Trump's tax shenanigans are yet more evidence of his phony populism

The only “populist” shift in the Trump era regards the enabling of cultural grievance. The willingness to use the president’s bully pulpit to take those uppity athletes down a peg. Shutting the door on new immigrants and refugees. Punishing enemies. Law and order for protesters but a get-out-of-jail-free card for cronies. Wanting to use racial slurs without getting “canceled.”

This is just the same old racist, nativist nonsense wrapped in a phony soak-the-rich package.

You might even call it a “Trojan horse” for the racists and the scam artists.

~ Tim Miller (The Bulwark), September 28, 2020

Back in June and July of 2018 I wrote a two-part post about elitism and phony populism in both American politix and Scamworld. Part 1 focused on the faux-populism of #NotMyPresident Donald J. Trump, who had clearly fooled millions of American voters into thinking that he was a "man of the people," when in fact he was and is one of the worst sorts of elitists. (Not to mention that Trump is a long-time scammer, which is why he became fodder for this blog in the first place.)

Trump's disregard and core contempt for the masses have been obvious to many of us for years, and have become more glaringly apparent in light of his dismissive rhetoric about, and overall botched response to, the COVID-19 crisis. (Was anybody really surprised by the recent revelation from VP Pence's former coronavirus task force adviser Olivia Troye, who said that at one of the task force meetings Trump remarked that the pandemic might be a "good thing," because it prevented him from feeling obligated to shake hands with "disgusting people"?)

But if there were any lingering doubts about the utter hollowness of Trump's populist rhetoric, a September 27, 2020 New York Times report about his income tax-avoidance shenanigans over the decades should put those doubts to rest in the minds of all except those who are most seriously infected with TTL (toxic Trump love). The Times article is a long one, the first of several promised ones to come, but very much worth your time to read.

Also worth a look is a response by writer and communications consultant Tim Miller on the conservative (but non-Trump-infected) site The Bulwark. Titled, "Trump Tax Returns Show He's a Populist Fraud," the piece summarizes some of the most damning information in the Times article. Miller opens by citing the campaign pitches Trump made back in 2015-2016 when he was pandering to the "forgotten Americans," promising to impose a new tax plan that would compel him and his wealthy friends to pay higher taxes. He claimed that he certainly didn't mind paying a little bit more if it would help the middle class, which he said, was "getting clobbered in this country." In September 2015, he unveiled a detailed tax plan and told reporters, "It's going to cost me a fortune, which is actually true." But, as Miller notes, it wasn't actually true, and wasn't just the standard politician's broken promise. Instead...

It was part and parcel of the broader so-called “economic populism” bill of goods that Trump and “sloppy” Steve Bannon, his pit-stained, triplicate-shirted, faux-everyman muse, sold the American people. They were going to raise taxes on the wealthy, take on Jeb and Ted and Hillary’s Wall Street cronies, and finally build a wall on the border, making Mexico pay.

None of this, of course, was true.

There was no economic populist agenda.

The tax bill Trump ended up signing into law was a boon to the wealthy and did nothing to address the “carried interest” tax rate he promised would ensnare the private equity and hedge-fund guys. Trump gave Goldman Sachs the keys to his cabinet and billed the American people for millions upon millions of their hard-earned tax dollars for copious golf holiday Doonbegdoggles at his own hotels.

Meanwhile Bannon spent most of his time in the White House leaking to Vanity Fair and making immigrants’ lives as miserable as possible, and then was dispatched to a globetrotting yacht life funded by Chinese billionaires and the forgotten MAGA man whom he allegedly bilked for millions to crowdfund a phony wall.

The reality is that saying that you are an economic populist who cares about the forgotten man is more respectable in elite political circles than admitting you are a race hustler. You can tell it to a journalist or to your friends at the country club and not feel judged. It almost makes you sound like a good person! You are fighting for the working man and want to make things more fair. If anything you are harming your own interests! These new policies might “cost me a fortune.” Sure it will.

A face-saving ruse. That’s all it ever was. A story for the rubes.

Indeed. The big question is this: How much will the New York Times' initial report, and any related articles that may follow regarding the financial info that Trump has fought so furiously to conceal, shake his loyal base? I'm guessing probably not much; the Trumpanzees are already echoing Trump's own cry that this is yet more "fake news," just another lame attempt by Trump's enemies to oust him from the Oval Office. The Biden campaign will almost certainly take advantage of the tax revelations, but how this will all play out in November is anyone's guess. After the last disastrous US presidential election, I'm not taking anything for granted. And you shouldn't either.

Which is why it's more important than ever to get out and vote.

Related on this Whirled:

• August 2020: We Bilk Them All: Steve Bannon, Brian Kolfage & 2 others indicted for We Build The Wall fraud
• June 2018: Elite and eliter... Part 1 of 2: The redcaps get a title upgrade
• July 2018: Elite and eliter...Part 2 of 2: Elitism in Scamworld

 

 

Elite and eliter... Part 2 of 2: Elitism in Scamworld

In yesterday's post I went on a bit about US populism and #NotMyPresident Donald Trump's populist shtick, which he has successfully weaponized to convince his base that he is truly a "man of the people" and that dissenters/resistors are The Enemy. One of his latest rhetorical ploys has been to declare his supporters to be the "elite" and "super elite." But since he does so in the context of simultaneously drawing upon the word "elite" as a populist insult, and defining "elite" as those like himself who own big houses, boats, and so forth, he has skewed the populist act almost beyond recognition. Not that it matters to his throngs of devoted redcaps.

In any case some of the themes I've been trying to tackle with this mini-series are not only the word "elite," but elitism itself. These are very much in keeping with this blog's traditional beat -- Scamworld -- as well as its sometimes-new-normal beat, politix. Now more than ever the two intersect in many aspects of our daily lives.

Elitism, of course, is not merely a political phenomenon, and for that matter not just a right-wing phenomenon (a point we'll get to in a little more detail below). I've written before about elitism in Scamworld, but it's worth a revisit now. Most of the selfish-help/New-Wage/McSpirituality/alt-health gurus who have peopled this blog over the years have practiced a form of elitism that involves boasting of their own lavish lifestyles (real or imaginary) -- their huge houses, their fancy cars, their dream vacations -- with the goal of fueling envy in countless wannabes, who are continually spurred on by the promise, "And you can too!" (That specious promise of easily attainable wealth and "success" has been a theme on my blogging colleague Salty Droid/Jason Jones' blog since its early days.)

Y'all probably know all of this stuff. You've seen it before, more incisively on Jason's blog and in a more rambling fashion on this one, and quite possibly lots of other places too. But it bears repeating that scammers of all stripes -- including those who grow down to be president of the United States -- are only too happy to play on people's greed and on their envy of wealth.

I've written previously about how imprisoned serial scammer Kevin Trudeau, a frequent topic on this blog since 2009, framed many of his own scams around greed and envy. He presented himself as the ultimate success story, promising that similar wealth and success were within easy reach, if only people bought his products and attended his events and, beginning in 2009, joined his stupid seekrit club, the Global Information Network (GIN). GIN was the apex of his scampire, and in the years between its launch and its being taken over by a court-appointed receiver, Trudeau managed to bilk thousands of people out of millions of dollars by appealing to their greed and envy.

But he also appealed to a higher form of, for lack of a better word, elitism, convincing many that by becoming part of GIN they would be joining an elite group of the smartest, most successful, and even the most altruistic folks on the planet, and that together they could change the world for the better for everyone. Yes, people actually bought that. Clearly they had not done their research on Trudeau's long and well-documented fraud career.

Again, y'all probably know all of this stuff, particularly if you've been following this blog for a while.

Left, right, left, right...
But I want to circle back to the point that elitism is not merely a right-wing thing. I was reminded of this truth again in early June when Salty/Jason published a post about the cozy connection between former US President Bill Clinton and the king of Scamworld, Tony Robbins. It's worth a read, even if you're a Clinton fan and a Scamworld non-fan and it makes you somewhat uncomfortable, as it did me. And as you'll see if you read the comments, I'm stealing my own comment I posted there and putting it here too.
 
I freely admit to having given Bill Clinton a pass back in the day, regarding his personal behavior. Mea culpa. But overall I thought he was a good president, though some of his policies had less than favorable consequences (e.g. "workfare"). I voted for him not once, but twice. Keep in mind that in 1992, the only viable alternatives were the incumbent, Bush the Elder (and for many good reasons I've long been a non-fan of the entire Bush dynasty, except for the late lovely Barbara). A less viable but certainly highly visible and audible alternative in '92 was that nut-cake Ross Perot, who provided much comic relief during the campaign. And in 1996 there was Bob Dole.

Is Bill Clinton a "lying sack of shit," as Jason describes him in the above-linked piece? That's a harsh if accurate description -- well, at least the "lying" part. While in office he did lie about getting illicit blow jobs, and that in a nutshell (so to speak) is why he was impeached, though this did not result in his removal from office. On the one hand it seems a trivial lie when compared to everything that Trump has lied about and continues to lie about. The fate of the nation and the world didn't hinge on whether or not Clinton had affairs and lied about them. On the other hand, Clinton did very definitely take advantage of his position of power, and even though the sex was presumably consensual (at least with Ms. Lewinsky)... well, if the #MeToo movement has put him in the hot seat again, it is probably nothing more nor less than he deserves. I'm sure it won't affect book sales.

I didn't think then and I don't think now that any candidate is going to pass a purity test for personal behavior or even, for that matter, for ideology, and I think that one of several factors that led to Trump's election was that too many "purists" stayed home. If they couldn't have Bernie they weren't going to vote. Others did get out to vote but voted for Jill Stein. These factors certainly contributed to the triumph of the Orange Oaf of Office.

Years ago I spelled out the reasons that I thought self-help and pop-spirituality luminaries should be held to higher standards of personal behavior than, say Hollywood celebrities or even politicians, in some cases, providing the politician stuck to serving his or her constituents and wasn't on some "moralistic high horse." But events and conversations in more recent years have prompted me to entertain the notion that perhaps we should also hold our political leaders to higher (sexual) behavioral standards than we hold the average person. Certainly we should hold them to the highest ethical standards if they are making or influencing policies that affect all of our lives. In any case, I applaud Jason for staying on Clinton's case and making us more aware of his ties with the ubiquitous Tony Robbins.

Arguably Bill Clinton isn't a Scamworld ally who would ordinarily come to many people's minds, when it seems that most of the scammers and fans of scammers lean heavily towards the right these days (notwithstanding the hippie/liberal roots of the New Age movement, which gave rise to many of the self-help and pop-spirituality scams of today). For instance, Kevin Trudeau and his minions are devoted Trumpians, and the stupidest and most evil man in Scamworld, Not-Doktor Leonard Coldwell, a former b.f.f. of Trudeau, is an adamant Trump supporter. Trump not only appeals to their xenophobia and bigotry (Trudeau has presented as quite the xenophobe in the past), but he is also creating an environment that is more friendly to dodgy business practices. That's a big plus for Kevin Trudeau wannabes.

But at some point alliances often come back down to elitism of the type that transcends politics. As much as the aforementioned Coldwell hates the Clintons, he wasn't above boasting about a (spurious) Clinton connection on an early iteration of the web site for his failed IBMS Master's Society. He bragged about being "a highly active member of the Renaissance secret society founded by U.S. President Bill Clinton." (Here is a link to a screen shot of that blurb, which has long since been taken down.) In fact -- and I know I've mentioned this before, but I'm too lazy to look up my old link -- Coldwell was referring to Renaissance Weekend, hardly a "secret society" but still very much an elitist gathering. But it wasn't founded by Bill Clinton; Bill and Hillary (and Chelsea) merely attended a few times in the 1990s. Coldwell and one of his exes were apparently participants in RenWeekend for a short time -- it used to be held in the Charleston, South Carolina area, where they lived at the time -- but they were asked to leave, according to the ex, although she was invited to re-join later on. I'm sure there is an interesting story there.

At any rate, the Bill Clinton-Tony Robbins alliance is clear evidence that the right doesn't have a monopoly on the unhealthy infatuation with celebrity and name-dropping, nor with elitism as it suits them. When it comes right down to it, if you're in the circle jerk, politics don't really matter. Certainly principles don't seem to matter. I totally get that.

And bringing things back to a well-tread populist concept embraced by both liberals and conservatives as it suits them, I also get that there is in fact a "global elite" -- not in the Illuminutty sense but in the 1 percent of the population owning 50 percent of global wealth sense -- and that they are continuing to rape the planet and rob the rest of us blind. And Trump, with all of his populist posturing, isn't doing a damn thing to make it better for the millions of his fellow Americans who are suffering and will suffer as a result.

All of which brings me back to the point that for the moment, when it comes to US politics, I'm much more concerned about the right-wing "elites" than the lefties.

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Elite and eliter...Part 1 of 2: The redcaps get a title upgrade

I've been thinking a lot lately about populism versus elitism, and the ways in which the two are sometimes clumsily melded not only by demagogic politicians like Donald Trump but also by some Scamworld gurus.

Populism, of course, is nothing new in America, and in various forms it has been a political tool of both the left and the right, as the writer of this January 2018 piece on History.com observes.

By the 1980s, politicians in both parties routinely declared themselves populists, but they pursued conflicting agendas and identified different enemies. Since the days of FDR, Democrats articulated a message of economic populism, railing against big business, Wall Street and the wealthy for failing to understand the economic plight of average Americans. After the social turmoil of the 1960s, Republicans built a powerful political base using a language of cultural populism, charging that Hollywood producers, intellectuals and liberals were out of touch with the cultural values of mainstream Americans.

Another truth that may be self-evident is that populism is a double-edged sword:

While it has inspired great political-reform movements, it has also been manipulated by demagogues to promote fear, divide the nation and infringe on individual rights.

Indeed. In the past several decades, populism has become an egregiously misused tool of right-wing demagogues in particular, and a significant part of their rhetoric has been centered around their misuse of the word "elite." These demagogues -- mostly composed of the "haves" -- long ago appropriated "elite" as a tool to pander to the "have-nots." It was of course the height of hypocrisy for plutocrats to paint "the elite" as a bunch of privileged left-wing (of course!) intellectual and social snobs who not only looked down on the average American, but were also, in ways never really explained, robbing these average Joes and Josephines of the American Dream. As verifiably wrong as the demagogues' claims were, the ploy was often effective, causing Mr. and Mrs. Average to repeatedly vote against their own interests. They were distracted by tales of mostly imaginary enemies while failing to notice that the robber barons to whom they listened so raptly had their own hands in the till and were destroying what was left of the middle class.

The History.com piece cited above was framed around #NotMyPresident Donald John Trump's populism, and his constant attempts to paint himself as a "man of the people." Absurd as it is to anyone who has actually been paying attention to this boastful, ostentatiously wealthy blowhard since the 1980s, Trump's false self-portrayal as a man of the people has successfully convinced many middle-class Americans that he is truly looking out for them, and that, to name but one example, his 2017 tax cut was a gift to them instead of to big business and the one percent.

It's pretty clear, and unsurprising as well, that Trump hasn't exactly followed the norms of modern populism as described in the passage I quoted above. He is in so many ways the very personification of the vulgarity derided by traditional right-wing populists -- he is crass, boastful, amoral -- and rather than deriding those supposedly obscene "Hollywood values" he actively embraces them. Beginning with the 2016 campaign and continuing into his "presidency," he has eschewed legacy right-wing cultural populism, instead choosing to co-opt the economic populism of the left -- all in order to appeal to the base who felt the American Dream slipping from their fingers. In his jobs-plan speech in June of 2016 he read these scripted remarks:

Globalization has made the financial elite who donate to politicians very wealthy. But it has left millions of our workers with nothing but poverty and heartache...

...I want you to imagine how much better our future can be if we declare independence from the elites who've led us to one financial and foreign policy disaster after another.
Our friends in Britain recently voted to take back control of their economy, politics and borders.
I was on the right side of that issue - with the people - while Hillary, as always, stood with the elites, and both she and president Obama predicted that one wrong.
Now it's time for the American people to take back their future.

Never mind that Trump himself was, for many years, a member of that "financial elite" who donated to politicians on both sides in order to advance his own business interests. In any case, as noted in this June 28, 2018 piece in New York...

At some point, the ruse grew so tiresome to Trump that he began to imagine the words he was reading about his opponent had actually been composed by his opponent. And no wonder. Trump’s public persona has been geared toward manic puffery of his own success. A key element of his grift has involved selling people on the notion that they too can become rich if they buy Trump books or predatory “university” courses.

Lately Trump has dragged the word "elite" to new depths, appearing to employ it simultaneously as the term of abuse it was intended to be by the demagogues who preceded him, and as a compliment to himself and to his hypnotized followers.
This rhetorical trend has not gone unnoticed by the late-night comedians, nor by the New York writer.

The newest complaint President Trump has taken to airing out in his post-campaign rallies is an unearned compliment given to his opponent. “They call them the elite,” he declares, in his new favorite riff. “Why are they elite? I have a much better apartment than they do. I’m smarter than they are. I’m richer than they are.”

It is obviously not Trump’s opponents who call themselves the elite, but Trump himself, or at least the author of his speeches.

But now he is also calling his supporters "elite" (or "super-elite") during his increasingly deranged campaign rallies. At his June 27 rally in Fargo, North Dakota, he boasted that not only is he richer than his enemies, but that his supporters are as well. "We got more money, we got more brains, we got better houses, apartments, we got nicer boats, we're the elite."

As the New York writer observes:

This is not, of course, how populism works. It trades on either cultural or economic grievance. One’s enemies possess all the privilege, and we the people must take it back. Once you have declared that you already possess the privilege, the whole basis for it disintegrates. While Trump performed perfectly well among the rich, most of his supporters are not rich (because most Americans are not rich) and would have trouble recognizing themselves in his portrait of lavish apartments and boats.

But I doubt that his fawning followers will notice anything amiss. They will proudly embrace the titular promotion bestowed upon them by their Cheeto Jesus (even though as the writer above pointed out, very few of them actually enjoy the lavish lifestyle of "the elite" as defined by Trump at his recent rallies). And they will continue to proudly sport their red #MAGA caps, chanting "Lock her up!" and "Build that wall!" while their savior smirks, hugs the American flag, and brags about his big crowds and the Big Win in 2016. The less logical sense he makes, the more they cheer him.

[Addendum 30 August 2018:] Like many A-list Scamworld gurus (e.g., Kevin Trudeau in his glory daze, according to reports I've heard from people who know him), Trump seems to harbor a thinly-disguised contempt for his fawning followers, at least those who aren't as "wealthy" and "successful" as he. As the author of the linked NY Magazine piece writes, "Conservatives have spent decades depicting liberals as coastal snobs...But as is so often the case, the accusation that was made falsely against Democrats turns out to be true of Trump. For all his vaunted populism, he is filled with contempt for average people in general and his own supporters in particular." Trump, the writer observes, has built his brand on attracting the working class, but the admiration is unilateral; Trump wants to be envied and admired, but he views his admirers as suckers.]
 
So what does all of this have to do with the Scamworld that is the foundation of my original beat? I'll get to that in the next post. It's been a long day.

* * * * *

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