According to polls, Americans trust Donald Trump more than Joe Biden on the economy and immigration. However, his proposals are insane.
Donald Trump talks about these two issues all the time, but if we look at what he proposes, there is reason to be disillusioned.
Magical thinking
When it comes to the economy, Trump is viewed favorably in part because of the simplistic prejudice that a businessman would be more qualified to manage the economy.
It’s a myth. The terms of the only three presidents from the business world, Herbert Hoover, George W. Bush and Donald Trump, ended in economic disasters.
Trump offers nothing concrete to combat inflation, other than promising that his election will make all the problems go away.
Insane and inflationary proposals
Trump’s only credible economic promise is to extend and improve the tax cuts introduced in 2017 for the wealthy and businesses. The resulting debt explosion would keep interest rates high. Nothing to relieve the burden on households.
Trump also promises a substantial increase in tariffs, which can only stimulate inflation. He even proposes the completely absurd idea of replacing income tax with customs tariffs.
For those who believe Trump’s constantly repeated lie that tariffs are paid by foreigners, the idea of abolishing the income tax is attractive, but it is a mirage.
Even partial, the replacement of income tax with customs tariffs would transfer a significant part of the tax burden to the most deprived. In addition to plunging the global economy into a recession (and Canada into a depression), this insane policy would inflate the prices of all goods, imported or not.
Cruel, impractical and ruinous
Donald Trump’s flagship immigration project, the deportation or detention of 10 to 15 million irregular migrants, would be even worse.
The vast majority of these migrants hold jobs (often those that no one wants), pay taxes (without reaping all the benefits) and, whatever Trump says, they commit proportionally less crime than citizens.
On a simple logistical level, his project is insane. The costs of deporting or detaining more than 10 million people would be astronomical. It would also be necessary to replace those who occupy essential jobs, at salaries inflated by the already existing labor shortage, which would boost inflation.
The sole objective of this policy is to threaten cruel treatment against a population hated by Trump supporters, to mobilize their rage. Meanwhile, Trump is forcing his party to block urgent measures to strengthen the border.
On the two issues most important to him, Trump’s proposed policies are so ridiculous that, normally, any politician who defends them would be doomed to failure. But this is not a normal political environment. Welcome to Trump’s America.
Quotes of the week
“Milwaukee is a terrible city.” –Donald Trump (during a meeting with Republican elected officials, June 13, 2024)
“I love Milwaukee.” –Donald Trump (in front of a crowd of supporters in Racine, Wisconsin, June 18, 2024)
The former president and Republican candidate had to backpedal an incendiary statement about the host city of the Republican nominating convention (July 15 to 18). Wisconsin was one of the most hotly contested states in 2020 and polls predict a tight fight in 2024.
Number of the week
+/- 2
The margin of error for opinion polls is generally three points. The difference between voting intentions for Donald Trump and Joe Biden for all public polls taken in June is two points or less, one way or the other. In short, the candidates are tied. This equality is reflected in the forecast model of the site FiveThirtyEight, which estimates the chances of victory for one or the other at 50%.
The lie detector
FALSE, FALSE, FALSE… 30 times!
Last Tuesday, true to form, Donald Trump gave a powerful speech lasting a little over an hour in front of a crowd in Racine, Wisconsin. CNN fact-checker Daniel Dale counted no fewer than 30 easily demonstrable falsehoods in the speech. Donald Trump spouts lies and falsehoods at such a rapid pace that it becomes difficult, if not impossible, to pick out a specific example. It’s his secret weapon. In his world, objective reality no longer exists.
Photo of the week
Photo AFP
Following Donald Trump’s comment disparaging the host city of the Republican convention in July, the Democratic Party plastered his statement in Milwaukee and elsewhere in Wisconsin.
