By Chris Rossini
Politicians blow smoke. They make statements that are false (i.e., lie) and promises that they cannot keep. Economic laws forbid them. Donald Trump, however, is a different kind of fog machine in the 2016 dog & pony show. He seems to have cracked the code on making everyone else in the show an also ran. As of this writing, it's Donald and 'some other guys' who want to be President.
Donald is blowing smoke like a bandit too. He's going to defeat ISIS, provide universal healthcare, give veterans the best care they've ever had, build a Great Wall of Trump (that Mexico will pay for), put China in its place, and many other nonsense claims.
The other fog machine politicians are making ridiculous promises too, but why has Donald stolen the show? Well, as we all know, he had a very successful TV show called The Apprentice. For years, Americans were able to watch contestants (which included celebrities) kiss Donald's behind on national television. Every episode contained lots of "Yes Mr. Trump" genuflections and scenes with Donald trotting in and out of everyone's presence as if he were Caesar.
Americans have heard Donald say over and over 'I've done this' and 'I've done that' and 'I created the most prestigious, best, and most valuable widget that the world has ever seen.' The fact that the show was on so long has served The Donald well. All he had to do with the Presidential race was hop in, say something outrageous, and the media would be eating out of his hands. The government lapdogs (the fools that they are) have catapulted Trump to the top. The media knew how to blackout Ron Paul (who they also hated) but they can't resist talking about Trump around the clock.
Now both parties have a big problem on their hands (the only positive thing about this situation) because Mr. Big Bucks is in control of the show. Donald doesn't need anyone's money, he can buy his own ad & TV time and it won't make a dent in his fortune.
Trump's fortune also gives him a false credibility with the American public. It's an all-too-common mistake to assume that because a person was successful in the business world, that he will make lollipops and lemon drops fall from the sky as President. Libertarians have exhaustively pointed out the error in this line of thinking. Government is not, and cannot be, like a business. Government is a totally different animal, with opposite incentives built-in to its existence. Sadly, as of 2015, enough Americans cannot make that distinction yet.
So Trump has tremendous name-recognition, virtually unlimited funding, and a perception that he can do exactly as he promises. (He can't. But to win, that doesn't matter).
What is Trump's ace-in-the-hole? He talks "street".
The average person likes to hear Trump say that Arianna Huffington: "is unattractive both inside and out. I fully understand why her former husband left her for a man- he made a good decision." Or that John McCain: "Graduated last in his class at Annapolis--dummy!"
That's "street," and that's entertainment. Americans love entertainment.
Donald Trump is giving all the establishment political leeches a dose of Democracy. That's a minor plus from a libertarian perspective. It provides a bit of schadenfreude for sure, but the last thing that we need is for an iron-fist-type to actually win. We don't need a white knight, we need Liberty.
Murray Rothbard pointed out long-ago that billionaires do not like to hear the word "No." They're always surrounded by yes-men... "Yes, Mr. Trump"..."Yes, Mr. Trump"...all the time.
The problem is, that as President, Donald will not be able to "Yes" himself to success. You see, supply and demand will not yield to Mr. Trump. The Law of Diminishing Returns will not bow down. Economic laws can care less as to who Trump thinks he is.
I shudder to think of the lengths that The Donald would go to save face when his promises are broken. History has enough horror stories to warn us against granting someone with an iron-fist political power.
Chris Rossini is author of Set Money Free: What Every American Needs To Know About The Federal Reserve. Follow @chrisrossini on Twitter.
Chris , why do you and Bob gear monger trump getting elected so much? it's July 2015 not September 2016. Rp supporters always said that ppops were garbage anyway. Why succumb to the horse race reporting? Is this going to keep up for another year plus?
ReplyDeleteYikes. I agree with you this is all good entertainment. So sit back and enjoy it. Its not like you are going to get too many people to go out and vote against him on this blog. And I certainly hope no one reading this blog needs to be told how awful trump will be as a leader.