President Donald Trump's latest proposalearned derision even from the conservative Wall Street Journal editorial board on Thursday afternoon.
The Journal opened with a rhetorical question about Trump's proposal this week to "leverage federal assets to create a new investment fund for the political class to invest in whatever it pleases, including private companies."
"What could possibly go wrong?" the Journal quipped, answering bluntly, "The answer is plenty, which is why President Trump’s proposal Monday to create a new sovereign wealth fund deserves to die in Congress."
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The order was light on specifics but noted the fund would promote "fiscal sustainability" secure the economy for future generations and promote the United States' economic and strategic leadership across the globe.
But the Journal was left with a far less rosy impression.
"More likely, it would take resources from the private economy, fund political boondoggles, and mess with the business decisions of private companies," the board wrote.
While Trump's treasury could — in theory — sell or securitize future revenue streams, "In practice, federal assets aren't what they seem," the Journal opined. The country's biggest asset is its massive $1.6 trillion in student debt, 25% of which is poised to be written off.
The U.S. also has hundreds of billions of dollars in other "phantom assets," including disaster loans low-income housing and green energy.
And while other countries have wealth funds, they're typically used to "enrich a country’s rulers and their friends far more than citizens."
"Foreign leaders use the funds to finance businesses and projects of political allies. Corruption is a constant temptation. Malaysia’s version, 1MDB, channeled billions of dollars to support the lifestyles of a Prime Minister and his cronies," the board wrote.
To boot, it would give politicians another place to send money without having to go through Congress — which the board called the "biggest danger" of the idea.
"Mr. Trump gave the game away on Monday when he suggested such a fund could buy TikTok," the Journal wrote.
It concluded: "Government doesn’t create wealth, and a sovereign wealth fund would merely be one more way for the government to commandeer private wealth for political purposes. It will destroy more wealth than it creates."