Trump offers $5 million, no big deal

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Wednesday, October 24, 2012

$$$ / Election 2012 / Politics / News Trump offers $5 million, no big deal

Posted By Sam Worley on 10.24.12 at 12:15 PM

Gage Skidmore/Wikimedia Commons
La Donald

A few minutes ago Donald Trump released a statement concerning an issue that in his estimation has been overlooked, to the nation's detriment, by both candidates in this year's presidential race. "Taxes and government spending. Health care. Immigration. Financial regulation," said Trump. They're all the questions that have dominated the race—but what about income inequality? What about the overall standard of living in the United States, which seems inexorably to be on the decline? "For the first time since the Great Depression, median family income has fallen substantially over an entire decade," Trump noted. This isn't being treated as the emergency it is—and what, in the national discourse, has taken its place? "Bain capital." An "apology tour." Illegal immigration, even: "Whatever other problems it may cause, evidence suggests that it has not played a significant role in the income slump."

Seemingly trying to repair his reputation after being fired this week as the manager of a building with his name on it, the Donald offered $5 million to the presidential candidate who'd be the first to present a way out: a plan that'd address how working people can compete with the job and income loss wrought by the rush toward globalization and automation. "Many of the bedrock assumptions of American culture—about work, progress, fairness and optimism—are being shaken as successive generations worry about the prospect of declining living standards," Trump said. "No question, perhaps, is more central to the country's global standing than whether the economy will perform better on that score in the future than it has in the past."

Oh shit, you know what? My bad. That's actually an NYT piece by David Leonhardt. (New Yorkers! So easy to get confused.) Trump offered, Larry Flynt style, $5 million to the first person who could get some college-era dirt on Barack Obama. Well, no harm, no foul.

Tags: Donald Trump, Barack Obama, Mitt Romney, election 2012, David Leonhardt, income inequality, New York Times, Image, Slideshow