Problem is, the very, very wealthy rarely have an 'income'. Their wealth is so great they take out a loan for the year's 'living expenses'. Repay that loan with a portion of their dividends, which they then write off as 'expenditures'. So we could tax 99% of their income and still get nothing. Elizabeth Warren is correct. leave the income taxes alone, we need a wealth tax and a reasonable capital gains tax of 28% to 30%. Why do you think Evil Musk so hates Kamala?
Not so.America has the worst social inequality by the international GINI coefficient metric,primarily due to a skewed complex tax system which favours the very rich and a meagre welfare system that is designed to punish the poor and the sick.
Fay, are you talking about the Nobel-winning neo-con economist Milton Friedman? He was an elitist skunk. John M. Keynes was way better and had the benefit of the 'common slob' in mind with his writings.
Probably, Dennis, and thank you, I think I was probably thinking of Alan Greenspan. It is Milton Friedman I was taking about, but I've never been impressed with Greenspan either. I only took two econ classes in college but my heroes were Keynes and Galbraith. I've never thought of supply side or 'tickle down as they like to call it, as anything but huge transfers of wealth from the middle to the top. Which is why I get so irate when my Republican acquaintances accuse me of wanting to 'unfairly' redistribute the wealth from the 'deserving' top - who according to them earned it to the bottom who wouldn't know how to use it. How the hell to they think they got that wealth in the first place?
Greenspan was part of Ayn Rand’s inner circle for years, and Rand’s view of economics was even worse than Milton Friedman’s. Friedman’s economics have decimated the American middle class and continue to do so.
Those lawyers were elected by citizens and paid through taxes. BTW: wealthy 1% of tax payers starts at $590,000 and above. Means every NFL and MLB rookie is wealthy being that make over $700,00 annual by union contract.
That's why the Republican Party for the past 40 years, has been lowering the IRS budget so they have fewer auditors. The lower the income more likely the audit. It takes a team of auditors to audit the tax returns of the super wealthy.
Not if you look at all their taxes FDIC, IRS, and State income tax deductions. Their only recompense if the earned income tax credit an not everyone is eligible for that. People earning more than $168,000 per year don't pay SSA, Medicare, SDI, etc.
He includes social security and Medicare taxes, including the "employer paid" portion, in the 40%. The fiction of employer-paid taxes is a scam that let's them claim the US is "low tax" and have poor people believe them. Sure it's low tax ... for the rich!
Wrong, our present tax system reported by the IRS for 2021 tax returns has 1% tax holders, a group with AGI of $580,000 and up having paid 45.8 % of the total tax collected. The top 50% of all taxpayer [income over $44,200] paid 97.7% of all federal individual income tax, the bottom 50% paid the remaining 2.3%. The average tax rate was 14.9%, the top 1% paid 25.9% average, eight time higher than the 3.3% average paid by the bottom half of taxpayers.
Very confusing ... you are making some kind of point by lumping $42.000 - infinity per yr income, and saying this group pays 97% of taxes collected? So maybe those making $42.000 - $100.000 / yr are paying 90%? I don't know what your point is. And calling $42,000 part of the top income? Maybe there's a decimal place missing?
It still blows my mind how quickly Republicans pounce on any assistance to the poor as rank socialism but are thrilled to give more money to the already-rich. I told my conservative dad about a little food pantry we were opening at our church to give away free groceries to anyone who feels like taking some, and his first response was: "Aren't you worried people will steal it all and sell it?" You know, on the thriving black market for expired cans of beans... Not half an hour later he, a retiree living in a trailer court, was defending tax cuts for billionaires. Maybe they think worshipping the rich makes them vicariously wealthy. Anyway, I've said it before and will say it again: the fatal flaw of democracy is the vast number of people who would rather be ruled than embrace the responsibilities of freedom. Sadly, as spot on as this article is, it would only make most poor, white conservatives support him more.
Well said, Ryan. The old saying goes "you can lead the horse to water, but you can't make him drink". Stone-cold logic disintegrates in the furnace-blast of propaganda supplied daily by demagogues of whatever stripe.
It’s taken years of propaganda, but getting white working class people to vote against their economic interest was the biggest success the plutocrats have had. We can thank Rupert Murdoch, the late Rush Limbaugh and Limbaugh’s various imitators for that.
It's deeply held Christian Fundamentalist belief ..... the rich are the chosen of God, do not question God's choice. You are trying to use logic on religion. It does not work. Check out some Frank Schaeffer talks .... there's a brilliant one from 7 yrs ago about those who believe the bible IS reality, while logic and science are the work of Satan. Reaching them with logic, or anything, is nigh onto impossible. Also ... check out Leon Festinger "When Prophecy Fails" re; cult mentality.
Very good.. I have to agree with you about the R’s habitually complain and blame the poor for their taxes while at the same time thinking tax cuts don’t contribute to their tax level! Amazes me- I assume it is because the R’s have twisted their messages so badly and they believe the tax cuts cost us nothing! Growing up I simply thought Christian’s were democrats- they helped everybody and you don’t hear them c/o taxes or helping the poor. R’s have always complained. I kept quiet, I was one of those poor kids that started volunteering by 11yoa.
It's the Tammy Faye Baker world. The TFB world says that if you are wealthy, God gave you that wealth, you are one of the chosen. They are not like you and me. And many, many people, believe this with all of their being. If you question the wealthy, you are questioning God's choice. End of conversation.
It's exasperating how many Christians ignore absolutely everything Jesus ever taught. He warned constantly about the dangers of greed and clinging to worldly riches. I wish they'd figure out that what they really worship is money, and capitalism is their religion.
The trickle-down economics scam is one of the most egregious and destructive economic myths to have ever infected the American body politic. It is a shame, really, to see the inequality that has come as a result.
Thank them both for nothing. I was only 17 and not yet old enough to vote, but even I knew Reagan’s economics would damage the American economy, and I wish I had been wrong.
Thank you for the essay. Your analysis is pretty easy for most people to understand. I have had to restrain myself from “yelling at the TV” when I hear Trump talking about how his tax cuts helped the middle class. Liar Liar
Mary is Donald’s niece. She is the daughter of Donald’s deceased elder brother Fred, Jr., who angered Fred, Sr. by refusing to join Fred, Sr.’s business. Mary is a psychologist who has a great deal of insight into Donald’s personality and numerous personal flaws that make him a poor choice as President.
MAGAts are so stupid - they have no idea what tax bracket they are in - how the government pays its billls or how laws are written - Trump loves the uneducated
We’ve done this because people of Trump’s bent and the theocrats don’t want people to develop critical thinking skills. They want people who will accept what they’re told and to obey without question.
What Democrats fail to do, but MUST do is tell the public precisely WHY Republicans relentlessly move heaven and earth to reward the rich and corporations with tax cuts and deregulation.
And that reason IS that while Republicans need the votes of rank-and-file voters to gain and hold power so that they CAN enact tax cuts for the rich and powerful, and promise the them the Moon in return for those votes, behind closed doors, when the only ones listening are each other, they express nothing but contempt for the hoi polloi. And THAT'S because average Americans can't afford to give them anything in return for those votes (in no small part, and with no small irony, because of those same tax cuts that, since Ronald Reagan's day, have moved a total of $51 TRILLION from the bottom 90% of Americans to the top one-tenth of one percent, with wages stubbornly stagnant -- by design -- till Joe Biden's presidency). The small campaign contributions they get from those rubes, even in the aggregate, are inconsequential.
Ah, but in return for their tireless service on their behalf, in the short term the RICH and corporations reward Republicans with railway cars-full of campaign cash AND, in the long term, after they've retired (Clarence Thomas, Mitch McConnell and a few notable others who've been far too impatient to wait), they shower Republicans with lavish rewards: lucrative consultancies, lobbying jobs, seats on corporate boards of directors and contracts with conservative publishers to write chronicles of their exploits while on the public payroll (after they left those log cabins they were all born in) that they and the publishers know perfetly well no one will ever buy (other than the GOP to use as giveaways for campaign contributions by less well-heeled donors) or read.
The public MUST be made to understand the nature, root and consequences of this unholiest of unholy alliances. As with EVERY political issue, it's about one thing, and one thing only: MONEY.
In a perfect world the wealthy would endeavor to help the less fortunate. Sadly, our world is far from perfect, and the wealthy upper class will have to be shown the light they obviously are too blind to see.
The huge decrease in tax for large corporations is only part of the story. Nobody ever mentions that SMALL corporations, those little mom-and-pop retailers, small entrepreneurs, and local independent service businesses with net profits of $50,000 per year or less, which is millions of small businesses, all saw tax INCREASES, from 15% to 21%. Before 2018, the corporate tax was a graduated tax, 15% on that lowest-earning group and rising to 34% and more above $75,000 in profit. On top of that are the many complicated details which are also heavily skewed to favor the wealthy.
Terry, Thank you for this info. I smell a skunk here, or rather a colony of them. Should not be a mystery that this occurred in the 2nd year of the Drumpf admin, since it would have taken about a year to have these revisions of the tax code enacted, if my estimation is correct. Same old story of the middle class shouldering the burden for the uber-rich.
A lot of them were also squeezed out of business in the 1980s and 1990s when large chain retailers came in and closed down the mom and pop businesses. One of the things the wealthy and Republicans will not tell you is that much of the complexity of the tax code has to do with various exemptions and write offs that are available to wealthy folk and not to ordinary taxpayers.
But don’t most of the rich only pay on “earned income” which they set themselves up so they’re actually not paid but use their stock as collateral to take out loans which aren’t “earned income” thus not having to pay their share?
From Inequality Media (April 26th): "President Biden’s plans include calls for raising the corporate tax rate from 21% to 28%, and raising the stock buyback tax from 1% to 4%. Also helpful: a 25% tax on the wealth gains of households with over $100 million in assets, establishing an inheritance tax; and continuing to fully fund the IRS to crack down on the wealthiest tax cheats."
(Even a subset of such measures would address the concern - and to a greater extent than a policy orientation which intends quite the opposite; can we really afford to be too particular?)
I believe that a "billionaire minimum tax" is called for. Could do it something like RMDs from retirement accounts. A nominal minimum income is assessed based on the persons assets ... perhaps $1m on every $1b in assets? That's just 0.1% (compared to 4% required distribution from retirement accounts) so maybe it should be more? If they declare an income LESS than that, they have to pay top rate tax on the "missing" income.
Along with all the other people who enabled his January 6 insurrection. Unfortunately, I am beginning to believe our judicial system is unwilling and unable to hold Trump and his enablers criminally accountable. Giuliani and Eastman have both been disbarred, but it is a sanction on their ability to practice law, and is not criminal punishment. Disbarment is a sanction to protect the public.
Trump is a ‘stalking horse’ a front for what is really going on behind the scenes. Project 2025 is very complex and well thought out by very serious insurrectionists. They are quieting Trump down so he doesn’t blow his cover and turn off his Cult. That loyal following will get the Insurrection to the election and then the results can be called into question, argued against, stalled and can throw those results into Congress and then to SCOTUS, who will act quickly to ‘resolve’ the ‘conflict’, a la Bush v. Gore as quickly as possible, ‘to save face’ and ‘get the show on the road’. Trump can be put out to pasture as soon as the dirty work is done.
Let the rich pay 40% tax rate that minimum wage workers pay.
Warren Buffett said he pays 17% on his income while his workers pay 40% total taxes…
What fair about that…
Problem is, the very, very wealthy rarely have an 'income'. Their wealth is so great they take out a loan for the year's 'living expenses'. Repay that loan with a portion of their dividends, which they then write off as 'expenditures'. So we could tax 99% of their income and still get nothing. Elizabeth Warren is correct. leave the income taxes alone, we need a wealth tax and a reasonable capital gains tax of 28% to 30%. Why do you think Evil Musk so hates Kamala?
Guess the definition of income and deductions was written by Lawyers paid for by the wealthy…
LOL, You certainly have that correctly, lawyers and economists of the Alan Friedman camp. How I miss Kenneth Galbraith.
Experts for sale not just the Supreme Court Crooks…
Free vacation ; Jet trips, forgiven loans , free education , buy your property for five times its real value ,Money rules the rest of us are fools.
Change that to expert criminals and I'll agree. Love your last phrase, It describes us from 1981 to 2021.
It’s a bad unfair system but it’s better than most countries…
Most not all
Not so.America has the worst social inequality by the international GINI coefficient metric,primarily due to a skewed complex tax system which favours the very rich and a meagre welfare system that is designed to punish the poor and the sick.
Do vacations for judges qualify as a business expenditure? It is, isn't it?
Let us be thankful for economists like Robert Reich, Paul Krugman, and Joseph Stiglitz...
okay
Fay, are you talking about the Nobel-winning neo-con economist Milton Friedman? He was an elitist skunk. John M. Keynes was way better and had the benefit of the 'common slob' in mind with his writings.
Probably, Dennis, and thank you, I think I was probably thinking of Alan Greenspan. It is Milton Friedman I was taking about, but I've never been impressed with Greenspan either. I only took two econ classes in college but my heroes were Keynes and Galbraith. I've never thought of supply side or 'tickle down as they like to call it, as anything but huge transfers of wealth from the middle to the top. Which is why I get so irate when my Republican acquaintances accuse me of wanting to 'unfairly' redistribute the wealth from the 'deserving' top - who according to them earned it to the bottom who wouldn't know how to use it. How the hell to they think they got that wealth in the first place?
They are anal-retentive libertarians.
Greenspan was part of Ayn Rand’s inner circle for years, and Rand’s view of economics was even worse than Milton Friedman’s. Friedman’s economics have decimated the American middle class and continue to do so.
Wasn't "affluent society" Galbraith somewhat delusional?
Those lawyers were elected by citizens and paid through taxes. BTW: wealthy 1% of tax payers starts at $590,000 and above. Means every NFL and MLB rookie is wealthy being that make over $700,00 annual by union contract.
You are correct. Filthy rich billionaires have very little income. The only solution is to tax their wealth or increase their capital gain taxes.
Thank you, so do Robert Reich, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren AND Kamala Harris
Maybe the problem is that we allow them to take those deductions as legitimate business expenditures.
That's why the Republican Party for the past 40 years, has been lowering the IRS budget so they have fewer auditors. The lower the income more likely the audit. It takes a team of auditors to audit the tax returns of the super wealthy.
Minimum wage workers pay 40%? That is hard to believe.
Very true add up all the taxes the working class pay (gas tax , utility taxes ,
School city state municipal sales tax.)
I believe it to be true.
No tax credits child care etc…
Big money has big write offs .
Little guy none, lawyers typically have their cars written off so they can go to work.
Factory guy no.
Weren’t buffet statement
Not if you look at all their taxes FDIC, IRS, and State income tax deductions. Their only recompense if the earned income tax credit an not everyone is eligible for that. People earning more than $168,000 per year don't pay SSA, Medicare, SDI, etc.
He includes social security and Medicare taxes, including the "employer paid" portion, in the 40%. The fiction of employer-paid taxes is a scam that let's them claim the US is "low tax" and have poor people believe them. Sure it's low tax ... for the rich!
17 % for the wealthy Warren Buffett
Vs people not making more the$75,000
They are pay too much of their money in taxes and the group above $75,000 a year should pay the same gross percentage tax rate.
I maybe mistaken but Lyndon Johnson had the tax rate running in a more fair manner.
Wrong, our present tax system reported by the IRS for 2021 tax returns has 1% tax holders, a group with AGI of $580,000 and up having paid 45.8 % of the total tax collected. The top 50% of all taxpayer [income over $44,200] paid 97.7% of all federal individual income tax, the bottom 50% paid the remaining 2.3%. The average tax rate was 14.9%, the top 1% paid 25.9% average, eight time higher than the 3.3% average paid by the bottom half of taxpayers.
Very confusing ... you are making some kind of point by lumping $42.000 - infinity per yr income, and saying this group pays 97% of taxes collected? So maybe those making $42.000 - $100.000 / yr are paying 90%? I don't know what your point is. And calling $42,000 part of the top income? Maybe there's a decimal place missing?
Not after deduction credits and financial engineering …
Thanks for getting this truth which I have known for a few years—out to more people.
Grateful for Knowing You and for all You do and say
Ellen Gannon
It still blows my mind how quickly Republicans pounce on any assistance to the poor as rank socialism but are thrilled to give more money to the already-rich. I told my conservative dad about a little food pantry we were opening at our church to give away free groceries to anyone who feels like taking some, and his first response was: "Aren't you worried people will steal it all and sell it?" You know, on the thriving black market for expired cans of beans... Not half an hour later he, a retiree living in a trailer court, was defending tax cuts for billionaires. Maybe they think worshipping the rich makes them vicariously wealthy. Anyway, I've said it before and will say it again: the fatal flaw of democracy is the vast number of people who would rather be ruled than embrace the responsibilities of freedom. Sadly, as spot on as this article is, it would only make most poor, white conservatives support him more.
Well said, Ryan. The old saying goes "you can lead the horse to water, but you can't make him drink". Stone-cold logic disintegrates in the furnace-blast of propaganda supplied daily by demagogues of whatever stripe.
It’s taken years of propaganda, but getting white working class people to vote against their economic interest was the biggest success the plutocrats have had. We can thank Rupert Murdoch, the late Rush Limbaugh and Limbaugh’s various imitators for that.
It's deeply held Christian Fundamentalist belief ..... the rich are the chosen of God, do not question God's choice. You are trying to use logic on religion. It does not work. Check out some Frank Schaeffer talks .... there's a brilliant one from 7 yrs ago about those who believe the bible IS reality, while logic and science are the work of Satan. Reaching them with logic, or anything, is nigh onto impossible. Also ... check out Leon Festinger "When Prophecy Fails" re; cult mentality.
Very good.. I have to agree with you about the R’s habitually complain and blame the poor for their taxes while at the same time thinking tax cuts don’t contribute to their tax level! Amazes me- I assume it is because the R’s have twisted their messages so badly and they believe the tax cuts cost us nothing! Growing up I simply thought Christian’s were democrats- they helped everybody and you don’t hear them c/o taxes or helping the poor. R’s have always complained. I kept quiet, I was one of those poor kids that started volunteering by 11yoa.
It's the Tammy Faye Baker world. The TFB world says that if you are wealthy, God gave you that wealth, you are one of the chosen. They are not like you and me. And many, many people, believe this with all of their being. If you question the wealthy, you are questioning God's choice. End of conversation.
It's exasperating how many Christians ignore absolutely everything Jesus ever taught. He warned constantly about the dangers of greed and clinging to worldly riches. I wish they'd figure out that what they really worship is money, and capitalism is their religion.
Capitalist culture is created by the capitalists, and they want to be admired and respected, both flattering and protective.
The trickle-down economics scam is one of the most egregious and destructive economic myths to have ever infected the American body politic. It is a shame, really, to see the inequality that has come as a result.
Yes, thanks Ronald Reagan!!
And thanks Margaret Thatcher in Britain which has never gotten over its fixation with the School of Chicago economics.
Thank them both for nothing. I was only 17 and not yet old enough to vote, but even I knew Reagan’s economics would damage the American economy, and I wish I had been wrong.
Trickle-down can work if the tax system requires it. Tax cuts do the opposite.
Thank you for the essay. Your analysis is pretty easy for most people to understand. I have had to restrain myself from “yelling at the TV” when I hear Trump talking about how his tax cuts helped the middle class. Liar Liar
… pants on fire
I never want to hear the Trump name again. Mary Trump ok. And a cousin that know Donald’s a dangerous jerk. I’m so tired of him.
Mary is Donald’s niece. She is the daughter of Donald’s deceased elder brother Fred, Jr., who angered Fred, Sr. by refusing to join Fred, Sr.’s business. Mary is a psychologist who has a great deal of insight into Donald’s personality and numerous personal flaws that make him a poor choice as President.
You are Brilliant, Mr.Reich, I always learn so much from you. Thank You and will reStack ASAP 💯👍💙🌊
It's sickening.
MAGAts are so stupid - they have no idea what tax bracket they are in - how the government pays its billls or how laws are written - Trump loves the uneducated
And we’ve been dumbing down this country for years……
We’ve done this because people of Trump’s bent and the theocrats don’t want people to develop critical thinking skills. They want people who will accept what they’re told and to obey without question.
Propaganda in the form of repeated lies is especially egregious and dangerous right now.
The root of the problem is lack of education and critical thinking skills.
Thank you Professor. My only contention is with "trickle down" call it by what it really is "GUSH up".
It’s more like the wealthy have turned the rest of us into s public urinal.
This is great, BUT...
What Democrats fail to do, but MUST do is tell the public precisely WHY Republicans relentlessly move heaven and earth to reward the rich and corporations with tax cuts and deregulation.
And that reason IS that while Republicans need the votes of rank-and-file voters to gain and hold power so that they CAN enact tax cuts for the rich and powerful, and promise the them the Moon in return for those votes, behind closed doors, when the only ones listening are each other, they express nothing but contempt for the hoi polloi. And THAT'S because average Americans can't afford to give them anything in return for those votes (in no small part, and with no small irony, because of those same tax cuts that, since Ronald Reagan's day, have moved a total of $51 TRILLION from the bottom 90% of Americans to the top one-tenth of one percent, with wages stubbornly stagnant -- by design -- till Joe Biden's presidency). The small campaign contributions they get from those rubes, even in the aggregate, are inconsequential.
Ah, but in return for their tireless service on their behalf, in the short term the RICH and corporations reward Republicans with railway cars-full of campaign cash AND, in the long term, after they've retired (Clarence Thomas, Mitch McConnell and a few notable others who've been far too impatient to wait), they shower Republicans with lavish rewards: lucrative consultancies, lobbying jobs, seats on corporate boards of directors and contracts with conservative publishers to write chronicles of their exploits while on the public payroll (after they left those log cabins they were all born in) that they and the publishers know perfetly well no one will ever buy (other than the GOP to use as giveaways for campaign contributions by less well-heeled donors) or read.
The public MUST be made to understand the nature, root and consequences of this unholiest of unholy alliances. As with EVERY political issue, it's about one thing, and one thing only: MONEY.
It's about money and tribes.
All that money that went to rich people is why we have a 34T national debt.
In a perfect world the wealthy would endeavor to help the less fortunate. Sadly, our world is far from perfect, and the wealthy upper class will have to be shown the light they obviously are too blind to see.
The huge decrease in tax for large corporations is only part of the story. Nobody ever mentions that SMALL corporations, those little mom-and-pop retailers, small entrepreneurs, and local independent service businesses with net profits of $50,000 per year or less, which is millions of small businesses, all saw tax INCREASES, from 15% to 21%. Before 2018, the corporate tax was a graduated tax, 15% on that lowest-earning group and rising to 34% and more above $75,000 in profit. On top of that are the many complicated details which are also heavily skewed to favor the wealthy.
Terry, Thank you for this info. I smell a skunk here, or rather a colony of them. Should not be a mystery that this occurred in the 2nd year of the Drumpf admin, since it would have taken about a year to have these revisions of the tax code enacted, if my estimation is correct. Same old story of the middle class shouldering the burden for the uber-rich.
A lot of them were also squeezed out of business in the 1980s and 1990s when large chain retailers came in and closed down the mom and pop businesses. One of the things the wealthy and Republicans will not tell you is that much of the complexity of the tax code has to do with various exemptions and write offs that are available to wealthy folk and not to ordinary taxpayers.
But don’t most of the rich only pay on “earned income” which they set themselves up so they’re actually not paid but use their stock as collateral to take out loans which aren’t “earned income” thus not having to pay their share?
From Inequality Media (April 26th): "President Biden’s plans include calls for raising the corporate tax rate from 21% to 28%, and raising the stock buyback tax from 1% to 4%. Also helpful: a 25% tax on the wealth gains of households with over $100 million in assets, establishing an inheritance tax; and continuing to fully fund the IRS to crack down on the wealthiest tax cheats."
(Even a subset of such measures would address the concern - and to a greater extent than a policy orientation which intends quite the opposite; can we really afford to be too particular?)
I believe that a "billionaire minimum tax" is called for. Could do it something like RMDs from retirement accounts. A nominal minimum income is assessed based on the persons assets ... perhaps $1m on every $1b in assets? That's just 0.1% (compared to 4% required distribution from retirement accounts) so maybe it should be more? If they declare an income LESS than that, they have to pay top rate tax on the "missing" income.
The latter, and for Trump to go to prison.
Along with all the other people who enabled his January 6 insurrection. Unfortunately, I am beginning to believe our judicial system is unwilling and unable to hold Trump and his enablers criminally accountable. Giuliani and Eastman have both been disbarred, but it is a sanction on their ability to practice law, and is not criminal punishment. Disbarment is a sanction to protect the public.
Trump is a ‘stalking horse’ a front for what is really going on behind the scenes. Project 2025 is very complex and well thought out by very serious insurrectionists. They are quieting Trump down so he doesn’t blow his cover and turn off his Cult. That loyal following will get the Insurrection to the election and then the results can be called into question, argued against, stalled and can throw those results into Congress and then to SCOTUS, who will act quickly to ‘resolve’ the ‘conflict’, a la Bush v. Gore as quickly as possible, ‘to save face’ and ‘get the show on the road’. Trump can be put out to pasture as soon as the dirty work is done.