> The real difficulty is that the political banner of opposition to neoliberalism has also been captured by that same class of shot-term anti-patriotic looter, merely running a different/newer con job.
Agreed. They need to go as well.
> What we do need to worry about is further destruction of what still remains of the decentralized US economy, in favor of rolling up ever more activity into megacorps (through high prices on energy and raw goods, open political favoritism, continued regulatory capture, etc).
Sure, but we also need to do our own infrastructure buildup, offshoring hasn't run it's course, we still have places all over the country with no real economic prospects. There has to be something for that alongside bringing the megacorps to heel.
> offshoring hasn't run it's course, we still have places all over the country with no real economic prospects
This doesn't follow. By "run its course", I mean that most labor-intensive-manufacturing has already been dismantled and shipped away, apart from a few strategic / protected industries (eg military industrial complex, vehicles). Like show me an industry that is still working to carry out offshoring plans in 2026.
> we also need to do our own infrastructure buildup ... we still have places all over the country with no real economic prospects
This does follow, and I agree. I'd say the best recent attempts were things like the Infrastructure and Jobs Act (direct spending on infrastructure), Inflation Reduction Act (subsidies creating jobs installing renewable energy), CHIPS act (direct subsidy to one quasi-strategic industry).
My criticism came from how the Grump "plan" is to simply keep turning up the economic pain until most of us are poor and desperate enough to compete with Chinese factory workers, and how this nonsense has now used up all the air in the room. Tariffs would have worked 30 years ago, at this point they're closing the barn door after the horse ran away, went to college, settled down, and had kids.
Agreed. They need to go as well.
> What we do need to worry about is further destruction of what still remains of the decentralized US economy, in favor of rolling up ever more activity into megacorps (through high prices on energy and raw goods, open political favoritism, continued regulatory capture, etc).
Sure, but we also need to do our own infrastructure buildup, offshoring hasn't run it's course, we still have places all over the country with no real economic prospects. There has to be something for that alongside bringing the megacorps to heel.
This doesn't follow. By "run its course", I mean that most labor-intensive-manufacturing has already been dismantled and shipped away, apart from a few strategic / protected industries (eg military industrial complex, vehicles). Like show me an industry that is still working to carry out offshoring plans in 2026.
> we also need to do our own infrastructure buildup ... we still have places all over the country with no real economic prospects
This does follow, and I agree. I'd say the best recent attempts were things like the Infrastructure and Jobs Act (direct spending on infrastructure), Inflation Reduction Act (subsidies creating jobs installing renewable energy), CHIPS act (direct subsidy to one quasi-strategic industry).
My criticism came from how the Grump "plan" is to simply keep turning up the economic pain until most of us are poor and desperate enough to compete with Chinese factory workers, and how this nonsense has now used up all the air in the room. Tariffs would have worked 30 years ago, at this point they're closing the barn door after the horse ran away, went to college, settled down, and had kids.