Trump descends into confused posts as panic sets in - Brian Tyler Cohen

[TexasTowelie]

Transcript:

if you're looking for laughably
transparent take a look at Donald
Trump's latest truth social post the
problem with even a tiny tax increase
for the rich which I and all others
would graciously accept in order to help
the lower and middle inome workers is
that the radical f Democrat lunatics
would go around screaming "Read my
lips." The fabled quote by George Bush
the elder that is said to have cost him
the election no Russ Perau cost him the
election in any event Republicans should
probably not do it but I'm okay if they
do trump is trying to have it both ways
here pretending to be open to taxing the
rich while simultaneously signaling to
Republicans that they probably shouldn't
do it now with regard to the Ross Perau
reference here George HW Bush famously
said "Read my lips no new taxes during
the 1988 campaign and then lo and behold
raise taxes." Trump is giving a little
nudge that the last guy who promised no
taxes and then imposed them lost his
election and of course he again tries to
have it both ways by saying that Ross
Perau who ran as a third party candidate
and garnered 19% of the popular vote is
why Bush lost in other words he is
saying Bush lost because he raised taxes
and that would be pretty bad right
Republicans but also he actually lost
because of Ross Perau so it's probably
fine but maybe not but maybe basically
he's trying to send a public populist
message to the masses while sending a
private signal to congressional
Republicans in other words Trump is
saying the quiet part out loud i'll
pretend to be for taxing the rich while
actually reminding Republicans what
happened the last time a candidate
raised taxes this is Trump's entire
political playbook in one truth social
post i mean look at the last line
republicans should probably not do it
but I'm okay if they do he is giving his
congressional allies in Congress the
green light to oppose any tax increases
on the wealthy while maintaining this
paperthin veneer this pretense that he's
some kind of populist champion and look
it would be one thing if we didn't
already know Trump's shtick we have seen
this movie before during his first term
Trump promised a middle class tax cut
that mysteriously never materialized
about that amazing healthcare plan that
was always just two weeks away from
being unveiled the one that was going to
be better and cheaper than the ACA yeah
four years of his presidency and somehow
they never quite got around to showing
us this miraculous plan how about the
manufacturing renaissance that
ultimately resulted in a net loss of
154,000 manufacturing jobs what about
that big infrastructure upgrade that
Americans would enjoy that became the
joke of his first term he promises the
world and he never delivers but you know
what Trump did find time for a massive
tax giveaway to corporations and the
wealthiest Americans according to the
Tax Policy Center the top 1% received an
average tax cut of over $50,000 in the
first year of Trump's tax law while the
bottom 60% of earners got less than
a,000 bucks they get heaps of cash while
the working class is supposed to be
content with crumbs and guess what Trump
is already pushing for now in his second
term another round of tax cuts for the
wealthy the same old playbook just with
a fresh coat of paint according to a
report from the Center on Budget and
Policy Priorities extending the Trump
tax cuts would cost nearly $3.3 trillion
over the next decade with about 70% of
the benefits going to the top 20% of
households the richest 1% would receive
an average annual tax cut of about
$50,000 yet again but hey I'm sure all
that wealth is going to trickle down any
day now we've only been waiting since
the 1980s what's truly remarkable is how
Trump still thinks this transparent
routine works he makes these
performative gestures toward populism
saying stuff like "I would graciously
accept a tax increase on the rich while
actively working against policies that
would actually help working-class
Americans." It's like watching a
magician whose sleeve clearly has a
rabbit sticking out but still he expects
you to be amazed when he pulls it out
and this isn't just empty rhetoric it is
actively harmful when Trump and the
Republicans passed their tax cut in 2017
they blew a $ 1.9 trillion hole in the
budget and now they're using that very
deficit as an excuse a pretense to
propose more cuts this time to Social
Security and Medicare it is the oldest
trick in the book create a crisis then
use that crisis to justify cutting
programs that help ordinary Americans
remember this is the same Donald Trump
who once bragged about not paying
federal income taxes saying that makes
me smart the same Donald Trump whose
businesses have declared bankruptcy six
times stiffening contractors and workers
along the way the same Donald Trump who
was found liable for tax fraud in New
York where he systematically undervalued
his properties to avoid paying his fair
share of taxes and now he wants us to
believe that he's graciously willing to
pay more in taxes give me a break trump
is completely devoid of any
long-standing principles except for his
insatiable desire to hoard as much money
as humanly possible the thing is Trump
knows that economic populism is popular
when you poll Americans on whether the
wealthy should pay more in taxes the
answer is a resounding yes according to
a recent Galllet poll 62% of Americans
think that upper income people pay too
little in taxes trump isn't stupid he
sees these numbers and he tries to play
both sides but actions speak louder than
words every significant economic policy
from the Trump administration has been
designed to benefit people exactly like
Donald Trump the ultra-wealthy who can
hire teams of accountants and lawyers to
exploit every loophole in the tax code
this truth social post is Trump in a
nutshell fake populism layered over
policies that exclusively benefit the
top 1% he throws out some red meat about
graciously accepting higher taxes while
sending a very clear signal to
Republicans in Congress to block any
such measures he knows his base response
of the populist messaging even if his
actual policies are anything but
populist i mean let's be real here he
promised to drain the swamp and then
filled his cabinet with more
billionaires than any other cabinet in
history and look I don't want to be
unfair here but something tells me that
the wealthiest cabinet in the history of
the United States of
America probably isn't looking to
collectively give up more of their
wealth can't say for sure but just a
sneaking suspicion i think the most
telling part of this post might be his
use of the word graciously though as if
paying a fair share in taxes is some
kind of personal favor that the wealthy
bestow upon the rest of us out of the
goodness of their hearts that's not how
taxation works in this country it's not
how taxation works in a functioning
democracy taxation is not charity it is
civic duty it is the price we pay for
living in a society with roads and
schools and clean water and national
defense but Trump doesn't see it that
way because he's never viewed himself as
part of the same society as the rest of
us the rules that apply to everybody
else those don't apply to him taxes are
for the plebes not from billionaires and
important people like Donald Trump all
the while he cosplays as some opponent
of the very elites that he emboldens it
was during the revolution that Jackson
first confronted and defied an arrogant
elite does that sound familiar to
you i wonder why they keep talking about
Trump and Jackson and Jackson and
Trump oh I know the feeling
Andrew right the billionaire real estate
mogul who lives in a goldplated
penthouse isn't an elite got it so the
next time you hear Trump claim to be
fighting for the working class remember
this truth social post where he signals
to Republicans not to raise taxes on the
wealthy even a tiny increase while
pretending to be fine with it this isn't
a dog whistle it is a bullhorn but we
can all hear exactly what he's
saying