What would you expect from a man who lies incessantly, with no qualms about spewing blatant falsehoods, regarding personal aspects of his life, relationships, and politics. Even when caught on tape talking about sexually attacking women, he can deny it. Even when a dozen women accuse him of sexual harassment or worse, he denies it.
When our beloved president was on the campaign trail eons ago, he made numerous promises to the American public which he has subsequently broken, showing no remorse. These are the tricks of a con man, a sociopath who does not care about who he might hurt with his words or actions. His statements are often spontaneous, giving no thought to contradictions with previous comments, or his ability or willingness to follow through on what he said.
On a numbers of occasions, Trump promised to release his taxes to allow people to see how and where he made his money, whether his statements about his wealth were accurate, whether he engaged in any unethical activities, what conflicts of interest might be present. He still has not released his them, claiming that people are not interested, another blatant lie. It is unlikely his taxes will ever become public while he is president.
Trump pledged during the campaign that he would get the very best people to help his administration, would clean up Wall Street, and diminish the influence of lobbyists. Instead, he has gathered a number of corrupt and tarnished individuals into his administration, some of whom have already been dismissed. Trump has fired many honest, effective high level government employees, or 2path they have resigned, and Trump has neglected to replace many of them, leaving important posts vacant. There have been more appointees leaving government than in any past administration.
The worst of his bad choices was probably his first National Security Advisor, Michael Flynn, whom he fired three weeks after learning about his lying and corrupt activities. He also fired all the regional federal prosecutors, most ambassadors, many State Department officials, and so forth. Numerous vital slots in the federal government, some needing Senate confirmation, others not, have not been filled yet, thirteen months after Trump’s inauguration. So not only has Trump not gotten the best people, he has gotten no one for many positions in his administration.
He also pledged to clean up the swamp in Washington, Wall Street, and lobbyists. Instead, many Wall Streeters and lobbyists are playing roles in his administration. And the carried interest that hedge fund, private equity personnel, and real estate moguls use to avoid taxes is still in place. Trump ran for office as a populist, saying that he would help the working and middle classes. But there are no populists in major posts in his administration, and Trump has done little to aid his base.
Trump’s environmental efforts with his dirty buddy, Scott Pruitt, will hurt workers and the rural poor. The tax cuts are a scam which will further enrich corporations and the most affluent Americans, while doing little for the working or middle classes. And the national debt and budget deficits which Trump promised to control will soar. He also promised to end Obamacare which would have hurt poor people but he was unsuccessful. So Trump is looking for other ways to end the viability of Obamacare without a replacement for supplying health care for Americans.
The $1.5 trillion infrastructure program he promised has shrunk to $200 billion with Trump saying he would get states, cities and private interests to supply the rest. I wouldn’t bet on it.
The border wall with Mexico is not yet up (Thank God) which would have wasted tens of billions of dollars. The DACA kids are still out on a limb which Trump started sawing off in the first place. And the rest of immigration reform is in limbo. The trade deficit with China has not been addressed. And economic growth has not yet hit the 4 percent that Trump promised.
Trump’s pledge not to touch Medicare or Medicaid during the campaign also went by the wayside as his recent budget included cuts to Medicaid and possibly to Social Security which Trump said was secure. All in all, Trump’s promises during the campaign were not worth the hot air he produced while making his promises. Maybe that’s what’s responsible for the increase in global warming.
Resurrecting Democracy
www.robertlevinebooks.com
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Political junkie, Vietnam vet, neurologist- three books on aging and dementia. Book on health care reform in 2009- Shock Therapy for the American Health Care System. Book on the need for a centrist third party- Resurrecting Democracy- A Citizen’s Call for a Centrist Third Party published in 2011. Aging Wisely, published in August 2014 by Rowman and Littlefield. Latest book- The Uninformed Voter published May 2020