re: WSJ Piece: Americans Want Populist Policies That Defy Traditional Political Labels

New, wonderful ways for the government to give people free shite.

And if trump likes it, that means it’s not lefty, socialist bullshite.

I do believe that a credit card company should not be able to attach real estate to any judgement it incurs for credit card deficiencies. That alone will slow down the artificial growth that is not ever paid for by degenerates.

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When Rand votes against policies that expand government, he gets criticized.

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Rand is so free market he tried to put an amendment in the college sports act that gave the NCAA full anti trust exemption where they would go back to being the only ones to make money

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He’s one of the only ones who’s consistently conservative across the board

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Libertarianism doesn't equal conservatism - don't know why most people want to make them the same thing

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Americans in both parties back government-imposed price caps and other market interventions to make life more affordable

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Well, yeah. If I ask every child I meet if they want more ice cream, a majority of them are going to say yes regardless of whether or not they are lactose intolerant or more susceptible to "brain freeze".

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A near-majority of Democrats agrees with Republicans and independent voters that people should show a photo ID when balloting to ensure that only citizens vote.

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No brainer. Most people have the common sense to understand that the less secure an election is, the more likely fraud will occur.

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Nearly three-quarters of voters support a cap on child-care costs for working families

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You know what happens when government creates price controls? You get less of that thing. So child-care costs will go from costly to hard-to-find.

If you subsidize it, you get more "Quality Learing" centers.

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And nearly four in five voters support capping credit-card interest rates at 10%

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Interest rates are a balance against poor consumer behavior. Rates aren't high right now because of consumers having a high level of fiscal responsibility. While Boomers and GEN X are around 40% and 43% (respectively), 53% of Gen Z and Millennials carry a balance on their cards from month-to-month.

These are the same folks are also taking cruises, buying new cars rather than used ones, eating out multiple times a week, etc. They won't use the savings to pay down their debt, most will just be spending it on other stuff.

One likely outcome would be that credit card companies would lower the credit limits, I'm sure that would go over well too.

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Trump’s proposal to send $5,000 checks to all adults if Republicans retain their congressional majorities in the midterm elections. Fewer than one-quarter of voters supported it.

The other affordability idea that voters rejected came from a Democratic socialist: Having the government open stores to sell discounted groceries, as Mayor Zohran Mamdani has proposed in New York, drew only 37% support.

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Maybe we're finally turning a corner?

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Raising taxes on the wealthy, a core populist impulse, proved popular among voters in the survey—except with Republicans. Two-thirds of voters would raise taxes on people with million-dollar incomes, while a majority of Republicans rejected that idea. About 60% in the survey supported a wealth tax on billionaires, but only about one-third of Republicans backed that proposal.

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Or maybe not.

Raising taxes does nothing but reward Congress for their lack of fiscal responsibility.

“Around election time…”

Republicans get scared and call everyone a communist

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America will be the first to cure cancer under our current system. 

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We will be the ones paying for it while the rest of the world's cost is capped.

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We will be the ones paying for it while the rest of the world's cost is capped.

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Id rather pay more than die of cancer.

Trump is at heart a New York City Democrat. He is further to the left than Bill Clinton was. Populism also has a few things in common with Socialism as well. We saw this all through 2020 with the handouts and 'stimulus' etc.

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It’s fascinating to watch Republican voters embracing leftist ideas in real time.

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It was, up to a point.

Now it's just scary.

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I do believe that a credit card company should not be able to attach real estate to any judgement it incurs for credit card deficiencies.

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How can they do that if you didn't sign something with your real estate being collateral? (Of is that in the fine print?) I guess I am luckier than most. I pay my credit cards off usually more than once a month (especially the "farm" card).