John Cassidy's Blog, page 23

Trump Embraces Nigel Farage, His British Alter Ego

At a big rally in Mississippi on Wednesday night, Donald Trump appeared alongside Nigel Farage, the former head of the U.K. Independence Party, who helped lead the successful Leave campaign in the recent referendum on whether Britain should stay in the European Union.

See the rest of the story at newyorker.com

Related:
Republicans to Pull Money from Trump Ads and Spend it on Alcohol
How to Save the Clinton Foundation
Politics and Personality: Most of What You Read Is Malarkey

How to Save the Clinton Foundation

It’s getting hard to keep track of all the developments in the story of the Clinton Foundation and Clinton e-mails. On Monday, Bill Clinton posted an open letter on the Web site of the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation announcing that, if his wife is elected President, the organization will accept donations only from “U.S. citizens, permanent residents, and U.S.-based independent foundations.” In addition to ruling out donations from foreign sources, this statement appeared to preclude donations from U.S. corporations and their charitable foundations. The former President also said that he would no longer raise money for the foundation and would resign from its board of directors. He added that the organization, which he set up in 1997, would change its name to, simply, the Clinton Foundation.

See the rest of the story at newyorker.com

Related:
Daily Cartoon: Wednesday, August 24th
Politics and Personality: Most of What You Read Is Malarkey
Ted Cruz Is Still Running for President

Why “New Trump” Isn’t So New

Politico ran a good headline on Friday morning: “Regretful Trump Pivots 107 Days Late.” The word “pivot” referred to Trump’s appearance in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Thursday, where he did indeed express regret about some of the things he has said during his Presidential campaign. He also condemned bigotry. A hundred and seven days is the time that had elapsed between when Trump wrapped up the Republican nomination and when he gave the speech in Charlotte. Some observers hailed this as an important moment.

See the rest of the story at newyorker.com

Related:
What Are Donald Trump, Roger Ailes, and Steve Bannon Really Up To?
What Do People Mean When They Say Donald Trump Is Racist?
Song of the Summer: “Bawitdaba,” by Kid Rock

What Are Donald Trump, Roger Ailes, and Steve Bannon Really Up To?

What better way to mark the news that the head of Breitbart.com, the alt-right news site, is now running Donald Trump’s campaign than with a conspiracy theory? And, unlike some of the conspiracy theories that appear on Breitbart, this one might actually be true.

See the rest of the story at newyorker.com

Related:
Fox News and the Repercussions of Sexual Harassment
A Year Without Oliver Sacks
What Do People Mean When They Say Donald Trump Is Racist?

An Infrastructure Proposal That Goes Beyond Clinton and Trump

If you’re despairing at this year’s Presidential election, here’s something encouraging to focus on: both candidates are proposing to increase infrastructure spending. Hillary Clinton has published a five-year plan that would cost two hundred and seventy-five billion dollars. Donald Trump has also come out in favor of infrastructure investments. Earlier this month, he was asked about Clinton’s proposals, and how much he would spend. He said, “I would say at least double her numbers, and you’re going to really need more than that.”

See the rest of the story at newyorker.com

Related:
Song of the Summer: “Bawitdaba,” by Kid Rock
The Cracked Integrity of Donald Trump
Donald Trump in Denmark

Donald Trump Is the Gift to Hillary Clinton That Keeps On Giving

Another day, another blown opportunity for Donald Trump. Speaking in Youngstown, Ohio, on Monday afternoon, the embattled Republican nominee sought to reboot his Presidential campaign for the umpteenth time, in this case by calling for a Cold War-style effort to confront radical Islam. Expanding upon his call to ban entry to the United States to people from countries affected by terrorism, he attacked Hillary Clinton, saying she lacked the “mental and physical stamina” to defeat ISIS.

See the rest of the story at newyorker.com

Related:
Donald Trump in Denmark
Trump’s Blunt-Force Foreign Policy
Daily Cartoon: Tuesday, August 16th

Why Trump’s Crazy Talk About Obama and ISIS Matters

On Thursday morning, Donald Trump doubled down on his latest verbal outrage: the claim that President Obama was the “founder” of ISIS. Actually, the Republican Presidential nominee tripled down. Appearing on CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” he described himself as “a truth teller” and went on to say that the President was “the founder of ISIS absolutely, the way he removed our troops.” Referring to Hillary Clinton, Trump added, “I call them co-founders.”

See the rest of the story at newyorker.com

Related:
Daily Cartoon: Thursday, August 11th
Trump Blasts Media for Reporting Things He Says
Daily Cartoon: Wednesday, August 10th

The Great Productivity Puzzle

I was going to start this column with some new productivity figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, but I realized that at least half of the readers would quit right there. Productivity is one of those subjects that fascinates economists and bores, or mystifies, almost everyone else.

See the rest of the story at newyorker.com

Related:
The Most Important Message in the December Job Figures
Amazon and the Realities of the “New Economy”
The Economics of New York’s Low Nail-Salon Prices

Donald Trump Sells Out to Trickle-Down Economics

From the beginning of Donald Trump’s campaign, there has been a nagging inconsistency in his approach to economic issues. On trade and immigration, he has broken with Republican dogma, arguing that the influx from abroad of cheap goods and low-wage workers has undermined the job prospects and living standards of ordinary Americans. On tax policy, however, Trump has stuck to the standard G.O.P. script, promising a slew of tax cuts skewed toward businesses and the rich. To be sure, until Monday, Trump hadn’t talked much about his tax plan, but the broad outlines of it were there on his Web site, serving as a reminder of the limits of his populism.

See the rest of the story at newyorker.com

Related:
Daily Cartoon: Wednesday, August 10th
Donald Trump’s Tax-Return Dodge
Trump, Troilus, and Cressida

Donald Trump Sells Out To Trickle-Down Economics

From the beginning of Donald Trump’s campaign, there has been a nagging inconsistency in his approach to economic issues. On trade and immigration, he has broken with Republican dogma, arguing that the influx from abroad of cheap goods and low-wage workers has undermined the job prospects and living standards of ordinary Americans. On tax policy, however, Trump has stuck to the standard G.O.P. script, promising a slew of tax cuts skewed toward businesses and the rich. To be sure, until Monday, Trump hadn’t talked much about his tax plan, but the broad outlines of it were there on his Web site, serving as a reminder of the limits of his populism.

See the rest of the story at newyorker.com

Related:
The Meaning of Melania’s Photo Shoot
Wall Street’s Reluctant Embrace of Clinton
Trump Economic Plan Calls for Every American to Inherit Millions from Father