Trumped

Sometimes I think Donald Trump might be a political double agent or agent provocateur.

Other times I think how awesome a Trump administration might be for pure entertainment value (in a make believe world, of course NOT in the real one). In that virtual world scenario, I kind of envision a "team of rivals" in the cabinet, with such luminaries as Gene Simmons, Gary Busey, and Meat Loaf...

Busey would make an awesome imaginary secretary of state...

In the real world, however, Trump's views on immigration, aside from the having no basis in reality thing, could be a recipe for political disaster for a certain political faction.

If you actually want a fact-based look at the issue, this might be a good place to start. Or, if you're in a hurry, you could check this op-ed by Jared Bernstein out.

Take off the cap

NOTE: regular readers or email subscribers may have noticed a few missing posts last week. Apparently, the Blogger.com site was taken offline for some kind of repairs.

I have a feeling that many Republicans are backing away from Congressman Paul Ryan's plans to kill Medicare. This happy outcome was no doubt the result of the love they felt when they went back to their home districts and got an earful.

Still, there's a good chance they'll try--with the help of people like WV's Senator Joe Manchin--to push it through the back door by enacting a federal spending cap. As this item from The Washington Monthy argues, a spending cap is likely to be even worse than the Ryan plan. As Steve Benen put it,

if enforced, they'd obliterate the safety net and destroy any chance of progressive policymaking for a generation.

Things are getting serious. It's time to make some major noise.

Meanwhile, here's a good analysis from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities that shows where the deficit came from and what can be done about it in a responsible way.

TRUMPED. Now that the Donald isn't running for president, does that open the path for an independent run by Gary Busey?

ANNOYED? A new book explains why.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED