Mark Hensch — Trump defines his brand of conservatism

GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump offered his personal definition of conservatism on Sunday amid criticism he is not a true Republican.

“Well, for me, conservatism as it pertains to our country is fiscal,” Trump told host Chuck Todd on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

“We have to be strong and secure and get rid of our debt,” he said. “The military has to be powerful and not necessarily used, but very powerful.”

“I want people to be taken care of from a healthcare standpoint,” Trump added. “I want Social Security without cuts. And to me, conservative means a strong county with very little debt.”

Looks like The Donald can't add, or else he has a plan for the US to become a permanent net exporter.

The Hill
Trump defines his brand of conservatism

Mark Hensch

Peter Martin — The economics of a budget surplus: Something to think about before making rash promises

Left of centre political parties are nearly always faced with the charge, levelled by their right of centre opponents, of fiscal profligacy. Accusations are made that the more socially minded parties cannot be trusted with a nation’s finances. They will tend to spend too much ‘taxpayers’ money’ on what they consider to be worthy causes. This supposed tendency is often disingenuously linked to the size of the government budget deficit, which in turn is equally disingenuously linked to the size of government itself. Left unanswered this charge will cost votes. So how should they best respond to the very predictable attacks along these lines which will be only too familiar to Labour Party strategists?

MMT solution follows. Why "fiscal responsibility" is irresponsible.

Labor List
The economics of a budget surplus: Something to think about before making rash promises
Peter Martin

Dean Baker — Deficit Delusions: Putting to Rest the Clinton Legacy

Not the whole story, but at least it is a start in breaking through the myth about the virtue of budget surpluses that is hamstringing progressives.

CEPR
Deficit Delusions: Putting to Rest the Clinton Legacy
Dean Baker
(h/t Stephanie Kelton via Twitter)