In Trump, GOP Grifters Welcomed the Biggest of Them All

[DonViejo]

Of course they elected a plutocrat tax cheat. They spent 30 years making the world safe for plutocrat tax cheats!

Michael Tomasky
10.04.18 5:12 AM ET

We talk a lot about Donald Trump, the Republican Party, and democratic norms. As in: Our democratic norms—free and fair elections, the rule of law, the independence of the judiciary, and so on—are going down the toilet under this presidency, and the Republican Party is cheering him on every step of the way, because he’s owning the libs so hard.

We don’t talk a lot about Trump, the Republican Party, and economic norms. But The New York Times’ publication of that astonishing expose on Trump family wealth provides the perfect occasion to start talking.

Because just as Trump was the logical culmination of all the moves Republicans have made in the last 25 years or so to degrade the norms of our democracy, he is also the logical culmination of everything they’ve done to turn the economy from one that helped the broad middle class to one that serves only those at the top. Put more succinctly: Of course they elected a plutocrat tax cheat. They spent 30 years making the world safe for plutocrat tax cheats!

Quick economic history: From 1945 to 1975, the economy worked in this country for most people. Wages were high and matched productivity gains. Rates of unionism were high, and corporations (mostly) accepted their existence. Tax rates, especially on the rich, were high. And, yes, there was tons of innovation in that America. Higher taxes didn’t stifle anything, except corporate greed.

There was also lots of public investment. The federal government advanced money toward all kinds of ends and to all kinds of people. One such end was the building of housing developments for that rapidly growing middle class. I hope it was not lost on you as you read the Times article that two major recipients of low-interest government loans in the postwar era were…Fred and Donald Trump. Fred got several such loans early on. And in 1972, the duo built a high-rise for senior citizens in East Orange thanks to a “nearly interest-free” government loan that covered 90 percent of building costs. Self-made men.

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