms would be the most needed. The flow of money to lawmakers has to be stopped.
3
The problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color line". W.E.DuBois "The soul of black folk"
The current administration and Republican Party see the browning of America as an existential threat. This is not a new phenomenon in our politics .Remember the era of the solid south? The Democratic party espoused similar racist views, until
the passage of the civil rights act of 1964.We are living out the legacy of Americas "Original Sin",the enslavement of another human being.
1
I am convinced that about 40% of the people in this country are living in an information bubble created by Fox "News" and the Sinclair media group. They actually believe the stuff they spew: that the real enemies of this country are liberals, Democrats and the mainstream media; that Democrats are trying to take away their jobs and their health care; that Democrats want completely uncontrolled borders, so that Mexicans and Hondurans can stream across and vote for Democrats. They actually believe that it is the Democrats, not trump and the Republicans, who are lying.
There is no possibility of reaching these people--they will believe what they hear on Fox, rather than their own eyes.
1
Trump is the menace right here, right now.
The hatred he spews to his circus, is amazingly destructive. He loves to spread lies and deceit and in his twisted way he manipulates both Fox News and his rallies. He's incapable of being a president for us all as he has no emotional or moral depth.
He projects onto others his peccadillos of conspiracy, racism and mob behaviors. Apparently the barbaric death of Kossogi wasn't the problem,the problem was that coverup was poorly executed!
He's adopted Putins hatred and obsession with the press. He's unable, no unwilling to understand the role the press plays in a democracy. Come to think of it democracy is rarely mentioned these days, it's all about HIM.
The stunner is of course the lack of opposition to this man (except through the fourth estate) and the supporting chorus played by his cabinet, White House appointees and the disgracefully corrupted congress. Oh yes and I forgot the Judicial branch too. I think we need a few new internal rules to change the so called checks and balances. Who will step up with strength and vision to do this?
Vote vote vote, the door to sanity and order is slowly closing.
1
Maybe America is getting what it wants, what it has always wanted. From wiping out the Native poplulations, Slavery, Jim Crow, Eugenics, McCarthyism, separating migrant children, etc, etc,
Maybe the real will of the people is being expressed. How is it otherwise?
2
The Republican strategy of making people grumbling idiots through cultivation of their primitive emotions of hatred and anger actually convinced the Republican voters to vote for their leaders who promised to take away their guaranteed health care and insurance. The Republican voters actually voted to live shorter lives and lose health care to minimize suffering and disease. The Republican voters voted to lose their lives and good health care. That is how effective the Republican leaders were at psychologically manipulating the public. Could it be the Republican leadership was so jealous of and feared losing power because the Democrats once again proved they care about all Americans when they passed the Affordable Care Act, much like other Democrat promoted social safety net programs like Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid?
Krugman nails it again— gerrymandering, voter suppression, redbaiting, lying cheating, euphemistic description of vile policies, retribution, name-calling. Wow. We must vote Blue.
And where, may I ask, is the NYTimes, outside of Op Ed pieces such as yours? Some of the blame for this slow disaster we are all experiencing under Trump can be laid at the feet of the "Grey Lady" going all the way back to the 2016 campaign.
Meanwhile Republicans show us they really have no humanity as they completely ignore a heart wrenching famine in Yemen.
Where's the 'Christianity' they loudly once professed to follow? Oh right too busy lying about voting to undermine Obama Care.
The current publican party had it's real beginnings with goldwater. It regressed through nixon, ronnie, the shrubs, gingrich, ryan, mcconnell and now the trump crowd. It is truly frightening. VOTE DEMOCRATIC
1
for those of you afraid of universal health care I ask you to look no further than north of your border. In Canada where we have had universal health care for 51 years, legalized abortion since 1969, legal gay marriage since 2005, Lgbtq rights recognized in our constituion in 1982. Yes, people wait for non urgent care, but no one dies, no one goes bankrupt, no one is refused a job or insurance because they are sick. And guess what folks, we're not communist, we are not at each others throats, we are not sending bombs to political "enemies". We have a better quality of life and more civil society than in America right now.
Manage
11
@worried canadian But there are too many American corporations making huge profits off of healthcare down here for things to change. And the multi-millionaire procedure-type American doctors would never work for the comparable pittance that Canadian, European, and Australian doctors make.
1
@Cowboy Marine
only if you consider an average annual income of $240,000 for a GP in Canada a pittance. So basically you are saying american greed is more important that people's lives? The resistance to healthcare of all is not due to fear of communism, socialism etc, it's due to greed? Oh America, how sad for you.
How come the GOP is not campaigning on destroying Obamacare, their bread and butter go to campaign?
There is a small silver lining in that so many Republicans are lying so profusely about how they are so in favor of protecting healthcare, and now realize that they cannot win elections without supporting affordable/available healthcare for everyone...at least on the stump, anyway. Notice how the Republicans are not campaigning on tearing out Obamacare "root and branch" this cycle for the very first time.
I have said this before and I will say it again - if the Republicans actually materially damage legislatively either SS, Medicare, Medicaid or the ACA, they will lose, and the GOP knows it. Even the most avid Trumpers will go ballistic if the government touches any of these programs and it ends up harming them directly.
1
I cannot believe how Congress is fighting healthcare for its constituents while it enjoys FULL HEALTHCARE COVERAGE. Both Trump and our Congress want to deny we, the people our healthcare while they enjoy FULL AND COMPLETE HEALTHCARE COVERAGE.
This is what needs to be remembered at the polls if you haven't taken advantage of early voting.
Thank you for an excellent article as usual.
Color me a hopeless optimist, but I believe that if Democrats vote, in great numbers, in every single election-- we cannot be beaten by this rumpish minority. The voter suppression, the gerrymandering, these tactics cannot stand up to a decisive majority. The biggest problem is the propaganda, often haplessly picked up by the press-- messages of hopelessness and fractionalization for dems, and towering anger for republicans. This time they have made some mistakes of timing: the Kavanaugh hearings still are a great flashing red neon sign to thinking moral women in this country, who recognized the judge for what he is. I believe that the Kavanaugh hearings were the bridge too far for the republican program-- their forty year high water mark-- and the paradigm which has worked for so long has quit working. They have lost most women, they have lost independents, they have lost moderate republicans...and most of their "base" is aging, can't get up out of their barcalounger and has forgotten how to work the remote, hence the fixation on Fox...Nothing exceeds like excess, and nothing corrupts like it either. They are a dead party shambling toward retirement, and cashing in. Its time for the next, better, iteration of the republican party. It's time for all democrats to step up and take responsibility for this country.
Sadly, hate is an effective political tool. And hate wielded by the immoral is a threat to everyone.
If the immoral haters retain complete control of Congress, then it will be too late and our democracy will die.
It is critically important that we convince everyone we know to vote and to vote for Democratic candidates only. It is our only way to stop the hate.
Menace is an euphemism a constant state of terror is a more apt description.
1
If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor. If you like your insurance, you can keep your insurance. While my single Obamacare policy keeps increasing in price, year after year.
Wasn't it Bill Clinton who ended welfare as we knew it? Wasn't it Bill Clinton who funded midnight basketball while imprisoning record numbers of men of color on minor drug charges? Wasn't it Bill Clinton who signed the law taxing Social Security benefits?
Maybe the world is a little more complicated than Krugman would acknowledge in these political columns, and maybe the labeling of people as good or evil is a little more complicated than Democrat vs Republican.
2
FOX news. Yes, this is the "bible' for most Conservatives. Its where they get all their talking points. This is the source of lies and misinformation. Yes, Trump is a big part but he is really trying to keep in touch with his base who believes any and all FOX statements. Listening to comments by his supporters is like hearing all the "news' that the FOX folks repeat each day. It is almost religious like with the faith that these listeners have. If it was not said by FOX its FAKE.
1
Dear Mr. Krugman: First off, thank you for your many brilliant
and insightful columns. In speaking with GOP voters, including alas family, I find consistently that emotional appeals by #45, as you say, are much more influential than are appeals to logic. Dismaying to me, because I find the beauty of logic, mathematics, and physics is well worth appreciating and pursuing in a chaotic society such as ours. As an economist, you are much more familiar with these tools than I.
I don't care what color the people in the caravan are! But, we do not need to add to our over populated country. That is pure insanity. When you put too many in the lifeboat, the boat sinks. There is a limit, and enough is enough. Obviously you never took a college course in environmental science.
2
I can’t figure out how you deal with the situation where the Republicans announce they will be cutting Medicare and Social Security if elected and people who need these programs actually vote for them. Is this a case of masochism or just plain ignorance?
1
The Republicans not only engage in voter suppression, but now it's also voter depression, and I am petrified it is working.
All the negativity, hatred, and lies issued by Trump, GOP leaders, tea party hacks, Fox and right-wing media are feeding the miserable Trump base, while depressing Democrats, traditional conservatives, and anyone who values truth, honesty, and human decency.
Only a year and a half of Trumpism, and we are worn down and out with "feelings of helplessness and hopelessness" (this is one simple definition of depression in psychology).
Exactly! People who are overwhelmed with such feelings do not get themselves to the polls to vote. So many of the younger generation say they "hate" politics; it is so corrupt and mean. Yes it is--and guess who is intentionally making it that way, and why.
Negativity turns off decent voters who do not "hate" their government, but it clearly turns on Trump supporters who will be lined up at the polls en masse or have enthusiastically cast early ballots to vote for the worst politicians ever, who have sworn allegiance to Trump's wars of mass lies, insults, and destruction.
The Republican Party is not going to doing anything to remove Trump from office, no matter how bad he is.
So this mid-term election could not be more important for anyone who is not a Trumpist to send an overwhelming message that we reject Trump, his policies, his politicians, and most of all his abusive behavior.
It really is up to us
I had not heard that Sen. Grassley is now blaming payments from George Soros for the opposition to Kavanaugh. I guess that means Soros paid 2700 Law Professors and the American Bar Assoc. as well as thousands of Americans. I will write another email to Grassley to let him know he's way wrong on this. I hope others will do so as well. Senators who make such outrageous claims must be confronted.
This nation is in serious trouble, yet our "leaders" continue to make outrageous claims with no evidence, lead rallies that instill violence against anyone not like them while creating tax laws that will destroy the middle class, making promises they never intend to keep and leading the masses deeper and deeper into the swamp that they promised to drain.
Our only recourse is to contact those in power and let them know we disagree and, most of all, VOTE against their misguided, dishonest policies.
2
What I find truly laughable is how Republican liars have suddenly become big defenders of pre-existing conditions after voting 70 times to repeal Obamacare. And Mitch McConnell promises to try again if they keep control of Congress. Why anyone would believe anything the GOP promises is beyond me -- and the ones who will suffer most are the same Know Nothings in Trump's base who have benefited most from Medicaid.
Professor Krugman, one area which you have not addressed here is the attack on the Federal Reserve. The most recent attacks have come regarding the wildly inflated charges of interest rates charged by banks and credit card companies, blaming the raises on the small increases imposed by the Fed. Please comment
We need the US military to stage a coup d’etat and make General Mattis interim president. The military is the last institution Americans trust. I believe this is the only way the country can be saved. I think the people would be for it.
I spoke with my conservative friend about many issues such as the need for some gun control, covering precondition, Medicaid and even abortion which he agreed should occur under some conditions such as a threat to the mother,rape and incest. and even though there were some differences on these we were closer than either of us thought. But the real differences arose when we began talking about immigration and the state of the economy and Trump while objectionable in every way in tone and demeanor was still the better option. Neither of us would budge on these issues.
I would say but immigration is a red herring to take our attention away from other issues. He would say we need secure borders with which I would agree, but add that President Obama really did do a lot in this area. As for the economy he would say why rock the boat?
For him morality or lies were just part of Trump and were issues cooked up by Democrats. The fact of his corruption meant nothing even when he admitted it. What are we to do when often we agree personally on so much, but duped by leaders such as Trump who cares nothing about real policies, but only his own protection and advancement? Perhaps the country needs to crumble before we can see what Trump has done to our country.
Soros, Soros, Soros. What will Republicans do when Soros and his billions are no longer available to finance Democratic outrages?
1
A cult is a cult is a cult. Here's how Jim Jones convinced his people to commit suicide.
"The reason given by Jones to commit suicide was consistent with his previously stated conspiracy theories of intelligence organizations allegedly conspiring against the Temple, that men would "parachute in here on us", "shoot some of our innocent babies" and "they'll torture our children, they'll torture some of our people here, they'll torture our seniors." Now I don't see much of a difference between Jones and Trump except that instead of suicide Trump may convince his people to start killing their perceived enemies and in fact it appears one of them has sent out some pipe bombs this week to do just that. It's a cult. Period.
1
Trump policy of inflaming his supporters to acts of violence will turn America to Libya soon. Make America Lebanon Again.
1
And that is why I don't understand commentators like Ross Douthat who recommend that in the November election Republicans split their vote between a Republican Senate and Democratic House candidates. Is there any good reason to do that? Why on earth would anybody who is sick and tired of the Trumpian Form of ruling vote for a Republican Senate which so far has done anything but curb Trump's corrosive behavior.
3
https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/mcsally-abandons-anti-obamacar...
Republicans pretending to save the ACA's preexisting conditions rule.
In other words, more lies.
1
Paul,
Lack of media coverage on healthcare is indeed one of the big problems. What can average citizen, and more importantly, those working in the media do to change that?
Another big problem is that there is always coverage of the Bundist hate-rallies that tRUMP conducts, which gives him an Republicans free publicity.
1
My concern is that this is all going to culminate in an orgy of violence. If democracy is supposed to prevent violence by securing an orderly transfer of political power, then what the republicans have wrought is truly frightening.
1
It's important to highlight the fact that, albeit there are some dissident voices, the Democratic Party is officially against univeral healthcare.
Yes and to get there it is time to
1) Unplug, and lead our children in the same. Without that, our steady diet of adrenaline hits is reducing us to scared reptilian-brain internet/TV addicts.
2) Build real community across tribes: community small-group dinner-table soup gatherings, kitchen-table talks--speaking policy truths with love while building community.
Democrats also must stop campaigning on nothing and rolling over like wimps.
The key: strong position, language of love. TONE.
When we sit down and hash out the issues, most republican voters actually favor blue policies, as you point out.
2
I'm sorry Mr. Krugman, but I do blame the media. Not for the bombs, but for the overall state of utter tension we live in. Take CNN for example: they are a very useful tool for Trump's fear mongering. They cover the man 24 hours a day, non-stop. Like you mention, they give multiple times more coverage to an event such as the caravan of immigrants than they do to the REAL ISSUES such as health care. For every flat out lie that Trump says, CNN covers it endlessly. Why give him and his lunatics an open forum? Why? Because it sells? So I blame them as well. The media allows Trump to not only define but also monopolize the public conversation. Why?
3
There are so many Trump-related and Republican-related criminal investigations going on we're going to run out of FBI agents to do the work.
lying is the GOP's "pre-existing condition."
the rest is just commentary
I just want to say that I enjoy the NYT Replies that allow interaction with the likes of Paul Krugman. So enough about politics... Paul, have you watched Florence + The Machine on their Tiny Desk Concert? But seriously, keep up the great work!
1
Yes, the Trump GOP has amplified the hysteria, racism and misogyny of the “mainstream” GOP, but don’t kid yourself - they are more than happy to talk about healthcare. They run ads about it. They answer questions about it in debates and interviews. And every word they say and write is a monument lie. So who are they speaking to? And if they win this election, what will they do with healthcare? What would the future GOP world look like?
Well, presumably they think they are talking to any remaining moderate voters, since it appears that their base will vote for them no matter what and the Dems will do the opposite. So you get these astounding situations like Rick Scott claiming to support requiring insurers to cover pre-existing conditions despite a lifetime doing the opposite. And when pressed on how he can make that claim when Florida is suing to overturn the ACA and eliminate insurance coverage, he says “Ask the Florida AG - I’m just the governor”. So how stupid are Florida voters supposed to be? I guess we will know shortly.
But what happens if the GOP wins the Senate (done deal), the House and various state governments? Is it really their intention that millions more US citizens will not have healthcare insurance and that millions more will have useless insurance? Is it really their intention that financial ruin should await people who suffer healthcare setbacks? Apparently it is. They say the many cannot afford to protect the few from bankruptcy and worse. Some party.
1
"More than half a century ago, Ronald Reagan warned that Medicare would destroy American freedom."
Yes, Medicare, and Social Security, destroyed the freedom of many old people to spend their sunset years in abject poverty and misery. Sometimes 'freedom' is 'just another word for nothing left to lose'...and not just for the elderly anymore. I see hardworking successful people struggling to pay their health insurance premiums.
Some topics I'd like continued coverage on are how the people in Florida devastated by Hurricane Michael are faring and not letting the torture, dismemberment, and murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi fade away. Both monumental in different ways.
Thank you for this column. For the first time in my life, I see hate being embraced and celebrated by so-called conservatives being despicably self righteous.
Thank you Paul Krugman and NYT for all you do. Keep the truth coming.
VOTE!
109
@JessiePearl
Nice Bobby McGee reference. Don't forget how the GOP swore up and down that ACA would wreck the economy.
6
Indeed 6%! That’s what it will take to win the house.
Sadly, I’ve been saying that the GOP will likely hold congress. I hope that I am proven wrong.
Given their ability to fan the culture wars with hatred, lies and distraction, plus, toss in our American style democracy — the electoral college and gerrymandering, it appears the menacing future entails single party rule.
I sincerely hope to be proven wrong, because a marginalized majority will lead to civil unrest. Many innocent folks will bear the brunt of suffering caused by that unrest.
This doesn’t have to be this way, but when the Party of Trump (POT) and the Greedy Ornery Persons (GOP) unify into the Greedy Ornery Party of Trump (GOPOT) — as they have — the path forward appears to lead towards trouble.
I'm very worried. What do we do on Nov. 7th if the GOP still has control? How do we move forward ... the past 2 years will seem tame if they are emboldened by a victory! God help us. I am not going to leave my country - but we need a plan to stop the voter suppression and gerrymandering or we are doomed!
1
Another failed quarter for trump and the gop.. The gop tax cut is a failure. After 2 trillion in taxpayer money spent, and many tens of billions borrowed from china and japan just in this year to pay interest on staggering 21 trillion debt, and increased consumer spending caused by prices on oil and consumer goods going up due to tariffs and other trump polices, and borrowing more on credit card, and piling up personal debt on tuition and home loans, business investment and capital spending is cratering. Trump and the gop claimed the cuts would increase investment and wages. Nothing happened. The average american is getting poorer and poorer in the last two years. The stock market is smart. It crashed by another 500 points today. The traders understand that the interest rates are going up and inflation is around the corner. Revenue and sales growth at companies is flat. Their earnings are going to look a lot worse next year. The salt deduction limit has increased our taxes. Retirement plans, medicare, social security and affordable care are in imminent danger. Vote for the democrats to end this insanity.
And if it to came to pass that all of the “enemies” of those in power were smitten, who would be left to hate or denegrate? Where would that social energy be directed? Hate and social anger are great tools for procrastination on complex problems.
"Yet major news organizations have given the caravan saturation coverage, more than they’ve ever given health care"
Major media gave Trump untold billions worth of free advertising in 2016 by airing every one of his hysteric utterances. They are doing it again in 2018.
Maybe someone like a Stephen Colbert should run for President and go on the stump with ratcheted-up monologues that get increasingly outrageous. So that with each new level the coverage becomes more and more part of every day's news content. Not because he's saying anything serious, just because there is entertainment value in what he's doing.
Major media in America is based on entertainment and driven by ratings. WWF is not a real sport, but many millions love it and pay hard earned dollars to go see grown up men running around a ring acting like comic book characters.
Donald Trump is America's comic book President and his manufactured screeds are now just as much part of the "news cycle" as french fries are part of the modern day American meal.
These golden sticks are nothing more than starchy white potatoes cooked in hot fat and flavored with chemicals, salt, and sugar. Though they are some of the worst food you can eat, they tasted great! And that's all people think about when they eat them.
Kind of like listening to Trump.
"Yet major news organizations have given the caravan saturation coverage, more than they’ve ever given health care, all the same.
...after CNN and several prominent critics received bombs in the mail, Trump blamed … the media."
Can't have it both ways, Paul. You can't blame the media for falling in line with Trumpian gorilla dust by over coverage of the caravan, then defend the media from Trumpian attacks. Ha.
I'm sure Trump is more than happy with the media coverage of the caravan. Maybe the crazies sending pipe bombs in the mail will lay off the media if they hide behind Trump more. But yes, the media seems to be taking the path of least resistance here. It's easier to cover the caravan than health care.
And yes, republicans across the country are following in Trump's footsteps with lies about health care and pre=existing conditions, about who will hurt and who will save Medicare. And now the talk of another tax cut when congress is not in session and the budget deficit is growing much larger after the last tax cut for the wealthy.
Hate and lies. Core values for the Trumpublican party. We can only hope that enough citizens see through the propaganda and
VOTE OUT ALL REPUBLCANS
1
We are watching the slow demise of a once great nation right before our eyes. Soon enough we will be far beyond the threshold and looking at a world dominated by China and Russia. It didn't take much to undo America, who would have thought a simple propaganda attack would propel us to dismantle it ourselves.
3
Has the media looked into who is funding the Caravan -- have the Democrats asked who is funding it ? It would be no surprise to find some right-wing fingers in that pie. Why isn't this question being asked ?
2
Who exactly is purveying hate?
As the caravan of migrants heads North, Americans must deal with the fact that after promising some form of universal health care when she was First Lady, Hillary Clinton abandoned universal health care in her campaign for the presidency.
And millions of Americans are subject therefore to for-profit insurance companies who make profits by DENYING health care coverage to those with their policies.
The result is that many Americans are still a diagnosis away from medical bankruptcy. Others die because they don't receive timely treatment.
Canada has a form of universal health care. And Great Britain.
The big lie of Democrats is that the US can absorb millions of migrants from Central America with no impact on services such as health care that Americans receive.
And this is partly because economists such as Krugman go beyond their field of expertise and use their credentials to give credit to ignoring issues that should be discussed.
Such as determining the impact of population growth on quality of life in the US. The US population has grown by 86 million since the 1986 Immigration and Reform Act, which liberals have worked to defy by countering with laws establishing sanctuary cities.
This has caused a shift from funding universities to K12, a decrease in the number of physicians trained and a skyrocketing in medical costs.
Krugman complains that Republicans lie. But he and the Democrats also lie, and their lies are destroying the US.
1
This essay by Krugman stirred some thoughts of mine.
Why is macroeconomics so focused on the short term? And why don't people realize that statistics that are focused on short-term gains don't always promote quality of life in the long term?
Thus for example, Los Angeles is congested, it is covered with a blanket of smog, it drains the Colorado River dry yet still has inadequate water. These are all negative consequences of population growth.
Somehow those who look at population growth come to the conclusion that illegal immigration is harming the US in the long run. They say that and are labeled by Democrats as bigot who contribute to hate speech.
Indeed, the Southern Poverty Law Center publishes a Hate Map online and singles out certain people as extremists who peddle hate speech.
Among the list is Garrett Hardin who was a biologist arguing for controlling population growth and was involved with a political group (FAIR) that tried to limit immigration.
But he believed what he wrote. And some of his articles were influential. What bothers me is that people who have a legitimate difference of opinion with Democrats are characterized as hate mongers.
And this article seems to move in the same direction. Krugman seems to be saying if you disagree with the Democratic position on immigration it is because you are motivated by hate.
How does he know that? And does he not realize that unsupported charges of hate destroy the possibility of civil discussion?
1
The whole GOP campaign against ACA is also based in hate, by the same thinly coded veil we had with Welfare queens and the like. The reason that Trump nation, while stating time and again that they want a health care plan that is affordable, covers things that need covering, and doesn't break the bank with deductibles and exclusion, turned against ACA and (especially weirdly) expanded Medicare was because the GOP and more importantly Faux News and Brickbat and the rest of the right wing conspiracy web, told them that with ACA they were going to be paying through the nose, whereas some group of "them" was going to get gold plated health care for free, with of course the 'them' being the usual, lazy welfare mothers and lazy men who didn't want to work, etc. And yes, folks, it was racist, because you can bet that like any discussion of social safety net issues, they envision it being the domain of blacks, hispanics and especially "illegals". The counter side of this is the GOP is implying that if we gut ACA, and slash medical care to the poor, that we then can offer medical insurance to "real Americans" that will be affordable and cover everything, because again we don't have to pay for 'those people'. And Trump America believes that, rather than realizing the GOP goal is that health care is something that should come along with how well off you are, if you are a billionaire after all the cost of health care is like buying a tv set to an ordinary person.
1
Obviously both sides emphasize the issues where they believe their agenda is popular with voters and try to hide the issues were it isn't.
Republicans like to steal people's money and give it to the rich, which is not so popular, so they hide this. In turn they emphasize their positions on immigration and standing up to p.c. run amok, which are genuinely popular.
Democrats run on health care where their position is popular, and many of them try to avoid talking about the extremist, unhinged positions of their party on social issues and identity politics, which are very unpopular with the general population.
Not much of a difference really. The Republican's plan works only because Democrats are really unhinged about cultural and social issues and do not represent the majority. People do not only vote with their pocketbooks.
11
@GS The "unhinged" Democrats that don't represent the majority are not the majority of Democrats.
8
@GS
Correction: Democrats are the majority and the radical left do not nearly control the Democratic Party as the radical/alt right control the Republicans. The head of that party claims to be a nationalist.
12
Everything you said was wrong. Democrats have had majority support in national and local elections for twenty years.
7
Trump's presidency has revealed the Dark Side of the United States. All the hatred that has been suppressed by concepts such as "liberty and justice for all" has been overwhelmed by hatred that has been suppressed for many decades. As the United States led the world in the past-WWII era, it was easy to be benevolent to poor countries, some of which were nearly destroyed by the wars, and their people. By the late 1950's and early 60's, Americans even (often begrudgingly) considered equal rights for all (including blacks and hispanics). But many white Americans never accepted equality of other races, and this suppressed hatred is now being publically stated by Mr. Trump and his supporters. The only question is "how far will this go?" Without a strong effort by our government to stop it, the potential is quite frightening.
61
We are all shell shocked and paralyzed by the Trump onslaught of hatred and lies now being realized in major political violence. I see the implications of Trump's attempt to spark a civil war after having incited the gun toting followers with chants designed to instill primitive obedience with the appeals to people's primitive emotions of hatred and anger. These emotions render people unthinking and chaotic, willingly lashing out like sharks in a feeding frenzy. Trump knows exactly what he's doing. He is the most famous lynch mob leader in American history.
I wasn't going to write the following for fear of scaring people, but any failure to warn would have weighed heavily on my mind with feelings of guilt for not having done so.
The stage is set for a civil war. It's something the Republicans have been working towards since Newt Gingrich declared the "Republican Revolution" in 1994. Republican leaders have fomented hatred and anger since, but I never worried as the public was largely taking it in stride and merely angered to vote against Democrats. It got them to the polls by design.
But now we have the Television actor Trump, taught how to spark an audience to gain following by professional Television producers. Trump is a very violent person like a Mafia Don who gets everyone else to do his dirty work.
If Republicans win the next election, we will be overrun by cultivated gun owners and military. If Democrats win, it will be the same result. Be prepared.
1
The gop tax bill was meant to produce a bump for the midterm elections. After that everything is going to collapse because of reckless spending by trump and the gop
I think it is so special that Mr. Krugman is responding to some of the posts. It adds a dimension that is incredibly appreciated. Thanks.
1
When I hear the ranting from he GOP about the Caravan, I sadly remember Trump's proposal that we NEED and HAVE to help places like Honduras and Guatemala so that people don't want to leave.
And yet when 3 or 4 thousand people flee two countries with a total population of 25 million, that justifies cutting off all help and hope.
5
Yes, but as you say these are standard Republican strategies going back at least to Nixon. The main problem has actually been the quality of Democratic candidates. They've been far too homogenized. At last Democrats understand the urgency of recruiting top talent from beyond the pool of political professionals and insiders (and to be fair, Chuck Schumer did a good job of this some years back). Let's hope it isn't too late.
2
"Yet major news organizations have given the caravan saturation coverage, more than they’ve ever given health care, all the same."
Who is old enough to remember when broadcast network news organizations were a revenue loss, and still carried because journalism was more important than profits from those organizations?
When profits becomes more important than journalism, you end up with Fox News. (Yeah, yeah, there are good journalists at Fox, but they are the exceptions that prove the rule.)
I'm not saying that the caravan story isn't a valid one to cover. But, since the grimy details of health care are boring, and Trump avoids the subject, the caravan ends up with all the ink and air time.
Cable news shows give lip service to the fact that Democrats are focusing on health care in their campaigns, but we rarely hear what it is that these candidates are saying about it. There is 100 times more time spent on analyzing polls than on the top issue that might affect them.
The media is not the enemy of the people, but these days it is letting the people down way too often. And they give colleagues who couch Trumpian double-speak in pseudo-journalistic mumbo jumbo way too much cachet; they can spin opinion, but they shouldn't be able to spin lies and get away with it. That they do is part of the slide into dangerous post-factual discourse warping politics these days.
True journalism doesn't require giving lies and facts equal time to attempt to be even handed.
8
Dr. Krugman. This is such a great analysis. I sincerely hope all those elected republicans read your article.
Being an immigrant, I am appalled and find it unimaginable to witness what is happening here. All the subject of hate you refer to, were seen back where I originally came from. Politicians are jailed if found to be inciting people. There was no First Amendment or Second Amendment there. This is where the problem is. Our political leaders do not value or appreciate all what the forefathers have left behind. They were not meant to be abused.
The republican party leaders no longer talk about the ACA or Obamacare. They have lost the battle, at least for now. The ACA has gained popularity, and may stay that way for a long time, and difficult to change or revoke.
Mitch McConnell has indicated cuts to Soc Sec and Medicare. The argument is that these entitlements cause spending and deficits for the government. What McConnell does not say or admit is that it is the Tax Reforms that is causing monstrous deficit and debt. Prior to tax reforms, there was revenue coming into the Treasury. With tax cuts, that revenue is no longer coming in. A logic that is conveniently ignored.
From your analysis, one can see how 'hate and fear' has replaced the need for a serious strategy.
How long will that approach last? Will people begin to realize that what they are seeing is politicians setting up strategies to stay in power, instead of strategies, to meet needs of the people.
14
I spent twenty years with Universal healthcare. It is time for America to enter the modern world. Universal Healthy care fr all is better and cheaper. Democratic candidates need to get this information out to the voters.
10
Here in Philadelphia, we're seeing ads from the Republicans who voted against the ACA saying they support pre-existing conditions. As Prof. Krugman says, it's a lie.
They support requiring insurance companies to sell policies to people with medical problems, but not that the policies will cover their needs nor that they will be affordable. It's a scam. It's like saying a car dealer has to allow "access" to a Ferrari, not that I can actually afford to buy one. Like the car dealers, it's a bait and switch scheme.
18
BAIT AND SWITCH... Trump is trying to detract from the failure of Republicans to make Health Care for all Americans a real part of their agenda, despite the fact that they have a majority now in all three branches of the Federal government. Trump is trying to shift the focus away from health care before the mid-term election to a caravan of a few thousand Central Americans seeking a better life for their families. The Republicans can't fix health care without taking profits away from their fat cat donors. So they would rather see Americans suffer the consequences of a non-existent health care policy for all of us rather than do what they know is right.
3
Just want to thank you for all you do. We could have a moderately decent, sane society. We really could; many other rich countries do. We don't, because the Right do what they do. Thank you for pointing out, over and over and over, how they do it. We should learn from Weimar times. Whatever differences people on the left have are trivial compared with the threat from the Right. And, for us, in some ways it's even worse: they didn't face the threat of looming, irreversible climate change. Thanks for never quitting!
10
Having grown up with commentary from the extraordinary mind of Eric Sevareid, I have come to the conclusion that network news is more about agenda than enlightenment. Mainstream news is about 'feel good'. Fox News is about 'feel angry'. Thankfully, PBS still holds the line on reporting rather than repackaging. Unfortunately, we all miss seeing and hearing the Eric Sevareids of the world when and where we need to. Some of us miss it more than others. After all , we knew what had and have no longer.
8
If gerrymandering is such a big part of why the GOP is winning, then how do you explain the fact that the Dems are predicted to win the House, where gerrymandered districts exist; yet the GOP is predicted to keep the Senate where the districts are set by state boundaries?
You missed the statistic that thanks to gerrymandering, Dems have to win by 6-8 percentage points nationwide to win the House. Given that the House is supposed to represent "The People" it's highly suggestive that structurally there's a problem when one side gets more votes but still doesn't win. We can break this down on a state level as well. E.g. Pennsylvania was heavily gerrymandered in 2012 to aid Mitt Romy (a fact that a Rep commented on as a 'Done' during a fundraising event). While Obama won the state, and the Dems won significantly more votes than Reps, Dems only controlled about 1/3 of the districts. This has become even worse in an age of computer modeling. There was even an instance where if you walked 20ft to your neighbor's house in the middle of a block, you switched districts; it's become that extreme. An example of why this is an issue comes from 2014. Mathematicians define a 'safe' district as one where the incumbent has an 80+% chance of winning regardless of who the opponent is. In 2014, 153 seats were considered safe for Dems due to gerrymandering (a not inconsiderate number), however 219 seats were considered safe for Reps. (the current differential is even bigger today) I shouldn't have to remind you that it only requires 218 seats to make a majority in the House. That means that statistically, the Reps had (and still have) at least an 80% chance of holding the House if the vote totals are similar. That's why the Dems need 6-8% more to win.
10
@mikecody Only 1/3 of Senate seats are active this election where as the entire House membership gets voted on every two years.
If every Senate seat were up for grabs the Senate would likely go back to being Democrat controlled as well.
@mikecody
All around the U.S. Democrats have utilized gerrymandering to the same degree as Republicans, even against other Democrats. The system is broken, has been for decades. We're a lazy, fat and immature people who think it's always someone else's job and that everything works out like a Disney movie.
1
It would be for you/NYT to show the Republican plans that were put forth to "replace" the ACA during the repeal and replace debates. As I remember it, these plans were either too expensive, had limited coverage, left out pre-existing conditions or all of the above. They wouldn't even have put forth these plans if it hadn't been for the unexpected (for them) popularity of Obamacare. Let people know the jeopardy their health care is in if Republicans keep control of congress.
7
@Thucydides
The only plan I have heard of is a "special" insurance plan that you can by for year and then have to renew. The cost seems reasonable, but the proverbial small print sounded like there are many restrictions on coverage and a very, very high deductible. I suspect it was presented with the typical vagueness we see from most of the White House Plans.
As Michelle Obama said when they go low we go high. The only thing is democrats rightfully get angry, having a hard time going high.
I suggest when they go low we look for what we have in common, speak to values that both sides can relate to opening a conversation rather than a battle.
With healthcare speak to the facts and prove it with voting information or video or recorded speaking points or the opposition.
With the caravan, speak to the facts of poverty and helplessness with pictures interviews and hardships these people are facing, empathy is not a one-party value, it is universal in this country.
We do not have to agree with each other to be civil, genuine respect goes a long way and the vast majority of Americans on either side deserve it.
Many of us are struggling and fearful of the future and there are too many in political office or working the spin machines that are encouraging it. Time to turn the spin into better understanding by listening from the values we have in common and not the ones that separate us further.
3
The Republican party has long realized the power of branding, calling themselves "conservative," when the term has now evolved to provide an acceptable perception of what are really right wing reactionary views. They continue to use fear to stoke more reactionary responses from greater number of people, to strengthen their base. Democrats need to recognize this, and loudly promote the idea that Republicans had long ago gone from being the "Grand Old Party" to the "Party of Greed," and now have become the "Party of Lies." We need to see this branding in national advertising, because the Party of Lies, united as they are behind Trump, has earned the brand for all its current pols!
6
We have a strong ally, and nobody can do anything to stop it: On November 1st starts the ACA re-enrollment period for 2019. Therefore healthcare and pre-existing conditions will remain a top of mind issue during the mid-term elections.
Healthcare companies are already using advertising, and sending emails and letters, to remind their current and potential customers about their ACA insurance.
In addition it looks that the premiums are going to be stable or decrease a little for 2019. We foresee a record number of new subscribers. It is not interesting anymore to say "We are going to repeal Obamacare" because it is counterproductive.
3
@M Martínez --- Great point about the ACA re-enrollment starts on Nov. 1 and its correlating to the top issue on people's minds going to the polls.
Imagine if tax day was Nov. 1 as well. Instead of April 15, the opposite side of the calendar year. If people were writing their tax checks the week before they cast their votes, it's a good guess that taxes, deficits, and national debt would be the number on issue for voters.
4
If a Democratic candidate for President has the courage to run on expanding the age for Medicare eligibility downward, and allowing younger people to buy in, and leading on that issue without apologizing for it, they will win in 2020.
2
Fear is the key, overcome fear and you can think. But people are kept in fear. fear of foreigners, migrants, different religions, etc but mostly fearful of losing their jobs, their healthcare and their homes. It never ceases to amaze me how people who are kept in fear alway vote for the guy who in fact is the very guy keeping them in fear for his benefit. So politicians stoke fear and people buy into it, not being strong enough to think on their own. Politics is as it has been is elites manipulating lower class energies for upper class priorities. Buy into a narrative and they have you right where they want you.
3
It's likely that Dr. K's future will be full of cheese and wine in addition to menace.
As an "enemy of the people," he'll be forced to relocate to Paris (or some other such country), where people appreciate intelligence and learning.
5
Dr. Krugman, I would love to see you debunk the myth that Obamacare was the cause of the 2010 Democratic wipe out. Lots of articles this cycle about how the electoral pendulum swings back against the party holding both the White House and Congress in the first mid-term. As an economist you can no doubt quantify how much electoral damage 10% unemployment does to the incumbent party, how much damage the loss of trillions in home equity wealth does. I would love to see this zombie ACA myth put to rest, got any wooden stakes?
4
Hyping the danger of the so called Caravan seems to be the biggest part of Trump's midterm strategy. The other part being his enacting a 10% tax cut for the middle class before November. A vote for a Republican is a vote for a middle class tax cut. Does this have any more basis in reality?
4
There is also a connection between thinking and reading: as a rule, those most influenced by demogogues do not actually read or even listen for more than a minute to what is said on TV. That is probably the most effective trick used by the right, only a few of whom actually believe in any kind of political message. What they want is to get people angry with Democrats and left-leaning people in general, so that they will vote against them.
7
The problem with health care is the 'donut' (I just heard it called that, and I like the term.)
There are people who, on paper, make too much money to get free health care or reasonable subsidies, but they still truly cannot afford the premiums.
They see other people getting free health care.
It's hard for them to think that's good.
I'm guessing a lot of commenters here are the other side of the donut--they can easily afford the premiums, or they have generous employer-provided health care.
Some kind of universal health care is needed, or if not that, the cut-off for when people can get help has to be much more realistic, much higher, and let the very rich continue to but their own health care.
One idea I've seen that I think is workable is universal _basic_ health care--something that will cover catastrophic injuries, catastrophic illnesses, and truly expensive long term illnesses.
Then, let people buy insurance to cover other stuff if they have the money, or go without, with subsidies for the poor who don't have the money.
However, a medicare for all is the best--don't know if it will ever happen--so the above might be a good compromise.
As to why people vote Republican--they are in a different echo chamber than you are. And sometimes, the Democratic policies don't work for them--see my first four paragraphs and extend that to other issues.
2
Thank you, Dr. K. The media MUST continue to call out the crazies and the bizarro policies they craft. The Bright-Shiny-Object school of journalism must be vigorously opposed. Sure, tell us about Mr. Trump's tweets but do not obsess about them.
For a time, the Times had a running count of gun deaths in the country. It has slipped off the page in favor of Breaking News.
How many children in federal custody remain separated from their families? Where are they now?
How many homes in Flint, Michigan, continue to expose their residents to lead poisoning?
How many people languish in pre-trial confinement in a prison because of cash bail they cannot pay?
How many children went to bed hungry last night?
How many people deny themselves the medicines their doctors have prescribed because they cannot pay for them?
How many homes in Puerto Rico still remain damaged after the onslaught of Maria?
As the Talmud reminds us:
If I am not for me, who will be?
If I am only for me, what am I?
If not now, when?
To the Editorial Board: Reserve two column inches on A1 each day for answers to one or more of these or similar questions? Please!
21
@Douglas McNeill
Listen to this, please, Editorial Board!
@Douglas McNeill
Most of this stuff has been going on forever and is not strictly the fault of the republicans.
The GOP position on the ACA and fixing it is illogical unless it's looked at with a view towards racism and a fear of the other in mind. What has always astonished this reader is how many businesses support the GOP when the policies it puts forward hurt their employees and consumers (which is foolish when you realize that we have a consumer driven economy). Denying people access to health care no matter how it's done is self defeating. Is it really sound economic policy to force people to choose between medical care they need and paying the rent, buying food, buying medicine or medical supplies they need? Is it sound public health policy to allow people, due to a lack of access to medical care, to become so ill that they can no longer function in society during their prime earning years?
The GOP is really the party of Social Darwinism with all that implies. That makes them elitists whether they believe it or not. I don't see any lack of interest in sending their children to the Ivy League colleges or appointing Supreme Court Justices who graduated from top law schools. Their interest in the average American ends at their doorstep: we're not allowed in to enjoy the benefits of a decent life because we're not white enough, not male, not Christian, or not Right enough.
11
Uppermost in my mind as I go to vote on November 6 is healthcare. Without reliable healthcare, my present and my future are on shaky ground. My children and grandchildren cannot live or survive well if they are not assured of reliable care for their health. How hard I have had to scrabble over the years for the right to feel safe when I become ill, and how frightening the future looks if I don't know that I'll have good healthcare when I need it. Now that I've reached the age for Medicare, I feel more secure, but I worry about other people.
Why are Americans now considered less "valuable" than citizens of other countries that have universal healthcare? How does that make America great?
29
The "dog whistle" has been replaced by a bullhorn (and tiki torch?).
18
While it is true that Republicans are using any verbal weapon they can dream up, and they have carefully made gerrymandering an art form, it is important for those interested in affordable, universal, high quality healthcare to counter any objections logically and forcefully. There are plenty of problems with the ACA, with Medicare, with the VA, and with the latest proposals which are not addressed by anyone. While the subject is too important to be left in the hands of those providing the care, it is also too important to keep in the hands of those making huge profits, and the politicians who don't seem to care about anything beyond their next election.
14
"As ye sow, so shall ye reap."
3
DJT and the GOP are simply pursuing the tactics of fascist dictators. Very clumsily.
The question is: Do Americans want to live under a dictatorship, clumsy or not?
22
With icy resolve...vote in November
25
This column includes a link to an article about “ self-identified Republicans.” It suddenly occurred to me that the better term the media should be using is “self-inflicted Republicans.”
7
Mr. Krugman , I agree with your analysis.
My question : how come Americans can swallow down the hatch any poison without recognizing it ?
Are they stupid or simply ignorant ?
Either way they are uninformed and misinformed.
146
@Inter nos
Many Americans do reject all of this. As for the rest, we do need to realize that most people have jobs, children, and many responsibilities; the average person is far less politically aware than NY Times readers can imagine.
And yes, stupid people will always be with us. But we've lost the guardrails that used to limit the damage.
338
@Inter nos
I think there is also an incentive for competitive people in the trump sweet spot of around $70k income. If they can keep part of the population sickly by dollar rationing health car, that part will compete at a disadvantage.
1
@Paul Krugman
"guardrails"
= adequate Education in Civics, History & the Humanities.
thank you for this summary.
3
Thank you for your measured offerings, Paul Krugman. They speak with sanity in an exceptionally peculiar and frightening time.
10
Yes, the president is a master of distraction. I agree that too often the press and others allow themselves to be distracted. We need to focus on the issues....health care, the taxes that favor the rich, the threat to medicaid, medicare and social security while the president and his son -in-law use legal loopholes to avoid paying any taxes.
Most of all, we need to pay attention to the incitement to hatred and violence that Donald Trump continues to be guilty of, and the consequences to our country as a result.
11
The Republicans have taught us that hate works. Dr. Paul, you tell us that you have seen the future, and it's full of menace. We believe you, our 2018 Cassandra. Trump has taught the American people that hate works, that the truth must be destroyed by lies, that the press is the enemy of the people. The world knows that environmental catastrophe is afoot on our planet. Denial of climate-warming and the inconvenient truth of our environment won't avert the devastation facing all of us. We don't need to be reminded that our president is stoking political and social violence. We see today the poison fruit of his words in the pipe-bombs sent to former Presidents and holders of high Democratic office. We know what happened to the biblical prophets who predicted social and political disasters long before today's social media age of anxiety. What will come to pass in America in the near and far future can't be predicted. We do know that president Donald Trump has destroyed the truth and human moral conscience. Sufficent unto the day is that understanding.
14
The Times is way too polite to the Republicans and Trump, adding to their fear mongering and deceit. I think every headline about Trump or the Republicans should be the same: The Latest Lies. That headline would defuse the fear imposed by their stupid and vicious threats and reflect reality.
22
"For one thing, after decades of cloaking its strategy in euphemisms, the G.O.P. is back to letting racists be racists." And racists are people who don't believe in liberty and justice for all. They believe in liberty and justice for some and those "some" are white and Christian. They are not white and Jewish, white and Muslim, white and Buddhist. The point here is that to be die hard Republican is to favor policies and politicians who are, or are playing racists to keep America white.
Trump, while he is president and is spewing this disgusting garbage, is able to do it because the GOP endorses it. They can pretend all they want that they didn't know he was such a racist, a bigot, a misogynist, etc., but anyone who read the papers or followed the news of the Central Park jogger would have known. And anyone who followed Trump's business dealings would have known. His entire demeanor is one of entitlement, ignorance, and yes, hatred.
This is sad when put alongside the fact that the GOP was the party of Lincoln until they accepted the Dixiecrats. Now they are the white trash party. It's not a party I wanted to see. It's not a party that has a place for me or for millions of other Americans who are not white, Christian, male, heterosexuals with a chip on our shoulders.
GOP = Greedy Obstreperous Obstructionist Parasites in need of a visit from Pest Control.
12
@hen3ry And being a white "Christian" doesn't gain you acceptance into their tribe unless you also have a personality with a nasty mean streak.
2
It seems the American condition is rapidly being distorted, vexed and strained by that familiar call to arms and harm led by and stoked by that most familiar foe...Fear.
However this time and these days it seems almost a policy as well as a ways and means to stoke the fear fire so high and hot , nothing else matters, especially the things that matter most and are also SHARED by almost everybody. Thus deflection by these purposeful , placed Fears burn away most these shared dreams , hopes and desires, dissolving the unity each can bring as the fear divides and distracts those who had and have in common as they are forgotten as and when new fear is launched, blame is given and disunity stirred to make the heady cocktail that will make attacks and distort the facts so that the shared truths fade away as false pressing concerns and fears are given center stage for central rage, for making a great divide.
And if Fear is the fuelled fire that pits people against each other's common causes by replacing them with that which divides , derides and ultimately decides...Not what most really need and want but what others then can get by the things THEY desire most and made possible by the disunity and division they create so that the majority is no longer anything but rancour, distrust and disagreement among itself ...made inneffective.
Made possible , aided and abetted in agreement, in cahoots and in secret unity with the Politicians and their Lies that light the fires of Fear.
3
I am selling off all my stocks slowly. i was buying them till trump took over. things looked hopeless, they are looking more and more hopeless. the deficit is up to 21 trillion. trump and the gop added 2 trillion to it after lying constantly about fiscal conservatism. it is going to lead to rampant inflation and interest rate hikes. then the tariffs.companies and the economy are getting hammered by them. soyabean farmers are struggling-totally self inflicted and avoidable. they voted for trump. not too late to ditch him in the mid term elections before they all go bankrupt and rural suicide rates shoot up. drug prices are steadily increasing. the latest election gimmick by trump won't help.half the latinos are saying they are doing worse in the last two years. soon it will be all the latinos. their hard work in central valley, ca working jobs nobody else wants puts food on many tables. maybe i should sell all my remaining stocks tomorrow before it is too late and i am left with nothing.
9
The future!?!? I've seen the present and it's full of menace.
12
The current republican has learned how to take over America . It is a lesson taken from con artist, switch the attention away from what you don’t want anyone to see, create emotion around your audience so they feel they have a shared experience with you (hate from what they see as the “bad guys”, make them afraid (demonize immigrants) so that they believe YOU can save them.
This is how to own the middle/lower income.
Give the rich a bigger tax cut than even they could ask for, and YOU have them all.
7
One only needs to look at the list of advertisers in the conservative media sewer to understand that most Republicans are anxious or fearful conspiracy prone and easily manipulated.
Gold
Water filtration system
Reverse mortgage
Home canning and preservation
Weapons and survival gear
Charity request from megachurch preachers
Tactical sunglasses
Life insurance
Back up generators
Etc...
9
Dear NYT:
Please look in the mirror. This incessant drumbeat of hate against Trump -- that he is a racist, a traitor, a liar, whose moral transgressions have placed him beyond normal human consideration and discourse -- best exemplifies a political "strategy of hate."
Sure, President Trump is blunt, rude, crude and determinedly anti-PC.
But mostly his appeals are directed to patriotism, not racism; he is pushing for economic progress for working class Americans, not Clintonian globalism.
Reporters fully understand that he is a master of political hyperbole, but dishonestly hold him to a narrow factual standard, so they can call him a liar three times a day. Meanwhile every headline on cable news resorts to similar exaggeration and hyperbole, but is interpreted in context.
We will soon see whether Mr. Krugman's line of attack -- hatefully calling Trump a hater, the predicate for next calling him a fascist or racist -- will win the midterms.
3
@Jorge
Sorry, but when I listen to Trump, I don't hear patriotism; nor do I see him pushing to help working class Americans. I hear racism, xenophobia, and misogyny. I hear plutocracy and welfare for corporations and the mega-wealthy.
The New York Times is in my view accurately reporting on Mr. Trump. Sure, you'll find anti-Trump vitriol on the editorial and op-ed pages, but those pages are reserved for opinions.
And Trump is pushing fascism here in the United States. There are 14 defining characteristics of fascism that can easily be found on the internet, and he practices all of them to one degree or another, as does the GOP as a whole. To report that is not inflammatory, it is truthful.
@Jorge Sorry, Trump has gone way beyond "blunt"
1
@Jorge They call him a liar because he lies. His appeals to patriotism are what? Don't you love this country? Isn't it great? We're going to make it great again... A strategy of dumb double-downing on every issue is stupid. Starting a nuclear arms race? Beyond stupid.
I agree with your first paragraph, not with the incessant drumbeat stuff, but that trump is a racist - Check, a traitor - Check, a liar - CHECK, moral transgressions - Check. These are facts, not strategies of hate.
2
Red MAGA Hats and shirts.
Red States.
Federal Budget in the red.
The "Red Party".
12
@Shakinspear
Oh! and, they love Russians, even enough to attack Americans for them.
paul you are a nobel prize winning economist. i am no nobel prize winner but i was pretty good at calculus in school. a few were better but maybe less than 10 percent. here's what i think. the democrats should be leading the country. obama was data driven unlike the fascist jerks and imbeciles in the white house and republican congress who have made the presidency,congress and the supreme courts an embarassment. interest rates need to go up a long way. savers like me have paid a heavy price since 2007 for no fault of ours. the cd rates are 2 percent. not even beating inflation. they were at 5 percent and then thugs and jerks, and irresponsible spenders and borrowers, and lenders tanked the economy. i paid down my mortgage debt for 16 years till it went to zero in the middle of the 2008 recession. my living expenses are now less than 25000 a year in ca, the most unaffordable place in america. my car has 275000 miles. the previous one had 265k when i got rid of it. universal health care is a right. no country is fit to call itself a developed country without it. every kid and student who wants to go to school and college and further-get a phd or nobel prize, ought to be able to do it. medicare and social security are earned with 30 or 40 years of work. they are every retirees right. we should be paying the fiscal debt down till it goes to zero. why pay china and japan interest ? but it is headed to 100 trillion.
18
So Mr. Krugman it is 100% true that all of the media has given the "caravan " lots of eye time . So why is that ? Is it because even the media are also big business know instead of independent purveyors of news real news not just fluff pieces. Who's fault is that? Where are the headline articles that explain that FICA taxes are capped at $129,000.00 and the essayist way to fix Social Security is to just eliminate the cap. I have college educated friends who tell me i am lying, that there is no cap. Really! If people do not know basic things about our economy I would blame the media for not bring these facts to the front page and hammer them the way the media hammers away at negative articles . So maybe dumb dumb has a point it is the media that has failed US. It is time that the media starts to explain with great detail the problems not just say ,hay there coming for your Social Security check. Explain why there are now two S S trust funds. Explain in detail that we are actually paying a higher % in FICA taxes than needed , hence the trust funds. Do you know why there are two trust funds? Why not have a detailed article to explain to the people why. Why is it that all of the excess money collected from FICA goes into the general budget. Explain that that is how even the poor pay a income tax through the back door.
Maybe if the media did hard pieces that might hurt some of they're investors we could have civility. I doubt that because you are not really independent any more.
8
If this was the Mariel Boat lift, 90 miles away with 125,000 immigrants.. Trump, the GOP and Fox wouldn't utter word about It.
6
Not your father's brand of fascism but Trumpism is still fascism for those with a thinking cap. A generation ago, every man in my family, to the last man, fought fascism and an uncle died in the fight at age twenty-one. Now fascism has reared it's ugly head once again. Look how mainstream network news keeps focusing on "the caravan"...night after night. Pathetic.
21
The caravan thing is such a joke. 4000 poor people with no guns, women and children walking on foot over thousands of miles are invading America. We see it coming for months. When they get to the border what are they going to do. Ask for asylum and wait in a camp. It is not a threat it is an inconvenience.
11
Thank you Paul for keeping the conversation focused. November 6 we have a real choice. Does hate, ignorance, greed and lies define American? Or do we embrace a country for all of us - stronger because we lift up and work together.
13
Dr Krugman, as a descendant of holocaust ancestors, you owe it to them to think more positively. They survived and their descendants made a new beginning for themselves. It is the same with the rest of us non holocaust survivors. We humans are a resilient lot. Yes, we will fight tooth and nail for justice, for universal health care, for human rights, but the people we are fighting against are simply other humans with differing opinions of how to get there and when to get there. Each human being craves for happiness, an end to suffering and as soon as they realize that it is a "shared" happiness, not an individual isolated quality, we will give each other a hand, a leg up and a shoulder to rest our tired heads on. Believe me, the future is not menace, it is the deteriorating of human values to such an extent that the only course left now is human enlightenment, up-liftment. We have to keep our eyes wide open, we have to make our planet hospitable for our grandchildren and we have to begin to care for each other, neighbor to neighbor, street to street, county to county, state to state and ultimately country to country.
3
@Petey Tonei While I appreciate your optimism, the question remains: How low must the human race descend before recovery begins?
7
Trump's criticism of the media is not well founded. They are not as bad as they should be about reporting on his behavior. They should begin each and every story with the words, "Trump lied again today." They then should iterate what his lies are for that day and leave it at that. No analysis, no psychotherapy, no musing about when he might get it. He doesn't get it. He cares only about Donald J. Trump. Everyone else on the planet does not matter; they do not exist. And the only accomplishment he cares about his making money. He is doing it illegally and getting away with it. So, Media, listen up! "Donald Trump lied again today."
11
And the reason that the media cover things like the caravan non-stop and give short shrift to health care and other important items?
The media is owned by the wealthy. And the consolidation of the media by the wealthy happened after republicans voted to revoke the laws that prevented the media from being controlled by a handful of wealthy schemers.
Fact.
8
@Byron
Not really a fact. Media have always been owned by rich people. Ownership consolidation has been going on for decades, under GOP and Democratic administrations alike. It's capitalism.
The real problem with the media is bigger than its ownership. It's that the media are split into two camps, one that actually reports news, and one that pushes right-wing propaganda. The audience for the latter, which is probably half the country, has no interest in the former, except to mindlessly vilify it. The former ends up preaching to the converted. This means the only way change in the country can occur is on the ground, by organizing at the grassroots. This seems to be happening.
2
I have to assume that a lot fewer employers are offering health insurance to their workers than did 10 years ago or in those low unemployment numbers, a lot of workers are in patched together multiple part-time gigs or are contract employees where no benefits are offered. Because 10 years ago no one was talking about how unfair the individual health insurance market was. Let me tell you how it was and where it appears we are going back to.
Ten years ago, my son was a healthy 22-year-old in his first year of medical school. Because he would age out of our individual policy (we were self-employed) at 26, I just bought him his own for same premium as being on ours, but actually better coverage since he was so young and healthy. A year later, he was diagnosed with a glioblastoma. Surgery and treatments ran tens of thousands of dollars. Had he lived long enough to age out of our policy, he would have had a "pre-existing" condition and been unable to get a policy without a waiting period, if he got insurance at all.
He did live long enough and is still alive today, an outlier of the deadliness of this cancer. Thought a gainfully employed M.D., he still buys that same individual policy and foregoes the employee insurance, afraid that if he were to lose or change a job, he'd lose his insurance.
I laugh when I read/hear people complaining about the expense of Obamacare policies. They don't hold a candle to what we paid for our coverage and they cover a lot more!
26
GOP has lied all along for past 50 years if I remember. Now they have come open with the help from Trump & Conway to con all by creating alternate universe of facts.
In that world, when you talk to GOP politician, you get everything you wanted. But once talk is over and you go back home, you lost everything you had.
5
It is time, Dr. Krugman, to begin writing about the tale's end in a kingdom coming to a close. The chunks you do see cascading by you from the crumbling empire. Because the fact of the matter is what Robert C. Caro said before going to Vietnam recently: this is not a democracy, it is something else. And you know it.
Your voice could be so much more useful in bringing to light the inevitable truth rather than fondling bits of shrapnel mired artifacts disintegrating between your fingers to the floor below.
1
The most accurate editorial I have read describing the reasons for our current national chaos. You are one of the few writers to recognize the overwhelming significance of racial hatred. Distract the masses with a strategy of hate pandering to the racial animosity that bubbled, but generally didn't surface, beneath a thin veneer of civility. Poor white Republicans consistently vote in a manner that is contrary to their interest. But I see an opening for Democrats. Ignore the social issues and hammer one issue- the Republican plan to slash Social Security and Medicare benefits. I guaranty that even the most ardent white conservative males over 50 years old will never support a candidate who attempts to take away or minimize these benefits.
21
We can no longer speak about the outrageous behavior of Donald Trump, his cabinet, White House staff and base of hate-filled, less educated white attendees at his pep rallies as the bedrock of Trumpism. The Republican Party is the bedrock from which every weed and noxious plant grows.
Paul Krugman writes of the boldness of Republican candidates in embracing the racism, misogyny and anti-immigrant nativism of Donald Trump – including the violent war on critical members of the media and present and former Democratic officials.
One part of the Republican attack not such an obvious threat to our democracy is the issue of accordable health care discussed in the Krugman column.
The Republican penchant for lying is clear when G.O.P. candidates deny their continuing effort to destroy Obamacare and its mandatory coverage for pre-existing conditions.
The Senate race in Arizona is a tight one, and the behavior of the Republican candidate, Martha McSally, would be comical, if it were not so disgusting. McSally was one of the most outspoken members of the House, famously dropping an F-bomb in her call to kill Obamacare.
McSally is now running ads claiming that she has always supported forcing insurers to cover pre-existing conditions.
Arizonans of all parties should flock to the polls to vote against the lying McSally and for the Democrat, Kyrsten Sinema. We all should follow that example in our states by supporting Democrats for every county, state and federal office.
26
Thanks for ironically proving Trump is right. They are partially responsible but not in the way Trump says. Why does every crazy thing he says get such attention? Because he drives ratings. And as Leslie Moonves said, while probably sexually harassing CBS employees, Trump is not good for the country but he is good for CBS. Look at the studies of the media coverage of the 2016 election. It was all Hillary emails. All her progressive policy positions got almost no attention. But hey the orange man drives ratings even though the freedom of the press is more precarious every day.
7
Bloomberg recently ranked the US 54th out of 56 countries for healthcare efficiency. The NY Times spent months investigating Trump's tax dodges. We've already totally forgotten the latest devastating reports on climate change!
Meanwhile we fiddle while the US burns.
Where is our outrage?
Please vote.
26
Writing columns is a quite a piece of cake now. Just list some of the latest outrages of the worst president, and his extremist party that dominates our 3 branches.
Then, as Tsar Trump and his courtiers go further out into paranoia, irrationality and belligerance, the Dems will look like saints. Anything the Dems come up with in candidates or policy will seem like rational and humanitarian life savers for anxious and abused Americans.
But how many more years or decades will it take for Americans to get affordable health care as a right, no matter income, job, age or health status? Our media is not grappling with this. We have to go beyond just covering preexisting conditions, necessary as that is---to even attain the norms of all other democracies in the 20th Century.
This goes undiscussed by the NYTimes op ed page, which stays careful and is lauded as humanitarian.
But bashing Trump/GoP is not enough now.
7
It gets worse. After the midterms, we'll see Rudolph Guliani as Attorney General and Lindsay Graham as Secretary of Defense. God help us all.
12
Instead of changing their policy goals to meet what the country wants and needs, Republicans lie and cheat to forward an extremist agenda that the vast majority do not want and that harms almost all Americans in tangible ways.
By doing this they are rejecting the core principles of Americanism.
Popular sovereignty, justice, equality, rule of law are all tossed aside in a fanatical quasi religious cult like way to follow the dogma of a party bent on destroying American society as we know it.
6
One way or another, under any outcome, these columns will be revisited, to trace our path of getting there. The transparency of Republican technique in this phase of its implementation is so great that one would think its bigotry were a fact of nature, and not of political art.
7
Organized groups blame the rash of bombs on organizations - like the ridiculous assertion that Democrats are using the bombs to discredit the right. Historically, bombers have been individuals or very small groups - think Unibomber or Timothy McVeigh, who blew up a government building in Oklahoma City in 1995.
5
I've been disappointed this week by seeing multiple alerts sent to my phone by the NYTimes about the caravan. One of the articles was about how "it became part of his midterm strategy"... which I felt like the NYTime's covering was helping the strategy succeed. While I do value the work the NYTimes staff and reporters do with integrity and an earnest attempt at reporting the facts, focusing on the caravan Trump talked about shows NYTimes isn't learning from the mistakes made. The true intentions of the caravan, seeking a better life and escaping horrible condition, should be reported on. The choice to give so much focus on it, when there are countless stories of people migrating to avoid violence and seek a better life, instead of focusing on campaign issues that will truly impact voters lives is the NYTimes playing right into Trumps hands. Policies matter and during election time should be a major focus! It's a shame NYTimes doesn't make the numerous stories it has about policies that will truly make an impact on people's daily lives more of a priority on the front page, instead of falling into the trap.
7
“That was when they suspended the Constitution. They said it would be temporary. There wasn't even any rioting in the streets. People stayed home at night, watching television, looking for some direction. There wasn't even an enemy you could put your finger on.”
― Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid's Tale
9
Republicans, at least the current crop claiming that name, do not care about facts or evidence of reality. Their chosen leader is a liar. He does not selectively lie. He lies all the time. The occasional truth that passes his lips is coincidental. He did not really mean it. But because of his office, the news media dutifully report his words and the social media and Fox News megaphones amplify them out of proportion with reality.
While Barack Obama could speak to our heads, Bill Clinton to our hearts, and even George W. Bush could speak to our guts, Trump speaks to our spleens. He releases the toxins that flood our society and cause mass credulity. His followers gleefully vote for him and those who parrot his whoppers without reference to the reality of their lives.
They deserve their fate but the rest of us do not.
9
What a depressing time to be an American.
10
It’s not about truth,
To stop hate it has no use,
Vote, make no excuse
1
"Yet major news organizations have given the caravan saturation coverage, more than they’ve ever given health care, all the same."
The problem is not the amount of caravan coverage but the kind of coverage. News organizations should send reporters, cameras and crews into the caravan to re-humanize the participants and show that, no, they are not terrorists, murderers and rapists but ordinary people fleeing horrors even worse than Trump.
But, yes, less of Trump's reality show and more of reality itself, aka issues iike health care and taxes.
6
In reading through some of the comments, it's clear that the Democrats have miserably failed at explaining what could happen to healthcare. Feel free to correct me:
1) There are currently NO plans (outside of employer provided or ObamaCare) that cover pre-existing without a 12 month waiting period for any condition related to a current medication.
2) No one is saying ObamaCare is perfect. But it's better than nothing, which is what we're heading for.
3) Please don't compare health insurance to car insurance. If it's your choice to be a lousy driver (and it is your choice) you can still get insurance, all be it at a higher price. Although some medical conditions are caused by poor choices, no one chooses to get cancer and many other conditions. Without health insurance, is their choice going to become going bankrupt or die?
Why aren't the Democrats screaming this from the rooftops instead of these endless ads attaching their opponents?
26
President Obama embraced the ACA's nickname, "Obamacare," by saying that, yes, he did care. Trump and the whole GOP don't care about us, and they do operate on hate. They are a pathology we need to cure with the midterms.
15
Thank you Dr. K; you have faithfully over the years emphasized the importance of health care for our nation. Yes, the GOP has used fear (e.g.: loss of 2nd Amendment rights!) and racism (shouldn’t care for “those” people) to retain voters. How truly sad and disgraceful this national party focuses on our “bad” angels. Rather than provide a vision of a better America the leadership and well-to-do supporters of the Republican party reject all – all – support for their fellow citizens. Civilization cannot exist without our caring for one another. And, yes, the news media rather than simply reporting the lies Trump and his party have the audacity to share and use to promote fear could and should be writing with plenty of questions about the future of health care for all, Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and infrastructure and …. Our nation is being crippled and sucked dry of its wealth by those who siphon off far too much. It is way past time for Americans to challenge the senseless greed that jeopardizes all of us – Republican and Democratic voter.
8
All of this is correct, and you may justifiably lament it all you want, but if the Democrats want to why know they cannot beat, hands down, the most corrupt, pathetic, Republican party in history they need only look in the mirror.
Face it, Hillary Rodham Clinton was a truly awful candidate, and the Democrats STILL don't have a message let alone a messenger.
You keep talking about Obamacare. Just about everyone hates it. Let the Democrats quickly choose a leader, one who has the guts to say "MEDICARE FOR ALL."
4
Vote in November! Let's get the government we the people want.
10
Everyone is free to go out and buy a healthcare.
No one is being “denied”
I , and virtually everyone o know, make payments each month to our provider.
When I need to see a doctor, I have it.
You pay for your car to get fixed, we have policies on appliances, and homes.......
Why is this concept SO difficult to understand?
@Crossing Overhead
Many people cannot afford to own a car. Many people don't have policies on appliances and homes; mainly, because they don't have appliances or homes in which to put them.
Many, many of the people in the U.S. are not free to go out and buy healthcare. Think about why that is.
9
@Crossing Overhead
The concept is hard to understand when you don't want to take responsibility for yourself. When you want your neighbor to pay your bills.
@Crossing Overhead - Do you remember the health insurance markets before the ACA? People with pre-existing conditions were routinely denied coverage; insurance companies imposed lifetime caps so that if the worst happened, people with serious and chronic conditions would suddenly lose coverage. I don't want to go back to those sad, dark days. I want to keep our ACA protections and expand them. Unfortunately, Republicans have no plan, other than repeal Obamacare, and if Republicans succeed, we will return those sad, dark days.
4
Shows you where The Democratic leadership is at when their message is muted. Thank Warren for talking about her NativevAmerican ancestors, Clinton fo4 defending Bill, Nancy for staying on to long, and Chuck announcing voting against Kavanaugh without a hearing.
@Gary Cohen but whatever you do DON’T blame the people smashing up and destroying the world order? Your complaints are minor quibbles compared to what the GOP is doing and plans to do, but to each his/her/other petty concerns.
5
@Gary Cohen
Some really deep thinking, here. Bold. Enlightening. Inspiring. Thanks awfully.
1
An ongoing nightmare that I cannot awaken from. The Republican reality has become totally surreal. Yes, the future seems so menacing!
11
Very thoughtful and illuminating analysis of Republicans bankruptcy of policies and surfeit of cultural war hype, election sabotage and out-and-out lies.
7
Mr. Krugman, rather than blaming the sad sack Democrat woes on those racist republicans, perhaps get out of your bubble and talk to people outside. The middle and lower classes aren’t afraid of brown people taking their jobs-we have seen that both parties willingly gave our best jobs to China and imported the manual jobs to workers who would work for less and hold wages down. With over 20 million here already people see that American citizens are considered second class and the illegal aliens and refugees gets first billing. President Trump puts America first without apology. Many, many Americans feel they finally have a champion-however flawed. You and your cohorts have done nothing but stamp your collective feet since the election-hopefully the midterms will put to rest that the pendulum swings both ways and people see that Democrats are only out for power-the power to control individuals.
@prettyinpink
Your champion's ugly caps were made...where? Your champion's children have products made...where? Your champion's money bags don't care about you.
Your champion doesn't care about you or anyone like you. He's laughing at you.
4
@prettyinpink: consider that the US population is nearly 330 million. That leaves you with just over 6% immigrant. It's hard to see where this group becomes a threat to the other 94%, unless you somehow believe that this tiny minority wins elections, sways policy, drives the 94% out of jobs they want. If they indeed were that powerful, given their substantial disadvantages (low education rates, poverty, victims of crime, etc.) we should be ENCOURAGING them to take over! And even though it is likely that your parents and grandparents (and perhaps even you) willingly participated in blatant discrimination against minorities in order to live the American dream, I wouldn't hold my breath until the first "Whites need not apply" sign appears.
1
@prettyinpink seems to me, the Democrats won the popular vote. Again. So what were you saying?
1
Among the many things that astounds me and shames me about today's America is that all the folks who want to make the country great again are panicking about a caravan of 2,000 impoverished and desperate refugees creeping towards our boarder. The richest and mightiest country in the world, with 325 million people, is cowering before this pathetic "threat." Really, is that what great nations do? Is that how great nations respond to desperate people seeking mercy?
17
@fbraconi
They need to go back to their own country and work on their problems.
Is there anything new under the sun? Towards the end of the last election day in Israel, which turned out to be a close one, Benjamin Netanyahu posted on his webpage that "the Arabs are streaming to the polls" in order to scare his supporters who hadn't done so already to go and vote. To Netanyahu's credit, some time after the fact he issued an apology but his message was clear
3
Re people being paid to come lobby against Kavanaugh, Soros may indeed have had nothing to do with it. But NPR's "All Things Considered" on Friday afternoon of the week before the seven-day FBI investigation interviewed a woman from Alaska who asserted that she was in DC to lobby Murkowski. She also said that she and several other women from Alaska had their trips paid for by the ACLU. The NPR program treated this as a truthful, honest portrayal of the widespread dissatisfaction with Kavanaugh.
I found it disturbing when the president suggested that the media is to blame for the rash of mail-bombs sent to prominent Democrats. He believes that negative stories in the press motivated the bomber. He is suggesting then that the bomber is somehow justified because the press made him do it--that the press is to blame. That's like saying those guys who bombed the Boston Marathon had a point in killing a lot of innocent people because America had been so cruel to Middle Easterners. Or that the Unabomber should be excused because technology does have detrimental effect on society. No, the sender of those mail-bombs is a criminal, a terrorist--who is attacking innocent people--and for the president to make excuses for him or her--especially excuses that fit nicely with something that vexes him--is wrong. The proper thing for a leader to do when a series of terrible crimes is taking place is to encourage law enforcement and to sympathize with victims. Not to find excuses for the criminal.
14
Yes, the future is full of menace.
The G.O.P., under Trump and McConnell, has attacked our political structure in multiple cynical ways. Examples include: threatening Obamacare without having a workable alternative; injecting the knowingly false trickle-down economic theory into our tax laws; anti-unionism (Gorsuch); gutting fair immigration and trade policies; appointing Gorsuch and Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court over Obama’s--but McConnell blocked--nominee, Garland; gerrymandering; voter suppression; racism; and, in ignoring science, damning the environment in which we live.
Two themes emerge from this destabilizing collection of events. First, they're designed to serve the wealthy. Second, they're designed to put the power of government into the hands of a few. Where does Trump fit into this? His interests match those of the rich and few. If he and they are successful, our government will be controlled by a set of privileged, rich, conservative, self-serving, authoritarian, older, white men--thus, extinguishing our democracy.
By definition, we'll live in a combined plutocracy/oligarchy--in this case, with Trump/McConnell leading the pack, filled with a heavy dose of meanness.
8
In 2016, a minority of our electorate selected a president who is the embodiment of the ugly American, a “leader” totally incapable of serving anyone’s interests but his own. Not even two years into office, his xenophobic, inhumane policies and rhetoric, his despotic favoritism, his reckless disregard for global warming, and his sophomoric incompetence on the world stage, have caused most of us palpable angst, shame and disbelief.
Our Constitution was designed to protect the minority from the tyranny of the majority. But, as we clearly see today, it, with the recent complicity of our Supreme Court, fails to protect the majority from the tyranny of the minority. The Trump and GOP tyranny diminishes our Nation. It makes us less great, not more. And, if the decent citizens haven’t gotten it by now, and if they don’t rise up in unprecedented numbers, go to the polls on November 6th and take back our country from this great imposter and his feckless GOP confederates, then the irreparable injury toll on our nation, on our planet, and on freedom loving people everywhere may be incalculable for generations to come.
VOTE, VOTE, VOTE!
30
Dr. Krugman paraphrasing Leonard Cohen there, at the end?
1
If the Republicans keep both the House and Senate, we can look forward to 10,000+ liberal and Democratic pundits being gathered up and jailed in order to protect them from angry American citizens.
1
I agree. My GOP friends are not tired of winning.
I fear I also have seen the future and it looks a lot like Russia, with American oligarchs (emulating Putin's oligarchs) running the show. Of course, in America, the super rich are intent on returning us to the 1800's, when women knew their place as did the servant, community of color, class.
Here in Oregon we have Knight and Nike simply buying the University of Oregon, and "relieving" the taxpayers of some of the cost of running a state university. Of course, that also means it becomes a second or third class school, but hey, drunken "fans" cheering on gladiators bashing their brains to dementia is good for the bottom line.
Great wealth always is the cause of the fall of a nation, and it always cheers itself mightily as it loots the treasury.
Hugh Massengill, Eugene Oregon
13
I can't disagree with Dr Krugman; 'never have.
My only question is why he and others constantly refer to republikanz as 'the right', which puts them on a viable spectrum with Democrats, who are' left'.
So why not say, 'fascists'--who oppose sensible human beings?
8
I wonder how the march to texas began down in the southern countries and got all those people together to hike north to texas. No so much that there is a march but the timing of it. The expected arrival is close to our voting date. Great timing for the reps who can focus on illegal immigrants et al. Interesting.
6
First of all, I think this is now the norm around the world. Create or stir up a cultural war to advance a political agenda. Secondly, people who have immigrated (like myself) should understand and be reminded why they immigrated in the first place. If you don't want to assimilate or you don't even know what assimilation is then it will cause a lot of problems and it will add to the cultural war.
5
Now that Trump has made an enemy of almost everyone and everything to maximize his short-term benefit (the only metric that seems to matter in Trumpland), this strategy is likely to lose its power over impressionable voters. Who is left to the be the emerging and urgent threat that only Trump can protect us from in 2020? Is it New Zealand?
123
@Alan Nope - It's obviously Canada. All maple trees in the United States are fitted with transmitters and video cameras. We have total surveillance. I can't tell you the role beavers play. It's classified. Code word - Trudeau.
10
@Alan
He's already made a stab at blaming Canada. But seriously, once you don't require any basis in reality -- once desperate women and children fleeing hunger and war become terrorists sponsored by George Soros -- the supply of villains is endless. Don't expect this act to run out of steam.
420
@Paul Krugman This is a perfect encapsulation of what's made me so much more uneasy these last couple weeks. It's a reminder that what's happening here has no lower bound as constrained by reason. I've come to understand how it is that reasonable people can watch such things as what's happening now in US government unfold, telling themselves that "surely things can't get much worse than this", never stopping to consider that those who cheer it on have no connection to reality and reason as they understand it.
2
Blue collar workers will be fleeced of every last thing they own in order to enrich people like Trump. When it is all gone, they will realize that they stupidly gave it away to "protect" them from people who were never their enemies. Trump was and is their nemesis.
5
I fear the day that Pacifica Radio's Democracy Now must change its name to Democracy Then.
2
How do trumpicans continue to win elections? Just ask
the 35% or so of the eligible to vote why they don't bother to vote, especially in off year elections where the percentage
will be 40%+.
People do not seem to get it that there appears to be
a vicious schism between 2/3 of the eligible voters while
the rest has decided not to join in the morass because of
any number of disenchantment inducing factors. This very
large component of the population is not hate filled, it's not
deeply racist.
It's deeply cynical that nothing in current
politics is going to change their daily struggles. It's not
well informed nor educated. It is a large part of
the society too wounded spiritually and too alienated
socially to have any interest in civic engagement. Nothing
will help them; they are on their own and they can't
attend to anything that doesn't have an
interest in helping out.
Hate helps galvanize one part of the voting electorate.
Self interest does too. The number of thriving suburbanites who'll think only of how well life's been of late for them
aren't going to sniff around and begin to think that they
better start worrying about our coming apart at the seams. They'll continue to vote as they have for what they think
are classic republicans. They fail to grasp/acknowledge
that such people have sold their soul at a price and can't
get it back. Such voters are not hate filled nor furious. They're
naive and indifferent to history. Typically American.
3
Ominous future indeed, what with the rampant lies and the sowing of fear and hate of 'the other', totally irrational and yet effective, as our demagogue in- chief is keeping his misinformed and biased base intrigued with his constant insults, viewed as a source of endless entertainment. Republicans have always behaved as hypocrites both as fiscal conservatives, and also when hiding their spite towards healthcare coverage that they take for granted for themselves. And certainly their antipathy to accept that medical pre-existing conditions must be covered. One cynical way has been to remove the need for universal pay into the system, as seeking coverage only when one gets sick would bankrupt the system. Republicans know what they are doing, and it isn't nice; in fact it's nasty and cruel. Are these the same folks that go to church on sundays, and then go back to their entitled positions of arrogant self-serving? Insofar the 'bombs' are concerned, the singlemost culprit enticing violence is Trump himself, however much he tries to deny authorship.
1
The problem is that nothing surprises us any more. It's like people on dope, eventually more is always needed to satiate. The bombs were expected. The pattern was not very creative and could have been easily predicted.
If it was not so pathetic and dangerous, it would be seen, at best, as a mediocre farce, when it is more like a very bad film, a bomb, of sorts. However, it is the epitome of surreal, and you have to wonder and worry about a population of people, who welcome it.
If people are not motivated to go to the polls by now and put an end to this madness, then you will only see more of it, and next time the bombs will be made to go off.
It makes you wonder about an explosion early in the morning on election day in a metropolitan area. What could be a better tactic for voter suppression than that. Hey, if there was an abortion clinic next door, you could get the two birds in the same bush.
4
One thing you must give the GOP they know how use smart (if evil) tactics to pass terrible legislation. This happens in part because the Dems are not focused on any sort of message. They dance from race, to gender, to healthcare, to immigration, to workers rights, to children, to choice, to LGBTQ and so forth with no central core linking any of it. We can't move forward until the party of the future can articulate a strategy and follow it with smart tactics. We need new leaders come 2019. Out with Pelosi, Schumer, and Feinstein (to start).
4
The US has had the opportunity to help Central America and their citizens for hundreds of years but imperial and selfish corporate interests have turned the place into an underworld.
The war on drugs has been particularly stupid and unproductive but I can still get my bananas doled out to me at really low prices.
By the time the restless natives here in the northern hemisphere figure out, if they ever do, that Trump has played them for fools he will be long gone so some other demagogue can whip them into a lather over liberals or people of color or the flag, and the flag is just a symbol of our country, not the people, land, or resources itself.
In my lifetime mankind has stood on the moon, begun in ernest to explore the bottom of the oceans, figured out genetics (or nearly so), probed beyond the atom, and accomplished things only a few geniuses have ever contemplated in the past and at the same time we've allowed the basest and most unworthy of our attention to command our society.
I'm voting in spite of Trump but I don't really have any hope for us anymore. People like the Kochs Bros would sacrifice everything for a bigger pile of money and Trump is just their trained monkey.
26
See the October 22 New Yorker article "Breaking the News" (great pun; horrible reality) about the Sinclair Broadcast Group's illegal, unethical, and basically FCC-unopposed takeover of local TV media markets. They are a right-wing propaganda machine, and TV news is still the most trusted source of news for many people.
The media will not save us. Print news is decimated by loss of advertising, and local TV news has been taken over by the same people who cheated their way into electoral victory.
1
The Republican Party gets away with its unique brand of spiteful, divisive rhetoric because the Democratic Party lets the GOP do it with nary a peep of protest.
There is no political movement on the face of the Earth more effective than the Democratic Party at snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. Where is the party on most of the issues concerning voters today? We're listening..., but we hear nothing.
The Party has no voice, no presence, no chutzpah, no core and no effective leadership. It has promising individual candidates, but as a national source of political inspiration, a used, dead car battery would be more motivating.
The GOP has cornered the market on megaphones. Why? Because the Democratic Party has given it to them. This is simply pathetic.
9
Mueller needs help with subpoena power over Trump documents, notably his tax returns, which he can get if the U.S. House is flipped. He is counting on the American people. If we let him down, we let ourselves down. And we stare into the abyss.
Here in purple-state Arizona, the major race is for Jeff Flake's open U.S. Senate seat, between Kyrsten Sinema (D) and Martha McSally (R). Sinema has been running largely on health care. She is down in the polls. The governor's race is between David Garcia (D) and Doug Ducey (R). Ducey is a Trump supporter and has notably been an abomination with education funding. Garcia has campaigned on compassion toward immigrants. Garcia is down in the polls by double digits, and Democrats have pulled funding for his campaign ads in favor of Katie Hobbs (D), who is running for Arizona Secretary of State. They want to see at least one Democrat win high-ranking statewide office.
This election is no slam dunk. Democrats are not ahead by 50 points in the polls. We need as large a margin as possible nationally in the midterms, everywhere, to mitigate and begin to reverse our country's perilous course.
Consider helping as many progressives as possible to vote on Election Day, any way you can. That is our best hope in finding a way out of this. Peacefully.
3
The Reagan Restoration is hardening into place. The crude money power is railroading through laws and nominations and SCOTUS decisions. We are on the slippery slope where plutocracy and kleptocracy and theocracy - inciting and exploiting public fear - meld into authoritarianism and worse.
Is the American Experiment over? It is if the Democrats don't wean themselves of neoliberalism and corporate money. Their sleepy walk through the Rockefeller Republicanism of the Clintons and Obama gained the nation little, and was actually complicit in the Reagan Restoration. They lost elections that should have been won in 2000, 2004 and 2016 - with tremendous damage to the nation and the world. Those would have been won with decent political efforts competent and competitive enough to overcome treasonous shenanigans by Bushes and Trumps and the GOP. They slept while Karl Rove garnered statehouses, gerrymandered districts and roused the rabble. They passively let Newt Gingrich rouse the rabble before then, and let Trump do it after.
This coming mid-term election is only a bare glimmer of a start. It's going to be a long haul. And meanwhile there are very dangerous shoals of imminent climate change damage, Chinese and Russian aggression, authoritarian waves built on fearmongering, great conflicts over energy and food resources, and economic and financial vulnerability.
There is no time to waste. Are Democrats up to it? Is the Democratic Party democratic enough to do it? Time to step up.
6
People can vote in elections but more don't than do.
They say there's no nexus between their vote and any discernible result. Republicans know this. It's their form of political climate change: raise the emotional heat until the democratic majority of enlightened and informed self-interest is riven by intense emotional turbulence, asphyxiated by raging hate and an induced coma of denial.
In the Atlantic, an article on Newt Gingrich lays bare his strategy to destroy faith in common ground with battle between ascendant evil and resolute good, with Gingrich the self-styled Christ waging Armageddon against multi-cultural monsters feasting on the corpse of Western civilization. With a straight face he says he was chosen to pivot history. Actually he's more like Lucifer, who believed his own press and tried to dethrone god.
Bannon and Trump are faint echoes of Newt's rebel yell. He strutted into Congress carrying stacks of obscure books as props for his faux erudition. He told his caucus that he came not to praise but to bury any who mistook Democrats for other than enemies to be eviscerated. He redefined GOP and politics as terrorist and terror. He normalized character assassination, big lies, media capture, blackmail, grand inquisitions, ad hominem acid attacks. His climate change drove Democrats to higher ground, abandoning the lowlands to GOP demagogues.
Gingrich crows that he's alienated Americans from their own democracy.
Prove him wrong in two weeks.
6
Laughing off incendiary rhetoric, while all the while turning up the heat, is part of the playbook -- a feature, not a bug.
The natural result: this most recent act of terrorism did not target "critics" of Trump, it targeted Trump's targets.
3
"So how do Republicans manage to win elections?" By running superior candidates, my dear sir. This is so hard for you to understand, I see that, but you and Hillary have got to pull yourselves together. Americans want hope and change, always. That's why I votes for Obama and that's why I voted for Reagan and for Trump. Hope and change make the world go around and dear Hillary is a lot of wonderful things, I'm sure, but hope and change are not words that come to mind when I think of her. Vitality is something, too, decisiveness, and optimism. "It's my turn" is not a winning slogan. "You're a sexist if you don't vote for me" is not a turn on. Health care is vital, but your dear colleague David Brook is right that soul craft is more important than material well-being and given the choice of more of Obamacare with Hillary and less of Obamacare with the Donald was a no-brainer. What distinguished the two was this: honesty, yes, honesty, because Hillary's slogan of defend the status quo rang hollow while Trump's MAGA line zeroed in on what All Woke Americans know and see and that is that American is in decline. We are going down the toilet...and this recognition by a trouble-shooter like Donald gave him the edge. Hillary promised no action. The Donald promised to take a stab at pulling us out of the tank.
@David
So, how's that working out for you? Do you think that getting laughed at by foreign diplomats and provoking them to shift trade from the US dollar is going to "pull us out of the tank"? And what about the argument of the column itself, that a calculated strategy to exploit wedge issues--appeals to hate and fear--have been part of what your "superior candidates" have done at least since Gingrich and arguably back to Reagan?
7
Respectfully, I've had 1,000 conversations with well-informed Democrats and liberals over the past two years, and not a single conversation was on the subject of healthcare. It's important, but with everything else going on, it's not even on the top 10 list.
The GOP couldn't get away with any of this without the help of the media. The press MUST do a better job and not amplify every lie. We know now that repeating the lies is how they become truths.
1
I went to early vote this week and as I walked from the parking lot there was a Republican voter tent handing out voter guides. I passed them by and as I approached the line a lone women in a chair looked at me and with some hesitation asked me if I would like a democratic voter guide. ( I’m a 60 year old white guy dressed in business clothes).
I said absolutely and her face lite up with a smile that stayed with me through that evening. I told her loud enough for the Republicans to hear that Trump and the Republicans had made voting for me so much easier. I can’t see myself voting for a Republican the remaining years of my life. I only hope there are enough of my generation and sex that have reached the level of disgust that I have with Republicans.
8
I have seen the Republican Party and it's full of menace.
Who opposed Medicare for seniors?
Who opposes single-payer health care for all?
Who opposed the Affordable Care Act to cover people with preexisting conditions?
Who now denies/hides their consistent efforts to repeal the ACA?
Who lies about keeping health insurance for preexisting conditions?
Who declared they would thwart President Obama from being a successful president? From preventing another great depression? From recovering the economy?
Who passed tax cuts for the wealthy, claimed it was a middle class tax cut, claimed it would pay for itself, now doesn't want to talk about how much it's adding to the national debt?
Who said the national debt was our biggest threat but thinks talk of the debt is nonsense now that they are in power and empowered to spend?
Who thinks global warming can be disproved with a snowball?
Who thinks climate change is a hoax?
Who thinks we should develop more coal and oil burning factories/utilities?
Who thinks coal and oil industries should be given tax subsidies?
Who thinks Russia is our friend and Canada is a threat?
Who thinks women should not be in control of their own bodies?
Who thinks blacks without jobs are just too lazy to work, too happy to collect welfare?
Who thinks Latinos should be randomly stopped and required to produce citizenship papers?
Who thinks whites should have an arsenal of assault rifles to protect their property?
Who, oh who could it be?
11
"So will this ramped-up strategy of hate work?"
One of the worst things about Trump and his base is that they have made me uncomfortable with my white skin.
It's an unfair advantage - like all people, it's the way I was born, not a choice - and I hate that it matters.
As my husband and I discuss what can (and will) happen if the Democrats don't take the House and/or the Senate, we are more and more aware that being white matters in the eyes of Trump's GOP.
And we wonder if the real November surprise will be President Pence & VP Ryan. Nunes did tell donors it was very important that things went as planned and Kavanaugh got confirmed. If the GOP keeps Congress, it could very well happen. Goodbye Roe v Wade, birth control, separation of church and state. Hello to pro-Christianity government.
We are afraid for our minority family members, friends, neighbors and co-workers. I can't imagine the fear they have.
Trump's America is not my America.
I hate that I have an unfair advantage.
I hate how Trump is dividing us.
We as a country are a mixing pot. It is what has made America the nation she is. When we are great it is because of all of us. And unless you are 100% Native American, you or your ancestors immigrated to America.
Vote Democratic on November 6th.
Every seat, every office.
Changing Majorities in Congress is our best course of action.
Vote.
10
Excellent article but nothing new here. The Republican Party has done a masterful job at getting the lower and middle class to vote against their own interests for decades.
If Jesus himself would come down and run as a Democrat, Trumps sheep would find hate to demonize him and don't think they wouldn't. I'm including the so-called evangelical sheep as well.
1
Those of us who truly care about what this country can be need to be prepared for a midterm election result that doesn't just maintain the status quo, but actually moves it to even more bigotry, partisanship, fear mongering and hate. The monsters will have be unleashed; more and more of the freedoms we have held dear will begin to vanish. The really tragic thing, though, about the Republicans holding sway in the midterms is that it in effect will show that the vision of America as the land of opportunity, the home of the free, and the champion of the free world has been a sham.
3
People can vote in elections but more don't than do.
They say there's no nexus between their vote and any discernible result. Republicans know this. It's their form of political climate change: raise the emotional heat until the democratic majority of enlightened and informed self-interest is riven by intense emotional turbulence, asphyxiated by raging hate and an induced coma of denial.
In the Atlantic, an article on Newt Gingrich lays bare his strategy to destroy faith in common ground with battle between ascendant evil and resolute good, with Gingrich the self-styled Christ waging Armageddon against multi-cultural monsters feasting on the corpse of Western civilization. With a straight face he says he was chosen to pivot history. Actually he's more like Lucifer, who believed his own press and tried to dethrone god.
Bannon and Trump are faint echoes of Newt's rebel yell. He strutted into Congress carrying stacks of obscure books as props for his faux erudition. He told his caucus that he came not to praise but to bury any who mistook Democrats for other than enemies to be eviscerated. He redefined GOP and politics as terrorist and terror. He normalized character assassination, big lies, media capture, blackmail, grand inquisitions, ad hominem acid attacks. His climate change drove Democrats to higher ground, abandoning the lowlands to GOP demagogues.
Gingrich crows that he's alienated Americans from their own democracy.
Prove him wrong in two weeks.
22
A politician has to do whatever he needs to do to get elected, even if it requires body slamming. This is even more important for those politicians who wants to do public good. Because, if you do not have power, you cannot do any good to the public and the crooks and racists will take over all the levers of the government. Those who seek civility in politics should not be politicians. The slogans such as ‘when they go low, you go high’ is a very bad advice. The right advice is ‘when they go low, you go even lower’ if that is what it takes to win. Trump is a master in giving the red meat to the media, and the media will do the rest of distracting the public from issues that matters most for them. In a way, Trump is right about calling the media a fake. If not, the media would have focused on issues important to the public rather than amplifying Trump’s tantrums.
85
@Kodali
For what it's worth, the media's sins aren't at all what Trump claims. The news isn't fake; the problem is that too many news orgs prefer to do theater criticism rather than cover policy issues. This hugely favors politicians with terrible policies who are good at theater. And "civility" is a dodge by pundits who don't want to take a stand on substance.
377
@Kodali
What about those herbivores who don't like red meat? What I want from my politicians is for them to create a civil society. I don't want to live in an episode of "Game of Thrones."
9
If “go lower” wins elections, it certainly destroys nations. Do really think a politician who will do anything, no matter how vile, to win elections will somehow be transformed into a beacon of hope and principle once in office? Do you think a “go lower” politician will aim high after being elected and facing the pressures and temptations of actually governing? I don’t.
8
Trump and the GOP serve a few super rich and stay in power by bending the rules and subverting law-enforment and the judiciary, by spreading thinly veiled lies and deception, by stoking divisive cultural wars, and by sowing rage and hatred. If they continue unabated, they will destroy our democracy.
They are aided by propaganda outlets (foremost Fox "News" and Trump's highly sophisticated and unchecked Twitter machine) that spew misinformation and lies to a huge segment of the population. Trump's continuous and vicious attacks on the free press and anybody speaking out against him are immensely destructive and threaten the very fabric of our democracy. The checks and balances provided by the free press seem unable to reach a large segment of the population. None of this bodes well for our country.
Voters still standing by the sidelines should consider where the country is heading. By inaction, they will be as guilty for enabling the decline of our democracy as those voting for the Trump enabling GOP. There is still time to act and vote for the Democratic opposition.
1
So how do we turn the tide? At what point do Trump's supporters get tired of yelling in unison and repeating right-wing diatribes while seeing their paychecks shrink, their medical care get worse, the wealthy around them flaunt their gains while they grind away at their minimum wage jobs? I'm having trouble seeing the end game that rescues our democracy. It's frankly scary.
145
@Ken L
My paycheck certainly hasn't shrunk and i have great healthcare. I don't know who you are hanging out with, but that certainly isn't what is happening in Ohio.
@Ken L
Hard core Trump supporters may not be reachable. But they're a minority. Trump got into power only thanks to complacent country-club Republicans who thought he wouldn't do anything bad enough to outweigh tax cuts, and "centrists" who pretended that everything was symmetric. Turn those people around, and the crazies can be pushed back to the fringe.
329
@Paul Krugman
Actually, Trump ‘got into power’ only thanks to an opponent who had no political skills at all (‘deplorables’ , taking the month of August off to hang in the Hamptons, no or little campaigning in key states) as well as late revelation about DNC rigging the nomination process. If Democrats are to win in 2020 they need to learn from the mistakes of 2016, not ignore them.
The strategy of hate and lies does work. It was the hate of Obamacare and the lies which Republicans told about it that are largely responsible, in my opinion, for the predicament Democrats now find themselves in. Obamacare became very unpopular with the public, and Democrats suffered enormous losses in 2010 in both congressional seats and governorships. I've always thought that if President Obama and other Democrats had mounted an aggressive campaign to defend Obamacare against Republican lies, the political landscape today would be much different.
154
I completely agree. I never understood why the great orator in Obama did not mount a huge information campaign from his bully pulpit, TV, as only presidents can do. Charts, graphs, q&a, to explain how the ACA would work over time before the Republicans could dismantle it. The botched website only added to the confusion and ambivalence. Huge opportunity lost!
24
@RF
And lets not forget how numerous polls indicated popular support for the ACA but disdain for Obamacare.
18
@Philip The response to a determined Obama would have been "Look! It's a scary, angry black man!!"
Obama tried over and over again to bring Republicans into the process for the good of the whole country, but they were determined to win even if it destroyed the country in the process.
While it saddens me that someone of Mr. Krugman's renowned intellect must devote so much of his time and energy to remind us
of our current situation, its mendacious leadership, its greed and corruption, I understand and welcome the importance of his message which cannot be repeated often enough.
Thanks, Mr. Krugman, for adding your passion to the human and behavioral aspects of your profession to this vital discussion. Economics may still always be known as 'the dismal science,'
yet you have given us all a more enlightened understanding of it.
10
The difference between the Democrats and Republicans is stark. The Democrats are responsible for vital programs like Social Security and Medicare. Without Social Security, millions of Americans would approach retirement age with three dollars in the bank and have to work until they fell over dead. Without Medicare, they couldn't afford private health insurance. The next thing we will hear out of the Republicans after their rich folks tax cut will be that we can no longer afford to support these programs at their current levels. The Republicans never support any program that might add to the welfare of the people. Supporters of the Republican Party could very well live to regret that support.
4
I am convinced the right needs to see it to believe it. They cannot embrace where Trump and McConnell are taking them. They have to see and feel it in order to turn in a new direction. They have to lose or be unable to afford healthcare to see what Republicans want. They have to recognize the raises are not coming. They have to see they will have to work until they are 80 or 85 to retire. They have to see their loved one with dementia or inability to care for themselves cannot go to a nursing home because they cannot afford it. They have to see their loved one with addiction will not have coverage for treatment (and they will have to let the person live with them because SSI or SSD will be cut). In short, they have to see the better life they have been promised is not in the cards. And never was in the first place for them to look at Democrats. By then the wealthy will have pushed them further down the ladder. And their choice will be to blame themselves or blame them that brung us here.
10
@Walking Man: Indeed I agree; the unthinking followers need to fall of the cliff before they 'get it'. And even that fall may not bring about enlightenment. Unfortunately the rest of are being wrenched over the cliff with them. As long as I get to watch them go first - the sole redemption. Better yet, it's why I want nothing to do with 'them' - best we part ways for good, e.g.- separate nations.
House districts are gerrymandered. Senate seats in low population states tilt their representation to an egregious degree. The GOP has played hard ball while the Democrats have chased divisive cultural issues to their great detriment, at least in terms of accruing power. The loss of manufacturing hasn't just hollowed out our nation, it destroyed the unions and the power they had to improve workers lives. Is it any wonder that the GOP owners of those corporations are happy to send that work offshore?
7
If Americans would read more history, they would be able to see the future from past events, assuming the ability to tie points together in an uninterrupted stream of consciousness, i.e., think.
It seems so many of my fellow citizens are too tied to beliefs rather than the rational analysis of facts and evidence. Turn off what you want to believe and start paying attention to what some elected leaders have done and to diametrically opposed promises of what they say they will do. These officials seeking election cannot have it both ways.
As one with an armchair interest in politics, I recall Republicans wanting to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) (“Obamacare”). I recall the 2016 campaign promises of Republicans to repeal and to replace it. I recall recent legislation voted down in the Senate to repeal but to not replace it. I know of current lawsuits from Republican officials across the country to challenge the constitutionality of the ACA in Court and some of those same Republicans now saying they support pre-existing conditions, which form the basis of the ACA.
I know from life experience, Republicans have wanted to eliminate Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. I know recently, these programs have been blamed by Republicans for the increasing national debt, rather than the enormous tax cuts the Republican-controlled Congress passed, funds that would have gone into our Treasury are no longer available.
Please start paying attention and thinking.
23
I don't think it is just the Republicans who are against health care; I think it is the business community that is against government supplied health care. When is the last time you heard any business leader endorse (and therefore lobby for) government supplied health care?
This is true despite the fact that shifting the burden of health care to the government would make businesses more profitable.
15
The author is not alone in seeing menace stretching far into the future. There is increasing fear that the margin next month may be not at all to less than 6% due simply to a demonic sense of inertia and ennui that challenges reason. Those who are genuinely threatened by staying this course seem dazed by events and not able to see the real threat to their lives. This is surmised with a sincere wish to be proven wrong.
11
The problem is liberals for years have respected the rules and simple fairness it is part of who we are. Conservatives do not and have not, winning at any cost and any means, be it by bold faced lying or cheating and rule breaking are all part of their standard play book. This is an asymmetrical situation only made worse in the modern era of the internet and fractured media. Liberals just might have to accept this fact and fight back with the anger the right has directed their way.
Minority rule never works out well and that is where we are.
35
@Chris Prohibition is the perfect example of minority rule on a single issue. Single-issue voters have power beyond their numbers to influence elections. But, eventually, the majority tends to reassert itself if things get seriously out of whack.
We'll see.
6
@Chris
The problem is old tired leadership that is stuck in partisan politics that have lost the ear of many voters. See Warren, Clinton, and Pelosi among others.
The Electoral College is the constitutional way to elect a president. How can you justify saying it's "rigged"? There's a lot to be said for decentralizing the election. It improves fairness and trust. As an example benefit, there's no point in Texas cheating in a presidential election: all its electors are already Republican. And in contested states, both parties have the power to challenge any misbehavior.
3
@wt Actually, Texas voters get to choose among a slate of Republican, Democratic and third-party electors when they vote. Whichever slate they choose goes to the Electoral College and each individual casts a vote for President and Vice President.
"Rigged" is a pejorative term, but the Constitution was the result of various compromises and the Senate and Electoral College system reflect a compromise that gave less populous states disproportionate representation.
5
@wt - If you rig a bunch of states, you've effectively rigged the whole election. Google 'Ohio presidential election 2004' for a scenario or look at the various Republican efforts to suppress voting by state.
And the Electoral College doesn't come into play in midterm elections.
1
@wt your argument is absurd. The President presides over all citizens, so all citizens should have an equal vote in choosing their president. Nothing hard about this at all. Cheaters must be dealt with, but not by inequities like the Electoral College. If taking away individual votes is a good way to prevent cheating , the. It logically follows that an even better way would be to abolish voting altogether. Let’s just bring back the monarchy and be done with it.
2
Defrauding someone out of money violates civil law and potentially the criminal law. Does the first amendment permit indicting a political party or a candidate for fraud ? Imagine the attention that the indictment would bring if a state attorney general did that. Or file a criminal information against republican candidates who lie about their support for protecting people from pre-existing conditions. Or talk about doing so, at least. That would get attention.
8
I’ve always thought FoxNews should lose its license for lies and fraud. Although I don’t know how that works for cable news as opposed to broadcast where they license airwaves from the government on behalf of citizens.
It appears that Fox certainly willfully violates that trust.
I think our First Amendment goes too far when it comes to corporate speech such as that of Fox News.
@BacktoBasicsRob: The US political system is the most blatant scam of unequally protective law to pretend it is a democracy.
3
@Doug Mattingly: We are all forced to pay for the drivel vomited by Fox News onto cable TV networks we have to buy to get high speed internet access.
We citizens are just pawns to be sold to rentiers by the politicians the rentiers select for us to choose between.
Columns like this to a fine job of enlightening us about the true (often insidious) nature of current political struggles, but how will those who would most benefit from this perspective be reached?
24
"By large margins, voters want to raise, not lower, taxes on corporations and the wealthy."
Yes we need to raise revenue to reduce deficit and slow the rising national debt.
A modest cut in corporate tax was probably acceptable, say to 30%, or 28%.
On the marginal rate side of individual income tax, the cuts on the lower incomes with child tax-credit etc. was good. But 83% of the cuts went to top 1%, which was abhorrent.
Now, one other higher rate of 50% on the top 0.05% household incomes from all sources is necessary. This would bring in hundreds of $billions annually (I don't have an actual estimate). The funny part is that a sizable portion of that group would be for such a higher tax rate, for the common good.
Furthermore, the very regressive payroll tax ought to be cut on the first $20K, say to 1% on the first $10K & to 2% on the second $10K. Lift the cap, but cut again to 1% beyond say $150K at the current dollar value, which would be less unacceptable to the rich. This will extend social security solvency. Such a cut in payroll tax will be a big relief to the working poor.
Since the Reagan era, the bulk of tax-revenue came from the broad middle income group. Until 1981, the bulk of the income tax revenue came from the rich & far less from the lower income groups. In mid & late 1940s, top 0.01% incomes paid about 60% of their income in federal income tax https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e8/US_high-income_effec...
10
@A.G. Alias.... 91% was the top marginal tax rate during GOP Pres Eisenhower's time for incomes over a certain level. Somehow the rich were still rich and did very well.
Today the cutoff for social security tax is so low that if you make about 128,000 you pay a certain amount, but if you make a millions you pay the same tax. Vast sums of revenue are excluded. And then people worry about SS funding into the future.
This is not discussed in the media, but should be a main topic.
Could Krugman the economist possibly interest himself in this issue affecting millions of Americans, as we hear talk of deficits?
32
@Meredith
Thank you for this reply.
91% tax for any income may be too high. But a 50% tax on very high income is necessary.
What I would propose is be moderate in raising tax so the taxed would not feel they are squeezed.
But only tax-cut is acceptable to the Republicans, which is wrong.
2
@Meredith The Social Security wage base has gone up to $132,900, but you're right - it's not enough, it should be unlimited like Medicare. Those folks that make that kind of money can afford to kick in a little more. But every time it comes up, they all scream - ANOTHER TAX! My gosh - we CAN'T have THAT! And yes, it would be nice if it was a subject of conversation more.
3
Without healthcare we do not have freedom. Our decisions revolve around coverage. People are afraid to go into their own businesses, change jobs, try new careers. Without solid healthcare people live in fear. It is like walking through life with one hand tied behind your back. Health is No. 1.
454
@Phyllis Mazik
I agree. Fear of losing health coverage is a a huge burden on American freedom -- and it's a fear no other advanced country faces.
357
@Phyllis Mazik
That's right. And my family - with a young child - lost our affordable private health insurance in 2010 with the subterfuge of Obama+Democrats: You-Can-Keep-Your-Doctor/Health Plan.
It was a straight up lie and they knew it. We paid $250/month. That's now more than $1200 month + $7000 deductible in order to fund the freebie and subsidized ObamaCare recipients. I can't afford that, so not only do we have no health care, but I also get hit with a tax penalty every year. This is why Independents like myself and even some goose stepping Democrats oppose ACA, as well as the Democrats' fiscally impossible Medicaid for all nonsense.
2
@Paul Krugman
Lack of affordable healthcare keeps people in thrall to their employers if they provide healthcare. Since they can't move easily from their jobs thishelps to keep wages down.
1
I’m encouraged by Dr. Krugman’s admission that Republicans will hold the House unless Democrats win by at least 6%. Democrats already acknowledge that they’ve lost the Senate, of course. Again. And you can’t gerrymander a Senate seat. There was a time in a Senate not then majority Republican when Republicans somehow needed to muster 60 votes by creative sausage-making indeed to get anything they wanted passed – and then it could be vetoed; but Harry Reid did away with (most of) that. Rules, don’t you know, that all sides pretty much always lived by, can be a bear – but particularly nettlesome when Democrats are in the political wilderness and can’t seem to make arguments compelling enough to voters to escape it, as Republicans did in 2010, 2014 and 2016. And winter is coming. That’s unfair, too.
Krugman offers an excellent synthesis of why Democrats despise Republicans when it comes to getting elected. Problem is that it’s pretty one-sided. Democrats flog hatred and lie to the constituencies in which they place their trust just as fervently as Republicans do. Promising America an end to healthcare problems with ObamaCare is a good example (as is getting to keep your own doctor and plan), just as is promising an end to poverty with LBJ’s poverty programs. How’s that all workin’ out for America? We livin’ large yet?
Flogging hatred and lying. Clearly, they’re both very American because EVERYONE does it. Even to sell newspapers and attract clicks.
5
Mr. Luettgen repeats the GOP untruth about ACA.
ACA allowed people who were enrolled in non conforming [to ACA] plans before passage of ACA to remain in those plans.
Insurance companies were allowed to offer those non conforming plans to these prior enrollees.
Some insurance companies on their own decided to stop offering these non conforming plans.
Prior enrollees who were forced to change doctors had to change doctors because of actions of insurance companies and not because of ACA.
The Democrats did not claim ACA would solve all health care problems. The GOP blocked many measures that would have made ACA more effective including blocking a public option.
Where is the GOP plan for health care.
Their plan is to ration health care by ability to pay.
ACA increased taxes on rich to help pay for care of non rich and much of the conservative hatred of ACA is because the rich do not want to pay these higher taxes.
40
@Richard Luettgen How is it that the Republicans have the majority in the Senate, but they represent less than half the people? It is the tyranny of the minority and small minds that currently rule with supporters who are like minded and apparently mean spirited, too.
22
@Richard Luettgen
Yet another column flogging the very lies you pretend to despise. Yes, Harry Reid got rid of the 60 Senator rule for lower court confirmations when the Republicans absolutely refused to fill the scads of fed court openings, but it was in exchange for lying McConnell's commitment to keep it for Supreme Court confirmations, which McConnell true to his blackened soul, then reneged on after Trump's victory meant Trump would be appointing reactionary judges, and now another unfit judge to the Supreme Court.
And the 60 Senator rule is still in place for other legislation, although who knows how long that will be.
As for flogging hatred, I don't remember Obama ever saying that the press was the enemy of the people, although he could have honestly called Fox News that, I don't remember any Democratic candidate or official suggesting to their supporters that turning to 2nd Amendment remedies would be a possible way to stymie appointments to the Supreme Court they disagreed with.
Johnson's War on Poverty was cut short by the need to fund the VietNam War. ObamaCare did end the health insurance's right to deny insurance to people with pre-existing conditions, but I agree, it did not go nearly far enough and left anyone not getting subsidies on the hook for the escalating premiums, which in part soared because the Republicans did everything in their power to undermine it. Single payer with the power to negotiate drug prices is the only solutions.
15
Certainly Trump distorts and overdramatizes at every opportunity, but Dems give him and Reps way too many openings because they are not clear on what they would do if elected to office. Best recent example: I've seen more than one Dem candidate in recent TV interviews and debates asked what they would do about the migrant caravan. Answer given: I support comprehensive immigration reform. This does not address the question posed: what would you do about the caravan. The Dems, and even individual candidates, have no position or answer. The transparent evasion leaves viewers with no reason to trust the Dem.
There are a host of other issues where Dems give the good sounding generality we all like to hear, but then on reflection, one wonders what would they really do. I would love to see Trump repudiated at the polls, but I see very poor leadership form the Dems. Dem leaders often feed the Trump mania by overreacting to his sometimes vile and sometimes ridiculous statements with loud threats of their own about all the investigations and actions they will take against Trump once they get the chance. It may be too late for this election cycle, but please Dems: cool off and present clear actions plans that make sense to middle of the road voters.
10
@john640
Exactly what do you expect them to say about a caravan that is outside US jurisdiction? That they will stop it by bombing Mexico? At this point there is absolutely nothing they can do about the caravan. Until it crosses our borders we do not have jurisdiction. Nor is it our problem.
26
@john640 What do you suggest we do? Invade Mexico? Change our asylum laws? Send the military to the border? Why? To shoot the migrants? To arrest and process them, which the border patrol already does?
It may be unsatisfying to people hysterical about the situation, but there are no short-term fixes. We can help the countries south of our border, which we should have done long ago. But it will take time. While we wait it would help to keep a little adult perspective on the situation and stop acting like panicky children.
2
@White Buffalo as a leggal immigrant myself and US citizen, I would expect Dem. to provide a clear explanation how they will protect the US borders once the threat becomes imminent. Once that crowd crosses the border, it will be too late
Curious that Fox News is somehow not part of "the media". If not part of the media what, then, is it?
I've warned before of the republican ploy of "I know you are but what am I" and others have pointed out republican rhetorical strategies involving aiming at democrats the same critiques leveled at them, regardless of whether that application makes sense.
From a strategic perspective, democrats need to get ahead of the republican rhetorical curve. Right now simply asserting that what they are actually doing is what democrats are doing (EG trying to destroy the safety net.) Democrats must come up with a strategy that would be impossible to co-opt, or that could not be twisted if it were. One idea would be,"I don't take big money donations". Another: "I reject attack ads". Of course that would involve democrats actually not taking big money donations and rejecting PAC "help". But there could be others that are effective while still allowing corporatist sellouts to pretend to represent constituents.
OK, I see I took a less than helpful turn there. It's just that I remember it was also Democrats who were complicit in turning Obama's health care reform into a massive corporate giveaway along with (Credit where it is due) massive reductions in health insurance industry fraud and abuse of the public. (Pre-existing conditions being but one of many.) I have a jaundiced eye seeing establishment democrats co-opt single payer - they are paid to prevent that from happening.
@Trebor, you don't seem to know what Krugman wrote. He never said "the media". If you can't tell the difference between "mainstream media" and "media", it's your problem. Your distortions don't end there; they end with the falsehood about who made "Obamacare", actually Romney-Heritage-care as you surely know, into a "massive corporate giveaway": it was Republicans who hinted at agreeing to a compromise and then reneged.
28
I've seen the same future you do, and the Stars and Stripes have been replaced by a red background with a white circle and something back within that circle. Under today's GOP, we have become what we fought against from 1941-45. (We thought we won, but did we?)
14
@Carl Ian Schwartz: We won, but the enemy never sleeps -- and the enemy is very well financed.
20
@Carl Ian Schwartz
There’s the wonderful observation (Faulkner?), something like, “ The past is never over: it’s never even past.”
2
In my mind the salient question is when, and more importantly why, did Republicans (voters and politicians) lose it? When did they pass through the looking glass?
Republicans, not Democrats, truly live in an alternate universe. Obviously, they didn't lose their minds overnight. The Republican propaganda apparatus has been working on them since before Fox News and the internet. Rush Limbaugh and political strategist Lee Atwater were early propaganda pioneers. They helped lay the foundation for strategies employed to great effect more recently by Drudge, Breitbart, Coulter, Alex Jones, Hannity, O'Reilly and many other Republican propagandists.
The strategy is almost always the same - to use fear, white nationalism, abortion, religion, socialism, communism, guns and all of the familiar issues to scare people into voting with rich people and business interests, and against minorities, workers, consumers, environmentalists and poor people.
The vast majority of these Republican voters are voting against their own interests, as we're seeing play out before our eyes. Republicans are, in fact, using their reckless and gratuitous inequality-increasing tax cut, a clear quid pro quo for the GOP's rich donor base, to position them to go after popular programs that their voters depend on, like Medicare, Social Security and Medicaid. Meanwhile, the lies get worse.
71
Here's the Trump-GOP record the last two years in rough sequential order:
1. Thanks to nationwide voter suppression, Kremlin campaign assistance and FBI assistance, the Republicans self-appointed Donald Trump as President over the will of the majority of the American people
2. A Global Gag Order on abortion was issued and funds were cut to global women's groups that provide contraception
3. Climate change science was flushed down a Trump Toilet to make room for Grand Old Pollution
4. The Supreme Court appointment stolen from Barack Obama was filled with a corporate supremacist
5. Several unsuccessful assassination attempts were made on the ACA
6. The President assisted the devastated Puerto Rico with several rolls of paper towels and belittled their character
7. The President fell truly, madly, deeply in love with every authoritarian leader and murderer he met
8. Greed Over People gave a trillion or so away to rich people and large corporations and blew up the national debt and will ask seniors and the middle class to pay for it later
9. The President held non-stop Whites R Us political rallies throughout the New Confederacy stoking fear, loathing and gloating over his own rigged 'election'; he's literally a latter-day Jefferson Davis, governing only for Confederate States, Union States be damned to taxation without representation
10. Another corporate supremacist and drunken frat boy was railroaded to the Supreme Court by nasty partisan vote
Nov. 6 2018
Stop the insanity.
705
Get the big money puppet masters out of Washington. Reverse Citizens United. Turn our plutocracy back into a democracy.
68
@Socrates you nailed it. I actually might print your points and put them on my office door at work. I am continually amazed at the fools who vote for th se horrendous republican criminals, against their own interests. If only we could get joe six pack to read and think for him/herself just a little bit.
68
@Socrates
Feels like it is October 1932.
I still have hope that on November 7th some of us will rejoice, but that date is also a dark one in history (1917)
9
So which is it, I wonder--Democrats are a dangerous mob with violent tendencies, or Democrats are snowflakes who want to open the borders and welcome illegal aliens (who will take our jobs and kill us all)? And is that before or after Democrats take away all the guns? I suppose the news media is the enemy of the people who are still enraptured by Trump, but that's because the media tells it like it is, which confuses and enrages them. Their (and his) real enemy is the truth.
37
What folks need to understand about pre-existing conditions is that it doesn't mean you are already sick. Prior to the ACA insurance companies actively sought in the application process to find in your medical history events or illnesses that COULD be evidence of an EXISTING condition to justify higher premiums or denial of coverage. The ACA got rid of these shennanigans. But the trade-off was mandatory health insurance so the risk pool had healthy adults to offset the risk. That the Republicans pretend is bad enough, but "pre-existing" conditions coverage can't work without insuring healthy people. They know this, so what is being billed as coverage for pre-existing conditions is really just the old "high risk" state pools that cost thousands in premiums. You can't discuss insurance without at least three things: premium cost; coverage and deductible. The Republicans would have you believe that any pre-existing conditions coverage will cost...well, they never really say, do they?
42
@Joe Smith
How revealing that Republican governors never took advantage of the Section 1332 "state innovation" waivers, which allowed them to amend the ACA for their state so long as the coverage was as good as ACA coverage, it covered as many people, and it didn't increase federal funding above ACA levels. The reason Congress didn't pass any improvement to the ACA is the same reason Republican governors didn't use Section 1332: they don't have better ideas, only ones that make the health care system worse.
16
As an economist, Mr. Krugman, what is your recommendation for a new and improved healthcare system? I would dearly like to hear your explanation for how putting the burden on businesses to provide affordable insurance to most of the population is good for business, good for workers and good for the economy. Also, why have businesses taken that burden upon themselves and would apparently like to keep it? How does the cost of employee health benefits figure into the prices of American export products and how do American manufacturers compete with companies in countries with government-financed healthcare systems? Instead of moaning and groaning about Republican healthcare lies, give us the benefit of your economic expertise.
3
@abigail49, we don't need to reinvent the wheel. All the other OECD countries have universal health care.
28
@abigail49 Obviously, you haven't been reading Dr. K's columns for long. He's been dealing with the subject for decades (and he liked Hillary's healthcare plan better than Obama's).
14
@abigail49
Did you ever think these programs might be paid for by raising taxes on the very wealth, not giving them a tax break? That's one of the reasons Republicans in Congress voted over 50 times to repeal Obamacare. But of course, not paying taxes makes Trump smart, and who needs the IRS or government at all?
6
"Even self-identified Republicans favor preventing insurers from discriminating against people with pre-existing medical conditions"
This was meant to refer to Republican members of the public. But Dr. K., hadn't you noticed that Republicans running for office, backed up by trump himself, now claim that they are the ones who will fight to protect people with preexisting conditions from the Democrats? Never mind that they voted 70 times to kill the ACA; and despite many party office-holders being active parties in a lawsuit to declare the ACA unconstitutional.
It's not just trump that is unhinged, it's the GOP itself. It hopes that people won't notice its lies or that they will suffer a memory lapse under a bombardment of those lies. And we the people will be truly unhinged if we allow the Republicans to hang on to power.
38
There was an announcement that an attempt will be made to lower costs (by about 30%) of some the most expensive drugs (biologics) in the USA. Prices would be tied to less expensive overseas charges that are far less. Although this is not a bad move and would help cut the costs of this particular class of medicines, it would do little to help reduce the costs of the overwhelming majority of medications that would not be under any such regulatory change.
Congressional representatives still cannot get to a serious discussion about how to mend health care, to make things more affordable. The congressional majority goes on television claiming they do not want to cut coverage for preexisting conditions--until they do. Then if you have a condition requiring those expensive biologics, the price reductions will matter little if you've been excluded for a preexisting condition--not to mention the out-of-pocket costs for everything else.
Then there is the McConnell Doctrine: cut taxes for the affluent then gut social programs (mostly medical) for those less fortunate to pay for the cuts.
18
As I sit here pondering how to comment on Dr. K's column, it is difficult to put into words what the foundation of Republican opposition to the healthcare issue is. We see the same opinions constantly, but can anyone direct us to a real study of this, what are the facts and figures.
Then there is Dishonest Donald's attacks on the media, his critics, and anyone who disagrees with him. Most of us accept the idea that he is a narcissistic sociopath, but it could be costly for any professional mental health care professional to state that, unless he has actually examined him personally.
we also know there is a significant subset of the population that believes his blatant lies, that likes the way he insults others. When they hear about some foreigner, even a Canadian say something contradictory, that is how they would like to retort, just consider what kind of mentality that is. Furthermore the fact is the Republicans foment this kind of rational, it cements their allegiance to a convoluted thinking process that in many cases defies the rules of logic.
The great majority of them have not had to write a research paper, or participate in and organized debate. Try getting them to justify their opinions generates anger,they know they are being trapped, wee see the same effect in Glorious Leader Orange. He and they want things their way, logic, reason, honesty, humanity, decorum be damned. Then they get angry because you do not respect them.
Where is this leading us?
27
Until the Democrats will come to grip with what Paul Volcker stated , 2 days ago, in the NY Times
"Mr. Volcker is no great fan of the president, but he acknowledged that Mr. Trump had cannily recognized the economic worries of blue-collar workers. Mr. Trump “seized upon some issues that the elite had ignored,” he said. “I don’t think there’s any question about that, in kind of an erratic way, but there it is.”
He wondered how many lectures and presentations he had sat through with economists “telling us open markets are wonderful, everybody benefits from open markets.”
Eventually, Mr. Volcker said, someone in those lectures would always ask, “What about that poor manufacturer in my town?” But that concern was dismissed too easily, with talk of worker retraining or some other solution far easier said than done."
The Democrats will never win.
As to the Economists in those lectures, Mr. Krugman is a perfect example.
Read "In Praise of Cheap Labor"
The future of the Democratic Party is what Sanders represented - a demand for Universal Healthcare.
Please lets not forget that Sanders was relentlessly attacked by Paul Krugman ("Sanders over the Edge") while he declared "Trump is Right on Economics"
https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/07/opinion/paul-krugman-trump-is-right-o...
No economists has done more damage to the US worker
7
@Woof
The economic worries of blue collar workers were recognized by Bernie Sanders and Hillary also. Bernie was very opposed to TPP and Hillary also later opposed the TPP. Hillary and the Democrats supported healthcare, education, rebuilding infrastructure, a social safety net, and clean energy which would lead to many new jobs for blue collar workers.
There was a exploitation of the worries of blue collar workers by blaming 'globalization' and demonizing immigrants for taking jobs. Isolationism and alienation of our allies has and will make the U.S. weaker in the future.
The Democrats will win because the Republican policies are built on lies, are anti-democratic, and anti-American.
18
@Woof Just read the Krugman article you posted. Trump WAS right then, but he was also lying. That is, In 2015 he was (correctly) advocating higher taxes on the 1 percent, and also massive infrastructure investment and “beautiful” healthcare, driven in part by negotiating with the pharmaceutical industry, at the national level. As it turns out, of course, all of this was just populist rhetoric that Trump abandoned once he got elected, and which Trump’s base seems to have completely forgotten. But I don’t see how Krugman’s analysis of these issues has damaged the American worker. To the contrary, if more blue-collar voters would listen to Krugman, we could evict these Republican mobsters from Congress. Please explain.
5
@Woof
Sanders and Trump both wanted to scrap the ACA from both ends of the political spectrum. Hillary Clinton suggested improving it. That made them populists and her a boring "centrist." Now Republicans, of which I think you are one, claim that by advocating Universal Health Care, some Democrats are trying to destroy Medicare.
3
Some day another evil demagogue will come along and denounce hospitals and doctors as greedy bloodsuckers who make far too much money. He will point out that each medical procedure in the US costs three times as much in Europe and Japan.
At that point, everybody will forget about illegal immigrants and tax cuts.
14
@Jonathan - last sentence of first paragraph should read - "....costs three times as much as in Europe and Japan."
Could we get an 'edit' feature?
10
@Jonathan
Doesn't matter in this case as everyone knows what you meant.
@Jonathan...seems as soon as some readers see the word evil they click reply.
All national heath programs rely upon rationing to some degree -as do most commercial insurance plans. The basic problem is government has done little to earn the trust of our citizens. Thus, they are wary of being subject to the whims of government boards. Continuing to deny that rationing exists is part of why people distrust the proponents of single payer plans. Tell the truth and maybe people will be impressed with the honesty.
5
@TW Smith
Are you saying that single-payer Medicare hasn't earned the trust of its beneficiaries? Everyone I know who is covered by Medicare seems to be quite content with its breadth of coverage--far more than when they had commercial insurance. And that's the truth!
99
@TW Smith
The biggest rationers of healthcare are the for profit insurance companies limiting our options with narrow networks designed to protect their bottom line first and service our healthcare needs as an afterthought. The second biggest rationer is my employer who decides what plan we get along with setting onerous copays and deductibles severely limiting our ability to even utilize our paltry benefits .
MedicareForAll right off the bat eliminates these barriers at considerably lower cost .
Will it be perfect ? Not a chance
Will it be magnitudes better ? Guaranteed .
10
@TW Smith
You say that people will be impressed with the honesty after Trump has been put in the White House? Maybe somewhere but not here.
1
We have gone over this subject several times, and the force behind such behavior always comes down to their psychological make up. What kind of people are they? Well we can see explicitly just what they are by seeing who and what they believe and follow.
Dishonest Donald is the ideal Republican. They never wanted you to know about it previously as they would have ended up just as they did in 1932, a party of whose true colors showed the public just how despicable they had become.
We have a classic example of such a person now, and the Republicans while not voicing high approval, do not have the decency to censure him, they quietly allow him to act as he does as it has been their agenda for decades.
A president that insults his critics, make enemies of other countries leaders, who is rude, immoral, a coward advocates violent behavior to satisfy his desire to prove how breve he want other to think he is. This is the peak of the GOP desire, it is their quest for legitimacy, following a series of presidents we did not think could be surpassed in their avarice and meanness, he is the ultimate example of the race to the worst example of a human we have seen since the end of the Fascist Era. If is is possible, the GOP will take us lower.
121
“Hate, it has caused a lot of problems in the world, but has not solved one yet.”
- Maya Angelou
There is no problem worth solving that Trump and his merry band of complicit congressional Republicans will make better because his motivation comes from a twisted and dark place of malignant narcissism, bottomless greed, and all to often, hate.
I do not expect Conservatives to be Liberals. I do not expect politicians to forgo partisanship. But I do expect them to support and protect American ideals.
No tax cut, judge, trade war, or immigration policy is worth the damage this man and his party are doing to our democracy.
"I have understood well that the duty of self-preservation rests solely with the American people."
- Abraham Lincoln
Vote. Stop this decent into Trumpian madness. It's your duty.
360
@LT, well stated. It occurred to me this morning that we now live in the States of America. United fell by the wayside long ago. We've got to vote while we still have the chance.
16
Well said, Professor. Republican strategy reminds me of pick-pocket tactics. There are usually 3 criminals involved. One creates a distraction like dropping something in front of the victim. When the victim reacts, the second one picks the victims pocket and immediately transfers it to a third criminal, who promptly leaves the scene. Even if the victim realizes he has been robbed, he is helpless to do anything, since the evidence has vanished and he cannot blame the "innocent" first and second members of the team. When applied to republicans, the public is the victim. The Republicans who distract the public by non-pocket book issues raised to a fever pitch, like the immigrant caravan, are the first member of the team. The second member is the entire Republican party, which cuts taxes for its rich masters, guts regulations, increases debt load for the rest, and passes the benefits on to the third member of the team, namely the rich and corporations. What a scam! They have been doing it and getting away with it for years, thanks to the ill-informed electorate!
Now they have packed the Supreme Court . They have been working at it steadily and relentlessly for the past 30 years. Corporatists on the bench will never let Citizens United die for decades to come. Rich and corporations will keep "buying" elections. Voter suppression and demonization of poor will go on! Inequality will keep growing. Rich will get richer and the rest of the country goes to hell. What a future to behold!
187
@kant...your comment is much more explanatory than Krugman's column, and more entertaining.
His column is the usual list of GOPTrump outrages that we're all sickened by. Well said of course, but so what?
Ok we're disgusted and indignant-- now what?
What is the party of opposition proposing? Is it adequate? Any interest in that?
When will a Times columnist grapple with the effect of Citizens United, with the buying of our elections? The ripple effects poison every issue and it's the underlying factor blocking all progress.
The columnists avoid all this. Why? Has Fox News conditioned the public and media to regard this topic as somehow too left wing or anti corporate?
We may be seeing another version of distraction.
7
@kant You are correct. It will continue as it did in Louis’ France until the masses decide they have had enough. Then heads will be coming off and the violence we’re experiencing now will seem petty.
We have to head this future off November 6. If the Republicans keep total control, heads will roll.
2
Welcome to Trumpistan.
Time for a revolution starting on Tuesday November 6th. Be there!
91
Excellent Krugman—jamming his finger right into the knot of despicable Republican control of our country, maintained so successfully through lies—and manipulation of a press that should know better. When Obama was President every news broadcast carried a healthy dose of the opposition—and everything was opposed. Now Trump directs camera and conversation. Americans lack health care and education. And after hurricanes, they lack homes. And the Earth just keeps right on warming. And tmw’s news on NPR will center around with the same words that have dominated since a scarcely attended inauguration: “President Trump...”
49
It’s not the future, the present is full of menace.
43
So how do Republicans manage to win elections? They lie.
It is that simple.
335
@FunkyIrishman
Right, but that's old news. An other thing that's old news is the Dems silence on winning issues for then like Healthcare, tax cuts for the 1%, the environment, climate change etc.... Why must they, except for a few exceptions like Bernie and Beto and a few others, let the Repubs set the agenda and drive the discussion?
32
@William Dufort, the news media rarely cover Democrats' policies. They aren't exciting. Trump is exciting. The news media are on drugs. I include the Times. Just look at its front page, day after day. All about Trump. (I refer to the U.S. political news, and "all" is somewhat hyperbolic.)
@William Dufort
Clinton talked about all those things. And she won the popular vote but still managed to lose the electoral college. So I would say it doesn't matter very much, although I agree that the Dems should still continue to discuss these things.
Hate, racism, misogyny and spite. The four horseMEN of the American Apocalypse, brought to us by the GOP. STOP them, while we still CAN. VOTE a straight Democratic Ticket, each and every time. If you do NOT Vote, you are allowing THEM to destroy us ALL. Seriously. VOTE, VOTE and VOTE.
239
@Phyliss Dalmatian I would certainly like to vote three times, and none of them in my own deep blue state of New York!
Trump is lynching the truth, the republicans are cheering up, and Nov 6 is about to see if enough of the nation steps in to stop them up, or if the voters that define the majority of the house of representatives will cheer up as well.
If the Republicans retain congress, America will be wounded for good, and will become either even more unrecognizable or will split up along its natural fault lines. In Nov 6, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania will decide if we have one country or not.
Better to know it at once.
37
@Ard
New York and Cal need to shed their Republican representatives as well. Those states folks need to remember the tax scam war against the blue states and vote accordingly.
4
The Republican party reminds me of rich landed gentry in England in the 1900's. They needed cheap labor to profit from their lands and maintain their lavish lifestyles. However, the help was expected to be non-intrusive and willing to work hard for paltry wages. In fact, when a maid happened to run into the master, she was supposed to freeze and act as if she did not exist. She would not even get a nod of acknowledgement of her existence. She was just expected to her hard job efficiently and without any complaint (or else get fired) and be totally subservient. Slavery in disguise!
The Republican party and its rich masters are like the landed gentry. They need the rest of us to work hard and shovel the gains to them, without any complaint about income inequality, sub-minimum wages and quality of life. They expect us to remain invisible, while they carry on their job of enhancing the wealth of their rich masters and gutting regulations that stand in the way of their gains. Elections are simply a nuisance to them. The fewer unwashed masses vote, the better they can carry on doing what they do best. The system is also rigged in their favor. For them, pursuit of wealth trumps the welfare of the public. Why care about a worker, who has to do two to three jobs just to survive. To them, he is invisible!
When are ordinary folks going to realize the true nature of the Republican party and vote every one of them out of office and restore sanity to this nation?
114
@kant At least the British were courageous and had a general strike that crippled the nation. In Iceland, the women went on strike and the country was brought down to its knees. Americans are afraid of striking because of what Ronald Reagan did to the air traffic controllers.
4
Mr. Krugman, your observations, insights and words are gifts to this country. ALL Americans need to go to the polls and VOTE to protect the health care rights of our fellow citizens... of all ages!
I agree with your assessment of Donald Trump's strategy to distract and deflect from the most pertinent issues facing our country. We must VOTE to protect and continue to improve the health care of American Children, young parents having children and a large faction of aging Baby Boomers. Pipe bombs as distractions ring weave together nicely with bone saws. I would not really be surprised to learn that Trump has some involvement in atrocities that took place in Turkey in the Saudi Embassy. My advice to my fellow Americans. Refuse to be distracted and VOTE!
50
"if this strategy of hate works in the midterms, the right will pursue it even more avidly"
Paul, if the Republicans win the midterms, it, as you say, will foster even more hatred from them. But what of the Democrats, how will they handle It? Voter suppression, gerrymandering, racist attacks, and the likes. I for one will not stand for it any longer as a Democrat.
As they say, you fight fire with fire.
23
@cherrylog754
Actually, Democrats have been slow to adopt those techniques. Many of them have principles.
4
The Republicans have one scare tactic they have used for many years, the Socialist Boogie man, and they have a following that is living in fear of this. No matter how much a program will benefit the public, if does not bring profits to the some well connected friend of the party, it is Socialistic.If it brings special privileges and profits to the same, it is capitalism and good for the country.
Government healthcare programs are Socialistic, they take profits away from private insurance companies, companies accruing $billions by denying their plans to those that actually need them. They appeal to those who believe others are getting something at their expense, it is a human emotion as old as mankind/womenkind itself. McConnell has stated if the Republicans still hold congress, The ACA will be their target. Along with it will be SS and Medicare to pay for their tax cut scam the purpose of which is to make government smaller by cutting its ability to spend on social programs, and regulations that limit the income of their supporters, this is a long term plan to keep them in power for ears to come.
Dishonest Donald is a model for them, he gloats that he is allowed to change our society to reflect his hatred for most people, himself included. He is getting even for decent honest people despising him. His GOP sycophants approve of this too.
Their lie is they tell you they want to improve life, but not for you, for them, just like authoritarians have always done.
140
@David Underwood
The “Lie” is that single payer government health plans work. They don’t, not in England and certainly not in Scotland. Read the BBC news for yourself. The U.K. certently isn’t satisfied with the results or the cost of the NHS. There is much the same feeling by Canadians about their single payer plan.
1
A summary of this is: The "Trump Tax Cut" helped the stock brokers and real estate barons. Those who have to file W2 forms and/or who earn less than 300k should vote for the Dems. The voters really need to focus on the salaries paid to the average worker in the US, who cannot afford more than bare necessities, decent health care, a home of their own or a secure retirement.
In addition, many of the under 50 year olds have college debt that crushes them. These people really need to vote out ALL of the GOP representatives on Nov 6.
100
"I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice. And let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue."--Barry Goldwater, in his 1964 acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention.
From this right-wing germ has grown the modern Republican Party. From Richard Nixon's courting of George Wallace Democrats in 1968 to Ronald Reagan's "welfare queens" (actually spoken in 1976) to his 1980 presidential campaign hard on the graves of three civil rights workers in Neshoba County, Mississippi.
The beat goes on. George H.W. Bush's Willie Horton ads, the braintrust of Lee Atwater. And his son, W., in 2000, with the aid of brother Jeb, Florida's governor, disenfranchising thousands of African-American voters, thus swinging the election to the Supreme Court which, already ideologically oriented to the Right, handed W. the White House.
Race played its part in Barack Obama's presidency, as we all know. From Mitch McConnell's "one-term president" to the willfully angry and determinedly obstructionist Congress that stood in the way of his "hope and change." The Tea Party. The Freedom Caucus. Donald Trump's "birther" campaign. The theft of Merrick Garland's Supreme Court seat. And now the Trump administration.
The Republican Party left the arena of civilized political discourse in 1964. It has unabashedly shed its Lincolnesque romance of freedom and dignity by embracing the sentiments that divided America and killed Lincoln.
549
@Soxared, '04, '07, '13
Goldwater was right. Liberty is worth a war, which is about as extreme as you can get. Moderation in the pursuit of justice for blacks in the segregated South got them more bearable segregation, which was perhaps all that was politically possible but was hardly virtue.
Goldwater's problem was that he had a bad conception of liberty, under which big businesses making you offers you could not refuse was not a violation of liberty. He also had a bad conception of justice under which injustice by custom rather than law did not exist. His opposition to civil rights legislation was based on principled libertarianism rather than dog-whistle racism. But he was not principled enough in his thinking to think libertarianism through and see that it would turn into its opposite by being unable to stop the world's Koches.
33
@Soxared, '04, '07, '13
In my PA state senate race, the Republican McGarrigle circulated his very own Willie Horton ad. Had to be a bit different because his opponent was not in charge of any prisoners and had no jail to supervise. He never puts the fact he is a Republican on any of his literature. You have to read the tiny print at the bottom saying it is funded by the Republican Party.
25
@Soxared, '04, '07, '13
Don't forget St. Ronnie's statement about government being the problem rather than the solution. Government separates us from the jungle. If it's broke, fix it. Don't just blithely write it off with catchy little statements.
24
The Republicans, led by Donald Trump are leading our nation into fascism. Oh, did I hurt some feelings. OK, how about neo fascism. Feel better now. Like adding neo to the descriptor makes any difference.
A fundamental component of traditional fascism, not to be confused with neo fascism (which is really the same thing without the uniforms), is the destruction of the truth. Trump has accomplished that as far as his followers are concerned. The next step is the identification of an internal enemy based on ethnic grounds. Trump has done that. The third is the muzzling of the press. Trump is working overtime on that one. And then we finish up the whole thing with the destruction of established administrative bureaucracies and Trump has done that with much of the cabinet.
By achieving these things, Trump has created an environment where bipartisan anything is impossible and that is exactly what Trump's supporters want. They want to roll over everyone that stands against their savior. Trump is the way.
Now, who else in the past that did wear those funny uniforms with the boots did people say the same things about? Just add the word "neo" to your thoughts to make it all feel better.
734
@Bruce Rozenblit, you shouldd mention one of the major aspects of fascism: it benefits Big Business and the billionaire class. That's why they accept it.
117
@Bruce Rozenblit
I've read many of your comments over time and this one is particularly instructive.
I commend you on your understanding of our new political reality. Now, we must summon our strength and get all who oppose Neo-Fascism to the polls on Nov. 6.
74
@Bruce Rozenblit "...bipartisan anything is impossible..." long pre-dated the erratic and bombastic liar that is Trump. It turns out that the gop was the forerunner and Trump the messiah.
38
I don't really know what the point of this piece is. Columns should tell me something I don't already know. I get the mailings from Republicans during voting season. Down here in Texas they have a problem with bathrooms and with some adults reading stories to kids at the library. That's all they got. But everyone knows that already.
It would be interesting if Krugman had some suggestion to thwart the effectiveness of Republican tactics, but he does not. The tactics are highly effective. Proof: President Donald Trump.
8
@tanstaafl It is easy if you can reduce the fascination with guns, abortion or race in a far too large portion of the US population. The method is education. The GOP want to eliminate that however.
53
The earliest accounts about Donald Trump are that of a young boy who bullied other children and lied constantly - so much so that his dad sent him away to school to straighten him out. At school one day, he got so mad at one of his friends that he tried to hurl him out of a window.
Trump hasn't changed one bit from his childhood, his business life, nor has he deviated from the teachings bestowed upon him by Roy Cohn. Those teachings constitute a good part of his success in life.
The Republican Party in its entirety has thrown itself behind Trump. He embodies all of the goals they've had, were they ever to control the government. What Trump wants, they've always wanted. Their sponsors have always wanted the very same things though not achieved in the Trumpian style.
But cleaning out the national treasury is a goal they're all behind. It was achieved in January. Rolling back every conceivable regulation that was a barrier to maximum profit is well under way.
The lies? They've always told like. Newt Gingrich lied when I worked in Congress and he was Speaker. John Boehner lied through his teeth as he cried. Paul Ryan always lies - like Trump.
These GOP won't rest until the last bit of pablum is yanked out of the last baby's mouth. Health, roads, safe banks, decent wage, you name it, they're taking it all.
I blame Milton Friedman more than Trump. He killed the bit of ethics we had with Capitalism & Freedom
---
From Milton Friedman to Ronald Dworkin
https://wp.me/p2KJ3H-1DG
238
As for the hatred...
Republicans didn't appear out of nowhere and the fever that is now possessing so many racist whites and causing them to take reprehensible actions in public situations also didn't spring out of the blue. We have failed to look in the mirror since our inception.
We may be divided, but we are a nation that has soothed itself in the belief that we progressed well beyond the darkness of the past. We never did.
"There is absolutely no doubt that the Republican party is the party of racism, classism and that it exhibits no redeemable value. But, let us not fool ourselves, for even a moment, that Republicans being as evil as they are, means that Liberals are guilt-free.
“In order for this to happen, your entire frame of reference will have to change, and you will be forced to surrender many things that you now scarcely know you have.”
― James Baldwin, The Fire Next Time
As a public, we have been conditioned to compare everything, always. In the process of these comparisons, nuance goes right out the window. Why don’t we talk about each administration on its own merits, its own sets of guiding ethics principles? Why is Trump the evil yardstick by which everyone else is deemed saintly? The one-word answer? Deflection. This approach lets absolutely everyone other than the target completely off the hook."
---
Trump and the GOP: More Jim Crow Than Nazi Germany
https://www.rimaregas.com/2018/06/19/trump-and-the-gop-more-jim-crow-tha...
45
@Rima Regas
Rima, thank you for reminding us about Milton Friedman’s part in all of this. I’ve known of his lies and distortions for years, but only recently learned he was “hired” by some wealthy corporate heads in the 1940s to find some way to take the libertarian socialist name and transform it into “libertarian” plutocracy (of course, he and his sponsors just called it libertarianism).
Friedman was even involved with Frederich Hayek in their shock doctrine intervention with Pinochet.
The real story of the trajectory that led from Friedman to Trump (by way of the infamous Herbert Spencer’s “let them die) is perhaps the greatest horror story of the modern era, compared to which any of Stephen King’s novels are gentle bedtime reading for children.
@Rima Regas
Whoa, Rima, it was Reagan who instituted voodoo economics. He deserves far more credit than uncle Miltie.
13
With apologies to G & S's Disagreeable Man
A Trump soliloquy
A Tiger doesn’t change his Stripes and I’m not changing mine
The folks the bomber sent stuff to, with me is dandy, fine,
A shoddy bunch of losers, left wingers every one
And nothing really happened I was having lots of fun,
I bet Barack Obama’s hair got whiter to its core
And the one to De Niro really evened up the score,
The fake press is responsible, on me they put the blame,
And yet it all is their fault, isn’t it a bleeding shame,
And I can’t think why.
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@Larry Eisenberg
All day I hear the noise of voters
Making moan,
Sad as the sea-bird is when going
Forth abroad,
He hears the winds cry to the voters
OMG.
"And it’s hard to see calling the news media “enemies of the people” as anything other than an incitement to violence."
Actually, it's very easy to see it as something else. It's a propaganda technique. It's the old "Don't listen them. They're liars and they're the enemy. Only listen to me. I'm the only one who is going to tell you the truth." And then you lie to them.
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The Republican Party must be removed from power. It’s us or them. It’s that stark a choice.
785
The misbehavior of Republicans are not the cause of Trump’s ascent to power or the decline in America's political culture.
Trump was elected because Americans abhor our political class and for good reason.
Whether Republican or Democrat, the folks in DC work for the same people/interests/funders...and regularly demonstrate their willingness to throw citizens under the bus to stay in power.
Republicans were/are simply the easiest available path to power. It could easily have been the Dems.
Meanwhile, as the rest of us demonstrate by our daily behavior, we are absolutely unwilling to give something up (probably money) in the name of a better America.
Trump and the current Republican franchise are simply a shot in the dark by disenfranchised citizens...aided/abetted by the usual special interest suspects.
So, it is us...and don't anyone forget it!
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@Larry Roth, I agree. Our government is based on, and benefits from, a two-party system. The Republicans don't have to be one of them.
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@JL1951
While what you say about both parties has some merit, don't forget the Republicans have controlled one or both houses of Congress since 2010 with the expressed goal of thwarting President Obama and advancing their agenda under Trump. Remember all we need is someone in the White House to sign the bills we send him?During President Obama's time in office it was a steady din of anti-Obama, anti-Democrat, anti-Pelosi, anti-anything they could rant against.
And before President Obama they owned the presidency and either the house or senate at times.
Also, remember that the floodgates for money to corrupt politics was opened by a conservative Supreme Court in the Citizen's United case. If one party is flooding the airwaves with negative ads financed by ridiculously rich people the other has to respond or be rolled under.
And voter suppression was enabled by a conservative court when it struck down part state of the Voter's Rights Act. That opened the door to voter suppression.
More like an 80/20 than a 50/50.
And, Dr. K., none of this would be possible without the Roberts Court's Citizens United and McCutcheon decisions, which allow the oligarchs to sling the lies and mud with impunity on behalf of Trumpists, as well as promising to primary any GOP'er who won't toe the oligarch's line - notice how these SCOTUS decisions of 2010 and 2014 have made things even worse regarding the lying campaign ads.
When Koch Bros. Inc. and Sheldon Adelson can flood the coffers of chosen candidates, starve the coffers of the disfavored, and use the funds to spread unlimited lies which Dems have to spend money and time debunking instead of talking issues, the entire premise of representative democracy is turned on its head.
As you well lay out, the Trumpists don't even represent GOP'ers, so they couldn't finance their campaigns and would be defeated in their primaries, were it not for the oligarchs' unlimited funding, completely enabled by the Roberts SCOTUS.
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@R. Law
I disagree. Those decisions are horrible for a democracy, but I think the narrative that it is all the Koch brothers and Fox’s fault let’s Republican voters off the hook. Propaganda is very effective but mostly as a means to justify existing beliefs. At this point anyone who votes R is announcing their support of a racist, authoritarian, anti democratic, bigoted, misogynistic society.
I don’t think Rs should be treated any differently than the way the acted in Germany National Socialists at this point.
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@rdp - There are different types of R's; some are surely venal, but not all - some are just lazily reflexively voting R's because they have always voted for the most conservative person, as long as that person concealed what wild-eyed, radical 'tear it all down' anarchists they were.
Wish they weren't always voting for the most 'conservative' person they could find, but we're not going to change them now - we have to wait for them to just die off, and be sure to educate the young and get them to the polls without fail, election after election after election.
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@R. Law
As foul and destructive as the Citizens United and McCutcheon decisions were, the wealthy were financing the take over of Congress long before that, probably always. Remember the Nixon corporate slush funds? The idea that money = the free speech that we are entitled to under the First Amendment and the idea that corporations are the same as people politically have devastated our democracy, along with the fact that some people's votes are worth way more than others just because the state they live in. Originally, only wealthy men with property were supposed to vote. No one was to vote directly for Senators. We have expanded the franchise but not taken into account the inequalities in doing so that were established in a Constitution that contemplated a very different set of voters. The founding fathers did not look favorably upon corporations, which were only given personhood so they could conduct commerce, not so they could influence politics.
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