Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump is a genius when it comes to business. Ask anyone. Anyone but an expert, that is.
Over a dozen big-name business leaders, led by John Stubbs, founder of the Republicans For Clinton Organization, recently wrote an open letter that raised some serious questions surrounding Trump’s business acumen.
Which is… Of some slight concern. Because honestly, what else does Trump have to offer?
America’s culture war has taken on a feverish quality in recent years. On one side we have the Conservatives, desperately trying to cling on to the status quo of their youth. Their cause is doomed.
On the other we have the Liberals, swimming with the tide of history and striving for an equality that always seems just out of reach.
And then there’s the third group.
Two’s Company…
They come from all walks of life. Some identify themselves as Conservatives, some Liberals. Still, others defy categorization, having long given up on the political process (if they ever engaged with it at all.)
They are in pain; left behind by a two-party system that appeals to social factions at the expense of economic realities; they have no-one left to turn to. They are of the 42 percent of Americans earn less than $15 an hour; a figure that worsens across the usual demographic lines.
It rises to 54 percent for African-Americans, 55 percent for women, and almost 60 percent for Latinos.
It’s not an arbitrary figure, either. According to data collected by Wider Opportunities for Women, the average American’s basic economic needs requires an annual income of $30,492. That’s $14.44 an hour, in case you are wondering.
Enter Trump, Stage Alt-Right
That nearly half of the people living in the richest country in the world are unable to meet their basic needs is shocking only to those who haven’t been paying attention.
The culture war is important, it’s a battle that needs to be fought. It’s also a deliberate distraction.
As Fox feigns outrage at transsexuals in rest-rooms, and Liberals organize WC sit-in shows of solidarity, Washington, aided and abetted by both major parties, has presided over the greatest transfer of wealth since the Great Depression.
Trump’s Way
To many, Trump is the third way, a political cure-all to what ails America. The Rust Belt, still reeling from the devastation of NAFTA, looks at the upcoming Trans Pacific Partnership deal and gives a collective shudder. They know, we all know, that Washington will pursue this to the bitter end, so when Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton says that she opposes the TPP, many simply do not believe her.
It’s all BS of course. Trump will pass it just as readily as Clinton will. But he is the unknown quantity here, not Clinton. And though his lie is no less profound than her’s, it is, at least to some, more digestible.
Class War
And that’s Trump’s pitch, his only shot at victory, really. His offer of a way out of an economy that only works for a few seems to echo that of Bernie Sander’s; his ideology is far closer to class war than anyone seems prepared to admit.
Still, the recently penned letter at least pays lip service to the culture war, stating that:
“Trump’s harmful rhetoric regarding immigrants, women, racial and religious minorities, the disabled and American veterans is not only unacceptable, it creates an atmosphere of vulgarity that poisons the climate, as does his general approach to business and many of his economic ideas,”
Such sentiment is nothing new; we already know that Trump is an asshole. What’s of more importance is the economic question. There’s a reason that pundits are paying close attention to the Rust Belt. If enough blue-collar workers decide to ignore the bigotry and focus instead on Trump’s economic credentials, then Clinton might be in trouble.
The Business Record
The letter asks:
“How do you lose nearly a billion dollars in a single year?”
Good question.
It takes an expert to assess the veracity of a loudmouth braggart’s claims, and if this letter is anything to go by, the jury is in. Trump has bankrupted his company more than four times, he’s fighting thousands of lawsuits, he doesn’t pay his bills, he doesn’t pay his taxes.
In short, his claim to being brilliant at business is highly questionable.
Indeed one of the letter signers, Sara Sutton Fell, founder of the employment search firm FlexJobs told the Associated Press:
“The fact that he’s running on his business skills is terrifying,”
If the assessment of such experts is correct then it leaves Trump with… Well, with nothing really. Even a cursory look at his tax plans reveals the disconnect between rhetoric and intent.
Blue collar America needs an advocate. No question about that. It may not be Clinton. But, it’s not Trump either.
In light of all the other good reasons to not vote for him, to those undecided voters, I would say this:
Save your protest vote for 2020.
Watch Reagan predict the rise of Donald Trump:
Featured Image: Screenshot Via YouTube Video.
