Stephen Moore is Donald Trump's other terrible, no-good choice for the Federal Reserve. He has the distinct advantage of not being Herman Cain. However, he also has the drawback of being Stephen Moore. You can't win everything. Moore is an unimpressive right-wing hack who advised Trump's presidential campaign. He might've still skated through Senate confirmation, but Moore's past writings for the National Review revealed some Cro-Magnon theories on women. Someone should really introduce Google to whoever vets candidates for Trump appointments.
Moore has gone on a minor apology tour and explained that most of the crap he wrote was almost 20 years ago, well before scientists discovered women were possibly people. On Sunday's "This Week," Moore suggested a "sleaze campaign" was trying to derail his appointment by reminding people who he is. But he's confident of his chances if everyone focuses instead on his actual economic genius.
MOORE: If [my confirmation] comes down to things I wrote 18 years ago that were impolitic, that I've apologized for, that were, you know, insulting, then I'm in trouble... If it comes to economic ideas, then I'll be fine.
Unfortunately, his economic ideas are also full of sexist shit. In a 2014 National Review piece, Moore claimed the real gender pay gap we should worry about was women somehow earning more than men, because that would prove "disruptive to family stability." That's only true if men's egos are so fragile they resent their wives knocking out the mortgage payments for them. He sounds like a common Tucker Carlson.
MOORE: If men aren't the breadwinners, will women regard them as economically expendable? We saw what happened to family structure in low-income and black households when a welfare check took the place of a father's paycheck. Divorce rates go up when men lose their jobs.
The problem here is especially acute with respect to black families. Black women have been on a 30-year trend of outpacing black men in terms of education and thus earnings. Men are becoming financially expendable.
Yeah, Moore's kinda racist, as well. You really get your money's worth with that National Review subscription. Moore has a history of offering his unsolicited and stupid opinions about the "decline" of the black family. One cringe-worthy example is his 2000 appearance on C-SPAN, which he had to know was being recorded.
MOORE: It's not a good thing that black women are making more than black men today.
Uh, why not? It worked for the Obamas.
MOORE: In fact, you know, the male needs to be the breadwinner of the family.
Men might also claim they "need" a "wake-me-up" blowjob before their morning coffee. That doesn't make it necessarily so.
MOORE: One of the reasons you've seen the decline of the family, not just in the black community, but also it's happening now in the white community as well, is because women are more economically self-sufficient.
Moore had a separate but equal approach to viewing the country's economic conditions, and he really sounded the alarm when he believed the "white community" was also falling victim to uppity women. Claiming that all men can provide to a family is a steady paycheck is regressive and offensive. There's also no evidence that Moore cared to address or even consider the role racism played in why black men were earning less. Instead, he targeted the women who were holding everything together.
So, yeah, diagnosis: Asshole. And Moore didn't improve matters any when he recently tried to "clarify" his views.
MOORE: The biggest problem I see in the economy over the last 25 years is what has happened to male earnings, for black males and white males as well. They've been declining. That is, I think, a big problem. I want everybody's wages to rise, of course. People are talking about women's earnings. They've risen.
Sure, women's earnings have risen since the glory days of "Friends," but they've still not caught up to what men -- especially white males -- earn. Where did this guy learn to economic? Moore's grossness has led to a slow but steady defection by Republicans. Mitt Romney has stated that he wants non-partisans on the Fed and Moore is as partisan as an elephant wearing a MAGA hat. Richard Shelby... from Alabama isn't even a lock. He's worried about the "drip by drips" reveals of Moore's awfulness. Joni Ernst straight up said she's "not enthused" about supporting Moore.
ERNST: Look at his writings! I'm not enthused. I'm a woman.
Moore has written in support of abolishing child labor laws and getting kids working as early as 11 or 12. (Presumably, boys would make more than girls in the coal mines.) After Charlottesville, he wrote a "both sides" column that basically blamed liberals for causing a commotion and not just "ignoring" Nazis. He also shared the following "joke" in public.
MOORE: By the way, did you see, there's that great cartoon going along? A New York Times headline: 'First Thing Donald Trump Does as President Is Kick a Black Family Out of Public Housing,' and it has Obama leaving the White House. I mean, I just love that one. Just a great one.
Yeah, we're surprised Tim Scott hasn't shook his damn head and pulled the plug himself, like previous awful racist Trump picks. Maybe he's leaving this particular chore to Ernst. Regardless, Moore needs to go away forever. The White House said yesterday that it's reviewing his past writings to confirm if Moore is just too much of a typical Trump supporter to actually nominate for the Fed.
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It doesn't look like he's grown out of it.
WOO!! Yeah! Thank you!