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South China Sea Island; Interview With Billionaire Investor Wilbur Ross;
Trump versus Cruz Delegate Count; Trump the Disrupter; New Rules at
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China; Polls>
I tell people, you have to go back and look at Andrew Jackson as a genuine disrupter. You have to look at Theodore Roosevelt's energy level, and a PT Barnum salesmanship, somewhere in those three, you begin to get the outline of a Donald Trump.
DOBBS: Newt Gingrich, thanks for being with us, look forward to talking with you soon.
GINGRICH: Thanks.
DOBBS: Thanks. Newt Gingrich.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
A Louisiana fisherman recently thought he had caught the "the big one." His name is Lance (Burgos). He thought he was reeling in a catfish, as you see here, he seems to be moving a little faster and, perhaps, we can see the reason for that. There - no, that's not a catfish - no - that's a very large alligator on the other end of his hook. He, wisely, began paddling. I think paddling like hell is the expression. I mean, he did better - I think he - he maintained his poise pretty well, you got to give him credit.
And, by the way, he wasn't a bit ashamed to throw away the bait, the hook, the line, the sinker, everything. Nobody hurt, and a great story to tell.
A programming notes now, please stay tuned after this show for the FOX News Special, "Donald Trump, the Disrupter." Bret Baier giving us an inside look at the Trump presidential campaign talking with the Trump family, his friends, his supporters, the candidate himself, airing right after the show, and it begins at 8 p.m. Eastern, right here, on the FOX Business Network.
Up next, Donald Trump predicts the United States on the verge of recession.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: What I said, is we're going to go into a massive recession, but I also say, if I'm president, that's not going to happen because I'm going to straighten things out before it happens. It's going to be a mess.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DOBBS: We take all of that up with Economist, Dr. Arthur Laffer, President Reagan's personal economist. He'll be with us next. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: America no longer the top country to achieve the American dream, according to New York Fed President, William Dudley. Dudley says, "Because income mobility has remained unchanged. Folks actually have better odds of attaining the American dream in other countries like Denmark or Canada."
Well, joining us now, Arthur Laffer, a former member of President Reagan's Economic Policy Advisory Board, Chairman of Laffer Associates. Dr. Laffer, good to have you with us.
LAFFER: Thank you very much, Lou, it's a real pleasure being with you.
DOBBS: We're talking about a race, the likes of which none of us has seen, in our lifetime, and Donald Trump is focusing on the middle-class. People are suddenly aware - they felt it - but he is now articulating the fact that wages have been stagnant for nearly 40 years in this country for the middle-class.
That our middle-class is shrinking, not growing, over the course of the past 40 years, and that we have got to come to terms with the consequences of policies that have been disastrous like, 40 years, 40 consecutive years of trade deficits and $19 trillion in debt.
LAFFER: Yes, well, you know, remember that the 40 years that you're talking about and the trade deficit and the amount of federal deficit, as well, are all consequences of bad policies, but they aren't the bad policies themselves.
The bad policies are tax the rich, subsidize people who don't have jobs, you know, all of these things have done, have negative interest rates, you know, have poor people spending themselves into wealth. None of that makes any sense.
You want a low-rate, broad-based, flat tax, Lou, you want spending restraint, sound money free trade, minimal regulations, and let the free market solve it, and it will solve it just the way you and I want.
DOBBS: If I may, I'm a free marketer too.
LAFFER: I know you are.
DOBBS: But after I watch 40 years of consecutive trade deficits, without relief, and with devastating consequences, Donald Trump in Rome, New York, today, talking a big rally there, about the fact they've lost half of their manufacturing jobs over the last 25 years. It goes to every state in the union has similar stories. The reality is, our public policy, two impulses at work in a body politic.
One is libertarian philosophy which is basically, on one level, saying, no- one is responsible for anything, but most especially the government.
And on the other level, free trade laissez-faire, which is, I don't have to make a conscious public policy choice because hands off, and I'm not responsible.
At some point, we have to take responsibility and ownership of the consequences that you and I know, full well, we cannot permit to continue for the middle-class in this country.
LAFFER: You're completely correct, Lou, the only thing I would suggest is that we have been punishing manufacturing jobs in the U.S. We have the highest single corporate tax rate in the OECD. Who wants to move their production here? No-one. We have state taxes that are very anti- production output employment. You have other countries that are very better.
And I hope I'm not going over anyone's heads, but if you have two .
DOBBS: Only mine.
LAFFER: . locations, A and B, no - I never go over your head, you've got this wired - but, A and B, if you raise taxes in B and you lower them in A, producers and manufacturers are going to move from B to A, and they're moving out of the U.S. because of Obama, because of (inaudible), because of our huge taxes on all of our production.
DOBBS: But you know, for a middle-class family, a working man, small business man or woman in this country, hearing you talk or anyone of us talk about taxes, lower taxes for corporate America, that doesn't diminish their pain, doesn't expand their future horizons and hopes or opportunities at all.
We've got to go beyond that, and one of the things that Donald Trump is doing is going beyond that. He's saying, point blank in plain language, we're going to stop the nonsense. And you've got to be cheering that.
LAFFER: Well, I do, I do cheer a lot of what he .
DOBBS: Do you endorse him by the way?
LAFFER: No, no. I don't. I don't endorse anyone (inaudible). No, I don't endorse Ted Cruz; although, I like both Trump and Cruz. I am in the sweet spot of this world. I think both of those candidates are absolutely spectacular. I couldn't have picked a better race, and training ground that they're doing, I mean, this campaign is really a tough campaign, and these guys are getting skilled. They'll just beat the living tar out of Hillary Clinton.
We'll win .
DOBBS: Bernie Sanders. You've got to give him .
LAFFER: I don't think he's going to win the nomination, but if he does, we'll beat the tar out of Bernie, too, I mean, these guys are really great.
DOBBS: With that, we're taking in as your most recent forecast, economic or political or otherwise.
LAFFER: Forty-five states.
DOBBS: I'm sorry?
LAFFER: Forty-five states the Republicans are going to take in the final election.
DOBBS: Go big or go home.
LAFFER: We'll go big or go home, and Trump is saying great things, 15 percent corporate tax. Ted Cruz, a 16 percent flat tax on business. I mean, those are great.
DOBBS: It sounds like Trump won there. He's one percent better. All right, we've got to go. We've got to go.
LAFFER: . the personal income, sorry. It's a race to the neck and I love this race.
DOBBS: Arthur Laffer, we love having you on. Good to see you. Thanks for being with us.
LAFFER: Thank you, Lou, you're great, by the way, thank you.
DOBBS: Up next, Speaker Ryan, ruling out a run for president. Do you feel relief? We've heard his denials, however, before.
(BEGINNING VIDEO CLIP)
RYAN: Does Paul Ryan want to be Speaker? No, he doesn't.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why not?
RYAN: Because I don't want to be Speaker.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DOBBS: Oh, he seemed so credible there, didn't he? Can we believe Ryan this time? Jedediah Bila and Matt Schlapp take up that very issues and where is Donald Trump and where is Ted Cruz? And why aren't they in the same place, and what will be the result?
Stay with us, we'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: Joining us tonight, Chairman of the American Conservative Union, Matt Schlapp. Matt, great to have you on the show; and author, columnist, FOX News Contributor, Jedidiah Bila, or as I call her, the "Conscious of the Five."
BILA: Thank you, that's why you're my favorite.
DOBBS: Provide great illumination.
BILA: That's why you're my favorite, Lou.
DOBBS: Bless your heart. Let's start with Paul Ryan. Jedediah, he says no, and we know one thing, this man says no, he means no.
BILA: Yes, no, look. I don't think he wants the job, actually, and I don't think anyone is clamoring for him to have the job. People forget - people forget, though, no, there are people that want to beg Paul Ryan and Mitt Romney to run. No matter how many times, they could say no 500 times, and there will be that person that says, "But on 501, he might agree."
People forget, though, that Paul Ryan was already on a presidential ticket and was extremely disappointing. He didn't go after President Obama toughly. He suddenly went from this guy who was out there, all of a sudden, heavy talk, heavy talk, to being, really, an intellectual weakling when he ran on that ticket in my opinion.
So I think people need to, you know what, you get your DVRs and roll some of that tape back to when you were criticizing him for not being tough enough because that's who he is when he campaigns, don't get too excited.
DOBBS: Are you relieved or heartbroken, Matt, that Ryan has withdrawn his name?
SCHLAPP: I think it was the smart thing for him to withdraw his name, and I think it would be an absurdity for my party, the Republican Party, to look beyond Ted Cruz or Donald Trump. It's got to be one of those two to get the nomination.
I think Paul Ryan did say one thing. He said it would absurd to not have somebody who's been a candidate for president, who's not asking to get the nomination, actually get the nomination, Lou, I don't know if you've noticed, but he seemed to open the door to one of the 17.
DOBBS: Exactly.
SCHLAPP: Which I thought was very curious.
DOBBS: And everyone here, on Lou Dobbs Tonight, got excited because that meant that Jim Gilmore was back in the race.
BILA: Yes.
SCHLAPP: That's right.
DOBBS: We owe it to .
BILA: And don't forget Jeb, Jeb Bush.
DOBBS: Oh, who could, and who would. These billionaire donors, and the ones who aren't quite billionaires, spending lots of money, going after Trump. Why can't they see that it's Cruz or it's Trump, and there's not anything in between?
BILA: It's desperation. There are people that cannot stand Donald Trump to such an extent that they think, somehow, that the more money they spend, they'll be able to get people away from. The truth is, this isn't an election. I've said this from the beginning, where money, where negative ads, or any of that is going to dictate who wins.
It's about who goes and speaks to the people and they feel understands their plight, has a plan, and it's tough - the one thing that's been missing from the last two presidential candidates, is toughness, is someone who's not only going to debate the Democratic candidate toughly, but also is going to have policies when it comes to some of the people around the world that are pretty tough to deal with and aren't going to take any garbage.
That's why Trump is up there, and that's why, frankly, Ted Cruz is winning, as well, because they view him as someone who digs his heels in.
DOBBS: Matt, your thoughts on Trump, in particular, he is saying that the party has rigged the game. He's saying to the anti-establishment crowds that he attracts by the tens of thousands, he would say the millions and he would be right in cumulative, they're just simply not going to have it with an establishment that insists on disenfranchising a million voters at a time, as the Colorado party did. What do you think?
SCHLAPP: Look, I think there are plenty of ways which you should criticize this presidential nominating process. It's arcane. These states pass, at some times, ridiculous rules, but by the same token, I think Donald Trump has done a pretty good job of navigating these rules and winning a lot of primaries and winning a lot of caucuses.
And what his campaign needs do right now, I know there's this rhetorical strategy of pushing back on the RNC, but they just simply, they have to lock it down in New York, and these polls look awfully strong.
They have to lock it down in these other northeastern states, and they've got to take it to California.
DOBBS: Let me ask you about Cleveland, though, first, really quick; (INAUDIBLE) requiring eight victories. It would make it between Cruz and Trump, period, no questions asked. Do you think it would be a smart idea for them to preserve, because it looks to me like it would be idiotic for them to change rules? What do you think of that?
SCHLAPP: In this scenario, I don't like that rule, because it was a Romney rule, but in this scenario, I think they ought to keep it, because it should be either Trump or Cruz. But let me tell you, they can change those rules at any point, Lou, we got to keep our eye on the ball.
DOBBS: Oh, I know that. And, if they do, I think they'll pay a hell of a price.
BILA: Yes, it should be Trump or Cruz. These are the guys that have fought the hard fight. They're at the top for a reason, and anyone else who isn't at the top, they didn't make it for a reason. Bring them back into the circle, they're going to make the same mistakes and make people unhappy.
DOBBS: See, we took care of that. Reince Priebus, there you got it, the chairman of the Republican National Committee.
Matt Schlapp, thanks so much for being with us. Jedediah Bila, thank you.
And our online poll, 77 percent of you said you don't think anyone should give a darn about Speaker Ryan's agenda. Well, he's still got one. We'll see.
That's it for us tonight. We thank you for being with us. Before we go, two books we'd like to recommend very quickly. "The War on Cops," by Heather McDonald, and, "We the People," by Juan Williams. We think you'll enjoy them. Please do.
Good-night from New York.
END
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