Excellent analysis. I have to wonder, though, exactly *who* Trump is talking to with these impossible fantasies? Even the cult knows to take the Trumpian bravado warily. Is it perhaps the only person he flamboyantly lies to is himself … another guaranteed rapt audience?
Trump's popularity has cratered with the notable exception of one group, white evangelical Christians.
As of late April (the most recent Pew numbers I could find), 72% of white evangelicals approves of his performance as president, 69% rate the ethics of top Trump administration officials as excellent or good, and 57% say they trust what Trump says more than things said by previous presidents.
I'm quite sure he doesn't know any of that personally because he doesn't read, but Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and Trump's politicial advisors almost certainly do.. They're crafting his "message"...which he hardly ever stays on, but that's besides the point...to the only reliable group he and far right Republicans have left.
May I point out that of all the religions, and their sects, only two identify by skin color: Black Muslims and White Evangelicals—both seem to revere that color above either Islam or Christianity.
I get what you're saying, but in this context it's just demographics. Pew, and many other reliable polling organizations, break down respondants by race, religion and a whole host of other categories. IMO, it's helpful.
Unfortunately, I hear those voices in his head, too.
They're called "The Trump Supreme Court", and seven of them deserve to be impeached, removed from office, and put in prison for treason...along with their Very Special Boy, and anybody who EVER supported him.
I despair at the gullibility and incredible memory loss of some Americans. Trump is on full repeat of every mistake that Reagan made and that Trump himself made, the first time around.....and yet people STILL fall for his insane carnival barker patter.
In 1980, George H.W. Bush called Reagan's economic policy proposals "voodoo economics.' He specifically explained why too. He was right, but that didn't help him any. Bush was a speed bump on Reagan's way to the Republican nomination. By 1988, he'd learned his lesson, and enthusiastically endorsed the continuation of the nonsense. When he reversed his "Read my lips" pledge in 1990, voters responded by electing Bill Clinton. IMO, if Pat Buchanan hadn't been "Trump before Trump" level extreme, GHWB might have even lost the Republican nomination that year.
Those people hear what they want to hear, and what they want to hear is "SONG OF THE SOUTH is the Greatest Movie Ever, and 'Murika must go back to that halcyon time!"
They heard "halcyon" somewhere, and they think it means "Good!", so what why what they want to hear dares to have a three-syllable word in it....
IMO, the reason Republicans keep blathering on about tax cuts is not because they personally believe what they're saying. (Although, admittedly, I'm less sure about whether some current Republican politicians like Boebert, MTG and the House Freedumb caucus actually believe what comes out of their mouths.) More serious Republican politicians/cabinet members like Treasury Secretary Bessent are a lot of things, but they're not so stupid they're incapable of reading and comprehending what they read. They know it's a lie.
What long time Republicans *do* know is that's been an effective lie, and the fate of Republicans who contradict the tax cut narrative established by Laffer, David Stockman and Reagan hasn't been all that great. On the campaign trail in 1980, George H.W. Bush called Regan's economic policy proposals "voodoo economics." Bush was a mere speed bump on Reagan's way to the Republican nomination because voters preferred Reagan's lie. Bush subsequently embraced the tax cut mantra to get himself elected in 1988. When he reversed his "Read my lips..." pledge in 1990, IMO Bush was lucky Buchanan was so extreme it didn't cost him the 1992 Republican nomination, and "only" hurt him in the general election against Bill Clinton.
It's been 45 years since Reagan and Stockman arrived in DC. Some of younger voters who cast a vote for Reagan in that election are among the 52% of voters over 50 who voted for Trump in 2024. So many Republican politicians at both the national and state levels, as well as "infotainment" outlets like Limbaugh's old show, and now Faux Noise, have repeated the tax cut mantra it's simply not politicially expedient for people like Bessent to tell the truth. Heck, I'd be stunned if Trump doesn't believe the lie just as much as his voters do. If Bessent were to tell the truth publicly, he'd likely be the first Trump 2.0 cabinet member to get fired.
Also, most if not all the Republicans in Congress are RICH!, or intend to be so, so they want those sweet, sweet tax cuts so they don't have to pay any taxes!
Sickeningly, so are a large number of Democrats of the Schumer/Pelosi/Clinton stripe, which is why their economic policies resemble Reagan's.
This post and the comment thread has made me ask myself questions to which I don't at all know the answer. Did Laffer know his curve was nonsense, and does he still believe in it? He shouldn't. He served as an economic advisor to Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback who went "full Laffer" with the "Kansas Experiment" in 2012. That, predictably, was a disaster.
I didn't know it was actually called the "Laffer Curve" back when Mark Alan Stamaty was doing WASHINGTOON during the Reagan years. I just figured his term for it, "Giggle Wiggle", was a joke at its expense, and not that even the name had some basis in fact.... 😬
🙂. Possible explanations; It trickles down but we pay it all back in terms of higher retail prices, cost of living etc. it trickles down but corporate oligarchs and kleptocrats snatch it away in terms of inflation of lending rates, hidden taxes and fees, extortionate tax break demands on state and local governments in return for jobs at facilities they later close.
Or it just to all intents and purposes simply doesn't trickle down and the Republicans are corporate bag-men and lap dogs like they've always been
What I like about the GOP MAGA cult and t***p’s administration could fill the blank page I keep track of them on. From his constant declarations that everything he does is “the biggest/best ever in American history” and everything his enemies did or will do is “the worst ever in American history” to his personal money making activities boosted by his “overwhelmingly voter mandated” second occupation of the Oval Office, he reeks and oozes vitriolic evil intentions for 99.9% of our population. The disregard of the Constitutional rights, freedoms and basics of our democratic system and civil society, the attacks on the judiciary who stand against his illegal acts and his radical expansion of the Executive Branch’s powers and authority, are all rolled up into this big, horrendous reconciliation budget bill. How is it possible, at over 1,000 pages, for the staff in the Senate Parliamentarian office to thoroughly review this budget bill to locate and remove all the hidden illegal items that have nothing about them that is remotely budget related? The Parliamentarian does not have a time limit for doing this review and removal, even though t***p and the GOP keep setting them. Just another mafia style of bullying and intimidation by the orange mob boss. The SCOTUS 2024 presidential immunity ruling is not without exceptions. It doesn’t cover presidential actions that are outside of the president’s Constitutional authority or of him being impeached and convicted by Congress. Defying the Posse Comitatus Act to order the military into our cities streets to quell peaceful protests, deporting immigrants without due process and breaching the separation of powers, just to name a few, are glaring actions not authorized by the Constitutional definition of presidential authority. We are a Democratic Republic, not an empire or a kingdom. Just saying.
The golden age will be for the 1%, not for the rest of us. I think “trickle up economics” is a better name than “trickle down economics”. Nothing has ever trickled down.
This is exactly how Trump's farce of an administration should be examined. Is there anyone at the DNC who is soundbiting all this into a 3 minute moron montages and flooding the socials? Seems to me, Trump is playing chicken, Dems are playing possum.
It's a mix of of cowardice, greed, and a mistaken belief that "The Voters Will SEE! Trump is a Fascist Maniac, and We're WIN! BIGLY! without having to actually DO anything that might hurt our big-money donors!"
Honestly? I think a significant number of Democrats like Republicans' low taxes and cutting social programs just fine, but don't want to be seen as supporting them....
There is a difference when compared with 20 years ago, as well as a similarity. The difference is that Mike Johnson feels he will not need to answer for any of this, if it fails. He feels like he has control of the narrative, and he is not worried about re-election.
The similarity is that this project has always been premised on complete control of the government. The idea, in their heads, is that once they are unopposed, they will not need to waste time battling the opposition (which happens to be at least 60% of The People). THEN the bounteous fruits of their efforts will become known to all, and we will praise and thank them for it. A new age of American prosperity will commence.
The problem is that this has always implied subversion of the Constitution and a fundamental restructuring of American society. That is not going to happen, folks. The reason it will not is because the capture of all three branches has been the only goal. They have no real plan beyond that, because they are authoritarians. In their minds, once they have power, everything will be just fine.
I am suggesting they are incapable of perceiving reality, best defined by probability. They are also working intellectually from a playbook written decades ago. Very little imagination or forward thinking involved here.
In American politics, politicians have mostly understood they cannot take things too far. Some have offered crazy ideas that never were realized. They understand you can just re-enter private life as a consultant, lobbyist, resume a legal career, etc. Or retire to a ranch and start painting as a hobby.
This changes completely when a person engages in actual tyranny. If a large portion of the population believe an elected official is responsible for actual murder, imprisonment of opponents, and the like, some percentage of those people will seek retribution. Acting in the manner they act is very much in reality placing their own and their family’s lives in danger.
One of two things must be believed by a person engaging in such authoritarian behavior. The first involves the past status quo which I’ve described as simply continuing. They think they’ll just slink away and grift for a while, enjoy life, and die like everyone else. The second approach involves thinking they will not need to worry about re-election.
Authoritarians cannot see reality, and for that I offer a grim comparison. Were you shocked by the murder of Brian Thompson? More specifically, were you surprised at the public response? If you were, you were not accurately perceiving reality prior to the event.
Authoritarians think the status quo still stands. They are poor students of history, itself filled with precedent which should guide their actions. But the reality, with history as a guide, is that people who cause harm to their fellow citizens cannot simply re-insert themselves into society as members in good standing.
I want to emphasize that I do not support Luigi Mangione. He seems to be a dangerous individual who could shift his focus from healthcare to some other target. We cannot allow vigilantism, and he cannot simply go free in a civil society.
The bigger issue are men (mostly) being allowed to engage in clearly unethical behavior, screaming “It’s just business,” and literally ruining people’s lives while doing it. This is all about how we disagree on how civil society might operate, and whether the characters involved can be held to account. It is about justice, and it seems clear to me that a significant number of people felt that justice was served. Not that it was achieved in a totally wrong manner.
I have personal experience here, having worked in the casino industry. I’m a conservative guy, though not in a rigid political sense. This ended in the early 2000s, and the primary cause for my exit was my own realization that I was harming people, full stop. I told myself otherwise prior to realizing it.
The sad part of all this, is that when the recession kicks in, Trump will blame it on Biden and the radical liberals who opposed his perfect plan. As usual, most MAGAs will let him get away with it - yet again.
We create our hellscape and we create our promised land. We. All of us. I wonder about those so inspired to vote for this moron’s morass. Why don’t we forge a new fate. No one but us can do that. https://hotbuttons.substack.com/p/forging-fate?r=3m1bs
This post is one of the most succinct arguments I’ve read exposing the nonsense Republicans have been pushing to disastrous effect for almost half a century.
I am also impressed by the concise yet clear explanation of the timeline of events that led our country to the mind bending situation we find ourselves in today. I pray that the protest rallies organized to take place nationwide on Saturday will be peaceful and that nothing is done to provoke law enforcement or military personnel to take action.
What I know about economics wouldn't fill a small Dixie cup and I have the intellectual honesty to admit it. But I do know history and it says that since 1945 under both Republican and Democratic administrations, America has experienced a steady rise in GDP and GNP except during that very troubling stagflation period of the late seventies to early eighties. It seems the two party's economic policies cancel each other out. Economic modeling is very difficult to do with any certainty, and the uncertainty increases exponentially the further out you try to predict. I think it's safe to say that under the short time horizon of this discussion that the proposed Republican budget benefits to the economy are not only fictional but ludicrous.
The faces of the so called Executive Branch tell you that they are so far over their heads that the country is in big, big trouble.
Excellent analysis. I have to wonder, though, exactly *who* Trump is talking to with these impossible fantasies? Even the cult knows to take the Trumpian bravado warily. Is it perhaps the only person he flamboyantly lies to is himself … another guaranteed rapt audience?
Trump's popularity has cratered with the notable exception of one group, white evangelical Christians.
As of late April (the most recent Pew numbers I could find), 72% of white evangelicals approves of his performance as president, 69% rate the ethics of top Trump administration officials as excellent or good, and 57% say they trust what Trump says more than things said by previous presidents.
I'm quite sure he doesn't know any of that personally because he doesn't read, but Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and Trump's politicial advisors almost certainly do.. They're crafting his "message"...which he hardly ever stays on, but that's besides the point...to the only reliable group he and far right Republicans have left.
https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2025/04/28/white-evangelicals-continue-to-stand-out-in-their-support-for-trump/
May I point out that of all the religions, and their sects, only two identify by skin color: Black Muslims and White Evangelicals—both seem to revere that color above either Islam or Christianity.
I get what you're saying, but in this context it's just demographics. Pew, and many other reliable polling organizations, break down respondants by race, religion and a whole host of other categories. IMO, it's helpful.
Who is he talking to? Simple. The voices in his head that tell him he’s a Very Special Boy who can do anything he wants!
Unfortunately, I hear those voices in his head, too.
They're called "The Trump Supreme Court", and seven of them deserve to be impeached, removed from office, and put in prison for treason...along with their Very Special Boy, and anybody who EVER supported him.
I despair at the gullibility and incredible memory loss of some Americans. Trump is on full repeat of every mistake that Reagan made and that Trump himself made, the first time around.....and yet people STILL fall for his insane carnival barker patter.
In 1980, George H.W. Bush called Reagan's economic policy proposals "voodoo economics.' He specifically explained why too. He was right, but that didn't help him any. Bush was a speed bump on Reagan's way to the Republican nomination. By 1988, he'd learned his lesson, and enthusiastically endorsed the continuation of the nonsense. When he reversed his "Read my lips" pledge in 1990, voters responded by electing Bill Clinton. IMO, if Pat Buchanan hadn't been "Trump before Trump" level extreme, GHWB might have even lost the Republican nomination that year.
Those people hear what they want to hear, and what they want to hear is "SONG OF THE SOUTH is the Greatest Movie Ever, and 'Murika must go back to that halcyon time!"
They heard "halcyon" somewhere, and they think it means "Good!", so what why what they want to hear dares to have a three-syllable word in it....
IMO, the reason Republicans keep blathering on about tax cuts is not because they personally believe what they're saying. (Although, admittedly, I'm less sure about whether some current Republican politicians like Boebert, MTG and the House Freedumb caucus actually believe what comes out of their mouths.) More serious Republican politicians/cabinet members like Treasury Secretary Bessent are a lot of things, but they're not so stupid they're incapable of reading and comprehending what they read. They know it's a lie.
What long time Republicans *do* know is that's been an effective lie, and the fate of Republicans who contradict the tax cut narrative established by Laffer, David Stockman and Reagan hasn't been all that great. On the campaign trail in 1980, George H.W. Bush called Regan's economic policy proposals "voodoo economics." Bush was a mere speed bump on Reagan's way to the Republican nomination because voters preferred Reagan's lie. Bush subsequently embraced the tax cut mantra to get himself elected in 1988. When he reversed his "Read my lips..." pledge in 1990, IMO Bush was lucky Buchanan was so extreme it didn't cost him the 1992 Republican nomination, and "only" hurt him in the general election against Bill Clinton.
It's been 45 years since Reagan and Stockman arrived in DC. Some of younger voters who cast a vote for Reagan in that election are among the 52% of voters over 50 who voted for Trump in 2024. So many Republican politicians at both the national and state levels, as well as "infotainment" outlets like Limbaugh's old show, and now Faux Noise, have repeated the tax cut mantra it's simply not politicially expedient for people like Bessent to tell the truth. Heck, I'd be stunned if Trump doesn't believe the lie just as much as his voters do. If Bessent were to tell the truth publicly, he'd likely be the first Trump 2.0 cabinet member to get fired.
Great comment Chris. Five stars
Also, most if not all the Republicans in Congress are RICH!, or intend to be so, so they want those sweet, sweet tax cuts so they don't have to pay any taxes!
Sickeningly, so are a large number of Democrats of the Schumer/Pelosi/Clinton stripe, which is why their economic policies resemble Reagan's.
If it trickles down, why do they still have it all.
This post and the comment thread has made me ask myself questions to which I don't at all know the answer. Did Laffer know his curve was nonsense, and does he still believe in it? He shouldn't. He served as an economic advisor to Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback who went "full Laffer" with the "Kansas Experiment" in 2012. That, predictably, was a disaster.
I didn't know it was actually called the "Laffer Curve" back when Mark Alan Stamaty was doing WASHINGTOON during the Reagan years. I just figured his term for it, "Giggle Wiggle", was a joke at its expense, and not that even the name had some basis in fact.... 😬
And yet they are not deterred.
🙂. Possible explanations; It trickles down but we pay it all back in terms of higher retail prices, cost of living etc. it trickles down but corporate oligarchs and kleptocrats snatch it away in terms of inflation of lending rates, hidden taxes and fees, extortionate tax break demands on state and local governments in return for jobs at facilities they later close.
Or it just to all intents and purposes simply doesn't trickle down and the Republicans are corporate bag-men and lap dogs like they've always been
Likely all of the above
What I like about the GOP MAGA cult and t***p’s administration could fill the blank page I keep track of them on. From his constant declarations that everything he does is “the biggest/best ever in American history” and everything his enemies did or will do is “the worst ever in American history” to his personal money making activities boosted by his “overwhelmingly voter mandated” second occupation of the Oval Office, he reeks and oozes vitriolic evil intentions for 99.9% of our population. The disregard of the Constitutional rights, freedoms and basics of our democratic system and civil society, the attacks on the judiciary who stand against his illegal acts and his radical expansion of the Executive Branch’s powers and authority, are all rolled up into this big, horrendous reconciliation budget bill. How is it possible, at over 1,000 pages, for the staff in the Senate Parliamentarian office to thoroughly review this budget bill to locate and remove all the hidden illegal items that have nothing about them that is remotely budget related? The Parliamentarian does not have a time limit for doing this review and removal, even though t***p and the GOP keep setting them. Just another mafia style of bullying and intimidation by the orange mob boss. The SCOTUS 2024 presidential immunity ruling is not without exceptions. It doesn’t cover presidential actions that are outside of the president’s Constitutional authority or of him being impeached and convicted by Congress. Defying the Posse Comitatus Act to order the military into our cities streets to quell peaceful protests, deporting immigrants without due process and breaching the separation of powers, just to name a few, are glaring actions not authorized by the Constitutional definition of presidential authority. We are a Democratic Republic, not an empire or a kingdom. Just saying.
The golden age will be for the 1%, not for the rest of us. I think “trickle up economics” is a better name than “trickle down economics”. Nothing has ever trickled down.
This is exactly how Trump's farce of an administration should be examined. Is there anyone at the DNC who is soundbiting all this into a 3 minute moron montages and flooding the socials? Seems to me, Trump is playing chicken, Dems are playing possum.
It's a mix of of cowardice, greed, and a mistaken belief that "The Voters Will SEE! Trump is a Fascist Maniac, and We're WIN! BIGLY! without having to actually DO anything that might hurt our big-money donors!"
Honestly? I think a significant number of Democrats like Republicans' low taxes and cutting social programs just fine, but don't want to be seen as supporting them....
There is a difference when compared with 20 years ago, as well as a similarity. The difference is that Mike Johnson feels he will not need to answer for any of this, if it fails. He feels like he has control of the narrative, and he is not worried about re-election.
The similarity is that this project has always been premised on complete control of the government. The idea, in their heads, is that once they are unopposed, they will not need to waste time battling the opposition (which happens to be at least 60% of The People). THEN the bounteous fruits of their efforts will become known to all, and we will praise and thank them for it. A new age of American prosperity will commence.
The problem is that this has always implied subversion of the Constitution and a fundamental restructuring of American society. That is not going to happen, folks. The reason it will not is because the capture of all three branches has been the only goal. They have no real plan beyond that, because they are authoritarians. In their minds, once they have power, everything will be just fine.
I am suggesting they are incapable of perceiving reality, best defined by probability. They are also working intellectually from a playbook written decades ago. Very little imagination or forward thinking involved here.
In American politics, politicians have mostly understood they cannot take things too far. Some have offered crazy ideas that never were realized. They understand you can just re-enter private life as a consultant, lobbyist, resume a legal career, etc. Or retire to a ranch and start painting as a hobby.
This changes completely when a person engages in actual tyranny. If a large portion of the population believe an elected official is responsible for actual murder, imprisonment of opponents, and the like, some percentage of those people will seek retribution. Acting in the manner they act is very much in reality placing their own and their family’s lives in danger.
One of two things must be believed by a person engaging in such authoritarian behavior. The first involves the past status quo which I’ve described as simply continuing. They think they’ll just slink away and grift for a while, enjoy life, and die like everyone else. The second approach involves thinking they will not need to worry about re-election.
Authoritarians cannot see reality, and for that I offer a grim comparison. Were you shocked by the murder of Brian Thompson? More specifically, were you surprised at the public response? If you were, you were not accurately perceiving reality prior to the event.
Authoritarians think the status quo still stands. They are poor students of history, itself filled with precedent which should guide their actions. But the reality, with history as a guide, is that people who cause harm to their fellow citizens cannot simply re-insert themselves into society as members in good standing.
I want to emphasize that I do not support Luigi Mangione. He seems to be a dangerous individual who could shift his focus from healthcare to some other target. We cannot allow vigilantism, and he cannot simply go free in a civil society.
The bigger issue are men (mostly) being allowed to engage in clearly unethical behavior, screaming “It’s just business,” and literally ruining people’s lives while doing it. This is all about how we disagree on how civil society might operate, and whether the characters involved can be held to account. It is about justice, and it seems clear to me that a significant number of people felt that justice was served. Not that it was achieved in a totally wrong manner.
I have personal experience here, having worked in the casino industry. I’m a conservative guy, though not in a rigid political sense. This ended in the early 2000s, and the primary cause for my exit was my own realization that I was harming people, full stop. I told myself otherwise prior to realizing it.
The sad part of all this, is that when the recession kicks in, Trump will blame it on Biden and the radical liberals who opposed his perfect plan. As usual, most MAGAs will let him get away with it - yet again.
We create our hellscape and we create our promised land. We. All of us. I wonder about those so inspired to vote for this moron’s morass. Why don’t we forge a new fate. No one but us can do that. https://hotbuttons.substack.com/p/forging-fate?r=3m1bs
This post is one of the most succinct arguments I’ve read exposing the nonsense Republicans have been pushing to disastrous effect for almost half a century.
I am also impressed by the concise yet clear explanation of the timeline of events that led our country to the mind bending situation we find ourselves in today. I pray that the protest rallies organized to take place nationwide on Saturday will be peaceful and that nothing is done to provoke law enforcement or military personnel to take action.
I don't know about you, but I'm ALREADY sick of all of Trump's "WINNNNING!"
Is the Faux Out-of-Business Channel, as Keith Olbermann called them, pushing this absurd counter-narrative?
What I know about economics wouldn't fill a small Dixie cup and I have the intellectual honesty to admit it. But I do know history and it says that since 1945 under both Republican and Democratic administrations, America has experienced a steady rise in GDP and GNP except during that very troubling stagflation period of the late seventies to early eighties. It seems the two party's economic policies cancel each other out. Economic modeling is very difficult to do with any certainty, and the uncertainty increases exponentially the further out you try to predict. I think it's safe to say that under the short time horizon of this discussion that the proposed Republican budget benefits to the economy are not only fictional but ludicrous.