Every single Republican administration tanks the economy. Usually it takes longer than 60 days. Why do people think Republicans are good with the economy?!?!?
We’ve been in this cycle since H.W. Bush. Republican tanks the economy, Democrat fixes economy, repeat. That’s why the job creation ratio between the parties is something like 50:1. I know memories are short in politics, but this is insane.
Republicans tank the economy, so people vote for Democrats to fix the economy.
Democrats fix the economy, so people are feeling economically secure. Indeed, they start feeling so well off that the prospect of a tax cut for millionaires seems really REALLY good to someone earning $60,000 a year. And they vote in Republicans who are promising those tax cuts.
And Republicans tank the economy, so people vote for Democrats . . .
A friend from overseas told me weeks ago that this Regime was the result of greedy Americans. Before that I had never considered American greed as one of the main contributing factors to the fascist overthrow of our country.
Some of us are old enough to remember the campaign of 1956, with Eisenhower running on the slogan "Peace, Progress and Prosperity". Even old enough - though not to vote then - to recall that the Peace was pretty real (Korea), the Progress was continuation of what had been interrupted by the little brouhaha of 1939-1945, and the prosperity was that of the post-war period, though delayed by the brief recovery for restoring the civilian economy.
Very successful slogan at the time, so why not use if forever, in spite of the actual economic statistics, including performance of the stock market.
If you look at what happened with the Biden admin, the media utterly distorts the truth, hiding Dem successes and demonizing them while also hiding GOP failures and insanity, and so people vote for “change”.
As much as I agree with the sentiment that republicans are terrible for the economy, you can’t lay blame to HW. He inherited the savings and loan crisis, that cost the taxpayer over $100 billion; when $100 billion was a lot of dough.
The real culprit was Reagan, who created a major recession in 1982, causing unemployment to peak at over 10%. During his presidency, the national debt tripled from $900 billion, to $2.7 trillion.
Reagan was a CON alright, as in CONfused. Ronnie pledged to balance the budget, but never submitted a balanced budget in eight years; he added more trade barriers than any other president but Hoover. He slashed Fed aid to schools more than a $1 billion, and vowed to abolish the Dept of Education; he said "Trees cause more pollution than automobiles do," and issued leases of millions of acres of national land for oil gas and coal mining. He "made a deal" with terrorists in the "Iran-Contra" scandal. He started military involvement in Libya, Grenada, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Lebanon. He told striking air traffic controllers to go F themselves and banned them for life. He wasted 33 billion dollars on "Star Wars" (Space-Lasers—sound familiar?) He also said ketchup was a vegetable. He was an idiot.
That's indeed when it all started. That's when Keynesianism was replaced with neoliberalism. And neoliberal economist Milton Friedman (a key Reagan advisor) has always claimed that capitalism (in its neoliberal form) and democracy are incompatible in the first place...
We had a nasty recession about 1958 in the Eisenhower administration. Nixon's meddling with the Fed set up the "stagflation" problem that helped cost Carter re-election. The Reagan recession was the inevitable result of that inflation.
Indeed. The stage was set for that mess with good intentions gone awry with the The Depository Institutions Deregulation and Monetary Control Act of 1980 and the Garn-St. Germain Depository Institutions Act of 1982.
I was working in the financial industry at the time and had a small investment advisory operation that was doing the due diligence for wealthy individuals, small banks and credit unions by reviewing the financial position of S&Ls before placing the 100K CDs these entities would buy as investments. The corruption at some of the S&L's was rather obvious and unbelievable.
Neil Bush was involved in Denver S&L Silverado debacle which was one of the worst and more high profile bailouts.
Carter nominated Paul Volker on his desire to handle inflation. Volker raised interest rates and caused a recession. Reagan, to his credit, stayed the course with Volker. Inflation was tamed after the painful Volker induced recession.
True, Volker did increase interest rates; he had no choice but to tighten the money supply, since inflation was over 15% when he became federal reserve chairman in 1979. We were experiencing a period of stagflation thanks to Nixon, including 11% unemployment.
Additionally, part of the issue was a second energy crisis brought about by the Iranian Revolution; resulting in extremely high interest rates (over 22%), and a gas shortage. Remember odd and even license plates would determine when you could fill up your tank?
That said, the issue is more complex than assigning direct blame to Reagan. However, Regan’s policies exacerbated the issue in 1981, making the crisis worse.
Bottom line; presidents don’t have that much direct control of the economy, except when it comes to the use of tariffs. They can, however, make a bad economic situation exponentially worse! IMHO…:)
I had to "manage money" during that time. I was an accounts payable manager for a small food wholesaler. If we paid within ten days, it was common for suppliers to give a 2% discount. If you set a certain amount of capital aside to capture those discounts and do so 36 times in a year, that's 72% ROI.
BUT, if the money from receivables didn't arrive on the expected schedule, we had to borrow from a line of credit which had that 23% rate, compounded daily. POW! Wish I hadn't taken that last discount......
Been in this cycle a lot longer than Bush. Look back further and you’ll see it has ever been thus. Could it be the party of capital always tries to rig the system for the rich, and that’s a losing game? Could it be the party of labor always endeavors to unrig it for the rich and that’s a winning game? Even for the rich?
Exactly. It's called "neoliberalism". Which has always been anti-democratic at its core. It just took them a while before they found a clown in chief and a hollowed-out form of "Christianity" (the Heritage Foundation and America First Institute) willing to lie to their teeth 24/7 to get their program inside the Oval Office.
But the Dems are no longer the party of Labor. After the GOP destroyed most of the unions during the Reagan years, the Dems devolved into being merely "Labor-ish."
Contrast President Biden's policies (Infrastructure, IRA, CHIPS) with those of the GOP, whose primary purpose is and has always been to serve the 0.01%.
"Labor" made its choice. The Union leadership might be smart and progressive enough to stick with the Lesser of Two Weevils, but the chuckleheads "on the line" think its 1956 when the rest of the world was a bombed out mess industrially and that they can indulge their hatred of Hippies with no pain. Effyouseekay them.
The Panic of 1873 was a financial crisis that triggered an economic depression in Europe and North America that lasted from 1873 to 1877 or 1879 in France and in Britain. In Britain, the Panic started two decades of stagnation known as the "Long Depression" that weakened the country's economic leadership.[1] In the United States, the Panic was known as the "Great Depression" until the events of 1929 and the early 1930s set a new standard.[2]
This is drastically different in scale. I don't think we're talking about Republicans anymore, we're talking about MAGA. I think there is a faction who absolutely wants to destroy the economy and throw us into chaos. They are hoping for a violent revolution which they can come in and crush. Project 2025 and the Techbros can't win elections on their vision of a return to feudalism so this is what they do instead.
One thing they share is a desire to destroy the social safety net. It costs 'them' too much money. With demographics as they are, it's only a matter of time before the great unwashed want the rich to pay more. Paying taxes means you're a loser, a failure. They are like Xi Xinping, they want the peasants to "eat bitterness" and be tough.
Sorry but there are still a lot of non-MAGA Republican Libertarians. They do want to shred the social safety net and have always been part of the Republican fabric.
Yes. I'm lumping them into MAGA. I see MAGA as having two major factions, the Christian Nationalists and the Republican Libertarians, who I think of as the Techbros. There are some crossovers, like Peter Thiel and JD Vance who are both. I think the Christian Nationalists are divided on whether to shred the social safety net. They tend to divide people into the deserving poor and losers who need to be forced to work. When I hear that I think of Charles Dicken's time and The Little Match Girl.
I also see what I think of as little magas. Those are the people who've bought the propaganda hook, line and sinker. I like a lot of those people, but think they're totally wrong.
You "like a lot of those people"?????? Why in the world would someone like yourself who can write cogently and with clear historical context "like" people who hate you because you have a trained mind? They do; they hate you because you're an "elitist".
They have done so since the 1830's when they installed Andrew Jackson of the Muddy Boots in the White House.
No they don't hate me. They do hate the elitists who look down on them, but they don't hate me because I like and respect them. I am also talking about a micro/local scale. People who I personally know. They think I'm indoctrinated by mainstream media.
In general, little magas, if they were told up front only about my political views would have a negative impression of me. However, if they then found out that I have been married for 30 years and have 6 kids, drive old beater cars, do a lot of manual labor and think the septic pumper is as worthy of respect as my Ph.D. husband, their opinion would most likely change.
I do and have rubbed elbows with a lot of magas over the years. Our core values are mostly the same, our perspective on modern politics are quite different because we get our information from very different places.
The evil MAGAs like Kristi Noem and the FOXacrats, most definitely hate me. They look down on the little magas that they manipulate. Their 'greed is good and power makes you great' is in total opposition to me...and the magas I personally know.
The track record extends beyond H.W. Bush. Of course Hoover is particularly infamous, but Nixon with his suite of economic policies in 1971 including surcharges on imports and wage and price controls helped generate the 1973-75 recession and contributed to stagflation for the rest of the decade. Then Reagan tanked the economy in 1981-1982, resulted in a 10.8 percent unemployment and a 15 percent decrease in manufacturing employment. In some regions and communities, these were the events that continue to reverberate today. Fun fact: Paul Volcker was the policy brainchild of the 1971 shock AND the Federal Reserve chair who set interest rates at 21.5 percent to tame the inflation his Nixon era policies generated, which resulted in the 1981-82 recession. Volcker managed to generate two recessions with his policy recommendations. He may just be the GOAT of inducing economic contractions.
Absolutely Jo....although it's a fact that Democrats are much better for the economy....as is the stock market...the fairy tale is that republicans are better for economy and business. Why?? Because they have a MUCH superior disinformation/peopoganda messaging machine. And most recently is the fairy tale that many MAGA supporters espouse is that D can help economy cause he was a 'businessman' 😂! I guess they missed the part bout 6 bankruptcies. And the fairy tale that businessmen are better for economy should be discredited cause of the Elon Musk debacle. But....some just never learn and believe the BS.
"Superior" propaganda machine? The problem is THAT the GOP uses a propaganda machine, combined with the fact that the legacy media go for clickbait headlines rather than having real, human editorial rooms in which facts are selected based on relevance and moral values...
Absurd. Last week at The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell, Rep. Clayburn refuted that argument once and for all. Look at what the Biden administration achieved. All nonpartisan studies showed that it was exceptional. And it was what the vast majority of the American people wanted. So the MESSAGE is 100% perfect AND backed up by all the evidence you can find.
The problem is that it's the MEDIA's job to INFORM "we the people" of who is doing what in DC. Governing (if you take it seriously) is a more than full-time job.
What the GOP does is not governing at all, building a huge propaganda machine (Fox Entertainment) and then constantly betraying their voters by not keeping their promises at all, once elected, and lying to them 24/7. Lies repeated across all right-wing media instantaneously.
There is NO way a REAL political party could or should copy-paste this strategy. It's just a fact that a democracy is fragile, and vitally needs real, solid media, doing their job. If instead they systematically go for clickbait headlines, it's democracy itself that disappears, not just pro-democracy politicians...
A real democracy need DEBATE. And debates inside political parties. So real politicians will never be able to "produce" the kind of streamlined, prefabricated "messages" that the GOP sends out 24/7. And anyone who still cares about democracy should not WANT them to "get good at messaging" either. Instead, it's our job, as citizens, to learn how to accurately inform ourselves... (and the job of the education system to teach children how to do this, of course).
EUWDTB, You are correct of course about the need for a news media that has integrity and faithfully reports what is happening in the government. I had to accept, with great sadness and dismay, that this is not the case in our country. The news media is owned by corporations that have no desire to promote democracy. They only want to promote profit. This is the reason so many of us have migrated to Substack. I have been searching for a mainstream magazine to replace New York Times. If you have recommendations, I will be glad to take them. Meidas Touch Network is a great source along with many other people on Substack. I, too am a fan of Larry O’Donnell.
Much of the media kept harping on "high"" prices during Biden's last year in office, even as we made the soft landing. Republicans screamed about high prices, and the regular media amplified it.
Exactly. It was shocking to see how the NYT only focused on POLLS last summer, writing headlines that came directly from Trump tweets, cynical lies and falsehoods, presented as objective facts. Only when you read the article itself did you realize that they were reporting poll results, NOT objective facts... . And in the meantime, where were the headlines repeating again and again that the Biden economy was the strongest in the world, that inflation was over, that average wages actually increased faster than grocery prices, and that you cannot lower prices after an inflation, but you can continue to lower the cost of living, as Biden/Harris had been doing... ?
They were entirely, shockingly ABSENT.
The media (including the NYT) are clearly co-responsible for the current disaster.
Only now does the NYT newsroom seem to grow a spine again. But will they keep on reporting facts once the election season begins? Will they have learned their lesson? I'm afraid they won't...
And even if it were true, that doesn't excuse the horrible election "articles" by for instance Patrick Healey, who mostly gives his own cynical opinions instead of reporting relevant and proven facts...
Because they have disinformation outlets, slickly packaged to resemble news, that peddle lies all day long, drilling into the brains of viewers that Democrats are communists, socialists, atheists, etc., and that Republicans are fiscally conservative patriots.
Nothing Democrats do is so good for the country that the Fox/NewsMax crowd can’t make it look sinister. And nothing the GOP does is so terrible that they can’t frame it in a positive light.
The right-wing media will be out today cleaning up the GOP mess. I keep waiting for the audience to realize that it’s like the scene in the Leslie Nielsen movie where Nielsen as Frank Drebin is standing in front of a scene of absolute chaos telling people that all is well, while behind him things are crashing, blowing up, and bursting into flames. Any sane person can see what’s happening, but Fox will tell people that Trump is playing three-dimensional quantum chess, and much of the audience will buy it because they have been so conditioned to hate the other side.
What's really interesting is the Wall Street Journal. It's owned by Rupert Murdoch of FOX, but it's fairly straight and even breaks some scandalous stuff.
I think making money is their top priority and when they tried to return to sanity after Jan. 6, their viewers fled in droves so they followed them.
Maybe there’s something very attractive about delusions that allow people to puff up their chests and feel good about themselves, for a little while at least?
It may sound simplistic, but a culture of grievance carefully nurtured by white supremacists even before the Civil War has given us a whole lot of people whose achievements in life are far below their sense of merit (I'm not dismissing the disadvantages that white people in the lower economic strata have that prevent them from achieving their full potential). The Republicans, most overtly since Nixon, have encouraged and grown this culture of grievance, thereby cultivating a no-information electorate that consistently votes against its economic and, yes, cultural interests.
Civil War never ended, and the media has promoted a distorted idea of who is a real American, only someone from “the Heartland.” In reality, “The Heartland” is ALL of us, whoever we are snd wherever we live.
I am from north of the Mason-Dixon Line and lived in Raleigh, NC for about 6 years. On moving to NC, I had the rude awakening that the Civil War had not ended. Weekly and more, I was told that I was a Yankee and that "Yankees" only visit, but "damn Yankees" stay.
One of the employees (NC native) in our office was taking a Civil War history class as part of the coursework towards a bachelor's degree. Each and every day after class the employee would return to the office and state how they never could tell their father about what they were hearing in this Civil War history class -- things like, the Civil War was fought over slavery!
Also, I'll never forget a headline at the time from one of the Raleigh newspapers of, "The South Will Rise Again" (may not be verbatim) for an article discussing the relocation of some companies from NY, PA, OH etc. to southern states.
My family and friends who never lived south of the Mason-Dixon Line have refused to believe that so many southerners appear to harbor such deep-seated resentment and distain towards their non-southern brethren. The British Civil War, the U.S. Civil War, the Troubles ...do populations ever get over a civil war?
My travels have kept me mostly north of that infamous line, but a professor who hailed from Rhode Island told me of his southern experiences. He made the observation that "they" were still fighting the civil war. We were discussing colleagues and management techniques. He was very glad to be home. Indefensible positions are just that and are dealt with in all manner of subterfuge.
Mr Trump is nothing like previous Republicans. You may disagree with their views and policies but they didn't mount an assault on our democracy and the global world order that has served us so well. It is important to keep this in mind because it will take a broad coalition to resist the damage this administration is inflicting.
George W. Bush took power in an election that was only close because his brother, the governor of a swing state, had disenfranchised a ton of black voters by "misidentifying" them as felons. His campaign operatives then shut down the recount in their own mini-1/6, the so-called Brooks Brothers Riot. His partisan majority on the Supreme Court then awarded him the presidency in a ruling so lawless that they actually tried to insert a "this ruling should never be used as precedent!" clause. Once in office, his DOJ spent years trying to prosecute phantom voter fraud cases, eventually triggering a mini revolt from the attorneys involved because he was so transparently just trying to disenfranchise voters for being Democrats. ... That's for the assaults on our democracy. For assaults on the global world order that has served us so well, no American president before Trump put it under as much strain as Trump did with his seven years of belligerent unilateralism. And then there's the assault on our economy, which, well, ::gestures to 2008::
Dubya had to walk so that Trump could run (heck, Trump 1.0 had to walk so that Trump 2.0 could run). But this is where the Republican Party's been headed for a long time.
I think it's fair to say that this was the direction the Republicans were heading. However, the HUGE difference between the Republicans and MAGA is that the Republicans believe in American democracy and MAGA does not. It's the difference between a million and a billion.
“tried to insert a "this ruling should never be used as precedent!" clause”
Tried? "Our consideration is limited to the present circumstances, for the problem of equal protection in election processes generally presents many complexities."
I actually think Chris' reply reinforces the original point I made: that the Trump administration represents a marked escalation in the Republican Party’s break from democratic norms and the global order.
The contest between Mr. Gore and Mr. Bush was extraordinarily close—so close that Florida law triggered an automatic machine recount. The Gore campaign then sought a manual recount in four Democratic-leaning counties, which the Florida Supreme Court allowed. The Bush campaign challenged this, and the U.S. Supreme Court initially declined to intervene. Only after that recount failed to change the outcome—and the Florida court ordered a broader statewide recount—did the Supreme Court step in and halt the process.
The process wasn’t perfect. It’s likely that with better-designed ballots and recount procedures, the result might have been different. But critically, this was a legal fight conducted within the bounds of our institutions.
Republicans paved the way, voted for him, and have enabled him at every point. Trump is a result of what Republicans have always wanted but weren’t bold enough to fully enact, which is the destruction of FDR’s New Deal.
Because they're so MANLY!!! Seriously: I think that a lot of people, consciously or unconsciously, think that the Republican party is the Man of the House, and the Democrats are little wifey. Or something like that. And you need the Man of the House to really run things and handle money and make big decisions about money. Of course in many actual households women do the budgeting, and bring in the dollars, but this does not change the underlying archetype or myth: that a man should be in charge, and the Democrats are basically women and black people (and gay people, and probably a lot of illegal aliens).
In my lifetime, though, the good years were during Clinton, Obama and Biden. People really don't understand how much good Biden did for the economy.
“Why do people think R’s are….’ People think’?…” hmmmm. In the US we call them spin doctors. In Russia they are called ‘Political Technologist’. The use of psychology and mass communication strategies to firm the ‘group identity’ forged into ‘group think’… to believe something is true when it is not.
“We have an epistemological crisis in America” -President Obama. Pre 2016 quote
Absolutely true. And then they get elected again because they accuse Democrats of not fixing the mess they made of the economy fast enough! And I’m sure it will happen again, after Trump.
I never understood why anyone would buy their propaganda. Other than they get their info from opinion media but they never look at store fronts or their wallets. Where I live, there’s an increase in shop/office/retail rental signs. Don’t get it.
TRUTH 🔝. Answer to your question, “why do people vote for the party 🤨🛑 Who rule against - their own voters.” BLAME Fox LIES! Pure manipulation, for the corporate takeover of US, 🇺🇸 and America.
Why? Because the media -- and not just right-wing media, mainstream as well -- accepts that assumption. Republicans say they like business better than people, so they must be better for the economy. More than there being insufficient evidence to accept that (to use a too-often used description), there is no reason to accept that.
The chickens are coming home to roost! We can debate “self inflicted” wounds, but what’s the point! These are clearly self inflicted wounds, and for what? So a bunch of religious fascists and morally bankrupt businessmen can consolidate power and dictate their version of TRUTH? Gaslighting us into oblivion?
Orwell’s 1984 should be displayed in the non-fiction isle, because none of this makes sense in a sane world!
Very interesting article - I learn something from all your articles that I didn’t understand before about economics. I learn something about history that I didn’t know before from Heather Cox-Richardson. These Substacks are wonderful. I’ll be 82 next month - never too late to learn. Thank you for your words and clarity.
Substack is amazing, isn’t it? I’ve been following Heather Cox Richardson since she began writing “ Letters from an American” and I have now become obsessed with following writers on Substack who provide clarity and insight into the many different topics that concern me. At 71 years of age, I now have a far greater understanding of our government, economics, politics, history and culture. It’s been an awakening for me! 🤩
The chickens were about to come home to roost, until someone put the fox in charge of the henhouse. Now there is no home left to roost in, and the chickens have all been eaten.
Yes. There are actually two links that work. One is the "Block" link, which will block any further troll posts >for you only<, and also prevent the troll from seeing any more of your comments.
The other is "Report", which blocks the troll's comments, and eventually removes them altogether - for everybody. I only use the "Report" link for especially, blatantly obnoxious trolls - like the one above.
And let’s not forget the painfully narcissistic personalities, male and female, who are loading this Administration—from the President, his closest advisors, the agency heads and Cabinet members he has appointed—they love showing off, bragging, being insensitive and cruel, setting themselves up to take everything they can lay hands on—Hegseth has to show off by sharing high security info to his wife and brother…to show them how important he is, just as Trump needs to humiliate and bully everyone. If any of these miscreants showed up at a neighborhood barbecue, everyone would leave early! 😳😱
Karma is coming to America because of its stupidity electing a career corrupt criminal as POtuS again! Did anyone learn anything about his incompetence when 1,000,000 Americans died unnecessarily from his HOAX virus including my middle brother and cousin???
M3333 -- I am so sorry to hear that you lost a brother and cousin to Covid and the anti-science generated hysteria and reactions. Hoping that you and yours are able to find some peace.
I don't wish to sound insensitive, but sadly, politicians realize that they rarely pay a price for harmful public health policies and incompetence because they know that dead people don't vote.
Thanks for your condolences. My brother died of coronavirus on April 9, 2020 and I still think of him everyday. My cousin was hospitalized for coronavirus for five days and then developed racing heart syndrome. I urged him to see a cardiologist and did take my advice. He died of a pulmonary embolism but we know coronavirus screws up blood clotting and the autopsy listed coronavirus as the cause of death!
And the long-term effects are still to be seen. The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield isn’t just another number — it’s the backbone of the entire global credit system. And right now, we’re seeing serious stress in the bond market, with yields creeping up toward what feels like a “no-fly zone” around 4.5%. That level might not sound extreme, but it has huge implications. When the yield on the 10-year goes up, everything else follows — especially the cost of borrowing for businesses. Since so much of the credit system is built around that benchmark, higher yields mean higher interest rates across the board. Companies will have to pay more to finance themselves, and that can ripple through the whole economy.
Higher yields usually also increase the US dollar against the other currencies. But not now - the dollar is tanking . I’m pretty sure most of our models haven’t built this in .
Generally it is better to sail back to port when you are so unsure about the danger ahead- but with Captain
Related to this, one thing that is not getting enough discussion in the media (even the financial media) is the additional rise in prices U.S. consumers will see as a result of a falling dollar.
Hopefully the Federal Reserve has factored this upward pressure on prices and the CPI into their decision making.
The models offer examples, but they do not capture the noise of a demented like Trump. And even if there was an economist to do it, he would certainly have international fame (and therefore not Navarro)
Small things do matter. Imagine one million single dollar bills in a pile. Now remove 300-dollar bills and put them in a second pile alongside the first. Take single dollar bills from the big pile and slowly add them to the small one. When you get to 400 in the small pile you have upset the world's economy. 500 uh oh. 600 don't go there. Exchange one molecule of carbon dioxide for one relocated dollar bill in this example and we are talking about the atmosphere and climate. Parts per million of CO2 in the atmosphere can and will make all the difference in the world. March 2024 - 425 ppm. March 2025 - 428 ppm.
On top of higher costs to borrow, there is massive uncertainty about where the US is headed. Who in their right mind would invest here now? It's as if "they" said, what can we do to weaken America? 1. Cyber attack on government institutions. 2. Ignore rule of law and courts. 3. Attack scientific research and development. 4. Turn on our allies with scorn and ridicule. 5. Attack global finance with crackpot theories.
Higher yields usually also increase the US dollar against the other currencies. But not now - the dollar is tanking . I’m pretty sure most of our models haven’t built this in .
Generally it is better to sail back to port when you are so unsure about the danger ahead- but with Captain
I’m on holiday deep in Trump Country - somewhere on the Gulf of America :) There are a lot of homes for sale here - likely Canadians exiting investments that did very well under Biden and Powell. Foreign investment flying away, selling dollars to buy (guessing) some euro. The Trump flags are up. The boat parades are on. Rome is falling and they are too drunk on power and CBD infused fizzy water to know this is going to hurt a lot of Americans. Red and Blue.
I really feel for the americans still seeing how f**** up everything is.
But I am unsure what non-americans can do to help other then write dark "what-if" conspiracy stories of how Trump cam to power not only a first but even a second time and why and how it happened.
In my opinion the "freedom" of americans was used by entrenched interests to "cook" slowly, probably since before the aborted attempt to make the USA, the CSA or since they founded the country even. And in the last 50 years socialism=communism=stalingulags.
Thats just so dumb, sorry guys... but it clearly is the "independent" public and "traditionally biased" private education and republican biased news who murked everything around until american politics got swampy in heritage.or* "traditional" content... And the democrats who tried to be better naturally are less shameless and just dirtied themself when they tried to fight "fire with fire". Trump tops all the presidents in incompetence in legal business (while calling himself genius) AND competence in sliding through life by bragging, bullying, narcissism and running to daddy for money.
It isn't new to me, actually. This has been a staple of white supremacist conspiracy theories for a long time (helped along by the stereotype of "Wall Street" => "banker" => "Jew"). Hitler believed that communism and capitalism were two branches of the Worldwide Jewish Conspiracy - which turned the Great Depression, starting as it had on Wall Street, into a plot to destroy the West so that the communists could march in. The Ku Klux Klan in the U.S. believed similar things, especially in the South; from their point of view, undermining the racial order of things was communism, and the people undermining it were mostly Northerners, and Wall Street was in the North, so...
Worldviews based on tribal prejudice tend to go for this kind of incoherence. Wall Street is far from the only thing to be absurdly lumped in with communism by bigots. Back when JFK was running for President, the anti-Catholic bigots likewise accused him of being an agent of the Vatican *and* an agent of the Kremlin. Because if there's two things that have always gotten along like peas in a pod, it's communism and Catholicism.
I would be a new one on Boebert, too. That screenshot is fake. She's dumb, as the original interview (a couple of years ago) demonstrates, but she did not say that. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JEMUgfEzW8&t=145s
None of this was necessary or makes sense unless and until you realize that destroying the economy was the goal all along. Then it makes sense. WHY would they want to do this? I can think of a hundred reasons. To please Putin. To drive the switch to crypto. To create the permanent servant class. To create economic unrest to make it easier to justify other horrible policies. By the time the American people wake up and realize they made a huge mistake in November, it will be too late.
Lisa Z! Absolutely on target! Read this Guardian article on the tech bros’ dreamy “concept of a plan” for complete transformation of all os US society:
The Guardian article is eye-popping. Reports from the dark world of the fascists which I don't seek out on my own. Anyone who reads it MUST read to the end to learn about how we are at a choice point. I choose to be an Earth lover who focuses on HERE, over tech fatalism. And, I hope my tomato seeds germinate soon.
Trump’s economic lurching (I can’t bring myself to call them policies) are ignorant, callous and demented, and are causing tremendous human suffering that will last for a very long time. But what infuriates me even more is the greed amnesia that Wall Street shows every single time it is offered a deal that is guaranteed to make its investors masters of the universe. The street is so smart it actually circles back around to stupid.
The rethugs over the last 50 years became allergic to knowledge, intelligence, and expertise. They immerse themselves in the reichwing echo chamber and one and all, take their marching orders from a bunch of Faux Snooze propaganda experts.
Von trump is doing the bidding of putin and all bilionaires fascist around the world who can buy america cheap! Starting with MBS saoudi arabia who gave 2 billions to trump son in law. Wait for the official bitcoin maga anointment Coming soon
I don’t understand why there isn’t some large scale coherent media / propaganda effort to explain to Red State / MAGA voters how devastating this will be for them. It seems we need to turn about 15% of opinion away from Trump and this shouldn’t be too difficult - it just requires messaging that reaches Trump-oriented people where they are shown step by step what is being done to them. I wish PK focused more on these kinds of action steps or actively created them as the time for analysis is kind of past.
1) Literally anyone with the means to spread that sort of propaganda is a right-winger.
2) The way this propaganda has worked for decades is that every time someone tells them something they find upsetting (i.e. "the President you voted for is a moron and his idiocy is going to fucking ruin you"), they decide that it's Liberally Biased Media slander, and go shopping around for someone who'll tell confirm that for them. They're not going to listen to Fox News if it starts telling them Trump is bad; they're just going to turn off Fox News and go find another news source somewhere that tells them Trump is good, and there's always going to be one of those, even if it's just somebody's Twitter feed or YouTube channel.
(A whole lot of them are, in fact, furious at Fox News and have been for four years, ever since it called Arizona for Joe Biden).
I believe your point here about needing to reach about 15% with rationality is important as so many polls talk about the electorate being represented by thirds: 1/3 MAGA, 1/3 right- or left-leaning independents, and 1/3 Dem.
A significant portion of the middle third seems to be willing to give the 'policies' time. Some in this middle subset also seem to be so happy to "get rid of these immigrants who are killing 'our people'" that they will overlook everything else at this time.
How to get through to this middle 1/3 and who should be the messengers? Is there a role for Democrat politicians to put forward their own policies (shadow government style) for addressing the concerns of these voters rather than Dems. simply saying, the other party's policies are bad and will harm you. I'm asking because it seems that a different approach is needed when a significant portion of persuadable voters shut down their ears and minds when all that they hear is that the other party's policies are bad (the expected and even automatic response by the other party in a two-party system).
What approaches can break through and overcome this tendency to shut down when potentially persuadable voters hear what they take as 'the same old complaining about the other party's policies'?
Hellooo republican congress? Are you all like Boebert? Or are there a handful of you in each chamber that have a shred of intelligence and moral fiber left?
Thank you, Paul, for sharing your expertise and clarifying some details about a subject that is mostly foreign to me. Chaos causes crisis is my takeaway.
remember trump said "vote for me and you will only have to vote once" - because POOR citizens comply - just like Russia ! And the new surveillance state created by DOGE with all of our data - emails, phones, finances can all be watched. We are in deep doo doo and sinking. I know we will (have to ) claw our way back up.. over years. But one more reminder - Impeachment today is possible ( trumps list is LONG & deranged ) - it is the GOP that is just and equally responsible !
Every single Republican administration tanks the economy. Usually it takes longer than 60 days. Why do people think Republicans are good with the economy?!?!?
We’ve been in this cycle since H.W. Bush. Republican tanks the economy, Democrat fixes economy, repeat. That’s why the job creation ratio between the parties is something like 50:1. I know memories are short in politics, but this is insane.
Republicans tank the economy, so people vote for Democrats to fix the economy.
Democrats fix the economy, so people are feeling economically secure. Indeed, they start feeling so well off that the prospect of a tax cut for millionaires seems really REALLY good to someone earning $60,000 a year. And they vote in Republicans who are promising those tax cuts.
And Republicans tank the economy, so people vote for Democrats . . .
A friend from overseas told me weeks ago that this Regime was the result of greedy Americans. Before that I had never considered American greed as one of the main contributing factors to the fascist overthrow of our country.
Absolutely. Unfettered greed is the source of so many of our societal ills.
Capitalism is a great drive - the destination, absent responsible regulatory regimes, monopoly-town. #tech-bros
Great summation Derelict!
Some of us are old enough to remember the campaign of 1956, with Eisenhower running on the slogan "Peace, Progress and Prosperity". Even old enough - though not to vote then - to recall that the Peace was pretty real (Korea), the Progress was continuation of what had been interrupted by the little brouhaha of 1939-1945, and the prosperity was that of the post-war period, though delayed by the brief recovery for restoring the civilian economy.
Very successful slogan at the time, so why not use if forever, in spite of the actual economic statistics, including performance of the stock market.
If you look at what happened with the Biden admin, the media utterly distorts the truth, hiding Dem successes and demonizing them while also hiding GOP failures and insanity, and so people vote for “change”.
As much as I agree with the sentiment that republicans are terrible for the economy, you can’t lay blame to HW. He inherited the savings and loan crisis, that cost the taxpayer over $100 billion; when $100 billion was a lot of dough.
The real culprit was Reagan, who created a major recession in 1982, causing unemployment to peak at over 10%. During his presidency, the national debt tripled from $900 billion, to $2.7 trillion.
Now Bush Jr. is another story…:)
Reagan was a CON alright, as in CONfused. Ronnie pledged to balance the budget, but never submitted a balanced budget in eight years; he added more trade barriers than any other president but Hoover. He slashed Fed aid to schools more than a $1 billion, and vowed to abolish the Dept of Education; he said "Trees cause more pollution than automobiles do," and issued leases of millions of acres of national land for oil gas and coal mining. He "made a deal" with terrorists in the "Iran-Contra" scandal. He started military involvement in Libya, Grenada, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Lebanon. He told striking air traffic controllers to go F themselves and banned them for life. He wasted 33 billion dollars on "Star Wars" (Space-Lasers—sound familiar?) He also said ketchup was a vegetable. He was an idiot.
"The Clothes Have No Emperor", title of a book from that time.
Great book name!
That's indeed when it all started. That's when Keynesianism was replaced with neoliberalism. And neoliberal economist Milton Friedman (a key Reagan advisor) has always claimed that capitalism (in its neoliberal form) and democracy are incompatible in the first place...
We had a nasty recession about 1958 in the Eisenhower administration. Nixon's meddling with the Fed set up the "stagflation" problem that helped cost Carter re-election. The Reagan recession was the inevitable result of that inflation.
Indeed. The stage was set for that mess with good intentions gone awry with the The Depository Institutions Deregulation and Monetary Control Act of 1980 and the Garn-St. Germain Depository Institutions Act of 1982.
I was working in the financial industry at the time and had a small investment advisory operation that was doing the due diligence for wealthy individuals, small banks and credit unions by reviewing the financial position of S&Ls before placing the 100K CDs these entities would buy as investments. The corruption at some of the S&L's was rather obvious and unbelievable.
Neil Bush was involved in Denver S&L Silverado debacle which was one of the worst and more high profile bailouts.
https://time.com/archive/6716030/running-with-a-bad-crowd-neil-bush-the-1-billion-silverado-debacle/
That's fine, but he was Reagan's VP for eight years. He doesn't get a pass for his part in that mess.
The VP doesn’t have any power. He could maybe influence the president, but most presidents are strong-willed. That’s how they got there.
Not worth a bucket of warm spit, as a notable ex-Vice said. Though there's reason to believe that "spit" was not the liquid in the original version.
Carter nominated Paul Volker on his desire to handle inflation. Volker raised interest rates and caused a recession. Reagan, to his credit, stayed the course with Volker. Inflation was tamed after the painful Volker induced recession.
True, Volker did increase interest rates; he had no choice but to tighten the money supply, since inflation was over 15% when he became federal reserve chairman in 1979. We were experiencing a period of stagflation thanks to Nixon, including 11% unemployment.
Additionally, part of the issue was a second energy crisis brought about by the Iranian Revolution; resulting in extremely high interest rates (over 22%), and a gas shortage. Remember odd and even license plates would determine when you could fill up your tank?
That said, the issue is more complex than assigning direct blame to Reagan. However, Regan’s policies exacerbated the issue in 1981, making the crisis worse.
Bottom line; presidents don’t have that much direct control of the economy, except when it comes to the use of tariffs. They can, however, make a bad economic situation exponentially worse! IMHO…:)
I remember those interest rates.
I had to "manage money" during that time. I was an accounts payable manager for a small food wholesaler. If we paid within ten days, it was common for suppliers to give a 2% discount. If you set a certain amount of capital aside to capture those discounts and do so 36 times in a year, that's 72% ROI.
BUT, if the money from receivables didn't arrive on the expected schedule, we had to borrow from a line of credit which had that 23% rate, compounded daily. POW! Wish I hadn't taken that last discount......
Been in this cycle a lot longer than Bush. Look back further and you’ll see it has ever been thus. Could it be the party of capital always tries to rig the system for the rich, and that’s a losing game? Could it be the party of labor always endeavors to unrig it for the rich and that’s a winning game? Even for the rich?
Exactly. It's called "neoliberalism". Which has always been anti-democratic at its core. It just took them a while before they found a clown in chief and a hollowed-out form of "Christianity" (the Heritage Foundation and America First Institute) willing to lie to their teeth 24/7 to get their program inside the Oval Office.
You must remember this, a kiss is just a kiss, a sigh is just a sigh. The fundamental things apply, as time goes by.
But the Dems are no longer the party of Labor. After the GOP destroyed most of the unions during the Reagan years, the Dems devolved into being merely "Labor-ish."
Contrast President Biden's policies (Infrastructure, IRA, CHIPS) with those of the GOP, whose primary purpose is and has always been to serve the 0.01%.
"Labor" made its choice. The Union leadership might be smart and progressive enough to stick with the Lesser of Two Weevils, but the chuckleheads "on the line" think its 1956 when the rest of the world was a bombed out mess industrially and that they can indulge their hatred of Hippies with no pain. Effyouseekay them.
"We’ve been in this cycle since H.W. Bush"
We've been in this cycle since Chester A. Arthur.
What about President U S Grant?
The Panic of 1873 was a financial crisis that triggered an economic depression in Europe and North America that lasted from 1873 to 1877 or 1879 in France and in Britain. In Britain, the Panic started two decades of stagnation known as the "Long Depression" that weakened the country's economic leadership.[1] In the United States, the Panic was known as the "Great Depression" until the events of 1929 and the early 1930s set a new standard.[2]
Grant, to his credit, tried some early forms of "deficit financing" to ooch the economy back into motion.
🙏
This is drastically different in scale. I don't think we're talking about Republicans anymore, we're talking about MAGA. I think there is a faction who absolutely wants to destroy the economy and throw us into chaos. They are hoping for a violent revolution which they can come in and crush. Project 2025 and the Techbros can't win elections on their vision of a return to feudalism so this is what they do instead.
One thing they share is a desire to destroy the social safety net. It costs 'them' too much money. With demographics as they are, it's only a matter of time before the great unwashed want the rich to pay more. Paying taxes means you're a loser, a failure. They are like Xi Xinping, they want the peasants to "eat bitterness" and be tough.
Sorry but there are still a lot of non-MAGA Republican Libertarians. They do want to shred the social safety net and have always been part of the Republican fabric.
Yes. I'm lumping them into MAGA. I see MAGA as having two major factions, the Christian Nationalists and the Republican Libertarians, who I think of as the Techbros. There are some crossovers, like Peter Thiel and JD Vance who are both. I think the Christian Nationalists are divided on whether to shred the social safety net. They tend to divide people into the deserving poor and losers who need to be forced to work. When I hear that I think of Charles Dicken's time and The Little Match Girl.
I also see what I think of as little magas. Those are the people who've bought the propaganda hook, line and sinker. I like a lot of those people, but think they're totally wrong.
You "like a lot of those people"?????? Why in the world would someone like yourself who can write cogently and with clear historical context "like" people who hate you because you have a trained mind? They do; they hate you because you're an "elitist".
They have done so since the 1830's when they installed Andrew Jackson of the Muddy Boots in the White House.
No they don't hate me. They do hate the elitists who look down on them, but they don't hate me because I like and respect them. I am also talking about a micro/local scale. People who I personally know. They think I'm indoctrinated by mainstream media.
In general, little magas, if they were told up front only about my political views would have a negative impression of me. However, if they then found out that I have been married for 30 years and have 6 kids, drive old beater cars, do a lot of manual labor and think the septic pumper is as worthy of respect as my Ph.D. husband, their opinion would most likely change.
I do and have rubbed elbows with a lot of magas over the years. Our core values are mostly the same, our perspective on modern politics are quite different because we get our information from very different places.
The evil MAGAs like Kristi Noem and the FOXacrats, most definitely hate me. They look down on the little magas that they manipulate. Their 'greed is good and power makes you great' is in total opposition to me...and the magas I personally know.
The track record extends beyond H.W. Bush. Of course Hoover is particularly infamous, but Nixon with his suite of economic policies in 1971 including surcharges on imports and wage and price controls helped generate the 1973-75 recession and contributed to stagflation for the rest of the decade. Then Reagan tanked the economy in 1981-1982, resulted in a 10.8 percent unemployment and a 15 percent decrease in manufacturing employment. In some regions and communities, these were the events that continue to reverberate today. Fun fact: Paul Volcker was the policy brainchild of the 1971 shock AND the Federal Reserve chair who set interest rates at 21.5 percent to tame the inflation his Nixon era policies generated, which resulted in the 1981-82 recession. Volcker managed to generate two recessions with his policy recommendations. He may just be the GOAT of inducing economic contractions.
Since Reagan
Perfectly stated
Because they are better at messaging (lying). Look, they convinced millions of Americans to vote against their own healthcare!
Absolutely Jo....although it's a fact that Democrats are much better for the economy....as is the stock market...the fairy tale is that republicans are better for economy and business. Why?? Because they have a MUCH superior disinformation/peopoganda messaging machine. And most recently is the fairy tale that many MAGA supporters espouse is that D can help economy cause he was a 'businessman' 😂! I guess they missed the part bout 6 bankruptcies. And the fairy tale that businessmen are better for economy should be discredited cause of the Elon Musk debacle. But....some just never learn and believe the BS.
"Superior" propaganda machine? The problem is THAT the GOP uses a propaganda machine, combined with the fact that the legacy media go for clickbait headlines rather than having real, human editorial rooms in which facts are selected based on relevance and moral values...
Absurd. Last week at The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell, Rep. Clayburn refuted that argument once and for all. Look at what the Biden administration achieved. All nonpartisan studies showed that it was exceptional. And it was what the vast majority of the American people wanted. So the MESSAGE is 100% perfect AND backed up by all the evidence you can find.
The problem is that it's the MEDIA's job to INFORM "we the people" of who is doing what in DC. Governing (if you take it seriously) is a more than full-time job.
What the GOP does is not governing at all, building a huge propaganda machine (Fox Entertainment) and then constantly betraying their voters by not keeping their promises at all, once elected, and lying to them 24/7. Lies repeated across all right-wing media instantaneously.
There is NO way a REAL political party could or should copy-paste this strategy. It's just a fact that a democracy is fragile, and vitally needs real, solid media, doing their job. If instead they systematically go for clickbait headlines, it's democracy itself that disappears, not just pro-democracy politicians...
A real democracy need DEBATE. And debates inside political parties. So real politicians will never be able to "produce" the kind of streamlined, prefabricated "messages" that the GOP sends out 24/7. And anyone who still cares about democracy should not WANT them to "get good at messaging" either. Instead, it's our job, as citizens, to learn how to accurately inform ourselves... (and the job of the education system to teach children how to do this, of course).
EUWDTB, You are correct of course about the need for a news media that has integrity and faithfully reports what is happening in the government. I had to accept, with great sadness and dismay, that this is not the case in our country. The news media is owned by corporations that have no desire to promote democracy. They only want to promote profit. This is the reason so many of us have migrated to Substack. I have been searching for a mainstream magazine to replace New York Times. If you have recommendations, I will be glad to take them. Meidas Touch Network is a great source along with many other people on Substack. I, too am a fan of Larry O’Donnell.
Thank you for this comment
Indeed. Or at least their messaging is much, much more well funded.
Much of the media kept harping on "high"" prices during Biden's last year in office, even as we made the soft landing. Republicans screamed about high prices, and the regular media amplified it.
Exactly. It was shocking to see how the NYT only focused on POLLS last summer, writing headlines that came directly from Trump tweets, cynical lies and falsehoods, presented as objective facts. Only when you read the article itself did you realize that they were reporting poll results, NOT objective facts... . And in the meantime, where were the headlines repeating again and again that the Biden economy was the strongest in the world, that inflation was over, that average wages actually increased faster than grocery prices, and that you cannot lower prices after an inflation, but you can continue to lower the cost of living, as Biden/Harris had been doing... ?
They were entirely, shockingly ABSENT.
The media (including the NYT) are clearly co-responsible for the current disaster.
Only now does the NYT newsroom seem to grow a spine again. But will they keep on reporting facts once the election season begins? Will they have learned their lesson? I'm afraid they won't...
Don't blame the newsroom because the paper put a Maggat in charge of writing the headlines.
Any evidence to back up your claim?
And even if it were true, that doesn't excuse the horrible election "articles" by for instance Patrick Healey, who mostly gives his own cynical opinions instead of reporting relevant and proven facts...
largely by: €£👀₦ ɱu$₭
There are roots in this issue in our racist past.
It's easy to be better at messaging when the entire media's in the tank for you.
Because they have disinformation outlets, slickly packaged to resemble news, that peddle lies all day long, drilling into the brains of viewers that Democrats are communists, socialists, atheists, etc., and that Republicans are fiscally conservative patriots.
Nothing Democrats do is so good for the country that the Fox/NewsMax crowd can’t make it look sinister. And nothing the GOP does is so terrible that they can’t frame it in a positive light.
The right-wing media will be out today cleaning up the GOP mess. I keep waiting for the audience to realize that it’s like the scene in the Leslie Nielsen movie where Nielsen as Frank Drebin is standing in front of a scene of absolute chaos telling people that all is well, while behind him things are crashing, blowing up, and bursting into flames. Any sane person can see what’s happening, but Fox will tell people that Trump is playing three-dimensional quantum chess, and much of the audience will buy it because they have been so conditioned to hate the other side.
What's really interesting is the Wall Street Journal. It's owned by Rupert Murdoch of FOX, but it's fairly straight and even breaks some scandalous stuff.
I think making money is their top priority and when they tried to return to sanity after Jan. 6, their viewers fled in droves so they followed them.
Victor gave them a vector to victory. Leslie made me do it.
Because they say so, again and again.
You put it as well as I ever could, thanks.
Like Kool-Aid fountains.
Maybe there’s something very attractive about delusions that allow people to puff up their chests and feel good about themselves, for a little while at least?
It may sound simplistic, but a culture of grievance carefully nurtured by white supremacists even before the Civil War has given us a whole lot of people whose achievements in life are far below their sense of merit (I'm not dismissing the disadvantages that white people in the lower economic strata have that prevent them from achieving their full potential). The Republicans, most overtly since Nixon, have encouraged and grown this culture of grievance, thereby cultivating a no-information electorate that consistently votes against its economic and, yes, cultural interests.
Thank you. The
Civil War never ended, and the media has promoted a distorted idea of who is a real American, only someone from “the Heartland.” In reality, “The Heartland” is ALL of us, whoever we are snd wherever we live.
The economic devastation the south brought on itself lasts to this day, along with the deep resentment we see against the federal government.
I am from north of the Mason-Dixon Line and lived in Raleigh, NC for about 6 years. On moving to NC, I had the rude awakening that the Civil War had not ended. Weekly and more, I was told that I was a Yankee and that "Yankees" only visit, but "damn Yankees" stay.
One of the employees (NC native) in our office was taking a Civil War history class as part of the coursework towards a bachelor's degree. Each and every day after class the employee would return to the office and state how they never could tell their father about what they were hearing in this Civil War history class -- things like, the Civil War was fought over slavery!
Also, I'll never forget a headline at the time from one of the Raleigh newspapers of, "The South Will Rise Again" (may not be verbatim) for an article discussing the relocation of some companies from NY, PA, OH etc. to southern states.
My family and friends who never lived south of the Mason-Dixon Line have refused to believe that so many southerners appear to harbor such deep-seated resentment and distain towards their non-southern brethren. The British Civil War, the U.S. Civil War, the Troubles ...do populations ever get over a civil war?
My travels have kept me mostly north of that infamous line, but a professor who hailed from Rhode Island told me of his southern experiences. He made the observation that "they" were still fighting the civil war. We were discussing colleagues and management techniques. He was very glad to be home. Indefensible positions are just that and are dealt with in all manner of subterfuge.
Because the economy is coded male and the republican party is coded male. Once that clicks everything starts to make sense.
Mr Trump is nothing like previous Republicans. You may disagree with their views and policies but they didn't mount an assault on our democracy and the global world order that has served us so well. It is important to keep this in mind because it will take a broad coalition to resist the damage this administration is inflicting.
George W. Bush took power in an election that was only close because his brother, the governor of a swing state, had disenfranchised a ton of black voters by "misidentifying" them as felons. His campaign operatives then shut down the recount in their own mini-1/6, the so-called Brooks Brothers Riot. His partisan majority on the Supreme Court then awarded him the presidency in a ruling so lawless that they actually tried to insert a "this ruling should never be used as precedent!" clause. Once in office, his DOJ spent years trying to prosecute phantom voter fraud cases, eventually triggering a mini revolt from the attorneys involved because he was so transparently just trying to disenfranchise voters for being Democrats. ... That's for the assaults on our democracy. For assaults on the global world order that has served us so well, no American president before Trump put it under as much strain as Trump did with his seven years of belligerent unilateralism. And then there's the assault on our economy, which, well, ::gestures to 2008::
Dubya had to walk so that Trump could run (heck, Trump 1.0 had to walk so that Trump 2.0 could run). But this is where the Republican Party's been headed for a long time.
I think it's fair to say that this was the direction the Republicans were heading. However, the HUGE difference between the Republicans and MAGA is that the Republicans believe in American democracy and MAGA does not. It's the difference between a million and a billion.
“tried to insert a "this ruling should never be used as precedent!" clause”
Tried? "Our consideration is limited to the present circumstances, for the problem of equal protection in election processes generally presents many complexities."
👆🎯Ever so much this, they have been heading towards this course since at least Reagan, with his illegal Iran contra crimes.
I actually think Chris' reply reinforces the original point I made: that the Trump administration represents a marked escalation in the Republican Party’s break from democratic norms and the global order.
The contest between Mr. Gore and Mr. Bush was extraordinarily close—so close that Florida law triggered an automatic machine recount. The Gore campaign then sought a manual recount in four Democratic-leaning counties, which the Florida Supreme Court allowed. The Bush campaign challenged this, and the U.S. Supreme Court initially declined to intervene. Only after that recount failed to change the outcome—and the Florida court ordered a broader statewide recount—did the Supreme Court step in and halt the process.
The process wasn’t perfect. It’s likely that with better-designed ballots and recount procedures, the result might have been different. But critically, this was a legal fight conducted within the bounds of our institutions.
The USSC had no precedent to interfere.
That wasn’t your original point at all.
Broad coalition, as in finding ways to work with the tools at hand?
Republicans paved the way, voted for him, and have enabled him at every point. Trump is a result of what Republicans have always wanted but weren’t bold enough to fully enact, which is the destruction of FDR’s New Deal.
Because they're so MANLY!!! Seriously: I think that a lot of people, consciously or unconsciously, think that the Republican party is the Man of the House, and the Democrats are little wifey. Or something like that. And you need the Man of the House to really run things and handle money and make big decisions about money. Of course in many actual households women do the budgeting, and bring in the dollars, but this does not change the underlying archetype or myth: that a man should be in charge, and the Democrats are basically women and black people (and gay people, and probably a lot of illegal aliens).
In my lifetime, though, the good years were during Clinton, Obama and Biden. People really don't understand how much good Biden did for the economy.
“Why do people think R’s are….’ People think’?…” hmmmm. In the US we call them spin doctors. In Russia they are called ‘Political Technologist’. The use of psychology and mass communication strategies to firm the ‘group identity’ forged into ‘group think’… to believe something is true when it is not.
“We have an epistemological crisis in America” -President Obama. Pre 2016 quote
Because Rs cut taxes
...for the rich.
Not so much for the 90%, much of the time.
But when all someone knows about "news" is Fox-filtered...
Absolutely true. And then they get elected again because they accuse Democrats of not fixing the mess they made of the economy fast enough! And I’m sure it will happen again, after Trump.
I never understood why anyone would buy their propaganda. Other than they get their info from opinion media but they never look at store fronts or their wallets. Where I live, there’s an increase in shop/office/retail rental signs. Don’t get it.
The Democratic Party: Cleaning Up GOP Messes Since 1933 (Coming to a White House Near You in 2029)
TRUTH 🔝. Answer to your question, “why do people vote for the party 🤨🛑 Who rule against - their own voters.” BLAME Fox LIES! Pure manipulation, for the corporate takeover of US, 🇺🇸 and America.
Why? Because the media -- and not just right-wing media, mainstream as well -- accepts that assumption. Republicans say they like business better than people, so they must be better for the economy. More than there being insufficient evidence to accept that (to use a too-often used description), there is no reason to accept that.
The chickens are coming home to roost! We can debate “self inflicted” wounds, but what’s the point! These are clearly self inflicted wounds, and for what? So a bunch of religious fascists and morally bankrupt businessmen can consolidate power and dictate their version of TRUTH? Gaslighting us into oblivion?
Orwell’s 1984 should be displayed in the non-fiction isle, because none of this makes sense in a sane world!
Very interesting article - I learn something from all your articles that I didn’t understand before about economics. I learn something about history that I didn’t know before from Heather Cox-Richardson. These Substacks are wonderful. I’ll be 82 next month - never too late to learn. Thank you for your words and clarity.
Substack is amazing, isn’t it? I’ve been following Heather Cox Richardson since she began writing “ Letters from an American” and I have now become obsessed with following writers on Substack who provide clarity and insight into the many different topics that concern me. At 71 years of age, I now have a far greater understanding of our government, economics, politics, history and culture. It’s been an awakening for me! 🤩
The chickens were about to come home to roost, until someone put the fox in charge of the henhouse. Now there is no home left to roost in, and the chickens have all been eaten.
Fortunately for me, substack has a trollBeGone functionality. I click the link, and hasta la vista troll!
Which is the troll link you are talking about? The one to report message? That gets rid of them?
Yes. There are actually two links that work. One is the "Block" link, which will block any further troll posts >for you only<, and also prevent the troll from seeing any more of your comments.
The other is "Report", which blocks the troll's comments, and eventually removes them altogether - for everybody. I only use the "Report" link for especially, blatantly obnoxious trolls - like the one above.
Thank you!
Oh it's that piker again. He vomits one word replies, and adds nothing to the discourse. Then after he gets ejected, makes a new account.
Well, for now at least, he/it is indefinitely suspended. I'm sure he/it will return at some point. If so, we just activate the "trollBeGone" function.
It, like the brain fog bot, will be back acting like a crochety old republican.
Vaya con taco.
Spot on!
* immoral religious fascists
* amoral businessmen
* gaslighting antisocial bullies
All of whom are power hungry. Many of whom are all three of those things.
And let’s not forget the painfully narcissistic personalities, male and female, who are loading this Administration—from the President, his closest advisors, the agency heads and Cabinet members he has appointed—they love showing off, bragging, being insensitive and cruel, setting themselves up to take everything they can lay hands on—Hegseth has to show off by sharing high security info to his wife and brother…to show them how important he is, just as Trump needs to humiliate and bully everyone. If any of these miscreants showed up at a neighborhood barbecue, everyone would leave early! 😳😱
Ditto Animal Farm: the pigs have taken over.
Animal Farm, Down and Out in Paris, and Coming up for Air, why? In addition to 1984.
Begone troll.
1984 and Animal Farm
Karma is coming to America because of its stupidity electing a career corrupt criminal as POtuS again! Did anyone learn anything about his incompetence when 1,000,000 Americans died unnecessarily from his HOAX virus including my middle brother and cousin???
M3333 -- I am so sorry to hear that you lost a brother and cousin to Covid and the anti-science generated hysteria and reactions. Hoping that you and yours are able to find some peace.
I don't wish to sound insensitive, but sadly, politicians realize that they rarely pay a price for harmful public health policies and incompetence because they know that dead people don't vote.
Thanks for your condolences. My brother died of coronavirus on April 9, 2020 and I still think of him everyday. My cousin was hospitalized for coronavirus for five days and then developed racing heart syndrome. I urged him to see a cardiologist and did take my advice. He died of a pulmonary embolism but we know coronavirus screws up blood clotting and the autopsy listed coronavirus as the cause of death!
May their memories be a blessing, today and everyday.
And the long-term effects are still to be seen. The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield isn’t just another number — it’s the backbone of the entire global credit system. And right now, we’re seeing serious stress in the bond market, with yields creeping up toward what feels like a “no-fly zone” around 4.5%. That level might not sound extreme, but it has huge implications. When the yield on the 10-year goes up, everything else follows — especially the cost of borrowing for businesses. Since so much of the credit system is built around that benchmark, higher yields mean higher interest rates across the board. Companies will have to pay more to finance themselves, and that can ripple through the whole economy.
Higher yields usually also increase the US dollar against the other currencies. But not now - the dollar is tanking . I’m pretty sure most of our models haven’t built this in .
Generally it is better to sail back to port when you are so unsure about the danger ahead- but with Captain
Ahab ( the vengeful) at the helm
. . .
Moby Xi has him in his sights
Related to this, one thing that is not getting enough discussion in the media (even the financial media) is the additional rise in prices U.S. consumers will see as a result of a falling dollar.
Hopefully the Federal Reserve has factored this upward pressure on prices and the CPI into their decision making.
“ Hopefully the FED factors this upward pressure on prices into their decision making “
- but who knows what will actually be reported to MAGA
clones - who already know the price of eggs has fallen-
uh huh
The models offer examples, but they do not capture the noise of a demented like Trump. And even if there was an economist to do it, he would certainly have international fame (and therefore not Navarro)
That's fierce complicated!!!!
Try tellin that to Trumpty Dumpty perched on the edge of his crumbling wall.
Off you good luck in there 👍🫰👎
Small things do matter. Imagine one million single dollar bills in a pile. Now remove 300-dollar bills and put them in a second pile alongside the first. Take single dollar bills from the big pile and slowly add them to the small one. When you get to 400 in the small pile you have upset the world's economy. 500 uh oh. 600 don't go there. Exchange one molecule of carbon dioxide for one relocated dollar bill in this example and we are talking about the atmosphere and climate. Parts per million of CO2 in the atmosphere can and will make all the difference in the world. March 2024 - 425 ppm. March 2025 - 428 ppm.
@LM, Thanks - good, concise info.
On top of higher costs to borrow, there is massive uncertainty about where the US is headed. Who in their right mind would invest here now? It's as if "they" said, what can we do to weaken America? 1. Cyber attack on government institutions. 2. Ignore rule of law and courts. 3. Attack scientific research and development. 4. Turn on our allies with scorn and ridicule. 5. Attack global finance with crackpot theories.
Higher yields usually also increase the US dollar against the other currencies. But not now - the dollar is tanking . I’m pretty sure most of our models haven’t built this in .
Generally it is better to sail back to port when you are so unsure about the danger ahead- but with Captain
Ahab ( the vengeful) at the helm
. . .
I’m on holiday deep in Trump Country - somewhere on the Gulf of America :) There are a lot of homes for sale here - likely Canadians exiting investments that did very well under Biden and Powell. Foreign investment flying away, selling dollars to buy (guessing) some euro. The Trump flags are up. The boat parades are on. Rome is falling and they are too drunk on power and CBD infused fizzy water to know this is going to hurt a lot of Americans. Red and Blue.
I really feel for the americans still seeing how f**** up everything is.
But I am unsure what non-americans can do to help other then write dark "what-if" conspiracy stories of how Trump cam to power not only a first but even a second time and why and how it happened.
In my opinion the "freedom" of americans was used by entrenched interests to "cook" slowly, probably since before the aborted attempt to make the USA, the CSA or since they founded the country even. And in the last 50 years socialism=communism=stalingulags.
Thats just so dumb, sorry guys... but it clearly is the "independent" public and "traditionally biased" private education and republican biased news who murked everything around until american politics got swampy in heritage.or* "traditional" content... And the democrats who tried to be better naturally are less shameless and just dirtied themself when they tried to fight "fire with fire". Trump tops all the presidents in incompetence in legal business (while calling himself genius) AND competence in sliding through life by bragging, bullying, narcissism and running to daddy for money.
Wall St. is full of communists? Well that's a new one on me.
My first good laugh of the day.
Boebert’s always sage and rational commentary reminds me of this famous movie scene:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWBiLeVy45k
Except, Kevin Bacon was amusing.
A classic for sure.
It isn't new to me, actually. This has been a staple of white supremacist conspiracy theories for a long time (helped along by the stereotype of "Wall Street" => "banker" => "Jew"). Hitler believed that communism and capitalism were two branches of the Worldwide Jewish Conspiracy - which turned the Great Depression, starting as it had on Wall Street, into a plot to destroy the West so that the communists could march in. The Ku Klux Klan in the U.S. believed similar things, especially in the South; from their point of view, undermining the racial order of things was communism, and the people undermining it were mostly Northerners, and Wall Street was in the North, so...
Worldviews based on tribal prejudice tend to go for this kind of incoherence. Wall Street is far from the only thing to be absurdly lumped in with communism by bigots. Back when JFK was running for President, the anti-Catholic bigots likewise accused him of being an agent of the Vatican *and* an agent of the Kremlin. Because if there's two things that have always gotten along like peas in a pod, it's communism and Catholicism.
Sorry, but the screenshot is fake. (You can tell by the incorrect font.) It is taken from a broadcast a couple of years ago and altered. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JEMUgfEzW8&t=145s
Well, yes, this is true. Bizarre but true.
I would be a new one on Boebert, too. That screenshot is fake. She's dumb, as the original interview (a couple of years ago) demonstrates, but she did not say that. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JEMUgfEzW8&t=145s
None of this was necessary or makes sense unless and until you realize that destroying the economy was the goal all along. Then it makes sense. WHY would they want to do this? I can think of a hundred reasons. To please Putin. To drive the switch to crypto. To create the permanent servant class. To create economic unrest to make it easier to justify other horrible policies. By the time the American people wake up and realize they made a huge mistake in November, it will be too late.
Lisa Z! Absolutely on target! Read this Guardian article on the tech bros’ dreamy “concept of a plan” for complete transformation of all os US society:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2025/apr/13/end-times-fascism-far-right-trump-musk?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
The Guardian article is eye-popping. Reports from the dark world of the fascists which I don't seek out on my own. Anyone who reads it MUST read to the end to learn about how we are at a choice point. I choose to be an Earth lover who focuses on HERE, over tech fatalism. And, I hope my tomato seeds germinate soon.
Trump’s economic lurching (I can’t bring myself to call them policies) are ignorant, callous and demented, and are causing tremendous human suffering that will last for a very long time. But what infuriates me even more is the greed amnesia that Wall Street shows every single time it is offered a deal that is guaranteed to make its investors masters of the universe. The street is so smart it actually circles back around to stupid.
Boebert is a dunce, who has drunk way too much Dumby Don Cool Aid…
“Wall Street is full of communists “… what!?..that is idiocy on full display and regalia!
Wall Street is full of capitalists that want to make money, that is what they do better than anyone in the world!!
The rethugs over the last 50 years became allergic to knowledge, intelligence, and expertise. They immerse themselves in the reichwing echo chamber and one and all, take their marching orders from a bunch of Faux Snooze propaganda experts.
I'll bet BimBoebert herself cleaned up as much from the insider trading as her pal Marjorie Taylor GreeneBacks.
Unfortunately, the meme is fake; see above.
For most people, "communism" is a system of government where the state owns all property and means of production.
For Republicans, "communist" means "anyone who disagrees with us."
And in Boebert's defense, she likely doesn't know the actual meaning of the word.
You mean, as the OP said, she's a dunce. 😂
That is far too kind, she'd have to gain many IQ points to reach that high.
It's all relative. She has the IQ points - compared to say, a rutabaga.
In Boebert's defense, the screenshot is fake.
Von trump is doing the bidding of putin and all bilionaires fascist around the world who can buy america cheap! Starting with MBS saoudi arabia who gave 2 billions to trump son in law. Wait for the official bitcoin maga anointment Coming soon
You were starting to worry me. I’ve gotten used to this post at 6:30 every morning.
I don’t understand why there isn’t some large scale coherent media / propaganda effort to explain to Red State / MAGA voters how devastating this will be for them. It seems we need to turn about 15% of opinion away from Trump and this shouldn’t be too difficult - it just requires messaging that reaches Trump-oriented people where they are shown step by step what is being done to them. I wish PK focused more on these kinds of action steps or actively created them as the time for analysis is kind of past.
The problem is that they all watch Faux News, propaganda for the stupids.
You can see how easy it is to fall for propaganda, since the meme Paul included of Boebert is fake.
They’d have to be intellectually prepared to listen, understand, and act. They are not.
1) Literally anyone with the means to spread that sort of propaganda is a right-winger.
2) The way this propaganda has worked for decades is that every time someone tells them something they find upsetting (i.e. "the President you voted for is a moron and his idiocy is going to fucking ruin you"), they decide that it's Liberally Biased Media slander, and go shopping around for someone who'll tell confirm that for them. They're not going to listen to Fox News if it starts telling them Trump is bad; they're just going to turn off Fox News and go find another news source somewhere that tells them Trump is good, and there's always going to be one of those, even if it's just somebody's Twitter feed or YouTube channel.
(A whole lot of them are, in fact, furious at Fox News and have been for four years, ever since it called Arizona for Joe Biden).
I believe your point here about needing to reach about 15% with rationality is important as so many polls talk about the electorate being represented by thirds: 1/3 MAGA, 1/3 right- or left-leaning independents, and 1/3 Dem.
A significant portion of the middle third seems to be willing to give the 'policies' time. Some in this middle subset also seem to be so happy to "get rid of these immigrants who are killing 'our people'" that they will overlook everything else at this time.
How to get through to this middle 1/3 and who should be the messengers? Is there a role for Democrat politicians to put forward their own policies (shadow government style) for addressing the concerns of these voters rather than Dems. simply saying, the other party's policies are bad and will harm you. I'm asking because it seems that a different approach is needed when a significant portion of persuadable voters shut down their ears and minds when all that they hear is that the other party's policies are bad (the expected and even automatic response by the other party in a two-party system).
What approaches can break through and overcome this tendency to shut down when potentially persuadable voters hear what they take as 'the same old complaining about the other party's policies'?
Hellooo republican congress? Are you all like Boebert? Or are there a handful of you in each chamber that have a shred of intelligence and moral fiber left?
Thank you, Paul, for sharing your expertise and clarifying some details about a subject that is mostly foreign to me. Chaos causes crisis is my takeaway.
And vice versa. That's the "beauty" of Trumpkopf's policies. They create a death spiral from which there is no way out.
remember trump said "vote for me and you will only have to vote once" - because POOR citizens comply - just like Russia ! And the new surveillance state created by DOGE with all of our data - emails, phones, finances can all be watched. We are in deep doo doo and sinking. I know we will (have to ) claw our way back up.. over years. But one more reminder - Impeachment today is possible ( trumps list is LONG & deranged ) - it is the GOP that is just and equally responsible !
(I've said this before) Trump is:
A) A Russian Operative whose assignment is to weaken the West, and doing a superb job
B) Intentionally tanking the world economy so oligarchs can purchase everything at fire sale prices
C) An idiot
D) All of the above
D. Lol