Day: August 19, 2015

Krugman Explains Why the GOP Hates Social Security

Buck Banks

What’s puzzling about the renewed Republican assault on Social Security is that it looks like bad politics as well as bad policy. Americans love Social Security, so why aren’t the candidates at least pretending to share that sentiment? The answer, I’d suggest, is that it’s all about the big money. … By a very wide margin, ordinary Americans want to see Social Security expanded. But by an even wider margin, Americans in the top 1 percent want to see it cut. And guess whose preferences are prevailing among Republican candidates … Nowadays, at least on the Republican side, the invisible primary has been reduced to a stark competition for the affections and, of course, the money of a few dozen plutocrats.

New York Times.

‘Mediocrity’ Is Bush’s Rallying Cry

Buck Banks

Regardless of whether Clinton survives her primary battle with an ever growing list of potential foes, Republicans ought to think hard about the reasons why Bush might be the easiest of the serious GOP contenders for the Clintons to beat. And it’s not just because they’ve done it before. … Think the Clintons have political baggage? Well, so do the Bushes. And Jeb is being crushed under the weight of it. So far, Bush evokes as much allure among the Republican rank-and-file as a Dixie Chicks concert on Earth Day. There’s a reason almost no one has commented on Jeb Bush’s performance in the first GOP debate. He wasn’t terrible. He wasn’t great. He was just, well, there. Mediocrity is apparently the plan.

— Matt Latimer, in Politico.

Trump’s Lead Widens

Buck Banks

24%

Donald Trump’s lead over the GOP presidential race, followed by Jeb Bush at 13%, Ben Carson at 9%, Marco Rubio at 8%, Scott Walker at 8%, Rand Paul at 6%, Ted Cruz at 5%, Carly Fiorina at 5%, John Kasich at 5% and Mike Huckabee at 4%, a new CNN/ORC poll finds. Key finding: “Trump is the biggest gainer in the poll, up 6 points since July according to the first nationwide CNN/ORC poll since the top candidates debated in Cleveland on Aug. 6. Carson gained 5 points and Fiorina 4 points.”

Fringe Ideas Become the New Center for GOP

Buck Banks

The ideas once languished at the edge of Republican politics, confined to think tanks and no-hope bills on Capitol Hill. To solve the problem of illegal immigration, truly drastic measures were necessary: Deport the undocumented en masse. Seize the money they try to send home. Deny citizenship to their U.S.-born children. … Now, all of those ideas have been embraced by Donald Trump, the front-runner in the Republican presidential race, who has followed up weeks of doomsaying about illegal immigrants with a call for an unprecedented crackdown.

— Washington Post

Trump Has Already Altered the Race for the GOP

Buck Banks

The worst-case scenario for Republicans is if Trump decides to run a third-party campaign. Even managing to get his name on the ballot in a handful of states would bring victory out of reach for the GOP’s eventual nominee. The best-case scenario is that Trump straggles through the race, eventually supporting the nominee. But this scenario is also far from ideal. It means that Trump has shaped the tenor of the race in almost precisely the opposite way the party establishment had hoped.

— Jonathan Chait, writing in New York magazine.

If You See Marco Rubio with a Football, Hide Your Children!

Trish

The ones where he hits the kids smack in the face are the best, but they’re all good. You’d think Markie Marc would learn after the first couple of passes how to do this thing.