More Jeb/Trump:
Jeb, Hey, How About Free College Tuition?!
Trump: I'd Like to Raise Taxes on Rich People Like Myself

Jeb's just lighting up the pinball machine today.

However, Trump signaled the other day that he's going to be releasing his own plan on college financing in four weeks, I think he said. Given that Trump seems to be a... how do I put this... Democrat, I expect him to offer up some Free Shit to people too.

But we don't know that yet. What we know, at this moment, is that Jeb has embraced what I call "The Heart of Jeb-ness."

Jeb Bush has a fantastically awful idea when it comes to college education. He thinks community college students should get "free" tuition for two years. If that's sounds familiar, it's because it’s the exact same thing President Barack Obama proposed in January. Which shows how completely hypocritical Bush is because he came out against Obama’s plan in January.

Oh, but Bush’s plan gets even more #headdesk inducing. He wants universities to PAY BACK students who don't graduate in four years.

If kids can't graduate with a four-year degree in four years, there ought to be some payback to their families or to them, or their got to be some support for the loans they’ve taken out.

This is so fiscally irresponsible and reprehensible, it's not even funny.

Yes, let's subsidize failure and irresponsibility with more billions and billions of taxpayer dollars. We're not incentivizing failure and irresponsibility enough in this society.

If a kid literally wants to take a two year retirement at age 18 and just PARTY HIS FACE OFF for two very expensive college years, we should totally pay for that for him.

In Fairness: Stephen Price Blair suspects Jeb is garbling, in a Jebbish way, a more defensible policy:

This sounds like Jeb heard about the *good* idea of making colleges partially responsible for student loans, and just couldn't wrap his head around it.

That is, put colleges on the hook for non-graduating students and their unpaid loans, so they are incentivized to only enroll students who actually want to learn, and aren't merely diploma-mills-without-the-actual diplomas.

I imagine this part he'll clarify tomorrow.

Still -big huge new entitlement on those first two years of college, huh? Nothin' like asking a truck driver to pay for the college education of the son of a dentist.

...

Somewhat less egregious, but still troubling, is Doctor Populist himself offering up tax increases on the rich.

Republican front-runner Donald Trump began to flesh out his economic vision for America, and it includes raising taxes on the wealthy....

"I would change it. I would simplify it," Trump told hosts Mark Halperin and John Heilemann from the lobby of Trump Tower on New York's 5th Ave. Specifically, Trump targeted hedge fund profits, which are currently taxed at a lower rate than regular income. ....

"I would take carried interest out, and I would let people making hundreds of millions of dollars-a-year pay some tax, because right now they are paying very little tax and I think it's outrageous," Trump said. "I want to lower taxes for the middle class."

Asked whether his proposed changes meant he was prepared to raise taxes on himself, the billionaire framed his answer in terms of fairness.

"That's right. That's right. I'm OK with it. You've seen my statements, I do very well, I don't mind paying some taxes. The middle class is getting clobbered in this country. You know the middle class built this country, not the hedge fund guys, but I know people in hedge funds that pay almost nothing and it's ridiculous, OK?"

Eh. Make up your own minds. Personally, I have been extremely angry at the Donor Class for beating the shit out of the grassroots with every dime they have, completely spurning the concept of an alliance -- in which I agree to adopt some of your agenda, and you agree in turn to adopt some of mine -- to pursue a wholly mercenary agenda that serves themselves exclusively, destroying grassroots challengers at every opportunity.

Personally, I will not weep if the Donor Class takes a haircut. That might remind them next time that we in the grassroots only agree to their agenda to the exact extent they agree to ours.

I know that's not a popular sentiment -- especially with really good conservatives who aren't to blame for the current state of affairs -- but it's what I feel.

I feel badly used in this "alliance." I feel like a booty call for the Donor Class, and I would not mind them learning a lesson about what happens to political turncoats.

Plus, frankly, the super-rich are by and large liberal, except for their resistance to taxes on themselves, so the hell with them. Since they want to enact most of the Democrats' agenda, they can get their protection from tax hikes from the Democrats, too. One-stop shopping, boys. Enjoy!

However, people need to understand you're getting a different kind of Republican with Trump, and by a "different kind of Republican," I mean a Democrat who wants to restrict immigration.

Yes, I do think he will have cross-over appeal to downscale Democrats. But he will have this appeal not for the reasons Reagan did -- Reagan pitched a conservative philosophy -- but for the reasons the typical Democrat can reach Democrat voters, that is, because he's pitching Democracy policy goals.

If we're cool with that, fine, but we better make sure we're cool with that.

There may be some good political and strategic reasons to do this, but we just spent 7 years tearing our hair out over a guy determined to expand the welfare state at any cost; you all better be chill with the idea of having a president from your own party pushing to expand it.

Because it's Popular, and you can't spell popular without Populist. Well, at least you need a lot of the same letters.

Meanwhile, Marco Rubio says that Trump won't be president because we're not an angry nation, which is just so adorable.

posted by Ace at 07:24 PM

| Access Comments