Trump-O-Nomics Just Went Full Retard

Just as you thought the Donald had reached the bottom of the dumpster when it comes to harebrained economic policy schemes, he has now managed to plunge to even more idiotic depths. Delivering a barrage of pure humbug in speeches during the past week, he now proposes:

• A national sovereign wealth fund to finance a massive increase in Federal public works boondoggles and industrial policy interventions.

• A 100% tariff on the goods of any nation that eschews the dollar in their international transactions.

• A Grace Commission redux led by Elon Musk to purportedly root out fraud, waste and abuse from the Federal budget.

• Upwards of $6 trillion of deficit increases to extend the 2017 tax cuts, exempt tips and eliminate taxes on Social Security—all without the slightest suggestion of how to pay for them.

Needless to say, America doesn’t have a Sovereign Wealth Fund because it already has a Sovereign Debt Fund of $36 trillion. And the latter is so heavily endowed that it’s on a path to hit $65 trillion within the decade and $150 trillion by mid-century.

Likewise, Chiiina and other foreign malefactors won’t pay the Donald’s 100% tariff: US consumers of imported shoes, shirts, toys, furniture and iPhones etc. would to the tune of thousands of dollars per year per household. So the exact logic of punishing inflation-racked US consumers for the decision of foreign governments to flee the dollar for fear they will be sanctioned by Washington’s neocons, war hawks and bully boys is beyond us.

As to the waste commission, we think Musk is a brilliant businessman but, alas, that is no qualification whatsoever for staunching the torrents of red ink flowing from the Federal budget. That’s because the Federal government is not a “business” in any way, shape or form, and fraud, waste and abuse has virtually nothing to do with the soaring national debt.