On more than one issue, GOP's Trump sounds like a Democrat

[webfact]

On more than one issue, GOP's Trump sounds like a Democrat
By JILL COLVIN

NEW YORK (AP) — As he tries to charm Republicans still skeptical of his presidential candidacy, Donald Trump has a challenge: On several key issues, he sounds an awful lot like a Democrat.

And on some points of policy, such as trade and national defense, the billionaire businessman could even find himself running to the left of Hillary Clinton, his likely Democratic rival in the general election.

Trump is a classic Republican in many ways. He rails against environmental and corporate regulations, proposes dramatically lower tax rates and holds firm on opposing abortion rights. But the presumptive GOP nominee doesn't fit neatly into a traditional ideological box.

"I think I'm running on common sense," he said in a recent interview with The Associated Press. "I think I'm running on what's right. I don't think in terms of labels."

Perhaps Trump's clearest break with Republican orthodoxy is on trade, which the party's 2012 platform said was "crucial for our economy" and a path to "more American jobs, higher wages, and a better standard of living."

Trump says his views on trade are "not really different" from the rest of his party's, yet he pledges to rip up existing deals negotiated by "stupid leaders" who failed to put American workers first. He regularly slams the North American Free Trade Agreement involving the U.S, Mexico and Canada, and opposes a pending Asia-Pacific pact, positions shared by Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders.

"The problem is the ideologues, the very conservative group, would say everything has to be totally free trade," Trump said. "But you can't have free trade if the deals are going to be bad. And that's what we have."

Trump long has maintained that he has no plans to scale back Social Security benefits or raise its qualifying retirement age. The position puts him in line with Clinton. She has said she would "defend and expand" Social Security, has ruled out a higher retirement age and opposes reductions in cost-of-living adjustments or other benefits.

"There is tremendous waste, fraud and abuse, but I'm leaving it the way it is," Trump recently told Fox Business Network.

It's a stance at odds with the country's top-ranked elected Republican, House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, who has advocated fundamental changes to Social Security and other entitlement programs. But it's also one that Trump argues keeps him in line with the wishes of most voters.

"Remember the wheelchair being pushed over the cliff when you had Ryan chosen as your vice president?" Trump told South Carolina voters this year, referring to then-vice presidential candidate Ryan's budget plan. "That was the end of that campaign." Ryan was Mitt Romney's running mate in 2012.

Complicating the efforts to define Trump is his penchant for offering contradictory ideas about policy. He also has taken recently to saying that all of his plans are merely suggestions, open to later negotiation.

Trump's tax plan, for instance, released last fall, called for lowering the rate paid by the wealthiest people in the United States from 39.6 percent to 25 percent and slashing the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 15 percent.

Trump described it as a massive boon for the middle class. Outside experts concluded it disproportionately benefited the rich and would balloon the federal deficit.

Close to clinching the nomination, Trump now appears to be pulling away from his own proposal. While he still wants to lower taxes for the wealthy and businesses, he now says his plan was just a starting point for discussions and he would like to see the middle class benefit more from whatever changes he seeks in tax law.

"We have to go to Congress, we have to go to the Senate, we have to go to our congressmen and women and we have to negotiate a deal," Trump said recently. "So it really is a proposal, but it's a very steep proposal."

Trump has a similar take on the minimum wage. Trump said at a GOP primary debate that wages are too high, and later made clear that he does not support a federal minimum wage. Yet when speaking about the issue, he says he recognizes the difficulty of surviving on the current minimum wage of $7.25 an hour.

"I am open to doing something with it," he told CNN this month.

On foreign policy, Trump already appears working to paint Clinton as a national security hawk who would too easily the lead the country into conflict.

"On foreign policy, Hillary is trigger happy," Trump said at a recent rally, He listed the countries where the U.S. had intervened militarily during her tenure as secretary of state and pointed to her vote to authorize the Iraq war while she was in the Senate.

Trump's own "America First" approach appears to lean more toward isolationism. One of his foreign policy advisers, Walid Phares, recently described it as a "third way."

"This doesn't fit any of the boxes," Phares said.

Clinton has advocated using "smart power," a combination of diplomatic, legal, economic, political and cultural tools to expand American influence. She believes the U.S. has a unique ability to rally the world to defeat international threats.

She argues the country must be an active participant on the world stage, particularly as part of international alliances such as NATO. Trump has criticized the military alliance, questioning a structure that sees the U.S. pay for most of its costs.

"The best thing about Donald Trump today is he's not Hillary Clinton, but he's certainly not a conservative, either," said GOP Rep. Tim Huelskamp, a member of the ultra-conservative Freedom Caucus and a Ted Cruz supporter in the 2016 race, in an interview with "Fox News Sunday."

___

Associated Press writer Lisa Lerer in Washington contributed to this report.


-- (c) Associated Press 2016-05-16

[OMGImInPattaya]

Trump is to the left of Hillary on many issues, most importantly military intervention overseas and trade. That's why many Bernie Bros. will vote for him rather than her at the General.

[In Town]

Only neo-cons think Trump is to the left of Hillary. To actual conservatives (paleo-conservatives), non-interventionism and protectionism sound pretty good. Remember Washington's Farewell address and entangling alliances. Hillary is called a liberal hawk, another phrase for neo-con, and in the socialist order is well to the right of Trump, who is actually neither left nor right on that scale, from left to right: communist-socialist-national socialist.

Edited May 16, 2016 by In Town

[willyumiii]

Hillary is a corporate owned Republican in Democratic clothing, and Trump thinks like a left wing democrat.

If these are the only choices, the voters really have no choice!

[ggt]

Where does it say that Republicans and Democratics can not have the same position on certain issues?

[Krataiboy]

Trump's biggest appeal is that he says what he believes, rather than toeing party lines. This must make him unique in the US - or just about anywhere else.

[CaptHaddock]

Trump's biggest appeal is that he says what he believes, rather than toeing party lines. This must make him unique in the US - or just about anywhere else.

That's a hoot. Trump clearly doesn't believe in anything.

[williamgeorgeallen]

from my understanding trump being some what self funding in his election campaign is he is able to take different stands on different issues and is not just obligated to tow the party line. this is how politicians should be. unfortunately the american system is generally flawed in that it is sponsored by private enterprise. will be interesting to see what happens if trump wins. certainly alot more interesting than is hillary wins.

[williamgeorgeallen]

from my understanding trump being some what self funding in his election campaign is he is able to take different stands on different issues and is not just obligated to tow the party line. this is how politicians should be. unfortunately the american system is generally flawed in that it is sponsored by private enterprise. will be interesting to see what happens if trump wins. certainly alot more interesting than is hillary wins.

[mrwebb8825]

Only neo-cons think Trump is to the left of Hillary. To actual conservatives (paleo-conservatives), non-interventionism and protectionism sound pretty good. Remember Washington's Farewell address and entangling alliances. Hillary is called a liberal hawk, another phrase for neo-con, and in the socialist order is well to the right of Trump, who is actually neither left nor right on that scale, from left to right: communist-socialist-national socialist.

Were/are you a politician? All of that PC jargon you just spewed is exactly why Trump is winning and the "same-'ol-thing" is losing.

He's not a party rep, he's an "I'm-sick-and-tired-of-the-same-old-crap-and-rich-enough-to-do-something-about-it-American" party member.

[In Town]

Only neo-cons think Trump is to the left of Hillary. To actual conservatives (paleo-conservatives), non-interventionism and protectionism sound pretty good. Remember Washington's Farewell address and entangling alliances. Hillary is called a liberal hawk, another phrase for neo-con, and in the socialist order is well to the right of Trump, who is actually neither left nor right on that scale, from left to right: communist-socialist-national socialist.

Were/are you a politician? All of that PC jargon you just spewed is exactly why Trump is winning and the "same-'ol-thing" is losing.

He's not a party rep, he's an "I'm-sick-and-tired-of-the-same-old-crap-and-rich-enough-to-do-something-about-it-American" party member.

I think you misunderstand me. I'm saying exactly the same thing you are saying, and I'm urging you to vote for something different than the same old "war is the answer to everything" consensus shared by Hillary and the neo-cons.

[Usernames]

Can't wait for October when Putin drops a bombshell that validates Trump and sinks Hillary. Watch for Putin to say Russia penetrated Clinton's computer server and then offers proof. Bye-bye Hillary and the Democrats.

[TPI]

Can't wait for October when Putin drops a bombshell that validates Trump and sinks Hillary. Watch for Putin to say Russia penetrated Clinton's computer server and then offers proof. Bye-bye Hillary and the Democrats.

Just imagine if H is disowned by her party T thinks he's got the election and then.....................B comes riding to the rescue as a third party candidate!!!

[dunroaming]

I think it is refreshing to have someone who doesn't pull the party line and is a maverick. Problem is Trump is totally the wrong person to take the USA forward

[willyumiii]

Can't wait for October when Putin drops a bombshell that validates Trump and sinks Hillary. Watch for Putin to say Russia penetrated Clinton's computer server and then offers proof. Bye-bye Hillary and the Democrats.

Just imagine if H is disowned by her party T thinks he's got the election and then.....................B comes riding to the rescue as a third party candidate!!!

Wishful thinking.

and I wish it could happen that way.

But every day that passes, this becomes less likely

Every state has a deadline as to how late you can file as a third party candidate.

If you miss that deadline, you get no delegates from that state.

The deadline in Texas was last week, May 9th.

Many states have deadlines in June and July.

About the deadlines :

The earliest one is Texas with a May 9 deadline. Were a candidate to miss this deadline they could forfeit the chance of winning Texas’ 38 electoral votes. The real difficulty with the calendar, however, is that if a candidate were to wait until the end of the Republican National Convention to decide to run as an independent, he would forfeit 175 electoral votes, and if a candidate were to wait until the end of the Democratic National Convention, he would forfeit 197 electoral votes. Deciding to run in reaction to a national convention outcome could easily restrict ballot access even further, as late deciders would be right up against a slew of filing deadlines that begin in late July and August.

​I wish Bernie had filed as an independent a couple of months ago!

[GeorgesAbitbol]

Only neo-cons think Trump is to the left of Hillary. To actual conservatives (paleo-conservatives), non-interventionism and protectionism sound pretty good. Remember Washington's Farewell address and entangling alliances. Hillary is called a liberal hawk, another phrase for neo-con, and in the socialist order is well to the right of Trump, who is actually neither left nor right on that scale, from left to right: communist-socialist-national socialist.

Were/are you a politician? All of that PC jargon you just spewed is exactly why Trump is winning and the "same-'ol-thing" is losing.

He's not a party rep, he's an "I'm-sick-and-tired-of-the-same-old-crap-and-rich-enough-to-do-something-about-it-American" party member.

Nope he is a : " now that I have enough money the only thrilling thing in my life would be power, and I am a complete lunatic"

[GinBoy2]

Can't wait for October when Putin drops a bombshell that validates Trump and sinks Hillary. Watch for Putin to say Russia penetrated Clinton's computer server and then offers proof. Bye-bye Hillary and the Democrats.

Just imagine if H is disowned by her party T thinks he's got the election and then.....................B comes riding to the rescue as a third party candidate!!!

Wishful thinking.

and I wish it could happen that way.

But every day that passes, this becomes less likely

Every state has a deadline as to how late you can file as a third party candidate.

If you miss that deadline, you get no delegates from that state.

The deadline in Texas was last week, May 9th.

Many states have deadlines in June and July.

About the deadlines :

The earliest one is Texas with a May 9 deadline. Were a candidate to miss this deadline they could forfeit the chance of winning Texas’ 38 electoral votes. The real difficulty with the calendar, however, is that if a candidate were to wait until the end of the Republican National Convention to decide to run as an independent, he would forfeit 175 electoral votes, and if a candidate were to wait until the end of the Democratic National Convention, he would forfeit 197 electoral votes. Deciding to run in reaction to a national convention outcome could easily restrict ballot access even further, as late deciders would be right up against a slew of filing deadlines that begin in late July and August.

​I wish Bernie had filed as an independent a couple of months ago!

At this stage of the game it's impossible to get on the ballot in all 50 States as an Independent. The only route to do that now would be to hijack the nomination of an existing party, and as always the only one available for that, would be to convince the Libertarian Party that you're their man, or woman

[Scotwight]

I would have thought the Democrats would have been in favor of Brexit but Obama really panned it and threatened to put the UK at the back of the trade line. Trump on the other hand today came out in favor of Brexit and said he didn't like doing business with the EU. Maybe Boris should apologize?

[ilostmypassword]

Trump's biggest appeal is that he says what he believes, rather than toeing party lines. This must make him unique in the US - or just about anywhere else.

I know what you mean. Let's take his econonic plan. The one that originally favored the .01%. Recently Trump said he now wanted instead to concentrate on helping the middle class and wouldn't necessarily object to raising taxes on the rich. Then he said what he meant was that he wouldn't lower taxes on the rich as much as he originally proposed. Then he hired 2 conservative right wing economists, Larry Kudlow and Stephen Moor, to rework his plan. Then he uhired the 2 economists and said that his plan doesn't need fixing, it's fine the way it originally was. This all in the space of about a week. And I'm sure through every shift of position he believed what he was saying when he was saying it. Maybe his campaign slogan should be: Donald Trump. He can believe anything.

[willyumiii]

Trump's biggest appeal is that he says what he believes, rather than toeing party lines. This must make him unique in the US - or just about anywhere else.

"Trump's biggest appeal is that he says what he believes, "

Incorrect.

​His biggest appeal is that he says what he thinks his base ( the uneducated, and uninformed, who he as stated that he loves ) wants to hear.

He has also said that he keeps informed about what " the people" want by listening to radio ( extremist right wing ) talk shows.

The man is a marketing genius and it may win him the presidency.

But good marketing does not qualify a person to be a President.

tTat requires knowledge of how the government works and what a President can and can not do.

Trump does not have that knowledge.

Good luck America!