BY SRH
If Republicans take the midterms, Donald Trump may be trying to solve a fresh version of an old mystery by pledging to pay $5,000 to every adult in the country. Can Trump possibly come up with a policy that is so poorly thought out that it would make even Trump look foolish?
As part of their campaign platform, many candidates provide incentives. Since Trump’s party already has a majority in both houses of Congress, this idea seems odd in a number of ways. Therefore, why should voters just hand up bonus checks to Republicans if they provide them another two-year majority?
Reporters have heard Trump say that he could hand out the funds even without permission from Congress. Well, that’s not happening. (It violates Congress’s spending authority, which is clearly unlawful.) But if it were true, it would further obscure his choice to tie the checks to the result of the election. If it were just up to him, the result wouldn’t appear to matter.
