After hitting perfect homeruns on military occupations and Karl Rove, Donald Trump swerved right into the lane of assured ruin for our banking, housing and mortgage industry last night on Greta when the billionaire real estate mogul urged people to "stop paying your mortgage."

Yes, he did. I heard it last night in the car and just double-checked this video to make sure. He makes this suggestion at 7:44 of the video.

Trump was asked by Greta what he would do about people who were under water on their mortgages. Now while the only way to solve this is for the economy to rebound and for home values to shoot back up, Trump went all "Art of the Deal" on us and gave the following advice:

"You stop paying that mortgage and go negotiate a new mortgage because the banks... they don't want to see that house empty."

Now you don't have to be Rick Santelli on the floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange to understand the absolute nuclear bomb that would set off in our entire economy. Remember, the tea party movement had it's genesis in Santelli's rant about Obama's plan to more or less order banks to accept such a deal.

What is amazing here is that Trump is a real estate mogul, and yet gave this answer. It seems to me that such a piece of advice is perhaps valid if one owns a 500 million dollar hotel or casino and is in trouble - and has the bank over a barrel - but to suggest that Americans do that wholesale on a standard home mortgage is stunning.

Is it possible that a real estate mogul who was born wealthy really doesn't understand the mundane mortgage process folks like us have to go through? His answer indicates he doesn't, or is playing the cynical populist.

Besides, the question was about being "under water" on your mortgage. The only way to solve that is for the value to go up. This would tank values nationwide and punish the people who play by the rules. Besides, the banks margin on a mortgage is so small that they have no room to negotiate the principal down. It's just not there.

I urge folks to listen to the entire video, because it illustrates the Trump candidacy: part brilliance, part inspiration, totally fearless - and on some issues totally liberal populist. Trump is a gift - and a curse.