Trumptopia: it will be fantastic, amazing, you’ll love it! Imagine a world where America is great again. The dummies who presided over the decline of our nation have been fired; our enemies fear us while our friends respect us; our economy is booming and wages are rising since we sent home all the foreigners who were here illegally, working for low wages. Everyone will have free healthcare from the doctor of their choice; veterans will receive prompt treatment from the best doctors, not just “OK” doctors. We will have gleaming cities, superhighways. And the war on women will be over because Donald Trump cherishes women and women cherish being cherished.
Trumptopia is the conservative version of Obamaworld. Remember how eight years ago candidate Obama told us he was going to create hundreds of thousands of high-paying jobs by converting the nation from fossil fuels to renewable energy? How he would pull the economy out of recession by rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure with “stimulus” spending (that is, money borrowed from China)? How he was going to bring racial harmony to America and the Muslim world would love us and welcome Jeffersonian democracy. (He even received the Nobel Peace Prize before he spent a single day in office. The prize was given just in anticipation of peace reigning throughout the world.) Remember how he said we would love Obamacare; the oceans would stop rising because he would end global warming; and his administration would be the most transparent government in history?
Many who voted for Barack Obama were not voting for the man —he came out of nowhere and had little experience. They were voting for the vision he painted.
The same is true of Donald Trump. His supporters know his name, his face, and that he is very rich. But they know little of his political ideology, and he has provided us with few details of how he will “make America great again.” (He won’t reveal his foreign policy because he doesn’t want to tip off our enemies as to what he might do.) But his supporters don’t care. They’ve bought their ticket to Trumptopia and their bags are packed.
American voters are frustrated. Polls show 63 percent of us believe the United States is headed in the wrong direction, including 88 percent of Republicans, 74 percent of independents and 42 percent of Democrats. The disgruntled Democrats have turned to Bernie Sanders because they want the change Obama promised, but failed to deliver, while many disgruntled Republicans have lined up behind Donald Trump.
As soon as Trump threw his hat in the ring, he catapulted to the lead, largely due to his near-universal name recognition and the media’s obsession with celebrities and ratings. TV crews followed him everywhere. But the constant limelight also hurt him by giving him no time to perfect his political skills. His juvenile antics, name-calling and egoism also catapulted him to the lead in negative ratings, with many Republicans saying they can’t stand him and would never vote for him.
Thus, Trump’s dilemma is that while he may be in the lead for now, 25 percent is not enough to win the Republican nomination. And he has little ability to gain support as the field of candidates narrows.
Trump’s advisors have taken a page from Hillary’s campaign book and are trying to reinvent their candidate so that he seems more “presidential” and thoughtful. No more trash-talking and dancing in the end-zone after scoring points. “The Donald” is going to have to deliver specifics about his proposals, and explain to a nation $19 trillion in debt how he is going to pay for them.
Trump recently released a brief outline of his tax reform plan. He would lower the top income tax rate from 39.6 percent to 25 percent and exempt half the population from paying any income tax. The income tax on businesses would be cut to 15 percent, and he would eliminate the Estate Tax and the Alternative Minimum Tax.
The Tax Foundation did some calculations and determined the plan would reduce federal revenues by $10.14 trillion over the next decade, even after considering the stimulus effect lower taxes would have on the U.S. economy.
How does this reconcile with a Republican-controlled congress ready to shut down the government to end federal borrowing? Don’t tell us all the great things you will have government do; tell us what you are going to cut.
In economics there is a saying: “there ain’t no such thing as a free lunch.” What this means is that government may provide people with free goods and services, but someone, somewhere, is paying for it. Consider the wall Trump wants to build along our 1,954-mile southern border. It has been estimated that a fence would cost $20-30 billion. But Trump is talking about a big, beautiful wall — one worthy of bearing the Trump name. Assume it would cost $300 billion; that’s about $4,000 for every family in America.
But Trump says not to worry, because with his superior negotiating skills he will make the Mexicans pay for it. OK, Mexico sells about $300 billion worth of goods in the U.S. each year. Assume that to pay for the wall the Mexican government imposes an export tax on Mexican companies selling goods in the U.S. Who is going to end up paying that tax? American consumers. We will pay it in the form of higher prices when we purchase Mexican produce in our grocery stores, Mexican-made automobiles and Mexican oil. There ain’t no such thing as a “free” wall.
Currently nearly half the people pay no income tax, which means they have an infinite demand for government services — free food, free healthcare, free cell phones, free birth control. And now Hillary wants to make all college education free. In a democracy, this is tantamount to giving half the population a license to steal from the other half.
Trump’s tax plan would institutionalize this situation, paving the road to socialism.
The greatest threat to our economic prosperity and national security is our ever-growing national debt, much of it owed to China. Foreign borrowing has fed the ever-expanding federal bureaucracy that is stifling American business and intruding on our personal rights and liberties. Yet no candidate in either party is talking about how they will balance the federal budget and stop the debt from growing. (To pay down the debt would require massive budget surpluses.)
We don’t need another utopian vision of American greatness without a price tag attached. We need politicians who will explain the benefits of reducing the size and scope of government and the sacrifices needed to achieve that reduction.
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