Tag: Trump

Trump and the GOP: The Truth Behind the Government Shutdown

On By TonyIn economy, ElectionsLeave a comment

The government shut down will affect all of us. In big ways and small. We all know that Trump will cave because that is what he does. We also must acknowledge that Trump and the GOP who effectively control all branches of government are 100% to blame.

BUT WHY IS THE GOVERNMENT SHUT DOWN? In short, we had to shut it down to keep a functioning government open.

While searching to explain it I came across this Substack from Robert Reich. Professor, writer and former Secretary of Labor.

I’ve been directly involved in government shutdowns, one when I was secretary of labor. It’s hard for me to describe the fear, frustration, and chaos that ensued. I recall spending the first day consoling employees — many in tears as they headed out the door.

In some ways, this shutdown is similar to others. Agencies and departments designed to protect consumers, workers, and investors are now officially closed, as are national parks and museums.
Most federal workers are not being paid — as many as 750,000 could be furloughed — including those who are required to remain on the job, like air-traffic controllers or members of the U.S. military.
So-called “mandatory” spending, including Social Security and Medicare payments, are continuing, although checks could be delayed. (Trump has made sure that construction of his new White House ballroom won’t be affected.)

There have been eight shutdowns since 1990. Trump has now presided over four.
But this shutdown — the one that began yesterday morning — is radically different.
For one thing, it’s the consequence of a decision made in July by Trump and Senate Republicans to pass Trump’s gigantic “big beautiful bill” (I prefer to call it “big ugly bill”) without any Democratic votes.
They could do that because of an arcane Senate procedure called “reconciliation,” which allowed the big ugly to get through the Senate with just 51 votes rather than the normal 60 votes required to overcome a filibuster.

The final tally was a squeaker. All Senate Democrats opposed the legislation. When three Senate Republicans joined them, Vice President JD Vance was called in to break a tie. Some Republicans bragged that they didn’t need a single Democrat.

The big ugly fundamentally altered the priorities of the United States government. It cut nearly $1 trillion from Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act — with the result that health insurance premiums for tens of millions of Americans will soar starting in January.

The big ugly also cut nutrition assistance and environmental protection, while bulking up immigration enforcement and cutting the taxes of wealthy Americans and big corporations.
Trump and Senate Republicans didn’t need a single Democrat then. But this time, Republicans couldn’t use the arcane reconciliation process to pass a bill to keep the governing going.
Now they needed Senate Democratic votes.

Yet keeping the government going meant keeping all the priorities included in the big ugly bill that all Senate Democrats opposed.

Which is why Senate Democrats refused to sign on unless most of the big ugly’s cuts to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act were restored, so health insurance premiums won’t soar next year.

Even if Senate Democrats had gotten that concession, the Republican bill to keep the government going would retain all the tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations contained in the big ugly, along with all the cuts in nutrition assistance, and all the increased funding for immigration enforcement.

There’s a deeper irony here.

As a practical matter, the U.S. government has been “shut down” for over eight months, since Trump took office a second time.

Trump and the sycophants surrounding him — such as Russell Vought, director of the Office of Management and Budget, and, before him, Elon Musk and his DOGE — have had no compunctions about shutting down parts of the government they don’t like — such as USAID.

They’ve also fired, laid off, furloughed, or extended buyouts to hundreds of thousands of federal employees doing work they don’t value, such as at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. (The federal government is already expected to employ 300,000 fewer workers by December than it did last January.)

They’ve impounded appropriations from Congress for activities they oppose, ranging across the entire federal government.

Yesterday, on the first day of the shutdown, Vought announced that the administration was freezing some $26 billion in funds Congress had appropriated — including $18 billion for New York City infrastructure (home to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries) and $8 billion for environmental projects in 16 states, mostly led by Democrats.

All of this is illegal — it violates the Impoundment Control Act of 1974 — but it seems unlikely that courts will act soon enough to prevent the regime from harming vast numbers of Americans.
Vought is also initiating another round of mass layoffs targeting, in his words, “a lot” of government workers.

This is being described by Republicans as “payback” for the Democrats not voting to keep the government going, but evidently nothing stopped Vought from doing mass layoffs and freezing Congress’s appropriations before the shutdown.

In fact, the eagerness of Trump and his lapdogs over the last eight months to disregard the will of Congress and close whatever they want of the government offers another reason why Democrats shouldn’t cave in.

Were Democrats to vote to keep the government going, what guarantee do they have that Trump will in fact keep the government going?
Democrats finally have some bargaining leverage. They should use it.

If tens of millions of Americans lose their health insurance starting in January because they can no longer afford to pay sky-high premiums, Trump and his Republicans will be blamed. Months before the midterms.

It would be Trump’s and his Republicans’ fault anyway — it’s part of their big ugly bill — but this way, in the fight over whether to reopen the government, Americans will have a chance to see Democrats standing up for them.

The Recklessness of Leadership: A Call for Accountability

On By TonyIn economy, Elections, PoliticsLeave a comment

Sometimes I have to stop and ask myself: does anyone else see how insane this all is? Or are we just supposed to pretend that this is normal?

The President of the United States casually tosses out an unsubstantiated claim that there’s a link between Tylenol and autism. No research cited. No scientific consensus. Just words, and yet words from the President carry enormous weight. Families across the country are left in fear and confusion, while actual scientists scramble to clean up the mess. This is not leadership—it’s recklessness.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court—the very institution designed to uphold checks and balances—abandons its responsibility. By allowing Trump to fire officials who were appointed with congressional approval, they have effectively erased a critical guardrail of our democracy. What’s the point of having a system of checks and balances if one branch simply abdicates its role when it becomes politically inconvenient?

And while all this chaos unfolds, every single GOP senator voted against releasing the Epstein files. Let that sink in. We’re told over and over that transparency is a pillar of democracy, yet here is a bipartisan scandal begging for sunlight, and they slam the door shut. What exactly are they protecting? Whom are they protecting?

Then, as if that weren’t enough, Russia brazenly invades NATO airspace. An act that should send shivers down the spine of any world leader. But what do we do? Nothing. What do we say? Nothing. Silence where there should be strength. Passivity where there should be resolve.

Now add to this the alarming pattern of weaponizing the justice system for political ends. President Trump has publicly called on Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi and the Department of Justice to prosecute his political opponents—an explicit invitation to turn law enforcement into a tool of retribution. When the head of the executive branch pressures prosecutors to pursue cases against rivals without transparent evidence or due process, it corrodes the rule of law. Prosecutors hold immense discretionary power; when that power is wielded for political vengeance, it chills dissent, undermines fair trials, and transforms accountability into persecution. This isn’t just partisan politics—it’s a direct threat to the impartial institutions that keep democracy functioning. We cannot normalize demands that the justice system be used as a political cudgel.

It’s all happening in real time, right in front of us. Dangerous lies. Broken checks and balances. Willful secrecy. Silence in the face of foreign aggression. The politicization of our legal institutions. And we just keep moving along, as though this is business as usual.

It is not normal. It should never be normal. And if we don’t recognize that now—if we don’t demand accountability—we risk losing not just credibility, but the very foundations of democracy itself.

So I ask again: does anyone else see how crazy this is?

A Question for Trump Supporters: The Jeopardy! Edition

On By TonyIn PoliticsLeave a comment

Answer:
That when you saw a man who had owned a fraudulent University, intent on scamming poor people, you thought, “Fine.”
(Source)

That when you saw a man who had made it his business practice to stiff his creditors, you said, “Okay.”
(Source)

That when you heard him proudly brag about his own history of sexual abuse, you said, “No problem.”
(Source)

That when he made up stories about Muslim-Americans cheering 9/11, you said, “Not an issue.”
(Source)

That when you saw him brag that he could shoot a man on Fifth Avenue and you wouldn’t care, you exclaimed, “He sure knows me.”
(Source)

That when he mocked a bleeding man on his marble floor, you said, “That’s cool!”
(Source)

That when he mocked the disabled, you thought it was the funniest thing you ever saw.
(Source)

That when he bragged he doesn’t read books, you said, “Well, who has time?”
(Source)

That when the Central Park Five were found innocent and compensated, and he still said they should be in prison, you said, “That makes sense.”
(Source)

That when he told his supporters to beat up protesters, you said, “Yes!”
(Source)

That when he had a protester thrown out into freezing cold without his coat, you said, “What a great guy!”
(Source)

That you watched the parade of white supremacists and Nazis he refused to denounce, and you said, “Thumbs up!”
(Source)

That he insulted our allies and cozied up to dictators, and you said, “That’s the way I want my President to be.”
(Source)

That he removed experts from government and replaced them with lobbyists and Fox News TV personalities, and you said, “What a genius!”
(Source)

That he profited off the presidency, overcharging even the Secret Service, and you said, “That’s smart!”
(Source)

That he said helping Puerto Rico was hard because it’s surrounded by water, and you said, “That makes sense.”
(Source)

That he praised Russia and North Korea while picking fights with Canada and New Zealand, and you said, “That’s statesmanship!”
(Source)

That he separated children from their families and locked them in cages, and you said, “Well, OK then.”
(Source)

That after witnessing all of this—every con, every cruelty, every corruption—you still wear that red hat and threaten anyone who disagrees, and say, “MAGA!”
(Source)

That when Trump claimed the Unabomber had his Uncle John as his professor and you thought, “Well, who hasn’t stretched the truth about a relative?”
(Source)

Question:
Why do you still support him?

Let’s be honest.
Is it ignorance?
Tribalism?
Fear?
Rage?
Are you so desperate to “own the libs” that you’ve sold your soul?

Because at some point, it’s not just about Trump anymore.
It’s about you.

Your Turn:
Leave a comment.
Tell me what I’m missing.
Tell me why, in spite of all of this, you’re still cheering him on.

I’m not asking to mock you. I’m asking because I genuinely want to understand.

The Moral Imperative: Leaders and Accountability. Let’s See the Epstein Files.

On By TonyIn PoliticsLeave a comment

Trump’s Wild Claims and Deflections

Trump’s recent rhetoric—blaming everyone from pharmaceutical companies to the deep state, and now claiming he’ll reduce drug prices by 1000%—isn’t just exaggerated. It’s mathematically and logically impossible. A 1000% reduction would mean you’re being paid to take medicine, which sounds more like a parody than a policy.

This kind of grandstanding isn’t new for him. When cornered or criticized, Trump often doubles down with wild promises, scapegoating, and blame. But now, as legal pressure mounts—from indictments to civil trials—he appears to be flailing, not leading.

The Epstein Connection: What Matters and What Doesn’t

Yes, Trump’s name appears in association with Jeffrey Epstein—he’s in flight logs, was photographed with Epstein, and spoke positively of him in the past. But here’s the nuance that must be acknowledged:

  • Being in the files or logs doesn’t automatically make someone guilty of a crime. Many powerful people, including politicians, academics, and celebrities, crossed paths with Epstein. That alone proves nothing.

However…

  • If any person—Trump or anyone else—is documented as having paid for or engaged in sex with minors, that crosses a bright, unforgivable line. That person must be investigated, charged, and prosecuted.

No exceptions. No excuses.

That’s not a political take. That’s a moral imperative. We cannot have anyone, let alone someone seeking or holding the highest office in the land, credibly implicated in crimes against children without full transparency and legal scrutiny.

What Kind of Leaders Do We Want?

This goes beyond Trump. If any leader—left, right, or center—is tied to Epstein’s abuse in a criminal way, the public has a right to know, and that person has no business in public life. Period.

The U.S. cannot move forward if it continues to look the other way when elite individuals are accused of the most heinous crimes. Whether it’s Trump, Clinton, Gates, or anyone else, the standard must be the same:

  • Were they involved in criminal acts?
  • Were they complicit in human trafficking?
  • Did they protect or fund this abuse?

If yes—they must go. No fanfare, no martyrdom. Just justice.

Final Thought

This isn’t about cancel culture. It’s about not allowing child abusers to walk among us with impunity because they have money, influence, or a loyal voter base.

It’s not just about Trump’s flailing. It’s about a system that too often protects the powerful. The Epstein files are a test—not just of our justice system, but of our collective moral backbone.

Will we look away? Or will we finally, fully demand the truth?

The Real Cost of Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill in New Hampshire

On By TonyIn economy, ElectionsLeave a comment

As Donald Trump and the MAGA-controlled GOP roll out their so-called “Big Beautiful Bill,” New Hampshire stands to lose more than it gains—much more. Behind the flashy slogans and hollow promises lies a policy agenda that will leave thousands of Granite Staters uninsured, hungry, and worse off, while the ultra-wealthy reap billions in tax breaks. This isn’t just bad policy—it’s a direct threat to the well-being of our state.

A Party Lost to MAGA

Once a party that prided itself on fiscal conservatism and integrity, today’s Republican Party is a hollowed-out shell, wholly captured by the MAGA wing. Traditional Republicans who once warned against deficits, reckless spending, or abandoning working families now sit quietly by, parroting whatever talking points come down from Trump’s team.

  • They claim this bill won’t increase the deficit. It will.
  • They say it won’t kick people off Medicare and Medicaid. It does.
  • They swear the tax cuts for the rich will “pay for themselves.” They never have.

Zombie Economics, Alive and Well

This isn’t a new con. It’s a repackaging of trickle-down economics—the idea that if we cut taxes at the top, prosperity will “trickle down” to everyone else.

But it’s never worked. Not in the 1920s. Not in the 1980s. Not under George W. Bush. Not under Trump.

“The idea that cutting taxes on the wealthy will lead to faster economic growth is a zombie idea — it just keeps shambling along, no matter how many times it has been killed by evidence.”
— Paul Krugman, Nobel Laureate Economist, from Arguing with Zombies

These policies have led to record inequality, ballooning deficits, and fragile economies. The MAGA GOP doesn’t care. They’ve revived a dead idea and dressed it up as a miracle cure.

Trickle-down economics isn’t an economic strategy—it’s a proven failure. Over and over, we’ve been told that giving more money to the wealthy and big corporations will eventually benefit everyone. Yet the data shows otherwise.

“There is no empirical evidence that tax cuts for the rich lead to economic growth. What they do lead to is more inequality,” says Gabriel Zucman, economist at the University of California, Berkeley.

The concept didn’t work in the 1980s, when Reagan’s massive tax cuts exploded the deficit and widened the wealth gap. It didn’t work under George W. Bush, whose tax cuts were a major driver of the Great Recession. And it certainly didn’t work under Trump in 2017, when his corporate tax cuts boosted stock buybacks—not wages.

In fact, the roots of trickle-down theory trace back to the 1920s, helping lead us into the Great Depression of the 1930s. And yet, MAGA Republicans are serving it up again, now with more venom, less oversight, and even fewer facts.

The Human Cost in New Hampshire

Let’s get specific about what this bill will do to real people in New Hampshire:

🏥 Medicaid Cuts

  • 20,000 Granite Staters are projected to lose Medicaid coverage.
  • These cuts disproportionately affect rural areas and low-income working families who gained access through Medicaid expansion.
  • Hospitals—especially community and rural clinics—will absorb more uncompensated care, threatening their ability to stay open.

🍎 School Meals & SNAP Cuts

  • SNAP cuts require NH to spend $38 million in state funds just to maintain current benefits.
  • Nearly 76,000 people, including over 26,000 children, rely on SNAP in New Hampshire.
  • Federal changes will reduce direct certification for free and reduced school lunches, potentially affecting thousands of students.
  • Nationally, 7.5 million children could lose access to free meals, and 16 million more could lose eligibility for school meal programs.

📚 Public School Funding

  • Cuts to Medicaid and nutrition programs will gut school support services, including mental health counselors, school nurses, and speech therapists.
  • Medicaid is one of the largest sources of federal support for school-based services in NH.
Image displaying a chart showing the number of people likely to lose health care in each state, with New Hampshire highlighted at 46,388 individuals affected.

They Don’t Care About the Truth

The scariest part of all this? MAGA Republicans know these claims are false—and they don’t care. This isn’t a debate over numbers or projections; it’s a coordinated effort to mislead the public for political gain.

Their “truth” is whatever Trump says. If he says the bill will balance the budget, they repeat it. If he claims it won’t hurt seniors, they nod. This isn’t governance—it’s obedience. And it’s costing us dearly.

Hold Them Accountable

We are at the beginning of a critical local election year, with statewide elections just around the corner in 2026. Candidates are already positioning themselves. Every Republican on the ballot needs to be asked, loudly and publicly:

“Do you support Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill?”

And if they refuse to answer—or worse, fall in line—they need to be held accountable.

Silence is complicity.

This isn’t just about politics—it’s about survival for thousands of New Hampshire families. It’s about children getting fed, seniors accessing medication, and workers keeping their health care. If our leaders won’t defend us, we need to replace them with ones who will.

Bottom Line: Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” is a lie wrapped in propaganda. It will balloon the deficit, shred our safety net, and serve only the wealthiest Americans—at the expense of everyday people in New Hampshire.

The Economic Impact of Leadership Decisions. Demanding Better Leadership in America

On By TonyIn Belief, economy, Elections, PoliticsLeave a comment

Leadership is, at its core, a moral endeavor. A good leader doesn’t just pass laws or cut deals—they set a tone, a standard. They challenge us to rise to the moment, to be better citizens, neighbors, and people. The best leaders inspire confidence, compassion, and cooperation. They elevate the national character.

Donald Trump, on the other hand, brings out the worst in America.

His political brand is not built on unity or progress, but on grievance and division. Instead of drawing upon America’s strength, generosity, and resilience, Trump taps into resentment, paranoia, and selfishness. His rhetoric isn’t about what we can build together—it’s about who to blame.

Economic Gaslighting

Despite inheriting one of the strongest post-COVID economic recoveries in the world, Trump continues to insist the U.S. economy is a burning wreck in need of saving. It’s not just dishonest; it’s deeply cynical. And his proposed “solution”? The same failed, chaotic economic nationalism that marked his first term.

Trump’s obsession with trade imbalances reveals either a profound ignorance of basic economics—or something worse. According to him, any country that sells more to us than it buys is “taking advantage.” That logic, applied globally, would demand that every country run a trade surplus simultaneously—an economic impossibility. It’s nonsense. But it’s dangerous nonsense, dressed up in patriotic bluster.

His proposed tariffs—broad, punitive, and economically suicidal—aren’t just bad policy; they’re theatrical madness. So much so that it becomes tempting to hope it’s all a con. Maybe the rumors are true: maybe these tariffs were a hustle, designed to enrich allies and donors through insider schemes. That would be criminal, yes—but at least it would be rational. Because the alternative—that Trump truly believes this—is far more terrifying.

Even House Speaker Mike Johnson, in a moment of accidental honesty, defended Trump’s shady cryptocurrency promotion by essentially saying, “At least he does his corruption in the open.” That isn’t a defense—it’s an indictment. When open corruption becomes a selling point, we’ve crossed a dangerous line. We’re no longer arguing over policy; we’re debating whether accountability still matters at all.

And that’s the deeper damage Trump has done—not just to institutions, but to our expectations. He’s lowered the bar so far that basic decency, transparency, and truthfulness feel like exceptional qualities instead of minimum requirements. His administration didn’t just tolerate racism, sexism, and religious bigotry—it amplified them. What once disqualified someone from public service now earns a standing ovation at political rallies.

This has real consequences.

The Cost of Chaos

Everyday Americans are paying the price for this dysfunction. Trump’s tariff wars and isolationist rhetoric have driven up the cost of goods. Inflation, while a global issue, has been worsened by policies that disrupt supply chains and alienate our trading partners. Meanwhile, allies abroad are increasingly distancing themselves from the U.S.—not out of opposition to our values, but because they no longer trust our leadership to uphold them.

We are watching the slow erosion of America’s global standing, and it won’t be easy to rebuild. Trust lost is not easily regained. Partnerships neglected don’t quickly recover. When the world begins to see America as erratic and self-absorbed, the long-term effects are economic, diplomatic, and moral.

We Deserve Better

America can’t afford more elected officials like Donald Trump. It would mean more decline disguised as greatness, more failure rebranded as strength, and more selfishness masquerading as patriotism. We need leaders who actually believe in America—and in Americans. Leaders who build instead of blame. Leaders who lift us up instead of dragging us down.

We’ve seen what Trump brings out in people. We know the cost. It’s time we demand better from our leaders—and from ourselves. New Hampshire deserves better. Dover deserves better. America deserves better.

And the good news? A better future is possible. Across this country, new leaders are stepping up—people grounded in principle, driven by service, and committed to healing, not dividing. The path forward won’t be easy, but it is ours to choose. Hope isn’t naive. It’s necessary. And it starts with choosing leadership that brings out the best in us all.

GOP Accountability: Why Economic Health Depends on It

On By TonyIn economy, Elections, PoliticsLeave a comment

Let’s not mince words: the Republican Party — at every level of government — needs to be held accountable for the economic mess we’re in. They’ve sold out working people. They’ve sold out seniors. They’ve sold out the country. And they’ve done it all in broad daylight.

Look around. Inflation remains painfully high. The dollar is weak. Our economy is teetering, and our reputation on the world stage has taken a beating. And what’s the GOP’s response? More of the same greed-driven policies that got us here in the first place.

This didn’t happen in a vacuum. Donald Trump didn’t just bungle leadership — he installed some of the most unqualified, corrupt, and outright dangerous people into positions of power. And the GOP-controlled Senate? They confirmed every single one of them. They clapped along. They cheered. They rubber-stamped the destruction.

Now, Trump and his enablers are preaching “belt-tightening” to the rest of us. They say we need to prepare for economic “hardship.” But who is really feeling the pain? Not the billionaire class. Not Trump’s inner circle. They’re getting richer, hoarding wealth while everyday Americans are forced to make impossible choices — between rent and medicine, between groceries and gas.

And what’s the GOP’s solution? More tax cuts for the rich. More deregulation. More gutting of programs that help actual people survive. You think Medicare and Medicaid are safe? Think again. They’ve made it clear: these programs are next on the chopping block. Social Security? They don’t want to strengthen it — they want to privatize it. Turn your hard-earned retirement into Wall Street’s latest jackpot.

Let’s be clear: this is not mismanagement. This is intentional. This is class warfare. This is a party that has embraced cruelty, corruption, and corporate greed as governing principles. They talk about patriotism, but their policies betray the very people they claim to serve.

The GOP owns this. Every bit of it. And we have to call it out. Loudly. Relentlessly. Because if we don’t, they’ll keep pretending this is someone else’s fault. They’ll keep distracting. They’ll keep blaming immigrants, or “wokeness,” or whatever culture war nonsense they’re peddling this week.

But here’s the thing: this country can’t afford silence anymore. Especially not from those who still call themselves Republicans and believe in something better.

“Restoring responsibility and accountability is essential to the economic and fiscal health of our nation.”
— Carl Levin

To every patriotic Republican out there — this is your moment. You know this isn’t the party you once believed in. You know this isn’t conservatism — it’s chaos in service of the wealthy and well-connected. If you still believe in integrity, in democracy, in putting country before party, then you need to speak up. Loudly. Publicly. Bravely.

Call out the lies. Reject the corruption. Demand better. Because your voice matters. And if enough of you stand up, you can help stop this runaway train before it crashes into the very foundations of our democracy.

Winner-Take-All Politics by Jacob S. Hacker and Paul Pierson, which argues that:

“Those at the very top of the economic ladder have developed and used political muscle to dramatically cut their taxes, deregulate the financial industry, and keep corporate governance lax and labor unions hamstrung.”

The time for quiet discomfort has passed. Now is the time for action.

Are We Losing Our Democracy?

On By TonyIn PoliticsLeave a comment

Are We Even Living in a Democracy Anymore?

In a democracy, certain principles are supposed to be sacred: due process, equal protection under the law, and the right to live free of arbitrary government intrusion. But lately, it feels like these ideals are slipping further out of reach.

Recent raids conducted by ICE, the FBI, and Homeland Security haven’t just targeted undocumented individuals — they’ve swept up legal residents and, in some cases, even U.S. citizens. These actions raise an unsettling question: If the government can detain or deport people without due process, who is truly safe?

It’s not just the overreach — it’s the attitude. When agencies make grave mistakes and then shrug them off with “there’s nothing we can do,” it suggests a disturbing level of indifference. The response isn’t accountability. It’s apathy.

And that apathy doesn’t just exist in government. It’s all around us — in our neighbors, in our communities. When we say, “They must have done something wrong,” we abandon both compassion and the Constitution. We give up on the idea of innocent until proven guilty, and we normalize injustice. People are being arrested not just for imagined crimes, but now even for doing their jobs — including judges who don’t toe the administration’s line. What happens when they come for someone you know — a friend, a neighbor, a family member — simply because of a “mistake,” or because they stood up for due process?

What will you do when a law enforcement officer you love is arrested for refusing to violate someone’s rights? What will you say when 20 armed men break down your door because they got the wrong address? That kind of terror isn’t just for “other people” anymore. If we allow apathy to rule, none of us are safe.

Let’s be clear: cruelty is not strength. It doesn’t make a nation more secure or more respected. It reveals a deep, dangerous weakness — the kind that corrodes democratic institutions from the inside out.

If we’re to claim the label of “democracy,” we must do better.

Start paying attention. Speak up when you see injustice. Write to your representatives. Show up at local meetings. Donate to legal defense funds. Support investigative journalism. Talk to your neighbors. Stop assuming guilt. Start asking questions. Democracy doesn’t survive on silence — it survives on people who refuse to look away. Be one of them.

Trump’s Tariffs: A Blunt Stick Without a Carrot

On By TonyIn economyLeave a comment

When Donald Trump brags about tariffs, he paints them as a patriotic solution to bring manufacturing jobs back to American soil. The truth, however, is far more damaging. Tariffs are not a magic wand—they’re a blunt instrument. Any corrections you are going to try to make to the economy need to be surgical. Trump is attacking the economy with a chainsaw. The way he is trying to use them is not only economically reckless but strategically hollow. It’s the stick without the carrot, and it could crash the economy without delivering the jobs Americans were promised. I am writing this before the markets open in the USA on Monday April 7. Already stock futures are down and foreign markets are reeling.

Tariffs Raise Prices, Period

Let’s get one thing straight: tariffs are taxes. Not on foreign governments, but on American consumers and businesses. When a tariff is placed on foreign goods, importers pass those costs down the line. The result? Everything from cars to washing machines gets more expensive. Worse still, American-made products get a free pass to raise prices too—because the competition just got artificially more expensive. That’s not how you create a competitive economy. That’s how you build inflation into the system and hit working- and middle-class Americans the hardest.

Manufacturing Won’t Return Just Because It’s More Expensive Not To

The core of Trump’s promise is that tariffs will pressure companies to return production to the U.S. But there’s no long-term incentive structure here. Companies build factories where they can plan for decades, not months. And by Trump’s own admission, these tariffs aren’t a stable policy—they’re a “negotiating tool.”1

What smart CEO would build a billion-dollar factory in the U.S. if the tariff barrier protecting them could vanish with the next tweet, the next negotiation, or the next administration? Tariffs that can disappear overnight don’t create economic certainty. They create chaos.

The Real Purpose? A Backdoor Tax

Trump once famously said, “We don’t have to do tariffs. We can just tax our own people.”1 He’s made no secret of the fact that these tariffs are not about trade fairness or long-term industrial policy—they’re about revenue. Revenue that helps pay for the massive tax cuts he gave to the wealthiest Americans during his presidency.

That’s the game: working Americans pay more at the store, so billionaires can pay less in taxes. It’s wealth redistribution in reverse, and tariffs are just the tool to do it without having to call it a tax hike.

No Carrot, No Plan

If Trump were serious about reshoring manufacturing, tariffs would be paired with long-term incentives: investment in infrastructure, workforce training, subsidies for critical industries, and stable industrial policy. Instead, we get economic whiplash. Companies aren’t coming back; they’re hedging bets, diversifying supply chains into other low-cost countries, or just absorbing the tariffs and raising prices.

Without a carrot—a clear, consistent, long-term incentive to invest in American production—tariffs are just a stick. A stick that beats down consumers, destabilizes markets, and undermines America’s economic leadership.

Trump’s tariff obsession is not only bad economics, it’s bad strategy. It punishes Americans, fails to bring back jobs, and offers no vision for a sustainable industrial future. It’s economic policy by soundbite, not substance. If we want a real revival of American manufacturing, it will take more than bluster and taxes in disguise. It will take a plan.

Footnotes

  1. Trump in 2018: “We don’t have to do tariffs. We can just tax our own people. We just put a tax on – we could just say, ‘We’re putting a tax on for all of the money we’ve lost.’” (Paraphrased from various public comments) ↩ ↩2

Trust Was Once an American Superpower

On By TonyIn economy, PoliticsLeave a comment

Opinion: Trust was once an American superpower

Undermining one of our country’s greatest and least-appreciated assets.

I was on my way to Europe for a work trip when I read this opinion. The entire time I was away I ran into many European colleagues wondering, “What happened to the once great USA?”

Jhon Boy/The New York Times

By Brooke Harrington | For The New York Times

 Remember last month, when you didn’t have to think twice about the safety of America’s nuclear arsenal? Or how about last year, when you could file your taxes without wondering if the I.R.S. might share your Social Security number and banking details with an unvetted contractor? Those were the days.

In the weeks since President Trump unleashed Elon Musk’s initiative, the Department of Government Efficiency, on our federal institutions, it has profoundly destabilized basic systems we count on to make our society function. Two weeks ago, Senator Ron Wyden announced that DOGE agents had gained access to the I.R.S. and “are in a position to dig through a trove of data about every taxpayer in America,” raising concerns about privacy and delayed refunds.

In early February, Mr. Trump suggested the DOGE team — many of whom are younger than the typical age required to rent a car — should staff air-traffic-control towers in lieu of the trained experts he claimed were “intellectually deficient.” His proposal seems unlikely to reassure Americans spooked by the spate of airline collisions and fatal crashes that have occurred since Inauguration Day, following years of warnings about inadequate aviation safety. A poll released last week shows that Americans’ confidence in the federal government to ensure aviation safety has already dropped by 11 percent since last year.

It’s as though the current administration is running Franklin Roosevelt’s first 100 days in reverse: Instead of rebuilding institutions and public trust at a moment of national peril, it seems to be trying to unravel both — and is creating a moment of national peril.

This threatens to destroy what’s left of Americans’ faith in government. Moving fast and breaking things — the Silicon Valley motto that appears to inspire Mr. Musk and his DOGE initiative — is “potentially wreaking havoc,” as Sen. Ed Markey and Rep. Don Beyer recently wrote, on federal systems that ensure our physical and economic survival.

Those systems include the National Nuclear Security Administration: specialists who build and maintain the country’s nuclear stockpile. As many as 300 staff members were summarily firedearlier this month by DOGE officials who reportedly “did not seem to know this agency oversees America’s nuclear weapons” (some were reportedly asked to return to work). Worse yet, in its chaotic backtracking, the administration is now having trouble rehiring some of these specialists because it cannot find their contact information.

Even if all those nuclear specialists could be located, why would they consent to return now that Mr. Musk and DOGE have demonstrated their willingness to use federal authority as an instrument of capricious, arbitrary destruction?

This promises to be a tough way for Americans to learn a critical fact too often overlooked — that one of our country’s greatest and least-appreciated assets has been public faith and trust in a variety of highly complex systems staffed by experts whose names we’ll never know. In fact, high levels of trust used to be one of our superpowers in the United States: specifically, that meant trust in our government to operate with reasonable competence and stability, and without the kind of corruption that has hobbled other societies.

The key national asset was trust in the system overall, rather than in any individual or elected official. For decades, academics and polling companies have measured this with the question “How much of the time do you think you can trust the government in Washington to do what is right?”

Though that trust declined significantly as a result of the Vietnam War, it remained high enough that our country could regain stability and prosper after crises like the Covid pandemic, from which our peer nations struggled to recover. This was driven in part by faith in the competence and integrity of our civil service and federal institutions.

That is what is now at risk. Just before Mr. Trump took office the first time in 2017, Transparency International ranked the United States among the top 20 countries in the world for least corrupt government. Now the United States has plunged in those rankings to its lowest level ever. We now have the same ranking as the Bahamas, an offshore financial center rocked by recurrent fraud and corruption scandals (like the 2022 collapse of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange).

Trust in government to do what is right, at least most of the time, is a form of wealth — call it civic capital — that breeds prosperity on many fronts. Anything that threatens that trust weakens our society and economy.

DOGE, with Mr. Musk’s leadership and the blessing of the Trump administration, seems determined to violate public trust on an unprecedented scale. The organization still operates with no clear legal authority to make the sweeping budgetary and personnel changes it is carrying out. Federal courts in Maryland, New York and Washington, D.C., are hearing lawsuits challenging DOGE as an unconstitutional “threat to democracy.”

Of course not all Americans think the disruptions from the Trump administration are creating distrust. He was elected to make changes, they say, and at least he is actually doing something. The White House itself argues that slashing the size of the federal government could yield major economic benefits.

Yet there is growing evidence that Americans doubt Mr. Trump’s leadership. In several polls, his approval ratings — which began at a high level for him but at a low level historically for a president just elected to office — have slipped. Another poll suggests that his administration’s priorities are misplaced, particularly in not doing enough to fight inflation. And perhaps above all, in recent weeks, as Republican lawmakers fan out across the country to face their constituents in town halls, they have been confronted by a barrage of fear and even fury at what the president is doing in Washington.

What’s more, the Musk initiative is raising the potential for long-term damage to vital government statistics: that is, to our public information infrastructure. DOGE staff members — whose names, titles and salaries the organization still refuses to release — have been granted access to vast data sets (like those of the Department of Labor) whose integrity is critical not only to the public but also to maintaining the web of trust linking federal agencies to one another. As the economics and technology journalist Lizzie O’Leary writes, “confidence in government statistics is a precious commodity.”

The same can be said of all forms of public confidence in government. Trust is the glue holding together our nearly 250-year-old democracy. But once it is lost for many Americans, trust is exceedingly difficult to win back.