When Trump says that Americans never had it so good, his republicans supporters certainly will agree. For many years people’s partisan loyalties adhere to whether the economy is doing well. However, in Trump’s case, his single biggest economic initiative has been a complete failure.
The tax cut bill republicans passed last year, which favors corporations and the rich but not the majority of Americans. Republicans’ worn out sales pitch for the tax cut was that it would promote immense economic growth and prosperity for all but as most economists predicted, corporations took the money and put it into historic stock buybacks, and not into higher wages or better paying jobs. As a result we now have the lowest corporate taxes as a proportion of gross domestic product in the developed world but with no gain transfer for the average Joe. In general the result has been that most Americans don’t believe it boosted their paychecks, and think the tax cut was a terrible idea.
Moreover, now we have Trump’s trade war, which as a symbol of power wielding might have approval from his fringe supporters but the likely damage to the economy is a reality that would take a long time to repair. It follows that it will hurt the hardest Trump’s most zealous supporters in the grain growing and exporting belt of the country his claiming to defend.
Many Americans are aware that statistical low unemployment rate is not enough as a good measure for paychecks, opportunities, or inflation rates that can erode meager gains on wages that could make life miserable for many and a rise in poverty levels at the expense of a shrinking middle class.
The Trump administration has weaken worker’s rights either for collective bargaining or as a subset of the working class not to mention loses in health care benefits and his sabotage of the Affordable Care Act which guarantees the most needy Americans with pre-existing medical conditions some measure of health security. He has sought to undermine the environment and worker safety protections making the work place meaner and more cruel that it has ever been only for the benefit of his corporate supporters and cronies.
Trump wants to trumpet success with North Korea’s nuclear disarmament, brotherly relations with Vladimir’s Russia who is a thug and who still is a murderer KGB operative. On the other hand, he undermines relations with our closest allies and starts a trade war conveying great uncertainty for the country and western democracies. These set of actions has many legislators and former government officials questioning Trump’s loyalty to America as he continues his relentless drive towards the abyss on a course of collective suicide.
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