The world (or at least much of it) was caught off-guard a couple of weeks ago when millionaire reality TV actor Donald Trump won the US presidency. He ran on a platform of (what he describes as) success as a businessman and “draining the swamp,” or clearing out all the politicians in Washington DC so that the elitists won’t run the company. In addition to electing Trump, voters sent most of the Republicans who have obstructed President Obama back to their jobs on the premise that Washington is broken.
Think about that for a second.
Trump is hardly a successful businessman. Most of his businesses have failed miserably over the years and many of them have been get-rich-quick schemes that defrauded large numbers of victims. A few days after the election, he settled a $40M class action lawsuit for fraud for $25M. His real estate holdings and his ability to license use of his name (based on his perceived wealth) is what comprises most of his personal fortune, which is almost certainly much less than he likes to brag that it is. He has a reputation for short-changing his business partners, refusing to pay his employees and contractors, and making really disastrous decisions regarding his businesses. His family is a bunch of grifters that have only one interest: To make as much money as they can from the Presidency.
But sure, why not give him a chance as President?
It’s not like the two major party candidates were on an even keel to begin with. Clinton had 113,000 pages of policy prepared; Trump had 9,000. Clinton released 65 policy fact sheets; Trump released zero. Clinton had significant political experience; Trump recommended a reality TV show in the White House. At least a dozen women came forward during the election to report that Trump had sexually assaulted them. He was facing civil trials for fraud and child rape in the first couple of months following the election. He repeatedly lied to the American public about even the most trivial things. And the list just goes on and on.
But sure, why not give Trump a chance?
By 8:30PM Eastern, the number of votes for third-party candidates in Florida were about 8100% of the margin by which Clinton was losing Florida.
There have been countless stories written about the people who voted Trump, many of which were poor, moderately educated, and stand to lose more from his policies than people who voted for Clinton. Millions of people will lose health insurance, see the elimination of services on which they depend to survive and perhaps even pay more in taxes.
None of the promises he made are realistic:
- 25M jobs — Not a chance this is going to happen. He was just promising the moon to his base.
- 4% GDP growth — No way, same as #1.
- Repeal/Replace Obamacare — The GOP has been trying to do this for eight years and still don’t have a replacement concept; millions of people will end up with no coverage at all.
- Better trade deals — This promise highlights the fact that Trump doesn’t really understand the role of the President. Additionally, he will end up causing trade wars that increase prices here in the US.
- $1T new infrastructure spending — He’s actually not looking to spend a penny. This is premised on $1T in tax cuts for wealthy investors, which means it will subtract $1T in revenue from federal coffers.
- Cut off funding to sanctuary cities — He’ll just shift the cost from federal tax dollars to state tax dollars.
- Deport undoc immigrants — He’s claimed that he’ll immediately deport 13M immigrants, which he couldn’t do from a logistics perspective and backed off this claim the day after the election. Then he said he would deport 1M criminal immigrants, except there aren’t a million of them.
- Crackdown on refugees — He used this nonsense line throughout his campaign. He doesn’t seem to understand that refugees already go through an incredibly complex vetting process, which he’s unlikely to be able to stop.
- Won’t touch Medicaid or Medicare — He said he won’t, but the GOP in Congress wants to, and he won’t be able to stop them. They already intend to privatize it.
GOP performance in general was helped by a long-game of voter suppression and gerrymandering. Trump’s performance specifically was assisted by interference from Russia, bad judgment by the FBI’s director, and he was proudly endorsed by the Ku Kux Klan and other white supremacy groups. The volume of hate incidents soared during the election and has continued to do so since, emboldened by his victory.
Since the election, he’s offered cabinet posts to fellow elitists and zealots with no political experience. Our nation’s security and global standing will be damaged. Freedoms of Americans will take a backseat to dark interests.
But sure, why not give Trump a chance?
I guess if there’s anything to be happy about, it’s that people remain undeterred and vigilant that a bloviating fraudster is about to take the Oath of President and scam America for all he can.
If a Trump presidency is all it takes to make you give up on your hopes & dreams for your nation, then you don’t want them enough.
— Hend Amry (@LibyaLiberty) November 9, 2016
The president is granted great power and constrained by few laws. He’s expected to act ethically even when federal law does not command it.
— southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) November 22, 2016
Ultimately, the election was decided by 107,000 votes in PA, MI and WI, and Clinton will win the popular vote by (at time of this post) about 2.2M votes. The election was riddled with illegalities ranging from hacking of personal data by Russian operatives to voter suppression on a scale never seen before.
But sure, why not give Trump a chance?
