Politicians routinely promise benefits to current voters at future taxpayers’ expense. The president’s offer simply strips away the pretense.
In a speech in early September, Trump raised eyebrows with a pitch that seems outright shameless:
And here is my promise: If the Republicans win the House of Representatives and the United States Senate, both of them … I will issue a dividend to every adult citizen in the United States of America for $5,000.
He has since continued to promise the dividend as recently as this week.
A few things must be stated out of the gate here. First, this isn’t happening. Not only would Trump not follow through with this promise, but the conditions it’s based on are nearly impossible. Election Betting Odds predict the GOP has about a 10 percent chance of winning the House as of this writing, and they also look unlikely to hold the Senate.
On this margin, Trump is just making a promise which he does not need to keep. “I would’ve given you $5,000 too, if it weren’t for those meddling Democrats.”
It would also be a bad thing if it did happen. Do we really want politicians promising direct cash transfers to taxpayers if they win? If it isn’t criminal bribery, it’s certainly textbook electoral inducement.
But actually, the obviousness is exactly the silver lining to Trump’s proposal.
...read more at thedailyeconomy.org
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Does anyone actually believe him, who wasn't already going to vote for him anyway?
He freed Ross, he closed the border, he made Democrats mad, what's not to believe? He's doing all of the things that no one in 2015 would have believed were possible.
No
Yes, they'll vote for him, not because they believe him, but because they can't pay the bills. And yes, this is legal in a country
It sounds like a joke, but that's the system, bribing you with money it doesn't have, stolen from people not born yet who can't fight back