海角大神

The huckster populist

Now, with Bernie Sanders essentially out of the race, Donald Trump wants Americans to believe he鈥檚 the remaining anti-establishment candidate. It鈥檚 smart politics, but it鈥檚 a hoax.

The tectonic plates of American politics are no longer moving along the old fault lines of 鈥渓eft鈥� versus 鈥渞ight鈥� or even Democrat versus Republican.

As we鈥檝e seen this bizarre political year, the biggest force welling up is rage against insider elites in both parties, and against the American establishment as a whole 鈥� including the denizens of Wall Street, large corporations, and the mainstream media.

Now, with Bernie Sanders essentially out of the race, Donald Trump wants Americans to believe he鈥檚 the remaining anti-establishment candidate.

It鈥檚 smart politics but it鈥檚 a hoax.

Trump is even more of an establishment figure than Hillary Clinton 鈥� inheriting a fortune from his father, spending years bribing politicians to subsidize his hotels and casinos, and repeatedly using bankruptcy to shield his money while leaving creditors and workers holding the bag.

But Trump is also a brilliant huckster who knows his mark.

鈥淏ernie Sanders and I are in complete accord [on] trade,鈥� Trump said last week in Ohio. 鈥漑Sanders] said we鈥檙e being ripped off and I say with being ripped off. I鈥檝e been saying it for years he鈥檚 been saying it for years. I think I am saying it even louder 鈥�. 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.鈥�

By putting opposition to trade at the center of his economic agenda, Trump gets a twofer 鈥� landing blows against big American corporations and Wall Street, and also against the Clintons (he traces America鈥檚 economic problems to the North American Free Trade Agreement that Bill Clinton signed in 1993, and the entry of China into the World Trade Organization, which Bill Clinton supported, and says Hillary 鈥渧oted for virtually every trade agreement.鈥�)

It鈥檚 pure demagoguery. Trade isn鈥檛 to blame for the declining wages and job security of most Americans.

The real problem has been the unwillingness of the biggest beneficiaries of trade (and also of job-displacing technologies) to share the gains with the rest of America 鈥� through larger wage subsidies, stronger safety nets, better schools, and easier access to higher education. Trump鈥檚 Republican Party has been the main culprit.

Trump vows to cancel the pending Trans Pacific Partnership 鈥� 鈥渁nother disaster done and pushed by special interests who want to rape our country鈥� 鈥� which Hillary Clinton praised in 2012 as 鈥渟et[ting] the gold standard in trade agreements,鈥� and then reversed herself after Sanders came out strongly against it.

Too bad Clinton delegates on the Democratic Party鈥檚 platform committee muddied the waters last week by voting down a proposal by Sanders delegates to put the party on record as opposing the TPP, noting instead that 鈥渢here are a diversity of views in the party鈥� on this matter.

The central problem with the TPP is it would penalize member nations for raising health, safety, environmental, and labor standards. But this aspect of the TPP doesn鈥檛 trouble Trump, who calls America 鈥渙verregulated.鈥�

Trump鈥檚 faux populism extends to 鈥減owerful corporations, media elites, and powerful dynasties,鈥� who, he said last week in Pennsylvania, again echoing Sanders, have 鈥渞igged the system for their benefit will do anything and say anything to keep things exactly as they are.鈥�

Unwittingly, the GOP establishment seems intent on proving Trump鈥檚 point. Mitt Romney condemns him, conservative media pundit George Will is deserting the Republican Party because of him, big business groups like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers blast him, Republican mega-donors like Paul Singer rebuke him, and Wall Street Republicans like former Goldman Sachs CEO and Bush Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson (who initiated the Wall Street bailout) announce they鈥檙e voting for Hillary Clinton.

"It鈥檚 almost 鈥� in some ways, like, I鈥檓 running against two parties,鈥� Trump crowed recently. 鈥淭he people who rigged the system are supporting Hillary Clinton.鈥�

It鈥檚 all an act. The real Donald Trump thinks U.S. wages are too high, and has fought against the unionization of his hotel employees.

His businesses outsource abroad like mad. Most of the suits, ties and cuff links he peddles are made in China; his luxury line of furniture comes from Turkey; the crystal for his Trump Home line is produced in Slovenia.

And the real Trump is on the side of the super wealthy. He proposes to cut taxes on the rich from 39.6 percent to 25 percent, and reduce taxes on all business income to 15 percent (thereby slashing the top tax rate of hedge fund and private-equity managers from the current 23.8 percent to 15 percent).

The real Trump isn鈥檛 a populist. He鈥檚 a plutocrat. Above all, he鈥檚 a con man. And the people being conned are average working Americans who are buying Trump鈥檚 ruse of being a man of the people.

This story originally appeared on .