# Donald Trump's 2016 General Election Campaign **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [May 4, 2016, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901 "2016-05-04T02:37:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 342
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2016, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/6823 "2016-09-19T23:29:35Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > So you are willing to vote Trump to get 0.8 percent higher after tax income. Unless of course you are in the top 1percent of taxpayers, in which case you’ll get 10.2 to 16 percent higher income. If I am not in the top 1% of taxpayers then, I should probably not vote Trump, agreed? It’s one of several reasons, try to keep that in mind. But yes, I’d take another 1% after-tax income, given the choice between having that and not having it. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2016, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/6824 "2016-09-19T23:31:08Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > How exactly will Trump help with “Free Speech”? He’d appoint justices likely to uphold the Citizens United decision. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2016, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/6825 "2016-09-19T23:32:49Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > It’s one of several reasons, try to keep that in mind. But yes, I’d take another 1% after-tax income, given the choice between having that and not having it. The choice though comes down to: Having 1% more after tax income AND having massive deficits going forward AND having someone in charge of the armed forces of the USA who thinks using nuclear weapons is a viable method of waging war. You get the whole package. It’s not just “you can take this money, or not get the money” ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2016, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/6826 "2016-09-19T23:33:16Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > Border security. So you’re a fan of “The Big Wall” then? Have you given a thought to the logistics of this? Do you believe (as Trump yells over and over) that Mexico will magically pay for it? If you agree that “The Wall” is simply a hyperbolic bit of speechifying that Trump likes to give, then what SPECIFIC policies of Trump lead you to believe he will be better at border security? Pointing out the obvious for you is getting old fast, but I’ll do one more just for grins: “Triple the number of ICE officers.” - [https://www.donaldjtrump.com/positions/immigration-reform](https://www.donaldjtrump.com/positions/immigration-reform) ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2016, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/6827 "2016-09-19T23:34:41Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > He’d appoint justices likely to uphold the Citizens United decision. So you value free speech for corporate political donations over the ability of the press to publish negative articles about Trump. Just so that we’re clear. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2016, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/6828 "2016-09-19T23:35:54Z")
Heck, money talks, no reason it can’t vote! 'Course, elevating the power of money might be a shock to our system, considering our long standing dedication to equality under the law. What would it be like if rich people had a lot more political power than the rest of us? Shudder to think, hard to imagine. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2016, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/6829 "2016-09-19T23:36:10Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > Pointing out the obvious for you is getting old fast, but I’ll do one more just for grins: > > “Triple the number of ICE officers.” - [https://www.donaldjtrump.com/positions/immigration-reform](https://www.donaldjtrump.com/positions/immigration-reform) And you believe that this will be accomplished… how exactly, when your tax cuts are going to deplete the federal income by a huge amount? I mean, it’s great that Trump promises to give you extra money, and also lots of extra services that you value, but have you given a though to the logical inconsistencies that are on display here? ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2016, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/6830 "2016-09-19T23:37:20Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > You get the whole package. It’s not just “you can take this money, or not get the money” I know, and the whole package is a mixed bag, in both the cases of DJT and HRC. Neither one of them is my preferred candidate. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2016, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/6831 "2016-09-19T23:43:29Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > I know, and the whole package is a mixed bag, in both the cases of DJT and HRC. Neither one of them is my preferred candidate. And that’s the conundrum that many find themselves in this election cycle. I don’t think it’s worth $800/year in my pocket to have a reality star clown who does not give much thought to actual policy in the whitehouse. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2016, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/6832 "2016-09-19T23:47:34Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > And that’s the conundrum that many find themselves in this election cycle. I don’t think it’s worth $800/year in my pocket to have a reality star clown who does not give much thought to actual policy in the whitehouse. Assuming Trump has a plan to lower taxes and gets it implemented, it would be \*a lot \*of money for me in tax savings. (Like enough to get that Tesla X I’ve been eyeing.) Still, I wouldn’t consider voting for such a “national disgrace.” Not for any amount of money. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2016, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/6833 "2016-09-19T23:53:15Z")
I could buy that Happy Meal I wouldn’t eat except at gunpoint. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2016, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/6834 "2016-09-19T23:59:59Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > I know, and the whole package is a mixed bag, in both the cases of DJT and HRC. Neither one of them is my preferred candidate. I will still prefer the candidate that is not listening to weapon’s grade ignorance sources and using that crap to plan policies. > **[Donald Trump uses Alex Jones as an actual news source](https://www.salon.com/2016/06/04/donald_trump_uses_alex_jones_as_an_actual_news_source/)** > > That crazy story Trump peddled about how there's no California drought? You can trace it to an InfoWars conspiracy > [@](#): > > Donald Trump keeps on upping the ante. Consider what he said at a rally last week in Fresno, on the subject of California’s apocalyptic drought. > > Make that “drought,” for according to Donald J. Trump, there isn’t one. Never mind that the years between late 2001 and 2014 have been the driest in California history since record-keeping began; nor the 12 million trees that have died from “drought” in Southern California; nor predictions that the 2015 El Nino would bring relief, though the amount of rainfall actually decreased. > > In Fresno, Donald approached the podium. He led off with a customary boast. (“What a crowd . . . I saw on television this morning, five o’clock in the morning, people were lining up. This is crazy, crazy!”) He referred to some real estate transaction he was working “probably 10 or 12 years ago” in their fair city: “They had a problem. You remember the problem, right? They had a problem, I think it was Running Horse, and I was going to take it over and do a beautiful job.” Then, in mid-thought, he pivoted incoherently into the subject on everyone’s minds in that parched agricultural region: “Fortunately, I didn’t do it, because there isn’t any water, because they send all the water out to the ocean, right?” > > “I made a fortune by not doing it,” he said. The crowd cheered. Only in Trumplandia do the citizens cheer when they’re not afforded the benefactions of their orange-haired overlord. (I looked it up. His proposal to take over the foundering Running Horse golf course development apparently fell apart because the city refused his demand to dispossess homeowners over a nine-square-mile area through eminent domain.) > [@](#): > > “If I win, believe me, we’re going to start opening up the water so that you can have your farmers survive.” Then he moved on. > > It made the news: “Donald Trump Tells Californians There Is No Drought.” > [@](#): > > The notion that rules governing 800,000 acre-feet of water are the cause of the much larger problem, and that business about the “three-inch fish,” dates—word for word—to an April, 2015, InfoWars article entitled “Environmentalists Caused California Drought to Protect This Fish.” > > Since last year, Rachel Maddow has been on the case of Donald Trump’s deep ties to Alex Jones. On the morning of December 2, she wrote in a syndicated column, Jones hosted Trump for anextended live interview. “After about 30 minutes of mutual compliments, and Jones telling Trump that ‘about 90 percent’ of his listeners support him, the presidential candidate wrapped things up by telling Jones: ‘Your reputation is amazing.’” > [@](#): > > Donald Trump appreciates this man’s amazing reputation, has appeared on his program, and is leveraging InfoWar’s insights to feed his symbiosis with his mob. The bigfoot political press missed that story, and will likely continue to miss it, because their entire business model and worldview is predicated upon the idea of two equivalent sides fighting for national power. > > That’s not what our nation’s founders promised us. And I’m not going to sit here and let the orange-haired monster steal it. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2016, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/6835 "2016-09-20T00:06:33Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > And that’s the conundrum that many find themselves in this election cycle. I don’t think it’s worth $800/year in my pocket to have a reality star clown who does not give much thought to actual policy in the whitehouse. As opposed to the usual clowns? $800 sounds nice ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2016, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/6836 "2016-09-20T00:12:14Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > As opposed to the usual clowns? $800 sounds nice Not when you look at the whole package. There is just far, far too much ignorance of basic logic and science coming from Trump. Far, far too much ignorance when it comes to the complexities of international relations. The balance (for me) really, really outweighs $800 in my pocket. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2016, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/6837 "2016-09-20T00:14:49Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > As opposed to the usual clowns? $800 sounds nice Penny wise, pound foolish. > **[That Donald Trump's Economic Plans Would Cause A Recession Really Doesn't...](https://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2016/06/22/that-donald-trumps-economic-plans-would-cause-a-recession-really-doesnt-matter-at-all/#121eb2933249)** > > The last couple of days have seen a pretty impressive posse riding in to slam Donald Trump's various economic and tax plans. And much of the criticism is entirely justified by the normal standards of economics. Slashing taxes in the manner suggested... > [@](#): > > Slashing taxes in the manner suggested would indeed give the economy a nice boost and then, according to the usual models, lead to a bust later. The thing is this doesn’t actually matter. It doesn’t matter for two reasons – firstly, that the President doesn’t actually decide what tax rates are, what spending is going to be. Sure, there’s a President’s Budget but that’s a wish list sent to Congress. Absolutely no President at all gets the budget they ask for. They can expend their political capital and get a couple of things done, that they can do. Obama got health care reform and the ARA but even that second wasn’t what he and advisers actually wanted. The second reason is that I seriously doubt that Trump’s economic plans are in fact serious. Agreed, this part is opinion and opinion only but I regard absolutely everything he’s saying now as just a salesman, and a good one at that, telling people what he thinks they want to hear. In this of course he’s no different from any other politician on the stump, perhaps just a bit more brazen about it. > > But the piling in really has been widespread: > > > [@](#): > > > > ``` > > The heart of Trump’s economic proposals come down to tax, trade, and immigration policy. He’s put forward a tax package that experts have found would cost $9.5 trillion and hand nearly all of the benefits to the wealthiest. He’s promised to levy huge tariffs on imports from countries like China and Mexico and he’s railed against trade deals. And he says he’ll deport 11 million undocumented immigrants while building a wall along the Mexican border. > > > > ``` > > That’s Think Progress, pretty much Clinton Central in terms of political outlook. > > > [@](#): > > > > ``` > > A new analysis concludes Donald Trump’s economic proposals, taken at face value, could produce a prolonged recession and heavy job losses that would fall hardest on low- and middle-income workers. > > > > ``` > > That’s the Wall Street Journal which is not quite so left or even centrist. But the kicker is that even at Forbes they realize how what you think will happen will not: > [@](#): > > So, Trump is promising whatever he thinks will garner those votes. Further, he’s vastly over promising knowing that he’ll never get what he asks for. There’s an old salesman’s point that you can always lower a price to get the deal but never raise it. Ask for the absurd and settle just for the unreasonable. > > Sure, I agree, the actual proposals that Trump is touting would not be good for the US economy. The closing down of trade with China is an absurdity for example. But I say that this doesn’t matter. Simply because no one, not even Trump, thinks he’d ever get these ideas implemented, America just doesn’t work that way. This is all showground stuff to gain votes, no more and no less than that. ---
**Author:** ![Yersenia\_Pestis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/e495f1/32.png) [@Yersenia\_Pestis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yersenia_Pestis)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2016, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/6838 "2016-09-20T00:49:45Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > Pointing out the obvious for you is getting old fast, but I’ll do one more just for grins: > > “Triple the number of ICE officers.” - [https://www.donaldjtrump.com/positions/immigration-reform](https://www.donaldjtrump.com/positions/immigration-reform) Paranoia, nonsense, lies and pure talking points garbage … Mixed in with pure lies from alt right world that somehow are “mainstream” in the republican bizarro world. Come on, your a doper, you are smarter than this! Everything you quoted as reasons for your trump vote is so beyond reason that it actually makes me sad you actually think you have true reasons… ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2016, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/6839 "2016-09-20T01:21:19Z")
Yeah! I’ll be enjoying all the extra beer and Cheetos that additional $800 a year will buy me, and then the bridge I’m driving over will collapse into the river. Mmmmm…Cheetos and beer. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2016, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/6840 "2016-09-20T01:35:07Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > Yeah! I’ll be enjoying all the extra beer and Cheetos that additional $800 a year will buy me, and then the bridge I’m driving over will collapse into the river. > > Mmmmm…Cheetos and beer. You might not even make it to the bridge, if the Cheetos kill you first: [Trump Campaign Pushes Food Safety Rollbacks,](http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2016/09/15/us/politics/ap-us-campaign-2016-trump-food-rules.html?_r=0) Meh. Those food safety regulations are too tough. Let’s have the free market decide, amIright? If a food kills you, then just don’t buy it again! That damn red tape that tells me I can’t irrigate my OWN FIELDS with human waste. I’m trying to make a profit here! ---
**Author:** ![MacCat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maccat/32/216_2.png) [@MacCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacCat)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2016, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/6841 "2016-09-20T01:46:44Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > Mmmmm…Cheetos and beer. That reminds me, is Trump letting his hostage know he’ll pardon him immediately, if not sooner? Or throw him to the wolves? Is he still useful in this campaign? ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2016, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/6842 "2016-09-20T02:01:21Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > …Meh. Those food safety regulations are too tough. Let’s have the free market decide, amIright? If a food kills you, then just don’t buy it again! That damn red tape that tells me I can’t irrigate my OWN FIELDS with human waste. I’m trying to make a profit here! …I mean, what’s this one, what’s this one? 'Ere we are: Cockroach Cluster! Anthrax Ripple!.. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901.md?page=341) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901.md?page=343)