Within the first two weeks of President Trump’s 4 year term, his disdain for ordinary citizens and preference for billionaires and wealthy people is already evident. We can’t say that we didn’t know it was coming, as throughout his campaign he associated mainly with affluent contributors and tech gurus instead of ordinary citizens. But his messages castigated the liberal elites (his elites weren’t liberal) and promised to improve the lives of average citizens. These rants attracted less educated white men, some Blacks and Hispanics, religious extremists and those who were disgruntled with the state of American society. Trump constantly emphasized the two I’s – inflation and illegal immigration, which greatly appealed to the working classes.
But once attaining office, Trump’s early executive orders have hurt the middle classes and the poor, benefiting his billionaire buddies and corporations. His playbook is Project 2025 from the Heritage Foundation which he disowned during the campaign but is now following after the election. Another lie. He wants to continue or expand the tax cuts he gave the rich in his first term which did nothing for ordinary Americans. We can expect more of the same in the future.
And his obsession with tariffs will hurt ordinary Americans who will pay more for imported products and raise inflation further. Trump says the exporting countries will be paying for the tariffs but the rise in costs will be shifted to Americans. Trump also wants to cut health care benefits to poor people by slashing Medicaid. This will not only result in worse medical care but will also hurt the many nursing home residents who cannot afford to pay the costs of the nursing home. Trump has made an offer to 2 million federal workers to resign and receive a severance package that includes about eight months of pay and benefits. It remains to be seen how many federal workers will take this package and quit their jobs, but the offer is not dependent on a worker’s competency or performance. Trump just wants to cut federal spending so he can give out those tax cuts to his high earner friends. It may make the federal government even less efficient, but Trump doesn’t seem to care. He also wants to make the government bureaucracy more politically oriented and loyal to him, rather than neutral.
Trumps Office of Management and Budget under the president’s direction has frozen spending of as much as $3 trillion related to federal aid programs. This again would hit the poor and middle class the most. Head Start and food programs for the poor were frozen. (A temporary hold on this order came from a federal judge.) Spending is supposed to be under the purview of Congress, but Trump is trying to usurp its powers to make the presidency stronger. Among the programs that would be affected would be school meals for low-income students, a nutrition program for pregnant women, mine inspections, and programs for homeless veterans. And the Department of Education is supposed to be abolished along with aid to schools. Also, inspector generals in a number oof Departments were fired and top FBI officials have been told to resign. Should make the country safer! Foreign assistance for health and nutrition would also be gutted putting millions of poor Africans and Asians at risk of HIV, TB and malaria. And Trump has withdrawn America from the WHO- World Health Organization.
Once of Trump’s worse moves for Americans and the world at large is his total disbelief and disinterest in climate change which he has called a hoax. Trump took America out of the Paris Accord on Climate again and has been pushing for greater use of fossil fuels including coal. He has stopped spending for wind farms to generate electricity and taken away subsidies for electric vehicles. Without American leadership, global warming will continue unabated, causing more disasters in the U.S. and worldwide. These impact the poor and middle classes more than the wealthy. Various regulatory programs to cut pollution as well as emissions have also been halted by Trump who placed restrictions on the EPA to suck up to big business. Highway funding has been stopped. Health research and development has been stopped. Perhaps it would be easier if Trump gave America away to his billionaire friends. At least then, he wouldn’t have to put on a show for ordinary Americans who make up most of his base.
Imaage
www.robertlevinebooks.com
Buy The Uninformed Voter on Amazon, Barnes and Noble and at your local bookstore.
Posted at 08:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Tags: Billionaire’s taxes, Head Start, Medicaid, Nursing home Care, Snap, tariffs, Trump
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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