Donald Trump is “The Big Short”
Start with the premise that real estate is a safe investment because it always goes up. Compare that to the premise that government should run like a business and who better to do that than a successful business person.
The last Wall Street explanation for the 2007 collapse was “poor people” and “illegal immigration”. Trump’s big, beautiful wall as an economic recovery plan is just a variation on the same theme compounded by the illusion Mexico is going to pay for it.
The Wall Street traders, their quants and mortgage brokers were brash and arrogant which only added to their perceived credibility as pseudo authorities. Is “I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose voters” brash and arrogant enough? If not there are many other examples.
The 2001 recession had hardly disappeared from our rear view mirror when the decisions of 2005 put the housing bubble fiasco in motion. The 2008 & 2012 elections are recent memories and they began turning this great ship we call America to the left. Now, just a few years later, we are anxious to hire another imperial President to turn it back to the right. It makes no difference, right or left, as apparently trampling the Constitution is okay as long as it us gets something we like. A gnat has a longer attention span than many American voters.
During the housing bubble anyone who questioned mortgage-backed securities or CDO’s was not bright enough to understand the machinations of Wall Street. During this election cycle ridicule and humiliating personal attacks are the responses for anyone questioning Trump’s limited policy positions.
And at the end of the movie, none of the perpetrators were even charged and the American people paid the bill in the form of a massive bailout and a crushing national debt increase. The last eight years has left us with a big change in the form of more debt and little hope. Expect similar results with his excellency, President Trump.
About Author
IrishPat
Patrick Malone is a Business Advisor and Leadership Mentor headquartered in Blairsville, Georgia. He co-hosts Mountain Daybreak and Mountain Mornings, weekday news programs, and hosts This Week in Blairsville a weekend program on WJUL/WJRB. He is a mentor in Union County High School, serves on his church council and writes a monthly column on leadership in the animal healthcare industry.
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Trumpet was a spoiled rich kid that grew up to be a spoiled rich kid. We all know about his bad business deals and Trump University. Perhaps his worst deal for shareholders was his casino business whose stock lost over 80% over a ten year period while he continued to draw a substantial salary.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/its-worse-than-you-think-trumps-business-disaster-2016-03-04
Would I vote for this know-nothing clown if he is the nominee? I hope I won’t have to make that decision.
…….During the housing bubble anyone who questioned mortgage-backed securities or CDO’s was not bright enough to understand the machinations of Wall Street………
The AJC called me “chicken little” when I brought this up before the last collapse.
Irish Pat,
My question is why would you trust Hillary, bought and paid for by Wall Street, or Cruz who has a spouse who works for one of the banks bailed out by tax payers more than Trump? Both Hillary and Cruz have personally profited, from the last fiasco driven by irrational bank lending behavior backed by tax payers.
I am not defending Trump but lets look at your points:
1) ……Trump has zero clue how foreign policy works…..
Did not both Hillary and Cruz support the Iraq War?
Did not Hillary double down with Libya (NEOCON POLICY) and it was a disaster?
Did not Cruz call for arming the Kurds, to be lead fighting force in Syrian conflict, and most experts on both sides know that would be sectarian nightmare?
2)….economic policy works…
Did not Hillary or Cruz both supported putting tax payers on the hook for CDS, which is a main trigger for the last crash?
There is a big difference, to me anyway, between someone who is informed but makes a poor choice and someone who prefers to be uninformed. I am not in any way equating Clinton with Cruz as I don’t think Cruz is that big of an improvement on Trump. Still, to say to ourselves that these people who are serious about governing and interested enough to inform themselves make mistakes so therefore I might as well hire the drunkard at the end of the bar is to ask to be corrected by the universe in unpleasant ways and in short order.
FreeDuck,
It is relevant to at least question poor decision making skills. When I hear about Hillary and her resume, it is filled with failure after failure. It is like telling me you want a starting QB who loses way more than the win. Obviously Cruz talks out of both sides of his mouth, and has made bizarre suggestion like arming the Kurd’s as the lead fighting force in the Middle East.
The point I am making is this argument made by many, has gone on death ears to many in American on both sides. Face it both sides have created a mess, and you cannot understand why the average American has had it?
Andrew,
Do you not get that you are asking for people to choice between two candidates with the same Wall Street ties that got us into the last crash? Your selling point is they are experienced in screwing things up!
Sorry about typos going way to fast….sure you get point….
Andrew,
Hillary and Cruz have made it clear they report to Wall Street donors, end of story.
Andrew,
Now you get it, that is the choice now Trump or Bernie, if you want Wall Street lobbyist not running the country.
John,
Frankly, I see the same thing when I look at Trump’s resume. And to use your QB analogy — I think if your choice is between an experienced QB who loses more than they win, and some fat guy in the stands who has never played football, the choice is not so difficult.
Being an average American I can understand why I’ve had it. I’ve had it with incompetence. I’ve had it with people who put ideology over solutions and who don’t believe in government and so refuse to do it well. I don’t see Trump as an answer to any of America’s issues, much less all of them. That’s not to say I’m a Clinton fan, but if these are my choices it’s an easy decision.
FreeDuck,
I respect your opinion, my main point is I also respect people who have had it. This constant drumming that their opinions of being tired of the same old same old is somehow invalid, demonstrates a lack of honesty about the situation. At least you are honest about the lack of real choices.
Andrew,
You should do some research:
……Ted Cruz just named Phil Gramm his economic advisor. Here’s Gramm’s economic legacy…….
…Gramm left a long record as a dedicated financial deregulator on Capitol Hill, with much of his effort aimed at freeing up trading in derivatives. That’s why he’s often identified as one of the godfathers of the 2008 financial crisis, which was spurred in part by banks’ imprudent trading and investing in these extremely complex financial instruments……
http://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-hiltzik-cruz-gramm-20160321-snap-htmlstory.html
BTW do I need to explain how Pres. Clinton and Sen. Gramm got us into the Crash and profited from it?
I am no Trump supporter, unless it is Vs. Clintons but to compare him with the big short villains in a book I loved and talked about here since it came out is a spin stretch of biblical proportions. He sure leveraged up and escaped but he wasn’t a main player in the CDO’s creating free flowing money and a shortage of unqualified and super leveraged buyers. He’d have to be a Barney Frank or a Goldman Sachs exec or head of the FHA.
If you’re going to compare Trump to a movie, The Big Short is not even close. A better choice would be Back to School with Trump as Thornton Melon.