Cornell Law professor Michael C. Dorf discusses President Trump’s promise to send every adult U.S. citizen $5,000 if Republicans retain Congress in the midterms, examining both the legality of such a scheme and whether it deserves the “socialist” label some have attached to it. Professor Dorf argues that while the payments would likely be legal if authorized by Congress, they are almost certainly unfunded “vaporware” that—far from being progressive or socialist—would be financed through borrowing that fuels inflation, ultimately harming the poor the most rather than redistributing wealth from rich to poor as genuinely socialist proposals would.
GW law professor and economist Neil H. Buchanan argues that while rhetoric and symbolism have always played an important role in politics, today’s Republicans are running an entire campaign on an incorrect definition of “socialism.” Buchanan points out that many people are discovering—to the chagrin of Republicans—that socialism means progressive taxation, increasing workers’ pay, and reducing the costs of higher education, rather than collectivist worker camps, and that it might actually be a good thing.
