The always readable Nobel Prize laureate Paul Krugman, writing in Substack, about the "rich and clueless" oligarchs who helped put the Malignant Fascist in office:
"Many wealthy people imagined that Trump II would be like Trump I, mostly a standard right-winger with a bit of a protectionist hobby. They thought he would cut their taxes, eliminate financial and environmental regulations and promote crypto, making them even wealthier. They expected him to back off his tariff obsession if the stock market started to fall. If he ripped up the social safety net, well, they don’t depend on food stamps or Medicaid.
And if Trump II really had been like Trump I, America’s oligarchs would be very happy right now. [snip]
To be honest, I’m actually glad that Trump II is proving to be such a disaster for the economy. If he had exercised some restraint, if he had simply claimed credit for the very good economy Joe Biden left him, many wealthy people would have cheered him on while he destroyed democracy. Now they may turn on him.
But I hope the rest of us have learned a lesson from the oligarchy’s support for Trump, even if it’s now cracking: Extreme wealth inequality has given great power to people who exert a malign influence on our politics." (our emphasis)
As income inequality balloons, the mega rich's influence on politics will be with us for the foreseeable future. Even though the Musks / Bezos / Zuckerbergs only have one vote apiece, their money buys ads, ground game, opposition research and more. We need to limit the damage their self-serving influence buys, and put a price on their "malign influence."
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