Donald Trump may have just played us all for suckers - Greg Sargent

[Mass]

No, you think?

What is amazing is that Greg Sargent ACTUALLY believed the BS that Trump was spouting? Seriously?

Frankly, I had thought for a while that it was Sargent (and others like Krugman) playing games because they thought Trump would be easier to beat (which I also disagree with, BTW), but it seems he believed it. Very sad, and this raises a lot of questions on how gullible he is.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2015/09/28/donald-trump-may-have-just-played-us-all-for-suckers/

Not long ago, Donald Trump claimed that his rivals would allow “Wall Street” and the “hedge fund guys” to continue to “rip off the people by paying no or very little in taxes.” The implication was that Trump would raise the tax burden on top earners, which he seemed to underscore at the most recent GOP debate, when he ridiculed an opponent’s suggestion that raising taxes on the wealthy would constitute “socialism,” adding: “I know people that are making a tremendous amount of money and paying virtually no tax, and I think it’s unfair.”

As I had argued, if Trump’s plan really did raise the overall tax burden on top taxpayers — which very much remained to be seen — it would have made him a real outlier in the GOP field.
...
Today, Trump finally rolled out his tax plan. According to a leading tax expert I spoke to today, it would probably result in a tax cut, possibly a very large one, for many of the highest earners.

You’re probably very surprised by this.
...

My answer to this latest comment is NO, I am not surprised. I am only surprised that you are.

I am also surprised that he still has a doubt on this question. Really?

[orpupilofnature57]

1. It is his Forte, besides Misanthropy in business, what has he done ?

[JI7]

2. someone on cnn said the plan looks similar to Jebs

[Mass]

4. It seems to be, and Grover Norquist said that it was fine for him.

This should be no surprise to anybody, as he pretty much said as much in various interviews and in the last debate, and his last tax plans (including in 2011) were similar or worse.

But some people on our side continued to insist that it would be different.

[no_hypocrisy]

3. This is how the Trump tax plan is supposed to play out:

1. Trump announces that if he's elected, he'll go after "corrupt Wall Street", and
2. he will not tax "the poor" and lower middle class, and
3. he will tax "the rich" and "super rich" to make up the difference of the lost revenue from #2.

This will result in:

1. The expected harumphing of the establishment conservatives and the rich, which combined with #1-3 above,
2. will get the financially disabled to vote Trump into office, after which,
3A. Trump won't keep his promise and the FD are still taxed, perhaps at a higher rate, or
3B. Trump takes a stab at #s 1-3 and can't get it past the House, resulting in
4. Status quo and Trump in the White House thanks to the huckster showmanship that conned enough voters.

[Eric J in MN]

17. Trump is promising to lower the top rate

...from 39.6% to 25%.

Trump follows that with blather about eliminating loopholes which will make people like himself pay more, but tax experts don't think it's possible to eliminate enough loopholes to do that.

[On the Road]

5. When Trump Was Considering a Run with the Reform Party in 2000,

it was reported that his platform would consist of:

-- National Health Care
-- Negotiating more favorable international trade agreements
-- a one-time 14% tax on all personal assets of over $10 million, the proceeds from which would be used to retire the national debt

He did this knowing knowing full well it would impact him personally. So a progressive tax structure is not of the question. Trump has been all over the map on issues -- he is not playing from the same play book as any other Republican.

[99th_Monkey]

6. Trump knows it's a good applause-line to throw around

He must have learned that from Bernie Sanders.

[muriel_volestrangler]

7. I think "you’re probably very surprised by this" is sarcasm

What Sargent is saying is that Trump lied earlier about his plan. He's not surprised by this, however - he links to his earlier piece in which he says

We don’t know what Trump will propose, but if he stays true to his word (a rather unsafe assumption), the effect of his overall forthcoming tax plan will be that “the hedge fund guys” end up with a higher tax burden.
...
If Trump does roll out a plan that actually raises taxes on the wealthy — again, a very big if ...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2015/09/17/morning-plum-trump-explains-to-gop-rivals-that-taxing-rich-is-not-socialism/

[Eric J in MN]

16. Bingo (NT)

NT

[Todays_Illusion]

8. Trump is the new standard version of Republicans, Blame the poor for the economic disaster....

because those poor people have so much control of the government. /s

The Republicans then make more laws to create more poor, only because the Republicans love the poor so much they want to double the poverty numbers. It is the only way to increase the wealth for the Forbes 400 Richest Americans.

[RobertEarl]

11. Welcome to DU, Illusion

I totally stole your idea.

New thread: "Republicans Love Poor People"

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10027213826

[Todays_Illusion]

14. I endorse this use

will I be receiving that fat royalty check soon?

[Geronimoe]

9. He can not be trusted

The guy is a shark. Significantly less trustworthy than a used car salesman.

[louis-t]

10. Trump is not a hedge fund guy, therefore, raise taxes on

hedge fund guys. Trump would provide himself a huge tax break.

[Midnight Writer]

12. Who is this "us" you refer to? I for one knows shite when I smell it.

[Mass]

13. Ask Greg Sargent.I have not written the headline or the article.

This was exactly my point.

[Eric J in MN]

15. Greg Sargent never believed Donald Trump.

Sargent's previous column about Donald Trump's tax policies: "if he stays true to his word (a rather unsafe assumption)"

https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2015/09/17/morning-plum-trump-explains-to-gop-rivals-that-taxing-rich-is-not-socialism/


In the column excerpted in the OP, Sargent is kidding when he writes about Trump promising tax-breaks-for-the-rich, "You’re probably very surprised."