I imagine that to a Trump supporter, the president’s moves seem like a new direction for the country.
For me, we are taking giant steps backwards.
It’s not just the denial of climate science or the reversal of protections for LGBTQ citizens, or the hounding of Muslims or threatening North Korea with a ship that was going the wrong way. Or any of the other executive orders undoing any number of worthwhile things like protecting consumers from financial advisers who might value commissions over investors, or net neutrality, or allowing cable television companies to continue to monopolize set-top boxes, or trying to repeal a health care law and replace it with a law that covers 24 million fewer people.
No, despite all of those gems and more, I see the country going back to a time when it was fine to say terrible things to women and minorities and to create groups that deserve protection and those that do not and the ones that do not are usually weaker or vulnerable.
But then there’s the light that illuminated the swamp that is FOX News, resulting in the toppling of Chairman O’Reilly and, perhaps, more executives who tolerated his abuse. And there’s the energy in Georgia and Montana and the other places where Democrats will be challenging Republicans on their own turf. After all, Trump went into the Midwest and won the election. Surely, Democrats can go into the South and the Plains and win some races there.
The big plus, though, is that Republicans are actually in charge and they are proving the point that it’s very difficult to run a government when you want that government to disappear. Yes, the GOP is making noise about reviving the health care bill, but the problem of cost and coverage, especially for those who voted for Trump but still need Obamacare, will doom any attempt to gut the bill, which is really what the rank and file want. They will rue the day.
And tax reform? Show us your returns, Mr. President, so we know how you benefit from the system. Then maybe we’ll support an overhaul that actually helps the middle class. But I don’t see that being a priority for the right. Get rid of the mortgage and state tax deductions? Slap an import tariff on my Kohl’s clothes sprees? Get into a trade war with Canada over milk? Good luck with that.
So maybe things are looking up? A monosyllabic chief executive can only say “great” so many times before he actually has to do something, or get Congress to pass some actual laws. In the meantime, the country will continue to slip backwards, harking back to a time that might have been great for some, but not for all.
It’s a shame that we’ll have to wait to move forward.
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