Donald Trump: Main roles of federal government are security, education and healthcare

[oneforthebus]

He knows how to make money, but he doesn't understand economic and trade policy. That's perfect. I really hope you get to see his policies in action.

Do you think everybody who makes a lot of money is qualified to be president? Kim Kardashian's made millions.

 

[deljzc]

What Trump says isn't what he wants.

It's completely about creating LEVERAGE at the negotiating table. He says things to shift the starting power at the table to his side. He does this ALL THE TIME and has done it since the 1980's. His exaggeration of his power starts any discussion with Trump at the business table thinking "how much power does he really have?"

This is exactly what we need from our statesman. For too long American politicians that need $500 tell everyone (including the press) how nice they are to our "allies" and only have their hand out for $500. Then when they get to so-and-so country and walk back with $250 no one questions them because "at least they were nice and polite". That's bullshit and I'm tired of it.

It's about time someone in charge of foreign policy asks for $2000 next time. And this applies to NATO, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia and a host of other foreign policy situations. We have asked for too little, gotten half of that in return and end up getting less and less of the stick. That's Trumps foreign platform in a nutshell and why it starts and ends with "America doesn't win" anymore. In Trump's opinion (and mine), every politician doesn't have a clue how to negotiate a deal because they start completely wrong from what every negotiating class teaches you.

And the worse thing about it, we're the only country doing it. China, Mexico, NATO, EU don't come to the table all polite and asking for as little as possible when they talk to us. They want EVERYTHING. And more often than not we've caved like a 2-bit hustler that gets caught by the police.

 

[oneforthebus]

Right, everything Trump says that is completely off base and wrong is just a negotiating tactic. I forgot.

I've never seen any political candidate in my lifetime who had so many apologists and excuses made for him.

 

[CharlesDavenport]

Do you think everybody who makes a lot of money is qualified to be president? Kim Kardashian's made millions.

I am certain that anyone who graduated with a BS in economics from the Wharton School of Business and built a fortune through business knows economics. Equating to Kardashian is an incredibly (not really) lame rhetorical tactic.

 

[oneforthebus]

I am certain that anyone who graduated with a BS in economics from the Wharton School of Business and built a fortune through business knows economics. Equating to Kardashian is an incredibly (not really) lame rhetorical tactic.

It was a joke.

There's a difference between knowing how to make money in one area or another and knowing what global economic policies are best for the economic growth of the country. Trump has had a mixed bag of successes and failures in various businesses. I think he has succeeded best in taking advantage of the celebrity and cache as a name associated with luxury he acquired a long time ago. As I've said I don't think he's a stupid man, just either ill-informed or very dishonest. As far as Wharton, yeah Barack Obama studied constitutional law at Harvard. Enough said.

As I've also said I don't think Trump believes a lot of what he says, he obviously doesn't believe in China being such bad guys based on his own actions. He is happy to produce stuff there and more than happy to acquire capital from Chinese investors. Which by the way is another big benefit to us of our trade relationship with China.

http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/a...ced-by-rich-chinese-who-invest-cash-for-visas

 

[Tim Steelersfan]

Keep on being you Tim. Keep pretending there's isn't a cycle of violence and vitriol eminating from Donald Trump and his camp. Keep pretending he's not egging on his supporters to be violent and to turn on protesters. Again, keep on being you.

And you keep denying that it isn't being driven by the Left. The facts are the facts - these protesters are being hired to incite violence. It's documented. And it's on video.

So you keep telling yourself that it's the candidate driving it. When we know the Left is funding it.

Indeed, keep that head in the sand.

 

[SCSteeler4life]

Right, everything Trump says that is completely off base and wrong is just a negotiating tactic. I forgot.

I've never seen any political candidate in my lifetime who had so many apologists and excuses made for him.

Well I hate to say but you are freaking blind. Obama has had more excuses made for him than anyone ever in any role. Period ..

 

[Tim Steelersfan]

Do you think everybody who makes a lot of money is qualified to be president? Kim Kardashian's made millions.

No, but the bulk of Trump supporters are sick and tired of voting for politicians that are in Washington for their own personal gain and to line their wallets. Trump isn't going to Washington to make money. He has it. He's going to "serve" or "serve" his ego, but he isn't going to make money. Damn near every other politician does.

There was a day when men and women went to Washington to "serve their country." No longer. 100% of politicians go to Washington to get rich, for personal gain and power. We pay for it. We suffer for it.

Idiot, fool, blowhard, ******* or not...to his supporters, he represents a grand big **** You, and let's change the game.

I see where that is VERY appealing to many now. Who wants Hillary and her illegal foreign money gotten for personal gain and her hundreds of millions of dollars in speaking fees "speaking for the average working American?" The Left argued that Romney couldn't be President because he is rich. Yet they'll vote ole' Hillary's rich *** right into the same seat. Poor and average middle class Americans are fed up with that nonsense.

He appeals because he says **** you to the establishment on both sides...something many Americans can't get "heard" when they try to speak their concerns. To them, he's speaking for them.

It's wrong and it's powerful. It's scary, and things are going to be shaken up. We need a reset of some sort. I'm not sure if this is it, but the game can't continue to be played the way it has been for the past two decades, or we'll lose...to China, to ISIS, to radical Islamists...we're moving towards a Socialist world, and a bankrupt America is inevitable if we continue playing the game we've been playing to this point.

There is no politician beyond Trump who will do anything other than play that game, or make it worse (in Sanders' case). There's only one real change agent to people who want a change and that's Trump. He literally represents a non-violent revolution to many.

 

[CharlesDavenport]

It was a joke.

There's a difference between knowing how to make money in one area or another and knowing what global economic policies are best for the economic growth of the country. Trump has had a mixed bag of successes and failures in various businesses. I think he has succeeded best in taking advantage of the celebrity and cache as a name associated with luxury he acquired a long time ago. As I've said I don't think he's a stupid man, just either ill-informed or very dishonest. As far as Wharton, yeah Barack Obama studied constitutional law at Harvard. Enough said.

As I've also said I don't think Trump believes a lot of what he says, he obviously doesn't believe in China being such bad guys based on his own actions. He is happy to produce stuff there and more than happy to acquire capital from Chinese investors. Which by the way is another big benefit to us of our trade relationship with China.

http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/a...ced-by-rich-chinese-who-invest-cash-for-visas

A joke? OK. Here's a tip. In matters of real world money (economics), when you get advice from an academic (your boy Lincicome and his ilk), and different advice from someone who applied their business education in the real world and succeeded, go with the latter.

Having trouble understanding your qualification requirements. You dismiss a degree, yet point to academics to make your points. Regarding Obama, I think he has a decent knowledge of constitutional law and chooses to break it consistently.

 

[IndySteel]

If angry Republican white guys could carry an election Obama never would have been president. Trump has huge negatives in almost every demographic category, including a 70% negative approval rating among half the population.

Mitt didn't exite us. Trump does. Look out. Plus, we weren't near as angry as we are now.

 

[Tim Steelersfan]

A joke? OK. Here's a tip. In matters of real world money (economics), when you get advice from an academic (your boy Lincicome and his ilk), and different advice from someone who applied their business education in the real world and succeeded, go with the latter.

I will say I see both sides to this argument. I'd go for the guy that knows how to make money and run a multi-billion dollar business. I'd also go for the guy that studied economics, and understands economic policy.

But ask this...what are the other politicians credentials in economic policy? I don't mean voting on it as a Congressman. That isn't managing economic policy. I mean making the decisions. How is a guy like a Rubio or a Cruz or a Sanders any more intellectual and skilled in economics and finance than a person like Trump? Because they happen to be in Washington? Because they've voted on bills? Because they've had advisors surrounding them and giving them talking points? Because they are on the inside of the game and are being bought off by lobbyists? Exactly how does Sanders or Clinton or Cruz have more "economic policy knowledge" and the application of it than a Trump? Will he not also surround himself, if elected, with the same type of talent that these puppets surround themselves with to handle matters he may not be fully up to speed on? They do. So why is he different, or bad?

I just don't get this. I'll take the guy that is a creative thinker, who thinks outside the box, who will challenge and push his advisors to "find a better" way vs. another puppet who's going to continue to play the lobbyist and pork game.

 

[oneforthebus]

No, but the bulk of Trump supporters are sick and tired of voting for politicians that are in Washington for their own personal gain and to line their wallets. Trump isn't going to Washington to make money. He has it. He's going to "serve" or "serve" his ego, but he isn't going to make money. Damn near every other politician does.

There was a day when men and women went to Washington to "serve their country." No longer. 100% of politicians go to Washington to get rich, for personal gain and power. We pay for it. We suffer for it.

Idiot, fool, blowhard, ******* or not...to his supporters, he represents a grand big **** You, and let's change the game.

I see where that is VERY appealing to many now. Who wants Hillary and her illegal foreign money gotten for personal gain and her hundreds of millions of dollars in speaking fees "speaking for the average working American?" The Left argued that Romney couldn't be President because he is rich. Yet they'll vote ole' Hillary's rich *** right into the same seat. Poor and average middle class Americans are fed up with that nonsense.

He appeals because he says **** you to the establishment on both sides...something many Americans can't get "heard" when they try to speak their concerns. To them, he's speaking for them.

It's wrong and it's powerful. It's scary, and things are going to be shaken up. We need a reset of some sort. I'm not sure if this is it, but the game can't continue to be played the way it has been for the past two decades, or we'll lose...to China, to ISIS, to radical Islamists...we're moving towards a Socialist world, and a bankrupt America is inevitable if we continue playing the game we've been playing to this point.

There is no politician beyond Trump who will do anything other than play that game, or make it worse (in Sanders' case). There's only one real change agent to people who want a change and that's Trump. He literally represents a non-violent revolution to many.

I don't pretend not to understand his appeal to some people. I just don't share the enthusiasm. I just don't see him as someone who has the right belief system or temperament that I want in a president. He scares me...my main fear is he's really just another big government liberal no different from Hillary...my bigger fear is he's a loose cannon with no sense of tact or self-restraint who could conceivably do something seriously dangerous.

Spewing out whatever's on your mind at all times is not always or usually a good thing. In a politician or any other professional environment.

 

[oneforthebus]

A joke? OK. Here's a tip. In matters of real world money (economics), when you get advice from an academic (your boy Lincicome and his ilk), and different advice from someone who applied their business education in the real world and succeeded, go with the latter.

Having trouble understanding your qualification requirements. You dismiss a degree, yet point to academics to make your points. Regarding Obama, I think he has a decent knowledge of constitutional law and chooses to break it consistently.

I haven't dismissed a degree! Trump could very well have a decent understanding of economics and is choosing to say things he knows are total bullshit. As I've said repeatedly.

 

[Tim Steelersfan]

my main fear is he's really just another big government liberal no different from Hillary...

How? Not challenging you, just curious. What is your basis for this statement? I see few, to no comparisons between him and his motivations and Hillary's.

 

[CharlesDavenport]

I will say I see both sides to this argument. I'd go for the guy that knows how to make money and run a multi-billion dollar business. I'd also go for the guy that studied economics, and understands economic policy.

But ask this...what are the other politicians credentials in economic policy? I don't mean voting on it as a Congressman. That isn't managing economic policy. I mean making the decisions. How is a guy like a Rubio or a Cruz or a Sanders any more intellectual and skilled in economics and finance than a person like Trump? Because they happen to be in Washington? Because they've voted on bills? Because they've had advisors surrounding them and giving them talking points? Because they are on the inside of the game and are being bought off by lobbyists? Exactly how does Sanders or Clinton or Cruz have more "economic policy knowledge" and the application of it than a Trump? Will he not also surround himself, if elected, with the same type of talent that these puppets surround themselves with to handle matters he may not be fully up to speed on? They do. So why is he different, or bad?

I just don't get this. I'll take the guy that is a creative thinker, who thinks outside the box, who will challenge and push his advisors to "find a better" way vs. another puppet who's going to continue to play the lobbyist and pork game.

I appreciate that perspective, but I really don't think economic and trade policies are all that complicated, and there are plenty of advisors available to point out whatever unintended consequences that the current experts in the field anticipate. They truly are negotiations, and Trump negotiates the way I want our country to negotiate. The left always likes to paint things as nuanced and complicated, always hand wringing about possible consequences, correlating trepidation somehow with intellect; when things are usually clarified very quickly with strong leadership guided by clear principles. This is the appeal of Trump - for me.

 

[CharlesDavenport]

I haven't dismissed a degree! Trump could very well have a decent understanding of economics and is choosing to say things he knows are total bullshit. As I've said repeatedly.

So now you are saying that he may have a decent understanding of economics and is choosing to say things he knows are total bullshit. One post you are worried that he doesn't know anything, now he does but he is just saying something else for some unknown reason. And you claim that you've said that repeatedly. You are not making a lot of sense.

 

[oneforthebus]

How? Not challenging you, just curious. What is your basis for this statement? I see few, to no comparisons between him and his motivations and Hillary's.

Many statements he's made in the past, confirmed by some of his townhall comments last night. Motivations? Not the same at all. He has many times made statements alluding to the idea that the government is there to take care of people. It's the typical misguided do-gooder Hollywood liberal ideal, unlike Hillary who is all about power and control.

I have never heard him speak about limited government at all, or the benefits to the economy or to the individual of reigning in government. He talks a lot about punishing China and Mexico on jobs but virtually nothing about what this government does to shoot our own economy in the foot. He was a huge fan of Hillary for years for goodness sake! He said she was doing a great job! Donated hundreds of thousands to her campaign and foundation! I mean really, can't imagine after all the RINO talk of the last 2 elections that anyone is buying this guy as a conservative.

I know Spike, labels don't matter.

 

[oneforthebus]

So now you are saying that he may have a decent understanding of economics and is choosing to say things he knows are total bullshit. One post you are worried that he doesn't know anything, now he does but he is just saying something else for some unknown reason. And you claim that you've said that repeatedly. You are not making a lot of sense.

I've said repeatedly it could be either. I really don't know. What I do know is slapping punitive policies on our biggest trading partners is dumb. What I don't know is whether he actually believes what he's saying or is just pandering to the ill-informed. Neither option is particularly appealing.

Sorry you're having trouble following the conversation.

 

[CharlesDavenport]

I've said repeatedly it could be either. I really don't know. What I do know is slapping punitive policies on our biggest trading partners is dumb. What I don't know is whether he actually believes what he's saying or is just pandering to the ill-informed. Neither option is particularly appealing.

Sorry you're having trouble following the conversation.

I missed your previous posts where you said he knows economic policy and is just playing. I only saw the posts where you were concerned that he didn't understand it. Maybe you can point me to one of those.

 

[oneforthebus]

I missed your previous posts where you said he knows economic policy and is just playing. I only saw the posts where you were concerned that he didn't understand it. Maybe you can point me to one of those.

No thanks, you can go back and look. I have better things to do.

 

[RollRed]

He knows how to make money, but he doesn't understand economic and trade policy. That's perfect. I really hope you get to see his policies in action.

His father knew how to make money... then gave a pile of it to little Donny and surprise surprise, he bought a bunch of expensive property and developed it. It's not rocket science. Trump is one of those guys that was born standing on home plate but thinks he hit a home run.

 

[Spike]

It's not rocket science..

Open wide

 

[CharlesDavenport]

What I do know is slapping punitive policies on our biggest trading partners is dumb.

Thought another Twain quote appropriate at this point -

"It ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble. It's what you know for sure that just ain't so."

 

[CharlesDavenport]

No thanks, you can go back and look. I have better things to do.

Not there. You are changing your story. Typical.

 

[CharlesDavenport]

His father knew how to make money... then gave a pile of it to little Donny and surprise surprise, he bought a bunch of expensive property and developed it. It's not rocket science. Trump is one of those guys that was born standing on home plate but thinks he hit a home run.

You have no idea what you are talking about. You liberals just make **** up.