I recently read a few news articles focusing on lower-income people who continue to fully support the current president, regardless of how negatively his policies and edicts impact their lives. Somehow, based on no real evidence, they believe that morbidly rich Donald Trump and his morbidly rich cohorts care about their lot in life. The morbidly rich only care about how wealthier they can get, exploiting the middle- and lower-class households. Middle- and lower-income households increasingly hold the Democratic party in contempt because they believe the Democratic party has deserted them, and the party of big business, the wealthy, and anti-labor better represents their interests.
What has been remarkable to observe is that all the federal programs that assist and support middle- and lower-income households were initiated and legislatively enacted by the Democratic Party. Often, the Republican party opposed those programs when first enacted and continues to oppose the programs even when millions of lives are much better off because of the Democratic party. Yet somehow millions of middle- and lower-income voters grew bored with the political party that had assisted and supported them for decades and fell for the grand con job that the political party that clearly favors the very wealthy and corporate interests was going to somehow improve their economic well-being. Considering that the Republican party has never proposed and championed any programs or enacted any federal legislation that economically benefits middle- and lower-income households, they have done a masterful job of getting millions of, most notably, lower-income voters to vote for policies and legislative initiatives that do absolutely nothing to improve their lives and economic well-being.
If we walk down memory lane of federal programs and assistance established to benefit middle- and lower-income households are the result of Democratic Party’s action. The list is exhaustive including Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, minimum wage, 40-hour work week, overtime pay, voter rights, civil rights, housing subsidies, fuel assistance, rural funding for hospitals, and a wide range of other efforts designed to make our low wage economy allow millions of middle- and lower income individuals and families make ends meet day in and day out. To repeat: a country can have a low wage economy and a high level of support services or a high wage economy with a lower level of support services; however, having a low wage economy and a lower level of support services very likely produces a disastrous economy for most of the citizens of the country. The current administration is attempting to maintain a low-wage economy, even had a cabinet member talked about bringing manufacturing back to the U.S. which involves turning little screws and dramatically cut support services.
It has been flabbergasting to see so many millions of people consistently vote against their own economic best interests based largely on lies, misinformation, and hyperbole. I find it difficult to see the current president as anything other than a gifted grifter (a con artist who uses the political process to enrich themselves) and a pathological liar who may no longer know, after many years of pathological lying and his advanced cognitive declining age, how to differentiate between telling a lie or the truth. He has proven that bullying the Republican Party into complete submission was much more likely than most observers would have believed. Because the Republican party is known for having its voters fall in line more than the Democratic party, more diverse and difficult to control, it was easier to subjugate the Republican party.
Almost everything being done by the current administration to cut the federal budget will in some way negatively impact most lower-income families and individuals. A small group of morbidly wealthy individuals and major corporations will likely benefit the most from the tax cuts, deregulation, and lack of tax code enforcement (decimation of IRS staffing levels) that is planned. Regardless of where the current administration takes the country, we all will see a very different country until the 2026 election, provided we have a 2026 election. Hopefully, at least the House, Senate, or both will have majority Democratic party leadership to somewhat temper the current administration excesses. Two years of unaccountable presidential leadership may prove devastating, but four years of little or no oversight of the authoritarian and lawless Executive branch could be extremely ruinous for the country.
