Lock him up
From today’s news:
U.S. President Donald Trump is seeking the dismissal of a lawsuit claiming he defrauded his niece out of an inheritance worth tens of millions of dollars, accusing her of embracing “conspiracy theories” in her quest to consume him with lawsuits after he leaves the White House.
Conspiracy theories? Hmmm. And that’s just the beginning:
Trump faces several other legal actions. These include a criminal probe by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, a civil probe by New York Attorney General Letitia James into whether he inflated asset values to obtain loans and tax benefits, and a defamation lawsuit by the writer E. Jean Carroll, whose allegation of rape he has denied.
And what about all the crimes he committed while in the White House? We were told he couldn’t be prosecuted because he was president. OK, but what about after January 20th?
According to (conservative) David French, the recent phone call to Georgia may also have been a crime:
The chief law enforcement officer of the United States is raising the possibility of prosecuting the Georgia secretary of state unless the secretary of state changes the outcome of the vote without any factual or legal foundation for making the change.
Now, on to the relevant federal and state criminal statutes. First, 18 U.S.C Section 241 makes it unlawful for two or more persons to “conspire to injure, oppress, threaten, or intimidate any person in any State, Territory, Commonwealth, Possession, or District in the free exercise or enjoyment of any right or privilege secured to him by the Constitution or laws of the United States.”
On January 21st, the Senate should again demand his tax returns, and throw him in prison if he refuses to comply.
It looks like the Dems won both Senate seats, and stock futures fell about 0.6%. This is another example of how elections don’t have much impact on the stock market. I recall people claiming that Trump somehow caused a huge stock market surge in late 2016, only to fall silent when stocks also soared after Biden was elected (as they also did under the Obama administration.)
I think we’ve learned that the prospect of receiving $2000 checks is a big motivator when it comes to election turnout.
Over at 538 I found the following:
Want to see what a realignment looks like? Cobb County (94 percent of the expected vote reporting) and Gwinnett County (98 percent reporting) — both in the Atlanta suburbs — voted for Mitt Romney by 12 points and 9 points respectively. Tonight, they are voting for Warnock by 16 points and 21 points, respectively.
Wikipedia says Cobb County is full of skinny smart people:
The U.S. Census Bureau ranks Cobb County as the most-educated in the state of Georgia and 12th among all counties in the US.[6] It has ranked among the top 100 highest-income counties in the United States.[7] In October 2017, Cobb was ranked as the “Least Obese County in Georgia”.[8]
Of course that’s a low bar.
Trump sabotaged the GOP in two ways. First, by pushing for the $2000 checks, a proposal that ended up helping the Dems. Second, by his attempt to steal the election. And don’t tell me that “most people don’t care, blah, blah, blah.” In a really close election “most people” don’t matter. The people who matter are the 2% to 4% who are potential swing voters. Perdue beat Ossoff by 1.8% just two months ago. He seems to have lost tonight be about 1.1%.
Update: Turnout was also an issue for the GOP, and of course they’ve been saying that the elections are rigged so why bother voting?
I don’t think Trump is on Mitch McConnell’s Christmas card list.
Nor Judy Shelton’s. Her nomination is finished.
So why did he do it? With Trump the answer is always the same—because he thought he’d benefit. But why? Was it Lenin’s “The worse, the better”? Because chaos in the GOP will help him regain power in 2024? Or a Hitlerian thirst for armageddon once America had rejected him?
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5. January 2021 at 21:57
In just 4 years Trump was able to accomplish what took Obama 8… losing control of the house, senate and the presidency!
5. January 2021 at 22:34
The hatred is flowing through his veins right now.
Another incoherent rant about republicans and the election.
CCP Sumner needs a psyciatrist – and hopefully as quickly as possible.
There is obviously no connection between 2k and election outcome. Turnout was low, because the elections are rigged.
This election, Lin Wood predicted, was also stolen. Three computers went down. Staff told republicans to “sign the ballot’, and they would “manually insert” later.
After the georgia hearing, which CCP sumner did not watch, you’d imagine that manually insertion is a giant red flag.
Pulver’s team was shot at in Fulton county while investigating machinery. But Sumner says there is no foul play. And his party is the party of “love”, because bullets are “loving”.
Sumner is a nasty pedophile, and lunatic, whose working for the CCP.
The bizaree thing is that he really believes this new left totalitarian govt is going to give him a high ranking position. They are not. They are just using him, and other foot soldiers, to obtain power.
The uigher camps will be in America shortly. The crime will be “white & republican”.
5. January 2021 at 22:48
He is getting rattled folks. Do you see the change in tone.
He knows his communist agenda is coming to an end.
Patriots are on the move.
It’s 1776!
6. January 2021 at 00:24
I think people should vote to get cash back from the federal government. I want my $2,000 back.
If that is what Donk voters were doing, then I say, “Finally!”
There are about 130 million households in the US and the US spends about 1.3 trillion annually on global security (DoD, VA DHA, black budget and prorated interest on the national debt).
That’s about $10k per household per year, for a global guard service for multinationals.
I imagine readers of this blog are in the top half income-wise, so you guys are probably forking out $20k a year for global security.
You don’t want $2,000 of your own money back?
Don’t worry, next year, and the year after, and the one after that, and again after that and so on you can go on giving $20k a year to the federal government for a global guard service for multinationals.
The charming part is neither the Donks nor the ‘Phants will ever change this.
Keep voting!
6. January 2021 at 00:34
Waaaay OT, but interesting for a monetary policy blog.
This is from Japan’s consumer confidence survey, out today:
“2. Price expectations a year ahead
The percentage who expect “Go up” in December was 65.9%, a decrease of 2.5% points from the previous month.
The percentage who expect “stay the same about 0%” in December was 17.3%, a decrease of 0.8% points from the previous month.
The percentage who expect “Go down” in December was 12.4%, an increase of 2.7% points from the previous month.”
—30—
In Japan? Most people expect prices to go up?
1. This raises an interesting idea. People in general expect prices to go up. It is a bias, somehow part of modern urban living. This may also afflict central bankers, who are people also (mostly).
2. When we talk of market expectations, we are wasting our time. People expect prices to go up, but they don’t.
For generations US economists (again, mostly humans) have predicted and thus “expected” higher rates of inflation and interest rates. Instead the opposite happened.
Expectations?
Well, life is cruel. I have had expectations also.
6. January 2021 at 01:31
Just remember this folks:
One party is singing songs of liberty.
The other party is burning down buildings, shooting at people, and calling for their arrest without any evidence.
Don’t let the media brainwash you. Sumner is clearly gone mad. He’s beyond reason, and believes whatever the television tells him. But I think the rest of you are reasonable & smart enough to know that the radical leftists and their totalitarian agenda is not consistent with American values.
At times, the right goes too far. And at times, the left goes too far. And the left has clearly gone too far. We are entering Mao/Stalin territory now.
Be careful what you wish for. And start moving your money to SGD or KRW just in case. Things can collapse quickly. Just ask eastern Germany.
6. January 2021 at 01:41
>On January 21st, the Senate should again demand his tax returns, and throw him in prison if he refuses to comply.
I’m very confused. Why should the Senate demand the tax returns of some random nobody? Isn’t this the kind of thing that happens in banana republics?
6. January 2021 at 01:58
“I’m very confused. Why should the Senate demand the tax returns of some random nobody? Isn’t this the kind of thing that happens in banana republics?”
I’m a little confused too-hasn’t the GOP base been calling for Hillary Clinton to be locked up for the last 4 years-while she was a private citizen?
Now suddenly they’re worried about norms?
6. January 2021 at 02:24
Trump sabotaged the GOP in two ways. First, by pushing for the $2000 checks, a proposal that ended up helping the Dems.
— Really stupid remark. Of course, $2000 has nothing to do with turnout.
Second, by his attempt to steal the election. And don’t tell me that “most people don’t care, blah, blah, blah.” In a really close election “most people” don’t matter.
— The South were controlled by democrats for nearly 150 years. The democrats were slave owners. Less than 40 years ago, California voted for a conservative President. Nobody thought MI, WI, and PA would ever vote Conservative in 2016 – that was here BIG BLUE WALL. But they did! So if you think states are locked down, and can never swing the other way, then you are brainwashed fool. And if you are not voting, because that is how your twisted mind works, then you are even dumber than I thought.
6. January 2021 at 02:43
I can barely read this article.
How is it possible for a 60+ year old man, with a PhD, to write so poorly?
Did he really attend the University of Chicago? Friedman must be rolling in his grave.
Can anyone imagine Thomas Sowell (a Chicago grad) writing like this? He never would have graduated.
6. January 2021 at 02:44
I can barely read this article.
How is it possible for a 60+ year old man, with a PhD, to write so poorly?
Did he really attend the University of Chicago? Friedman must be rolling in his grave.
Can anyone imagine Thomas Sowell (a Chicago grad) writing like this? He never would have graduated.
6. January 2021 at 03:25
I think Sumner had one too many beers before he wrote this one 🙂 🙂
6. January 2021 at 03:32
– “a civil probe by New York Attorney General Letitia James into whether he inflated asset values to obtain loans and tax benefits.” Really? He filled out a personal financial statement inaccurately? As if he personally filled it out. I’m sure it was his accountant. If I remmeber he only has 8 personal residences in his name so it would be easy for a bank to accurately figure out those values. It’s called due dilegence and requires appraisals from independent third parties. Tax authorities have municipal records that show assessed values as well. Letitia James…what a suprise.
6. January 2021 at 03:34
Scott,
the biggest mystery to me is this: why don’t the Trump bots have an integrated spell and grammar checker? Is the AI now convincingly mimicking trailer park prose too? Quite an achievement.
But I am now hopeful for America. With this Georgia election it seems there are now enough people who’ve had enough of this clown and his enablers.
6. January 2021 at 05:12
Good comments, but I disagree about Trump’s motives. His most recent scandal reveals that his motives are much simpler, due to his utter lack of intelligence. This was all just very stupid, selfish attempt to steal the Presidential election.
Funny how few of his supporters understand that he doesn’t care about the issues at all, otherwise he wouldn’t have so recklessly risked the Senate majority.
6. January 2021 at 05:37
—“ I think we’ve learned that the prospect of receiving $2000 checks is a big motivator when it comes to election turnout.”—
This is a serious problem.
Trump… eh. I get that you don’t like him, but he doesn’t really seem to be unprecedented. LBJ was more vulgar and far more racist. Nixon surely had worse abuses of power. FDR and Truman presided over war crimes such as Dresden and Hiroshima. Trump’s bombing of foreign countries certainty has been no more aggressive than his recent predecessors. The economy pre-pandemic continued the Obama expansion and set multi-decade records for unemployment and new highs for household income. The pandemic was rough but America’s outcome was essentially the same as Europe, which passed half a million deaths last month. The people opposing Trump politically think defunding the police isn’t a problem and that it’s okay to prioritize young essential workers over the elderly despite higher projected deaths, because the elderly aren’t as diverse.
I’m not a huge Trump fan. Raising the deficit to $1 trillion via a tax cut that didn’t radically simplify the code made no sense to me. As a social conservative, Trump made a few headlines with court picks but ultimately made no difference. He got goaded into bombing the Middle East a few times, which was disappointing. I actually think climate change is an issue so failing to do anything on that topic also was a problem.
Locking up Trump for any reason will be a mistake. Democrats will be delighted, but his base will see him as a martyr and might be tempted to give up on many American ideals such as democracy. They already are convinced the election was stolen (I can’t read minds but from that phone call transcript it seems obvious that Trump thinks he’s trying to prevent a stolen election, not cause one).
But I digress. If democracy has descended to the point where people are just voting themselves cash out of the treasury, I don’t have much hope for the future of the country. Despite my comment just yesterday on another post, it will be important to minimize the impact of democracy on government going forward: it should be shrunk to the smallest amount necessary to convey legitimacy.
6. January 2021 at 05:45
Bitcoin on its way to 36,000!
10 year Treasury over 1%. 5 year breakeven almost to 2% (CPI, not PCE, but still good).
6. January 2021 at 05:56
TDS growing stronger!
6. January 2021 at 06:54
@Justin: The thing about Trump is that he’s polarizing. He incentivizes loyalty signaling in both his detractors and his followers. His apologists have to adopt the habit of distorting truth to excuse his behavior.
The result is that discourse around everything degrades, which I estimate to causes more damage long term than just about any policy. I’d much rather have someone with the personality of Biden and the policy choices of Trump than vice-versa.
6. January 2021 at 07:17
–“When we talk of market expectations, we are wasting our time. People expect prices to go up, but they don’t.”–
I think there are several sources of this.
1) Different Market Baskets. If your primary expenses are health care, education and child care, then inflation tends to be somewhat high for you. If the rest of the country is at 1.4%, you personally may be experiencing 3.0%.
2) The price indices use hedonic adjustments but people don’t.
TVs, for example, have fallen something like 95% in price over the past two decades according to the CPI. Consumers will think, well in 2000 I bought a mid-range TV for $400 and in 2020 I bought a mid-range TV for $700. As they compute it, that’s a 2.8% annual increase in price.
With regards to mobile phones, people may think that they bought a top-tier Apple iPhone with the base amount of storage for $649 in 2011, but in 2021 they paid $1,099 for the top-tier iPhone with the base amount of storage. That’s 5.4% annual price inflation, from their perspective.
You can get a phone in 2021 that looks like an iPhone 6 with much better internals for $349, whereas the original iPhone 6 cost $649.
You can also buy a BMW 2 series in 2020 that has better gas mileage, faster acceleration and more creature comforts than a top tier BMW M3 from 1995 for about the same price.
But people usually don’t make those types of comparisons. The guy driving the 2 series has the ‘budget bimmer’ and it’s effectively equivalent to the guy in the mid 1990s driving around the 318i, and the guy with an iPhone SE has the budget iPhone whereas the iPhone 6 purchaser in 2014 had the flagship phone. For most people, the relevant comparison is how much it costs to get into an equivalently tiered product.
3) Prices are adjusted relatively rarely, but when they are it’s usually a sizable increase, at least in countries with some amount of positive inflation. The entree at the restaurant that had been $8.99 for years is now $10.99, a solid 22% increase (though the last increase may have been 9 years ago). Those sorts of price moves standout. Sometimes the moves are more frequent (think of Netflix, which always seems to be adding another $1 to the price).
4) I would expect, psychologically, that most people tend to put more emphasis on bad things (higher prices of what they want to buy) than good things.
6. January 2021 at 07:56
Thank you Justin, for bringing the comments back to economics and monetary policy. You make some very good points, particularly if you consider “sticker shock” for home prices in specific geographic areas. I don’t see any political action, monetary policy, or pandemic over the next decade that could soften housing costs in prime urban areas. People could point to some gyrations in ultra-high end markets, but the average homebuyer has to suck it up if they want to live in a nice house in a good school district.
I want to believe that there will eventually be pressure for zoning reform that will allow for supply increases, but I know that’s crazy talk. In the meantime, I’ll sit in my dilapidated house and watch its relative value climb without lifting a finger on any physical improvements.
6. January 2021 at 08:28
Off Topic.
Curious to hear your take on this tweet from George Selgin about what would be preferable to relying on the Fed rather than fiscal policy as a means for combating downturns.
See: https://twitter.com/GeorgeSelgin/status/1346428409975623681
6. January 2021 at 08:29
I have to join the chorus that you’ve gone mad.
Trump very well may have broken the law. Though investigating his tax returns and inheritance issues even if illegal (I have no idea) are only being investigated for political grounds. Otherwise they would be like any rich guys old tax returns – forgotten.
HRC probably broke some statute on the email hack.
Bill committed perjury. Hunter Biden clearly committed highly unethical behavior and like illegal behavior (Logan Act violation?). Joe has likely used Hunter to outsource revenue generation.
Mcconnell has become a rich man. Likely thru outsourced corruption to his father in law.
Honestly what politicans can’t be investigated an sent to jail. Theres a reason we don’t put POTUS in jail. We have too many laws in this country and anyone making as many decisions as a politician has likely accidentally or purposefully broken many laws.
6. January 2021 at 08:43
What is going on with you Scott? Maybe you are upset Dems won GA and you think its Trump’s fault? But who cares—-let it go—its over—Trump is by by—-all that is left of him is those who must keep obsessing about him.
We now have a the worst case—possible. Can you focus on tomorrow and not yesterday? Stop with the Trump crap—move on to what is now the new “Real”. Are you able? or like every anti trump person I know—you cannot let go—-you guys are a disaster
6. January 2021 at 09:12
Brilliant article Scott, you deserve better commenters than this
6. January 2021 at 09:21
Trumpistas, Are you having fun yet? I sure am!
Everyone else, Why so grouchy? Lindsey Graham predicted all this back in 2016.
Matty, To investigate corruption. That’s why the law was passed back in the 1920s, to investigate Harding administration corruption after Harding died.
Michael, He probably knows that he can’t steal the election. Surely he’s not THAT stupid.
Justin, You said:
“Trump… eh. I get that you don’t like him, but he doesn’t really seem to be unprecedented.”
Oh come on. Who else tried to turn America into a authoritarian dictatorship?
And the guy who passed the Voting Rights Act is more racist than the man who spent his time looking for ways to make it harder for black people to vote? Is this a joke?
As far as your second post on price indices, I’ve made exactly the same arguments in previous posts, even using the same examples.
Philo, You said:
“TDS growing stronger!”
But still can’t keep up with “TD”, which is growing stronger at an even faster rate!
Carl, I’m opposed to fiscal stabilization policy, for monetary offset reasons.
Sean, If you are comparing Trump to other normal politicians, I can only conclude that you have been sleeping for the past 5 years. He’s far and away the most corrupt president in history; no one else is even close. We can’t let this go unpunished, unless we want to become a banana republic.
Michael, You said:
“Maybe you are upset Dems won GA”
Yesterday I said I was rooting for the Dems to win. Can you just for once read what I say before responding? You are making a fool of yourself. Just stop.
And no I won’t “stop with the Trump crap”, I will focus even more intensely on Trumpism going forward. The overriding issue is the banana republicization of America. Everything else is trivial.
I wish you guys who were wrong about Trump would have the decency to admit that I was right, but I guess that’s too much to expect.
6. January 2021 at 09:30
David S, Cleveland and St Louis at one time were desirable cities to live in and currently have infrastructure for hundreds of thousands of more residents. So Denmark is offering 20 year interest free mortgages, what America should do is offer interest free mortgages on houses that cost less than $150k. Then have a program to get cities with affordable housing to offer incentives to attract new residents much like they offer incentives to attract new employers. 2021 is the perfect time to do this thanks to more people working from home.
6. January 2021 at 09:40
Scott,
If Trump isn’t stupid enough to think he can actually overturn the election, what was he doing on that phone call? Do you think he intended to have the call leaked to further feed conspiracy theories, and possibly breakkng the law in the process?
6. January 2021 at 10:31
My black swan prediction is that Trump resigns on his last day and the one-day-President Pence pardons him for everything he’s done.
@ Gene Frenkle: Like many things related to Scandinavia, the Danish situation is not translatable to the US. There are very strict rules on foreigners buying property, people owning multiple homes, empty homes, etc etc. Also, the ‘interest free mortgages’ have large fees attached to them, so borrowers still end up paying the banks for the loans.
@ Michael Sandifer: Trump is clearly trying to obfuscate matters so that his hard core followers will be confused, believe he won, and follow him to whatever his new business venture is that he desperately needs to succeed to pay off his debts.
6. January 2021 at 10:35
I’m in DC right now.
Lot of love on the streets.
Patriots taking back country from Sumner’s CCP party.
We’re going to win!
6. January 2021 at 10:42
I’m a bit puzzled by all the hullabaloo over the phone call. I read the transcript and it seems like a nothing-burger. Trump doesn’t seem to be pressuring anyone to change election results, he seems to be asking about specific instances of alleged voting fraud (which seem to be mostly or completely baloney, which his lawyer basically admits but wants confirmation of). Yeah he says he needs to come up with 12,000 more votes to win, that seems self-evident? He never says “You need to find me 12,000 votes or something bad will happen to you”. He does say covering up election fraud may be criminal, which presumably is true. I frankly can’t see what he has done wrong other than being delusional.
6. January 2021 at 10:56
Tacticus, the people that bought houses in 2020 have no interest in buying a $150k house in St Louis…so they already bought $500k homes in Austin and Nashville and they make enough money to deduct the mortgage interest.
6. January 2021 at 11:00
Tacticus,
He’s smart enough to know that he can’t overturn the election, but not smart enough not to incriminate himself in the process of trying to feed the conspiracy theory? I don’t buy it.
Also, reports from many insiders say he’s been completely serious about trying to overturn the election.
6. January 2021 at 11:12
I thought Bob was insane, but maybe this is 1776. They just broke down the barricades. They might get inside the building
6. January 2021 at 11:22
It’s 1776!
Run into your tunnel Sumner!
6. January 2021 at 11:39
We won’t let you down America.
The police have lost control.
Patriots pushing forward.
CCP senators and congressmen running into the tunnels. Sumner is probably with them.
The flag is waiving with all its glory.
Its 1776! Pledge your lives, your fortunes, and your sacred honor.
Stand for Liberty. Stand for Freedom. Stand for Justice.
6. January 2021 at 11:49
@ Gene Frenkle: Okay, but, none of that has anything to do with Danish mortgage rates?
@ Michael Sandifer: How did he incriminate himself? Any lawyer who couldn’t argue a ‘reasonable doubt’ about what he said should be shot. He’s not trying to overturn the election; he’s been breaking shit ever since the election – one doesn’t break one’s toys when one expects to keep playing with them.
@ bob: Christ, you trolls (troll?) are sad.
6. January 2021 at 12:29
In June & July, during the BLM burnings and killings this is what your leaders told American hard working patriots:
“Protests are supposed to be uncomfortable” – AOC
“Tell me where it says Protests are supposed to be Peaceful” – Chris Cuomo.
So tell me left wing commies: Are you uncomfortable yet?
6. January 2021 at 12:33
“And no I won’t “stop with the Trump crap”, I will focus even more intensely on Trumpism going forward. The overriding issue is the banana republicization of America. Everything else is trivial.”
Just yesterday Scott there was a WaPo article of how ‘some Trump critics’ are warning of a coup.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-election-coup/2021/01/05/26afcfc0-4f6c-11eb-bda4-615aaefd0555_story.html
That was less than 24 hours before: a legit coup shutdown Congress ratifying election results. A DC Police Chief just said: this isn’t ‘attempted sedition’ it’s sedition.
6. January 2021 at 12:39
Well I hope you guys now realize that defunding police is not a good idea.
When you threaten people’s property, and you don’t answer to election irregularities, this is precisely what happens.
6. January 2021 at 12:40
Well I hope you guys now realize that defunding police is not a good idea.
When you threaten people’s property, and you don’t answer to election irregularities, this is precisely what happens.
6. January 2021 at 13:16
@bob
I think you’re confusing the American Revolution with the Beer Hall Putsch.
6. January 2021 at 13:23
Justin—
Many good comments by you.
Also, even if inflation is modest if you’re old enough everything begins to seem pricey. Candy bars used to cost ten cents for example.
There is also the problem of people who have lower living standards over time, but who attribute the lower living standards to inflation, not to a shift of national income from labor to capital.
And, of course, in America you have conspiracy theories regarding the Federal Reserve and the cheapening of the dollar.
Yet my main point remains true: Expectations do not seem to matter. America’s leading macroeconomists have spent generations predicting higher inflation and interest rates, which never materialized.
Japan’s consumers expect inflation, yet it never materializes either.
6. January 2021 at 13:27
Tacticus,
Do you have expertise in federal criminal law? How about Georgia state law?
6. January 2021 at 13:29
How can supporters of the “law and order” candidate be the ones storming Capitol Hill and confronting police? It’s almost as if they’re the criminals. Hmmm.
6. January 2021 at 13:36
Michael, He’s trying to create turmoil, signal to his supporters that they are stealing the election.
Yes, he’d love to see the results overturned, and he’s trying, but I doubt he expects it.
In any case, his intentions don’t matter.
Anonymous, You said:
“I’m a bit puzzled by all the hullabaloo over the phone call. I read the transcript and it seems like a nothing-burger.”
LOL. Let me guess; you are not a Biden voter.
Mario walks into a pizza joint: “I’m just pointing out that people who don’t pay protection money to the mob often see their business burn down. Just stating facts”.
Sarah, Trump is the one cutting federal aid to local police departments.
6. January 2021 at 13:47
It’s not trump supporters inside the capitol. It’s Antifa.
https://twitter.com/LLinWood/status/1346934887098458113
6. January 2021 at 13:58
Hi Scott,
Just leaving a quick reminder to say that you still have some readers who disagree with you over Trump from the other side of the fence: Bush II was a worse president by relevant utilitarian metrics (blood/money). Further, I don’t think you have a chorus of Trumpistas trying to troll you. xu/bob/sarah etc. are all clearly the same person. Writing style and lowercase first letter in the name are the giveaways.
I will grant that you’ve done great work recreating the Krugman experience for so many (I used to love him/He was so smart until the BDS/TDS kicked in!).
Finally, and my most sincere point, just want to say I felt lucky to have stumbled onto your blog all the years ago, and that sentiment hasn’t diminished at all. Looking forward to another excellent year.
In Giannis we trust,
Chaco
6. January 2021 at 15:09
@ Michael SandiferL …. What? What does any of that have to do with my response to you?
6. January 2021 at 15:58
Sumner:
Wrong, I am a Biden voter. I normally vote Libertarian but I felt I should reward the Dems for nominating a moderate candidate. I voted R for the other offices because I was hoping for divided government.
I often find myself accused of being a Trump supporter by Dems and of being a radical leftist by Trumpists, so I assume I’m pretty well in the middle.
Lets say you really think there is election fraud. You’re trying to get election officials to take your allegations of election fraud seriously. Is it really a crime to point out that covering up election fraud is a crime? If there really was extensive election fraud you still think this phone call would have been a crime?
6. January 2021 at 16:01
Tacticus, the American government should offer zero interest mortgages up to $150k to solve the affordable housing crisis. As long as the home meets minimum standards and the person has to live in the home for several years before selling and couldn’t rent it out the policy would end up putting downward pressure on home prices thanks to the large disparity in home prices from city to city. The reason we won’t ever have a program like that is the same reason we will never pay reparations to descendants of American slaves—powerful interest groups that can lobby the government want to perpetuate the permanent underclass that exists and that has led to barely any wage gains for everyone the last 20 years. So Walmart employees are low paid and qualify for welfare and shop at Walmart—a win, win, win from Walmart’s perspective.
6. January 2021 at 16:20
Chaco, Yes, there’s always Giannis to look forward to.
And yes, I have a “deranged” opposition to violent coup attempts and presidents who praise the mob.
Anonymous, If there was evidence of this then why wasn’t it presented in court?
But even if you are right, asking for a specific number of votes is the “tell” as to what Trump’s actually doing here. There is CONTEXT to all this, you can’t look at it like a blank slate.
You say you are a Biden voter, that’s fine, I was wrong. But do you think Trump looked at the election with the idea, “Let’s find if there’s evidence of fraud, regardless of which side it helps”, or “Let’s find anything we can to justify a claim that the election was stolen”
He wasn’t asking Georgia to do another recount to make sure things were correct, he was asking for thousands more votes in his column. Let’s not be naive about this.
6. January 2021 at 17:01
Well like I said, I think Trump is completely delusional at best, quite possibly just completely and totally self-serving. It’s really hard for me to say what actually is going on in his head but yeah I think there is no chance he would be pushing election fraud claims in favor of Biden if he won.
I’m curious whether you actually read the full transcript. Trump and his team present a bunch of specific allegations. The election officials then say “Yeah, we looked into those allegations and there was nothing to them” and then Trump’s lawyer, lately of Foley & Lardner, comes in and says “Ok, you say there’s nothing to them, but you won’t give us the data to confirm that” and the election officials say “Yeah, well we;re not allowed to release that data” and then they talk about if there is a way to review the data without violating the law. If you strip out Trump’s bluster it’s not really a strange call.
It wasn’t my impression form the transcript that he was pressuring anyone to find 11,000 votes (I didn’t listen to the audio). He kept saying over and over that they had hundreds of thousands of fraudulent votes, and making the point that even if some of those allegations were false, he still had way more than what he needed to change the election result. So his point was like look, even if only a few of these allegations are correct, it still changes the result. He doesn’t say “find me 11,000 votes” he says “I only need to find 11,000 votes and I have 300,000”.
At some point he starts rambling about how he doesn’t understand why they don’t care about the election fraud, it’s a various serious matter, elections need to be fair blah blah, and implying that the guy may be actually covering it up deliberately, and then pointing out that would be a crime. Again, in the context of specific allegations of fraud, this makes sense to me. Even though I agree 100% that they did investigate it and there was no fraud.
It just doesn’t make sense to me that the phone call was a crime. I feel like in order for it to be a crime, it would have to also be a crime if there really was fraud. Saying something like “You know, I really need someone to find me 11,000 votes, and if they do I have a lot of money, I’m very powerful, a lot of good things could happen for that person. Or if someone doesn’t find me 11,000 votes, the people responsible for elections could have very bad things happen to them”- that I think would be a crime even if there really was fraud. But saying “I think there was fraud, I don’t understand why you’re not taking it seriously, if you’re covering up fraud that’s criminal” seems like something that should not be a crime.
6. January 2021 at 18:13
Well Scott the National Review agrees with you: Trump must pay
Now as a Dem I’ve been saying this for 5 years but the NATIONAL REVIEW?!
https://twitter.com/BillKristol/status/1346996256934125568
6. January 2021 at 21:04
Anonymous, Yes, I read the entire transcript, and no, you did not characterize it accurately. Trump would say “5000 dead people voted”. They would reply “No, 2 dead people voted”. And it went on and on like that, one false accusation after another, completely shot down by the REPUBLICAN officials in Georgia.
They did a full recount. They looked into accusations of fraud. There’s nothing there.
Not sure if you are being a troll, but the phone call was a disgrace, as almost everyone recognizes. Probably a crime.
As far as comments like this:
“I think Trump is completely delusional at best”
Sorry, but innocent by reason of insanity is not an excuse when it comes to the President of the United States. He needs to be removed from office ASAP. I don’t want a “delusional” president with his finger on the nuclear button.
People get visits from the Secret Service for just making a tasteless joke about hurting the President, and Trump incites a riot in broad daylight and gets off scot-free. This country is a joke.
Between the Covid fiasco and Trump, the Chinese people are rolling on the floor laughing at the US. Imagine if Trump were to now criticize the recent arrests in HK. How would that play on Chinese TV?
Mike, The vast majority of the smartest conservatives always saw through Trump, from the very beginning.
The NR was originally firmly against Trump, but partially caved after he was elected because they felt a need to cater to their subscribers.
6. January 2021 at 23:57
Scott,
I go more with the Hitlerian thirst for armageddon once America had rejected him. He is certainly in his Führerbunker now, determined to destroy conservative America. Unfortunately, the ending is missing.
The GOP should get rid of him asap. Like Justin, I have always opposed his incarceration. Until now. Probably incarceration is the only way left to stop him. At least until he is too old and/or too sick to do ever more harm.
I agree with Michael here. He really seems to seriously believe in most things he is doing. It seems absurd at first glance but he really is that disturbed. I thought you were the first one that realized that?
I also don’t understand your dispute with Anonymous. The script is pretty much as Anonymous says it is. It also impressively shows Trumps complete delusion. This call is not a crime in any normal country, rather something for psychiatry.
@Matty Wacksen
Good point! Scott has already brought up some comments about Trump taxes that I couldn’t relate to. Now this comment. Subsequent rationale from Scott: finding corruption. Wouldn’t that be the job of law enforcement agencies, even in the US?
You don’t strip a man down to his underpants in a political forum just to see if you can find something in his taxes somewhere. The US is heading in a very questionable directions, with Trump – and without him.
For example, current Congress was opened by a Democratic congressman and minister who ended with the words “Amen and A-Women”.
7. January 2021 at 05:56
I have no objection to removing Trump. I think the call is sort of embarrassing for Trump, but not really more embarrassing than many other things he has said.
I don’t think your characterization and mine are in conflict. Except that you leave out that after they say only 2 dead people voted, Trump’s lawyer says “well you say that, but you won’t give us the data to prove it” and then the election officials say “Well, we’re not allowed to” and at some point Trump’s side tries to figure out if there is a way they can get that data.
Like I said, I am very confident there was no significant election fraud. But I just can’t see how the call could be a crime.
7. January 2021 at 07:44
Scott,
With respect to my comment which starts with this:
“Trump… eh. I get that you don’t like him, but he doesn’t really seem to be unprecedented”
Definitely owe you a mea culpa on that one, after what happened yesterday afternoon.
7. January 2021 at 10:07
My mea culpa above notwithstanding, I don’t think Trump tried to turn America into a authoritarian dictatorship. I can’t recall many authoritarian dictatorships in which the press is allowed to publish negative (especially false negative things!) things about the dictator, or political opponents of the dictator can riot in the streets with barely any response whatsoever, or political opponents of the dictator can make it easier for their constituents to vote (mail-in ballots), or in which the dictator is often the butt of jokes for late night talk show hosts and comedians. In terms of Presidential power, it would take a lot to convince me he was ever in danger of having more than Nixon did.
What did Trump do to make it especially difficult for law abiding black citizens to vote? I honestly don’t know. I do know that whatever it may be, black voters had great turnout in 2020. In terms of personal belief, I’m quite confident that Trump is not more racist than LBJ was. LBJ’s racism to me is rather shocking, to the point that I would be embarrassed even to quote him.
https://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/lyndon-johnson-civil-rights-racism-msna305591
In any case, Trump incited his supporters to the point where they felt the need to rampage in the Capitol building. I would agree that is a very real and important difference between him and his predecessors. I do agree with anonymous that Trump really thinks that he actually won the election, and I agree with you that this is a serious problem and it’s probably best that he’s gone ASAP.
7. January 2021 at 10:23
Christian, Sad to see you comparing Trump to Hitler. Are you also coming down with TDS?
As far as the taxes issue, you are completely uninformed. Yes, people should not be randomly investigated, but there is MASSIVE evidence of Trump’s corruption. The law allowing Congress to look at tax returns was passed after the Teapot Dome scandal, and was passed PRECISELY to deal with this sort of situation. A situation where you cannot rely on “law enforcement” because the executive branch is corrupt. Would Bob Barr investigate?
Trump broke the law by refusing to turn over his taxes, for that alone he should go to jail.
Anonymous, You said:
“but not really more embarrassing than many other things he has said.”
I agree, no worse that the Ukraine call, no worse than demanding “loyalty” from Comey, no worse publicly calling on Russia to sabotage Hillary’s campaign, no worse than encouraging Xi Jinping to put a million Muslims into concentration camps, no worse than praising US war criminals who murdered Iraqis, no worse than inciting a riot, no worse than many other things Trump said.
I don’t understand your point about the data. He said 2 dead people voted. He gave Trump the data. You want him to provide the names of the two dead people? What’s your point? He cannot provide the names of the 5000 dead people who didn’t vote, because they don’t exist. This is a GOP official, he’s not covering up fraud by Democrats.
If Trump has some problem here, take it to the courts. Oh wait, all the judges, even the Republican judges, laughed his “cases” out of court. Trump does not have a single valid complaint.
Thanks Justin, A rare example of class in this comment section. I appreciate it.
7. January 2021 at 10:27
Anonymous, I’d encourage you to read up on GOP attempts at voter suppression. There are hundreds if not thousands of such articles in the media. If you had not heard of the issue, then perhaps you are reading the wrong media.
As far as what LBJ said, Trump used the N-word in private conversation, according to those who know him. Look at LBJ’s actions.
7. January 2021 at 12:47
Regarding LBJ’s racism (and Trump’s), 1965 was a long time ago, and LBJ’s racism wasn’t really out of step with how the majority of white people felt about black people. It doesn’t excuse it but context matters. He looked at blacks as inferior like everyone else did, but he did a lot to help them with his actions.
Trump’s racism is also frankly not that different from many other old white guys’, but 2020 is a different world and we are supposed to be better now.
7. January 2021 at 13:34
“And no I won’t “stop with the Trump crap”, I will focus even more intensely on Trumpism going forward. The overriding issue is the banana republicization of America. Everything else is trivial.”
Great! Looking forward to it.
7. January 2021 at 16:47
Scott,
Lock him up, no problem, but do it right.
You tell me they can’t wait a few more days? Don’t be ridiculous.
Trump’s criminal trials and convictions must be as apolitical as possible. Democrats should stay completely out of it, if they were smart. Musing about his taxes in Congress is exactly the wrong way to go.
The best would be judges that he himself put into office. That would also have the greatest humoristic and ironic value.
And by the way, Barr isn’t even in office anymore. This was announced on December 12, and he left shortly before Christmas. Read the news now and then. 😉