It’s 2017 and the dawn of the Trump era is upon
us. That, in and of itself, means different things to different people. Of
course, I’m mindful that the New Year came in Sunday of this week, so while I
am picking a contemporary topic, I promise to keep it brief.
Trump partisans argue their hero will be good
for business, that he will put an end to stifling regulations that not only
make it more difficult to do business in the first place, but that cause manufacturers and businesses to inflate prices to offset/cover the resulting
cost of doing business, that he will lower corporate taxes and reduce the
overall number of tax brackets to three, and of course his number one campaign
promise, “Make America Great Again (MAGA)…among other things (such as build a
wall at the Southern Border).
Many of the rest of Americans, including individuals
who voted for Hillary (some would contend she had very few fans), those who
voted for the Libertarian, Green Party, or Independent candidates, or those who
simply opted out of voting, regardless of the reason, are prone to see the
situation somewhat differently. Most of
the people who actually bothered to vote did so out abundant concerns about
both Mr. Trump’s visible character traits, as well as most of the policy
prescriptions he promised, or depending upon one’s point of view, threatened,
to implement.
The list is long, and includes the following as
a representative few:
·
Repeal and replace the
Affordable Care Act (AKA Obamacare)
·
Build a wall at the Southern
Border of the United States (Mexico); make Mexico pay for it
·
Temporarily ban Muslims from
entering the United States
·
Bring manufacturing jobs back
·
Impose tariffs on goods made
in China and Mexico
·
Renegotiate or withdraw from
the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the Trans-Pacific
Partnership (TPP)
·
Renegotiate the Iran Nuclear
Deal
·
Leave Social Security in tact
·
Cut taxes
·
‘Bomb’ and/or ‘take the oil’
from ISIS
The thing that causes concern for many is not
just what he claimed he would do, but that over the course of the campaign, he
took so many positions that he subsequently reversed, abandoned, or simply
denied. In effect, they came to view Mr.
Trump as a well-heeled charlatan.
Unarguably, Trump has managed to navigate the universe that is the
business world and find success.
Nevertheless, his methods on the campaign trail clearly revealed his
charlatan-like tendencies.
And it was not just Mr. Trump. His surrogates
and supporters were called upon almost daily to react to his hyperbole, his
reversals, and his flatly wrong assertions and assignations. Inexplicably, most of them were as oily and
unreliable as he when it came to addressing the issues with which their
candidate had played so fast and loose.
The deflected, dissembled, and when necessary joined the big guy in the
flimsiest of denials. Mostly, they
simply changed the subject, or spoke of some historical moment or action they
deemed a viable equivalent.
It is fair to say that a deep and wide chasm
has emerged and divides our political hemispheres. This very vexing habit, which Trump
supporters see as no big deal, or more pointedly, usually no deal at all, strikes
the folks on the other side of the chasm as one gigantic deal-breaker after
another. Moving forward, this poses issues that should concern all of us.
Back to the voters, 62 million of whom voted
for Trump, 65 million of whom voted for Clinton. Let me be clear, this is not an anti
Electoral College spiel. It is the
system we use until it’s not. As of now
it is, so Mr. Trump assumes the Office of the Presidency at noon January 20th.
Having said that, let’s put to rest the idea, and the argument in some corners
that Donald Trump has a compelling, or any other kind of mandate. He does not.
What he does have is a Republican majority in both Houses of Congress,
somewhat like President Obama had in 2009.
As I recall, Republicans then not only didn’t believe Mr. Obama had a
mandate, although in addition to both House of Congress had Democratic majorities,
he also won the Electoral College AND the popular vote, on Inauguration Day, at
least 15 members of their leadership met that evening and committed to oppose
every initiative Mr. Obama proffered. This was a tact they employed virtually
without fail for 8 years.
This is a critical piece of information because
now as Mr. Trump and First Daughter, Ivanka, are headed to 1600 Pennsylvania
Avenue (Washington, DC), at least when he is not at 721 Fifth Avenue in New
York (also known as Trump Tower), his adoring fandom has alternately urged and
excoriated those among us who are skeptics to give Trump a chance. Or, as some
say, the election is over, get over it.
Yes, these are some of the same people who spent the last 3,033 days
denigrating, demonizing, and denouncing President Obama. I am so motivated to get on board with that
request…or excoriation. Whatever. Not!
There are 20 million people who now have health
insurance who did not have insurance prior to the enactment of the Affordable
care Act. To paraphrase Vice President
Obama, that’s a big eff’n deal. And yes,
there are problems with the program.
However, let us not lose the lessons as we consider the narrative. Key points include:
1. The program added tens of millions of Americans to health insurance
rolls
2. Eliminated the pre-existing conditions standard
3. Allows children to stay on their parent’s policies until they reach
age 26
4. Most premiums are subsidized
5. Insurers love it (because it created more paying customers)
6. The increase in healthcare costs slowed
7. There are more plusses than minuses
I say all that to underscore the fact that even
though the GOP members of Congress have spent years attacking Obamacare, and
have voted more than 50 times in an effort to repeal the program, they have
still not crafted a plan to seamlessly replace the program. One might think for something the
President-Elect has named one of his top priorities, and for something Congress
has devoted so much time and energy to rescind, given all the ways in which it
has insinuated itself into the lives of so many Americans, there would be a
grand or other design to replace it. There is not. For all but the pathological Obama haters,
this is problematic.
There are similarly weighted issues with a
number of Mr. Trump’s other MAGA priorities.
From building a wall and “Making” Mexico pay for it, which the Mexican
President has repeatedly said will not happen, to adding tariffs to trade pacts
with China, which most experts conclude would ignite a trade war, to ending
Obamacare, which many in Coal Country now admit (despite having voted for
Trump), they rely upon to offset the cost of care for the diseases they
contracted while working in the mines.
The list goes on.
So while one side is getting its euphoric swag
on in eager anticipation of the Trump Reign, the other busies itself citing a
seemingly endless litany of reasons why this was an epically bad idea. The chasm is firmly, if not irrevocably, in
place…”2017 is here: Before We Completely Turn thePage!”
I’m done;
holla back!
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