Let's be 100% serious here for a moment:

[SillyAmerican]

Regardless of how much money we spent waging war in Iraq, the questions raised by Mr. Trump are very good ones: (1) what do we have to show today for our outlay of blood and treasure? and (2) could that money have been better spent here at home, on infrastructure projects and the like?

The reason Mr. Trump is doing so well is that his thoughts on things like this are right in line with those of the American electorate.

[Fuzzy Bear]

Regardless of how much money we spent waging war in Iraq, the questions raised by Mr. Trump are very good ones: (1) what do we have to show today for our outlay of blood and treasure? and (2) could that money have been better spent here at home, on infrastructure projects and the like?

The reason Mr. Trump is doing so well is that his thoughts on things like this are right in line with those of the American electorate.

Very true.  And his TONE is also in line with the electorate.  The electorate is as contemptuous toward the targets of Trump's insults as Trump is.

Why is this so hard to understand.  On what issue is Trump out of sync with the majority of Americans and the majority of Republican voters?

[Bacon King]

I may have pooh-poohed Bacon King when he said that "we're living in the tumblr generation" but I've realized that he's essentially right.

I will now accept my accolades

[All Along The Watchtower]

It says a lot about how pathetic the Republican Party is when Donald Trump is controlling the terms /dynamics of their race.

Lest we forget, the idea of a Trump campaign for the White House was a comic punchline right up until it actually happened and he jumped to the top of the polls. And  now Donald "We must build a  YUGE wall on our border and make Mexico pay for it (ayy lmao)" Trump is making more sense than the other GOP candidates!

Joke Party.

[Clarko95 📚💰📈]

This Altas/AAD meme that Trump is towing the Democratic line on raising taxes on the wealthy needs to stop.

His tax plan would be a massive boon for the wealthy: the top marginal income tax rate would be cut to 25%, the estate tax would be eliminated, and a 15% top business profit tax. Not to mention his proposal to make up for it by "cutting wasteful government spending" (guess who that will hurt the most) and making countries pay us for having bases there. His promise to tax investment income like earned income sounds nice, but it's currently taxed at 23.8% and with his earned income tax plan it would only rise to 25%.


Everyone lost their sh_t when when Romney's 20% across-the-board income tax reducation plan was estimated to cost $550 billion per year, about how it favored the rich and all, and now Trump's plan would cost us anywhere from $950 billion to $1.2 trillion per year (keep in mind federal revenues were $3.25 trillion in 2015) and suddenly it's "progressive". Even Jeb's was only $300 billion per year or something.

Sure, Trump talks smack about the rich to gain favor with GOP primary voters, but his actual proposal completely contradicts any idea that he would do anything to actually hurt himself and his friends.

Same thing with healthcare. He never said he actually supports a universal healthcare system, he just gave a dismissive "yeah yeah the government will take care of them [people without healthcare]"; that doesn't mean anything.

Trump would manipulate the tax code just like he manipulated the 2005 bankruptcy law as a "get out of trouble free" card so he never had to actually learn how to run a business, let alone a country. And the low-information reactionary GOP voters give a sh_t about this, they just love that he's hating the Muslims and the Mexcians and being "politically incorrect" and "telling it like it is".

The "he's actually a closet liberal!" line was funny over the summer, but when his own released plan contradicts this, the joke falls flat.

Like Berlusconi promised much and once in office manipulated laws to benefit himself and his friends, Trump too would just screw this country while earning his place in history, and he doesn't give a sh_t about his voter base.


/rant

[Oak Hills]

And the low-information reactionary GOP voters give a sh_t about this, they just love that he's hating the Muslims and the Mexcians and being "politically incorrect" and "telling it like it is".

Did you mean to say, "Don't give a sh*t" there?

By the way, very good post overall.