Dear Reform Conservatives: The Anti-Reform Plutocrats Who Finance Your Party Won't Magically Disappear

Josh Barro of The New York Times has published yet another discussion of that most tiresome of questions: Will Donald Trump usher in an era of reform conservatism? Will Trump's presidential campaign lead, in the long run, to an era when the GOP has a true middle-class agenda, rather than an agenda custom-tailored for plutocrats -- tax cuts for the rich, benefit cuts for everyone else, immigration reform?

Right away, Barro gets an answer from reformicon and former George W. Bush speechwriter David Frum:

Is Donald Trump the candidate the reformocons have been waiting for?

“No,” Mr. Frum said.

Great! I think we're done here.

But.

“He may be the jolt that the Republican Party needs to compromise its pro-plutocratic agenda,” he said.

Explain, David?

Mr. Frum attributes most Republican candidates’ continued devotion to cuts in taxes and entitlements to the desires of a Republican donor class that benefits directly from lower tax rates and indirectly, through lower labor costs, from high immigration. Mr. Trump, as Mr. Trump will happily tell you, does not need rich donors’ money....

“Trump served notice that the donors’ platform isn’t even acceptable inside the party,” Mr. Frum said.

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