Questions for Trump Voters (even Trolls)
We are now a week into the Trump administration, and for most of us who voted against him and the Republicans, are as bad, perhaps even worse, than we expected. This probably is making the people who voted for him very happy, as it seems that part of their motivation in voting for him was to make people like me, upper middle class, well educated, hard working in a well paying job, with children and grandchildren, and progressive ideals, unhappy.
So I am hoping that some of these victorious Trump supporters can explain to me how they justify his actions, because it is certainly seems to me that much of what he is doing will negative affect on their lives, along with the rest of us. Trump seems to be wasting a great deal of America’s good will and resources fighting battles that exist only in his mind, while blatantly ignoring reality.
Here are some of the most obvious examples, out of the dozens that have appeared in this first week:
- Health Care:
Trump repealed Obamacare. He said he would and he did. After years of saying they would do it, no Republican had a plan for replacement. Trump says it will be beautiful. What seems to be emerging from Congress, and the new HHS nominee, is a plan to give us all a health care voucher, and allow for bigger health care saving accounts. What that will mean is that we may be able to find a health insurance plan with a lower premium, but if we get sick it will be much more expensive. We will go back to the system of illnesses leading to bankruptcy.
This is because Trump ignores the fact that there is only one way to reduce costs and maintain high quality, and that is with a single payor, government controlled plan. He certainly won’t do that. Once health care gets opened up to a free market you can choose either cheaper or better, not both. That’s why people were so upset in the twenty years before Obamacare.
So with health care, all of us will suffer.
2. The Wall
Trump promised to build a wall, then he said he might not. A few days ago he said he would and Mexico will pay. Now he might, or might not, and we will a pay, and we will alienate our neighbor and one of our major trading partner. Trump is advocating to spend billions of dollars to solve a problem that didn’t exist, and offering a solution that wouldn’t work.
Would a wall stop people for crossing the border illegally? Certainly some, but the flow of illegals has already dropped significantly. Also, there are tunnels, such as the ones that were dug in Tijuana, boats, and a huge open boarder with Canada. He threatens to put a 20% tariff on things made in Mexico, which would cripple many American manufacturers who get many parts in Mexico. Why start a trade war and alienate a country that has been a closest ally and major trading partner? There are certainly other way to negotiate, but Trump is incapable of diplomacy. He’s a bully. This process has started badly.
Also, immigrants are not taking your jobs, unless you were a vegetable picker, a dishwasher or a leaf-blower. Automation is changing industry, and it will continue to do so. To spend billions keeping immigrants out is a waste of time, money and effort. It won’t get any of us a better job. Immigrants invigorate and enrich our communities. Almost all of us have been immigrants.
Illegal drugs would not be stopped by a wall, as Trump has declared they would, based on the ideas in his head. The increase in deaths from pain-killers are from drugs made here in America, and given out as prescriptions, often stolen and sold on a black market. The thirty-year “war on drugs” has been worse than a failure. What is needed is decriminalization and drug-treatment, but Trump has no idea that is an alternative. And it doesn’t sound tough.
3. Immigration and Security.
His ideas for security, such as keeping Muslims out, are again fighting an enemy that doesn’t exist. Since 911, under both Bush and Obama there were no foreign terrorist attacks in the U.S. Most of the mass shootings were done by angry white men. The shooters whose families came from other countries were American citizens. They were outraged by the way they were treated and radicalized by the Internet, or they were panicked by homosexuals. Not allowing a small number of refugees from the Middle East will only result in innocent people dying. But Trump would rather fight his imagined demons and invoke more fear and distrust. This could radicalize more Americans and make us less safe.
Trump’s rhetoric has also fueled more hate crimes, and has created tensions where their were none before, perhaps in your community. Trump’s threats to deport millions of people has disrupted communities, families and factories. He also has no plan about how to do this, and it would cost billions of dollars. Is he going to herd people into railroad cars, and deport them? That wouldn’t look to good, or make anyone in America feel safe. It feels as if he would like to deport Liberals next.
4. Technology
It seems to me that many of the Trump voters have been angered and upset by the way that technology has disrupted the American economy. They have lost jobs in factories, mines, newspapers, medical offices, retail stores — everywhere — due to the Internet and automation. The Trump campaign was able to use the Internet to constantly portray Hillary as crooked. But Trump does not take advantage of all of the new technology and the new knowledge that it can bring. He seems skeptical. Science has improved exponentially over the last twenty years, due to technological advances, but Trump seems to have his own way of knowing things that doesn’t include scientific research or verifiable facts. He seems very disparaging of those kinds of facts. He does not want the public to see the research our own government is doing. I am worried about this. Is anyone else?
Trump’s attitude puts America at a disadvantage because with the advances in Artificial Intelligence, and Deep Learning there are new ways of forecasting and modeling that could be very helpful in testing economic, social, and international policies. Trump isn’t interested. He already knows all there is to know. The only verification he gets is from his family and closest advisors.
The trouble is that decisions based on bad data produce terrible results. His ideas on unemployment, climate change, immigration, trade, medicine, finance, all seem to be based on his experiences in 1984, and are dangerously out of date. This could be terrible for all of us.
5. Democracy — free press- free speech — transparency
Trump and his henchmen are behaving as if he has become Emperor and not President. He thinks he won, so everyone should do exactly what he says and believe everything he tells us. He is fighting with the press even more than Nixon, who also said “I am not a crook,” but he was. This kind of fighting with the press is typical of how dictators disguise their actions. Anyone who questions Trump is the enemy. He disparaged the Women’s March. He continually sites “alternative facts.” He threatens to cut the funding to the cites and states that disagree with him. His only method of negotiate is to attempt to bully people. He has done nothing to unite a very divided country, in fact he demonizes and attacks any opposition.
There is a lot more in the Constitution than the 4th Amendment. It includes freedom of speech, freedom of the press and freedom of religions, and that includes Muslims and atheists. We are not a Christian nation, as Mike Pence wants to legislate, especially about women. The Constitution has a lot to say about checks and balances. Trump is trying desperately to get around those.
Trump was outraged when the election results in Wisconsin and Michigan were challenged, but now he is claiming “he has knowledge” of 3 million fraudulent votes. Is he going to use this to try to install more voter suppression laws, or is it he just can’t accept the fact that more people voted against him? Either way, he is undermining our elections and the democratic process. This is ironic because it has been the Republicans who have worked hard to disenfranchise opposition voters.. It brings up the question of his own legitimacy, and that leads back to Russia.
Speaking of Putin, Trump seems to model his leadership style. He issues several executive orders every day and thinks that is how laws get passed. It isn’t. When Obama issued a few executive order to protect immigrant children he was slammed by Republicans as being a dictator. No Republican seems to have the nerve to say that to Trump.
Do any of you care that he wants to govern as if he was king?
6. Corruption
Trump ran a “very successful company.” Perhaps. We don’t know because it was private, and he won’t release his taxes. Why? It raises lots of questions: Does his company really make money? How legal are his deductions? How much does he owe? To whom? What is his real credit rating after all of those bankruptcies? How many times has he settled law suits for fraud? For not paying contractors? For breaking other laws? For polluting?
Also, what are where are his business interests and how much will it affect his policies. He gave his business to his sons. How much are they profiting if he builds a wall, or Tweets about a company, of supports a foreign government? Or favors one industry, such as coal and oil, over others? We don’t know. It feels as if it could easily be corrupt. We already know he lies.
We know that the people he wants in his administration have dubious business dealings. The man he wants tor Treasury “forgot” about $100,000,000 he parked in the Cayman Islands. That much money is more than the total income of many of the towns that voted for Trump.This is illegal and immoral. He made millions foreclosing on mortgages. And this guy is going to write the new tax code. Trump’s guy at HHS invested in health care company and then went to Congress to pass legislation for it. He said it was legal because people knew about it. It’s not. The Education lady wants to give everyone vouchers to go to schools run by her husband. Trump’s Attorney General seems to be very supportive of voter suppression laws. His Labor guy ran fast food chains and is against a minimum wage. His Commerce guy is a 79 year-old billionaire. His Secretary of State has close ties to Russia, as do three of his close advisors.
None of these people know about or care about the people living in the rust belt who are looking for better jobs. Their policies are all slanted to make the rich richer, and maybe something will trickle down, although it never has. Is this what you consider “draining the swamp?”
Trump wants to unilaterally get rid of 75% of government regulations. Perhaps there are too many things that make starting a business difficult. Some of them were put there by Republicans who want to protect the businesses that are major contributors. Other regulations are their so that people don’t breathe mercury and other heavy metals, that water supplies don’t become dumping grounds from factories, that workers get to work in a safe environment, that houses don’t crack from fracking. That drugs, tools, food, baby toys, and animals are safe. Or maybe we should just bing back DDT, overloaded trucks, leaded gas, thalidomide, tuberculosis, and other things that reduce profits and restrict our freedom of choice.
No actual corruption has been proven, yet. But just the whiff of it creates a lot of distrust. Is there any indication that there is really a concern about the middle class or the poor? Trump said he is fighting for us, but it certainly feels as if he is fighting against us, and almost everyone else in the world.
So, Trump fans and Trump Trolls,
Do you ever worry about the much higher costs of getting sick?
higher cost of getting a mortgage?
Trump’s distain for public schools, which will lead to
higher costs of getting an education?
an education modeled on Trump University, a private, for profit school?
That roads and bridges are falling down but Trump’s priority is a border wall?
That he is alienating our allies and making overtures to our enemies?
That he doesn’t support innovation and progress (that’s what liberals like) but supports old industries like coal, steel, oil, big banks,, big insurance companies, and his ultra-rich friends?
That women will have a tougher time getting health care, especially any kind of birth control?
That Trump’s values are those of old, lecherous, rich, white men?
That he attacks facts, the press, science, and anyone but Fox News.
That he, his family and his friends are already making millions since he’s been nominated.
How much more are you making so far?
That his actions continue to divide and distress more than half the country, and he just gets meaner?
That his policies, whatever they are, will certainly widen the gap between the 1% and the rest.
That the possibility of trade wars, international economic instability, and the isolation of the United States from a global economy is greatly increased. That China will dominate world trade and innovation, and we will be left behind, because he won’t fund basic research or universities.
That you or your kid kid will have a greater chance of dying in some stupid war, fought because of Trump’s vanity or his lack of diplomatic skills?
Does it bother you that
That Congress wants to privatize (cut) Social Security?
That Congress wants to cut Medicare?
That Congress wants to limit Medicaid?
All of this and much more, just to please Donald Trump’s vanity.
Does any of this trouble you, even a little? Any speck of a doubt that maybe Trump is unfit for the job? That his personality is more like Kim Jong Un that George W. Bush? And that your lives will suffer because he is President. That we all will? All over the world. Many people will die who may have otherwise lived.
Or have you drank the Kool Aide and and just knowing that people like me are distressed makes it all worth it.
Please tell me what you think in words that are mostly respectful, and that I can understand.
