Jamelle Bouie: None of Trump's Economic Solutions Hold Any Water

Bouie is an idiot--but I clicked before I realized who wrote it.

   Accurate title: A Couple of Trump's Economic Plans Probably Won't Work...Also ORANGE MAN BAD.

   This turns into yet another hysterical elite-MSM screed about Trump being literally Hitler. 

   I mean: as I understand it, the consensus among economists who sound reasonable to me is: tariffs bad. They're paid for--so goes the story that I've barely ever thought about--by the importing nation, not, contra Trump, by the exporting nation. Anyway: I tend to think that a fair number of Trump's economic proposals aren't any good. Yes. Agreed. Not that I have any right to speak on econ.

   I didn't realize that Trump thinks that the housing shortage (is there really one?) will be eased by mass deportations of illegals. But it sounds plausible to me. Suppose there were suddenly 11 million fewer people in the country. Hard to believe that it wouldn't have some effect. Though I don't know how many units we're allegedly currently down.

   But it all turns into a screed about how Trump will round up everyone with brownish skin and put them into concentration camps and drop them from helicopters over the Darien Gap. Because, of course, that's how it will work. The only alternative to allowing ourselves to be invaded is to indiscriminately imprison and deport people on the basis of appearance. 

   Dumb argument.

   Even ignoring part of the stupidity here: this is part of a Democrat argument that basically goes like this: We can let in so many illegals that you can't possibly kick them all out. And if you try, we'll cry about how you're imprisoning people and being mean.

   Oh and don't forget: separating families. 

   As I understand it, the main reasons we separate kids and adults under such conditions are (a) there's no way (realistically) to enforce the border without at least some detention, (b) kids can't be locked up with adults (for the safety of the kids), and (c) we often can't even tell whether the kids in question are actually the children of the adults they are with.

   Furthermore, of course, any detention or imprisonment program will involve separating families for at least some time to at least some extent. If Smith is even "taken down to the station" for questioning, he'll be separated from his family. People in prison for murder are separated from their families. That's a very weak reason for not imprisoning murderers.

   Oh and: it's Obama's policy--allegedly. But that was ok...

   This is basically an argument for not enforcing the border--and, basically, for not enforcing most laws.

   And this is what I've been saying for just about decades: the Democrats' position on border enforcement has been getting harder and harder to distinguish from an open borders position.

   And, in general: Trump has all sorts of sketchy-sounding policies, economic and otherwise. But the vast majority of policies look bad if you only articulate their flaws. And, of course: we face a largely comparative choice. And Harris's policies--the ones she's deigned to state, anyway--sound a helluva lot dumber than Trump's policies. IMO, anyway.