DeeTillEhDeh Posted March 1, 2016 Share Posted March 1, 2016 He has plenty of policies that fit nicely in the moderate window and tend to appeal to working/middle class white conservatives. Vaguely pro-free trade, but against managed trade deals where other countries rip off the US. Against trade deals that carry provisions which undermine US democracy or put big business in an unfair position over small business. -Against the trans-Pacific trade deal. -Notes how China forces US companies to build factories in China if those companies want to gain market access, and then engages in corporate espionage to steal technology and business secrets for their own state owned companies. -Would place taxes on manufactured goods imported into the US absent trade deals he considers fair to US citizens. Moderate to libertarian on most social issues, but will protect the right of Christians to practice their personal faith as they see fit. -Doesn't care about gay marriage. -Waffles on abortion. -Will not use state compulsion to force Christians to attend religious ceremonies with which they disagree, to promote views they disagree with, or to directly fund products they consider immoral. Moderate and realistic on taxation and welfare policy. -Favors a progressive income tax because higher income earners should pay more. -Favors closing loopholes that allow the rich to sometimes pay lower taxes than they should. -Favors protecting middle class entitlement programs like Social Security. -Favors more restrictions on programs used by those who are part of the non-working underclass. -Favors the elimination of fraud in programs heavily hit by that problem, such as food stamps, unemployment, and disability. -Favors lowering taxes in general, especially our corporate tax which is the highest in the developed world and causes companies to shift assets overseas while also unfairly rewarding big companies with the money for an army of tax lawyers to take advantage of complicated loopholes. -Favors balanced budgets and paying down the national debt. Against the balance of influence in government that favors the rich and connected over the average citizen. -Favors the loosening of libel laws protecting the big media companies. -Favors less money in politics. -Favors strong anti-corruptions laws which will go after corrupt politicians. Pro-American and realistic foreign policy. -Opposed the Iraq War. -Opposed the Libya airstrikes. -Favors the complete destruction of global terrorist organizations, but opposes utopian policies aimed at liberalizing the Muslim world. -Advocates for a tougher line on the Iranian nuclear program, but does not advocate an invasion. -Favors cooperation with Russia, especially on ISIS in Syria. -Will not turn a blind eye to the "Islamic" part of Islamic radicalism. Will not view the world through a cultural relativist prism. -Favors an increased military budget and so-called "peace through strength" where nobody will dare challenge the US. -Says he will be evenhanded on the Israel-Palestine situation. -Favors military internment of suspected foreign terrorists and torturing those suspects for information if needed. Moderate on drug war. -Focus on border security and prosecution of foreign drug cartels to choke off hard drug supply to the US. -Government programs to help addicts recover. -No emphasis as far as I can see on more recreational style drugs or using harsh prison sentences. Health policy driven by the needs of average people, not ideology or big business. -Repeal Obamacare. -Strike down restrictions on buying insurance across state lines. -Favors greater use of health savings accounts and other market mechanisms to drive down prices. -Has said good things about the individual mandate which forces people with the means to purchase health insurance. -Has said that government run health care works fine in smaller countries with a different history and culture, but doesn't think it will work well in the US. -Favors strong funding for Veteran's Hospitals. -Favors a system in which all people have health care available, but will take a pragmatic rather than ideological (market or socialist) approach on how this can be accomplished. Eliminate federal interference in education. Schools should be run locally and democratically through city and state school boards. I agree with a lot of this and disagree with some, as do most Trump voters. Immigration is a big driving force of his campaign, but he has a full coherent set of policies that fit nicely in the so-called "Jacksonian" model of traditional working/middle class US politics. tl;dr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yank Mike Posted March 1, 2016 Share Posted March 1, 2016 So his "clearly defined policies" include "vaguely pro free trade" but against various free trade agreements. "waffles on abortion" and "doesn't care about gay marriage" The rest is a list of things he favors but no actual policies. Must try harder Mike Fine, these are a list of "basic goals" he would work towards and "general beliefs" rather than "clearly defined policies" if we want to get into semantics. He doesn't have detailed policy papers, but I'm not sure how many people read those versus voting on basic explanations of what a candidate believes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vikingTON Posted March 1, 2016 Share Posted March 1, 2016 On that last point, certainly. Very few people vote, even less so in primaries, on a specific set of policies. The issue for Trump though is that all of his policies turn out to be hilariously, fiscally incompatible with each other. It's a shopping list from a candidate who can't just declare state bankruptcy as he did after his previous sales pitches for crap ideas that failed. Trump's base support is tribal enough and thick enough to lap it up, but in an intense Presidential race basic sums will actually hold some sway among the rest of the electorate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yank Mike Posted March 1, 2016 Share Posted March 1, 2016 So how come his website has no policies on it? Has he ever said how he will fulfill any of these commitments? And why would any Republican vote for him? Apart from cutting benefits from the underclass, killing terrorists' families and upscaling torture techniques from mere waterboarding and getting the Mexicans to build a huge fucking wall, obviously. I've watched several of the debates and my list was policies I recall him advocating. I have no idea why his website is not more detailed. And plenty of Republicans will vote for him because a lot of Republicans are against extreme levels of immigration / our current immigration system / illegal immigration as well as agreeing with many of the policies I listed above. I'd say the anti-PC thing is a huge deal as well. The PC agenda has been forced on the country by a very vocal minority and enforced by the people who control the commanding heights of the culture (corporations, big media, the entertainment industry, the universities, the intellectual class). Almost all conservative politicians have been scared to take on this culture or forced into silence. Trump stood up to this culture, and that I think was the main thing driving initial interest in his campaign. There's been a major anti-immigrant candidate in every Republican primary of my life. None of them caught on like Trump so I think there's more to it. But we might have also just reached a tipping point where the immigration situation is becoming more of a problem to people. I'm not sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vikingTON Posted March 1, 2016 Share Posted March 1, 2016 Yes, it's a crying shame that plucky underdogs like the multi-billionaire Koch brothers and Murdoch's Fox News have to valiantly struggle against the wealth and influence of the 'PC Agenda'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strichener Posted March 1, 2016 Share Posted March 1, 2016 I've watched several of the debates and my list was policies I recall him advocating. I have no idea why his website in not more detailed. And plenty of Republicans will vote for him because a lot of Republicans are against extreme levels of immigration / our current immigration system / illegal immigration as well as agreeing with many of the policies I listed above. I'd say the anti-PC thing is a huge deal as well. The PC agenda has been forced on the country by a very vocal minority and enforced by the people who control the commanding heights of the culture (corporations, big media, the entertainment industry, the universities, the intellectual class). Almost all conservative politicians have been scared to take on this culture or forced into silence. Trump stood up to this culture, and that I think was the main thing driving initial interest in his campaign. There's been a major anti-immigrant candidate in every Republican primary of my life. None of them caught on like Trump so I think there's more to it. But we might have also just reached a tipping point where the immigration situation is becoming more of a problem to people. I'm not sure. Speaking of universities, what happened with the one bearing his name? Oh that's right, it was a massive scam that the NY attorney general has now been given permission to bring fraud charges against Trump. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yank Mike Posted March 1, 2016 Share Posted March 1, 2016 On that last point, certainly. Very few people vote, even less so in primaries, on a specific set of policies. The issue for Trump though is that all of his policies turn out to be hilariously, fiscally incompatible with each other. It's a shopping list from a candidate who can't just declare state bankruptcy as he did after his previous sales pitches for crap ideas that failed. Trump's base support is tribal enough and thick enough to lap it up, but in an intense Presidential race basic sums will actually hold some sway among the rest of the electorate. Every single candidate has this same issue, whether it's Ted Cruz's combination of a flat tax, balanced budget, and increased defense spending or Bernie Sanders list of goodies that will be paid for by the billionaire class despite the fact that if you add up the net worth of all the billionaires it wouldn't pay for his programs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vikingTON Posted March 1, 2016 Share Posted March 1, 2016 Not all candidates' campaign policies would add an estimated $10 trillion extra to the country's debt (leaving aside the US' current deficit) by military and other state investment, including the wall, tied with Bush II era tax cuts. There's a yawning gulf in fiscal credibility between Trump and everyone else in the race, because even Sanders "extravagant" public spending proposals are based on the premise of higher taxation. Trump is promising everything to everyone and it simply cannot work in his would-be Presidency. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ad Lib Posted March 1, 2016 Share Posted March 1, 2016 Not all candidates' campaign policies would add an estimated $10 trillion extra to the country's debt (leaving aside the US' current deficit) by military and other state investment, including the wall, tied with Bush II era tax cuts. There's a yawning gulf in fiscal credibility between Trump and everyone else in the race, because even Sanders "extravagant" public spending proposals are based on the premise of higher taxation. Trump is promising everything to everyone and it simply cannot work in his would-be Presidency. Nah mate, Mexico's paying for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
welshbairn Posted March 1, 2016 Share Posted March 1, 2016 I've watched several of the debates and my list was policies I recall him advocating. I have no idea why his website in not more detailed. And plenty of Republicans will vote for him because a lot of Republicans are against extreme levels of immigration / our current immigration system / illegal immigration as well as agreeing with many of the policies I listed above. I'd say the anti-PC thing is a huge deal as well. The PC agenda has been forced on the country by a very vocal minority and enforced by the people who control the commanding heights of the culture (corporations, big media, the entertainment industry, the universities, the intellectual class). Almost all conservative politicians have been scared to take on this culture or forced into silence. Trump stood up to this culture, and that I think was the main thing driving initial interest in his campaign. There's been a major anti-immigrant candidate in every Republican primary of my life. None of them caught on like Trump so I think there's more to it. But we might have also just reached a tipping point where the immigration situation is becoming more of a problem to people. I'm not sure. So it's an anti-immigrant paranoia thing. That's ok, we get it over here too, mostly in places with very few immigrants. Move to New York or Atlanta, that'll sort you out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strichener Posted March 2, 2016 Share Posted March 2, 2016 So it's an anti-immigrant paranoia thing. That's ok, we get it over here too, mostly in places with very few immigrants. Move to New York or Atlanta, that'll sort you out. I'm in Atlanta at the moment. The anti-immigrant line is going down well here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yank Mike Posted March 2, 2016 Share Posted March 2, 2016 Good of you to erase that Nazi comparison before I could quote it, sir. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yank Mike Posted March 2, 2016 Share Posted March 2, 2016 So it's an anti-immigrant paranoia thing. That's ok, we get it over here too, mostly in places with very few immigrants. Move to New York or Atlanta, that'll sort you out. If you care about my personal views: I did grow up in two small, all-white towns in two different states. I traditionally didn't care one way or another about the immigration issue, but I was generally pretty liberal on that issue. "American has always had immigrants." "People should be able to live where they want." "Their country sucks and ours doesn't so I get why they want to be here." Yada, yada, yada. I have lived all over the country including South Florida and South Texas. It was really living in South Texas a few years back and talking to white people there that started to change my view. I did research on the issue and have changed my mind for various reasons. This will be the first election in which I will strongly consider immigration in my decision. And I don't think it fair to say that the real issues which affect the lives of real people who live in high immigration areas should be written off as "paranoia." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
welshbairn Posted March 2, 2016 Share Posted March 2, 2016 He's trolling America, stirring up hatred, and I don't think he even wants to be President. It's an ego thing. And he's playing it exactly like Hitler and Mussolini did, prey on people's resentment that their lives haven't gone too well and blame it on someone else, Mexicans, Koreans, Blacks, Chinese, Jews, whatever. But he promises America will be great again without any indication of how. There you go Mike! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
welshbairn Posted March 2, 2016 Share Posted March 2, 2016 And I don't think it fair to say that the real issues which affect the lives of real people who live in high immigration areas should be written off as "paranoia." In my experience you get much more racist paranoia in low immigration areas than high. Just to be clear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fotbawmad Posted March 2, 2016 Share Posted March 2, 2016 Welshbairn, if you want to go double or quits on Trump winning the presidency against Clinton. I'll gladly take that up with you. If Hilary becomes president we can call it quits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Bairn Posted March 2, 2016 Share Posted March 2, 2016 ABC news is reporting that Trump has won Georgia. Also saw that Clinton has taken Georgia and Virginia and Sanders is celebrating victory in Vermont. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YassinMoutaouakil Posted March 2, 2016 Share Posted March 2, 2016 Can't stump the Trump. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
welshbairn Posted March 2, 2016 Share Posted March 2, 2016 I think the bet was if either Trump or Sanders win their nominations I pay your charity a tenner, if neither do, you pay mine. If you want to up it to £20 for a hypothetical and separate bet on Trump v Clinton, I'm game. I'll go for Clinton. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Bairn Posted March 2, 2016 Share Posted March 2, 2016 Some twitter rumours that Trump might have upset Cruz down in Texas. Would be a major upset if true. I haven't spoken to anybody that expects anything other than Trump v Clinton for a very long time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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