First as for what is illegal. The writers of the Constitution had no concept that a reality TV huckster, could be elected President. In office, Trump seems much more concerned about his brand and his income than how well the country is doing. President Grant did not try to sell his personal brand of whiskey. Teddy Roosevelt did not want to build hotels in our national parks. Every recent President, except Obama, put their assets in a blind trust, and Obama made all of holdings public. He kept his money in bonds, index funds and college funds..
Trump is doing many things that can be construed as illegal, such as changing regulations to make it easier to build golf courses in wetlands. He also has many on-going deals with foreign countries, which could influence how he makes decisions about policy. He doesn’t divulge his dealings, or his family’s, and he cannot be counted upon to be truthful.
As we agreed earlier, we are still in a “wait and see” mode about who did what with whom with Russia. I think it’s becoming clear that Jeff Sessions has perjured himself. It will be fascinating to see what Manafort, Kushner and Jr. have to say. As Pee Wee Herman used to sing “Connect the dots, la, la, la. Some of the dots are beginning to look like line, but only the tip of it all has been revealed. Conflict of interest? Obstruction of justice? As long as Ryan and McConnell are in power, very little is likely to happen. They certainly have no concern about ethics or morals. Illegal doesn’t bother them much either.
As for the economy, and redistribution of wealth, I think that Trump’s policies are even worse than Bush’s. It was the Cheney tax plan that gave the inequality of wealth in America it’s biggest boost. It has been apparent for years that one of the biggest lies sold to the American public is the idea of “trickle down economics.” A lot of money has trickled down to the Cayman Islands and Panama.
The only consistency of the Republican and Trump’s attempt at any policy making demonstrates that they believe America is for very rich White people, and no one else counts for much. Almost every executive order or Republican initiative seem to facilitate establishing a ruling oligarchy of billionaires, and offer jobs to everyone else at $8 an hour, take it or leave it. And all people have the chance to buy their health care coverage out of that, even if it costs 110% of their earnings, as it does at Walmart. It doesn’t help the economy to have sick workers who can’t pay for treatment, or to deny coverage for pregnancy and birth control. It doesn’t help to have hospitals close or care-workers not get paid or to expect the disabled to get jobs.
The stock market is booming, and I’m living better because of that, but the underlying economy is doing slightly worse than it was under Obama, and the future looks much more uncertain. No one knows what our trade policies are, what our monetary policies are, and even who our allies are.
Jobs? What has Trump done to create better paying jobs, or to make America competitive? Bolster military spending? Help the fossil fuel industry? Hire lots of lawyers? Betsy is certainly doing a great job creating better schools for everyone, dealing with student debt, and preparing for our technological future. Infrastructure? That hasn’t been mentioned yet. Obama got some money for that but not as much as he would have liked. What’s the chances of having our government build a national wi-fi structure, which would do more for the economy than another road full of gas burning cars.
Trump, by making policy based upon his own views of science, is cutting the funds for research in basic science and medicine, getting rid of scientists in government, not publishing government research that contradicts what he wants to believe, has created chaos in research labs, biotech, and industrial Rand D. International research conferences will not be held in the U.S. as foreign scientists don’t feel welcome here. Foreign students at all level who had been eager to come to study, and often stay in the U.S. do not feel safe. R and D will continue to advance in China, Germany, India and the rest of Europe faster than here.
The biggest problem underlying creating a solid middle class here, and all around the world, is that technology and Ai will continue to take more jobs away than they create. The jobs that will be necessary will require more sophisticated skills. Trump and the Republicans (and the Democrats) don’t seem to want to look at that because they don’t have any real solution. At least the Democrats want to make higher education affordable to everyone.
As far as the “Libertarian” view of how government should work, to me it means “I’ve got mine, now good luck to you, but don’t expect any help from anyone.” Kind of like when Romney said “ Sometimes people have to borrow money from their parents.” That’s why he didn’t win. That’s what Trump did to become a “great businessman.”
That’s why I fear for the future of my grandchildren. Trump seems to have no understanding of what it means to be President, beside having won the election ( which some people doubt).All he wants to do is fight with CNN, CNBC and Tweet about how Obama is out to get him. The MSM NYT has a verified list of hundreds of lies he has told the American public, not counting “wait two weeks, great things will happen.” Fox News has acted as if most of them are true.
Trump is corrupt, dishonest, and paranoid. He is also mean and vindictive. These are not the characteristics of a person who can lead us through very difficult and complex times. You are certainly free to support him, but it puts us all at risk.
(sorry for the typos, etc, I’ve already put too much time into this.)
Enjoy your weekend.
