George Rebane

OK, Donald Trump is beginning to sound more presidential as he sticks to the pillory Hillary script.  But I’m not sure of his new campaign leadership duo of Steve Bannon and Kellyanne Conway.  Today on Fox News Sunday Ms Conway was given an opportunity to showcase The New Donald while interviewed by Fox’s stealth liberal Chris Wallace.  Wallace was asked Conway a couple of loaded questions on Trump’s economic policy which Conway handled in due course, and then Wallace delivered the ‘clincher’ pointing out that there were “experts on the economy” who had given Trump’s policies a thumbs down – what did she have to say about that?  Conway was flustered, resorted to high blabberwocky on a side topic, and came out with egg on her face.

According to Rebane Doctrine the correct answer to the Wallaces of the world on citing expert economists should have been, ‘Look Chris, it’s yesterday’s news that the Federal Reserve, the Congressional Budget Office, the Office of Management and Budget, and the long list of academic institutions specializing in economics have a dismal record in correctly analyzing economic policies let alone predicting the performance of real economies.  The best they have ever been able to do is debate what they see in the rear view mirror, and even there they cannot agree.  Let’s face it, there are no ‘experts’ in economics, so quoting what some odd group of economists thinks is a gratuitous exercise at best that people cobble together to support some agenda or other.  What’s your next question?’

[1sep16 update]  For the record, I thought Trump’s immigration policy speech was excellent both in content and specificity (for this stage of the campaign).  While I question his ability to do all of his laundry list things on the ‘first hour/day in office’, even if he gets those processes started in the first 100 days will be a marked improvement.

Looking to the other side, it is hard to tell what Hillary is running on save that Trump is bad, and that what Obama has done is good.  The elements of her plan forward seem to be missing.  And that the woman is deathly afraid of an already fawning press says it all about how much she fears shoes already dropped and those yet to come from her many scandals.  The humorous part here is the consistent denials by her acolytes that what we see is a fire that has given rise to the considerable smoke that blankets her campaign.  Nevertheless, she continues to prove that it is possible to fool most of the people all the time.