"In the G.O.P., crank doctrines in economics and elsewhere aren’t bubbling up from below, they’re being imposed from the top down."

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COMMENTS: 
*  Rubio is the quintessential Shill for the Oligarchs. In many ways he should be feared more than Trump. Rubio is a puppet. Worse than a puppet, a deer in the headlights puppet. His billionare handelers have a clear agenda, and want their man in the Oval Office. They know how to scare him into a corner, to push the right buttons to get what they need. GOP establishment? More like GOP water boy.
*  The most disturbing thing about Marco Rubio is not so much his plan, but the fact that he obviously didn't mould it himself, much less give it any real thought. Mr. Rubio's ability to switch sides in any argument is almost as astounding as his lack of knowledge in foreign policy. By posing as the 'anti-Trump', he may seem as the lesser of two downright contemptible Republican choices, but sooner or later the strings behind his back will start to show. The rest of the story we already know. Just follow the money.
*  Rubio and Cruz scare me. The election of either would probably insure our further involvement in the Middle East fiasco as well as destruction of any remaining social safety net and further bloating of an already bloated military. The inability of many voters to recognize the problem is about as scary. It's a sad state of affairs when Donald Trump is the best candidate the Republicans have to offer.
*  To my utter horror, I sometimes find myself marveling at how reasonable Mr. Trump is compared to his opponents. When he inveighs against the Iraq War and defends progressive taxation, Social Security, and Medicare, I wonder if he might actually have moments of lucid thought. Combine this with his utter contempt for the Republican Establishment and his self-funded campaign, I find myself preferring him to either Cruz or Rubio. I can find no more damning indictment of the Republicans than that.
*  The one thing we've seen time and again is that tax cuts on the wealthy remove any incentive for them to put their wealth to work, where it might actually benefit other people.
*  Where is your mention of Crazy Cruz. Unreasoning reactionary fear and anger is the stock in trade of all Republicans and those who do not buy into the anger are squeezed out. Will the pitch fork wielding mob response of Republicans ever abate? Not until every Progressive ideal is crushed, every face turns magically white and every woman is made to stay home barefoot and pregnant.
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Cranks on Top
By Paul Krugman, February 22, 2016

If prediction markets (and most hardheaded analysis) are to be believed, Hillary Clinton, having demonstrated her staying power, is the overwhelming favorite for the Democratic nomination. The Republican race, by contrast, has seen a lot of consolidation — it’s pretty much down to a two-man race — but the outcome is still up for grabs.

The thing is, one of the two men who may still have a good chance of becoming the Republican nominee is a scary character. His notions on foreign policy seem to boil down to the belief that America can bully everyone into doing its bidding, and that engaging in diplomacy is a sign of weakness. His ideas on domestic policy are deeply ignorant and irresponsible, and would be disastrous if put into effect.

The other man, of course, has very peculiar hair.

Marco Rubio has yet to win anything, but by losing less badly than other non-Trump candidates he has become the overwhelming choice of the Republican establishment. Does this give him a real chance of overtaking the man who probably just won all of South Carolina’s delegates? I have no idea.

But what I do know is that one shouldn’t treat establishment support as an indication that Mr. Rubio is moderate and sensible. On the contrary, not long ago someone holding his policy views would have been considered a fringe crank.

Let me leave aside Mr. Rubio’s terrifying statements on foreign policy and his evident willingness to make a bonfire of civil liberties, and focus on what I know best, economics.

You probably know that Mr. Rubio is proposing big tax cuts, and may know that among other things he proposes completely eliminating taxes on investment income — which would mean, for example, that Mitt Romney would end up owing precisely zero in federal taxes.

What you may not know is that Mr. Rubio’s tax cuts would be almost twice as big as George W. Bush’s as a percentage of gross domestic product — despite the fact that federal debt is much higher than it was 15 years ago, and Republicans have spent the Obama years warning incessantly that budget deficits will destroy America, any day now.

But not to worry: Mr. Rubio insists that his tax cuts would pay for themselves, by unleashing incredible economic growth. Never mind the complete absence of any evidence for this claim — in fact, the last two Democratic presidents, both of whom raised taxes on the rich, both presided over better private-sector job growth than Mr. Bush did (and that’s even if you leave out the catastrophe of Mr. Bush’s last year in office).

Then there’s Mr. Rubio’s call for a balanced-budget amendment, which, aside from making no sense at the same time he is calling for budget-busting tax cuts, would have been catastrophic during the Great Recession.

Finally, there’s monetary policy. Republicans have spent years inveighing against the Fed’s efforts to stave off economic disaster, warning again and again that runaway inflation is just around the corner — and being wrong all the way. But Mr. Rubio hasn’t changed his monetary tune at all, declaring a few days ago that it’s “not the Fed’s job to stimulate the economy” (although the law says that it is).

In short, Mr. Rubio is peddling crank economics. What’s interesting, however, is why. You see, he’s not pandering to ignorant voters; he’s pandering to an ignorant elite.

Donald Trump’s rise has confirmed something polling data already suggested, namely, that most Republican voters don’t actually subscribe to much of the party’s official orthodoxy. Mr. Trump has said the unsayable on multiple issues, from declaring that we were deceived into war to calling for higher taxes on the wealthy (although his own plan does no such thing). Each time, party insiders have waited to see his campaign collapse as a result, and each time he has ended up paying no political price.

So when Mr. Rubio genuflects at the altars of supply-side economics and hard money, he isn’t telling ordinary Republicans what they want to hear — by and large the party’s base couldn’t care less. He is, instead, pandering to the party’s elite, consisting mainly of big donors and the network of apparatchiks at think tanks, media organizations, and so on.

In the G.O.P., crank doctrines in economics and elsewhere aren’t bubbling up from below, they’re being imposed from the top down.

What this means, in turn, is that Mr. Rubio’s consolidation of establishment support isn’t a testament to his good sense. In fact, it’s almost the opposite, a reward for his willingness to echo party orthodoxy even, or perhaps especially, when it’s nonsense.

So don’t let anyone tell you that the Republican primary is a fight between a crazy guy and someone reasonable. It’s idiosyncratic, self-invented crankery versus establishment-approved crankery, and it’s not at all clear which is worse.
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