Donald Trump is the most successful pro wrestling villain in American history. Or, at least, he's the first pro wrestling villain to get this close to the White House.
Nathan Benefield, vice president of policy at the Commonwealth Foundation in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, joins host Eric Boehm on this edition of the Watchdog Podcast to talk about Trump. An avid pro wrestling fan, Benefield says Trump is playing the part of the "heel." In the parlance of pro wrestling, that's a bad guy who mocks everything and everyone while winning his way to the top. The audience is supposed to hate the heel, but that only makes him more popular.
Sound familiar?
Borrowing from the professional wrestling playbook, Trump has run a campaign full of insults, smack talk and bluster. Most Republicans don't like him, but that's only made him more popular with his band of supporters and, so far, there's no sign of a "hero" who can rise to the occasion and knock out the "heel."
Then, Benefield and Boehm take a look at the on-going budget dispute in Pennsylvania. With last year's budget still somewhat unfinished, Gov. Tom Wolf pitched his proposal for a 2016-17 budget this week. He wants more taxes and higher spending, but the real problem is Pennsylvania's long-term budget deficit.
In other news: Wisconsin celebrates five years since the introduction of Act 10 and Virginia considers major reforms to its licensing system for health care providers.
All that, plus the Nanny State of the Week, on this edition of the Watchdog Podcast.
