Trump is Pissing Down Our Back and Calling It Rain
by John Lawrence
Trump and Elon are running roughshod over all the institutions of the Federal government. I'm still waiting for them to take the wrecking ball to the Defense Department though. I don't think they'll do it. They will just destroy every institution that helps people who need help. And it doesn't matter what the courts say. The courts have no enforcement mechanism. If Trump and Elon defy a court's order, there is nothing the courts can do to make them comply. They can stop payouts by the Federal government to whomever they choose, be it Medicare recipients, Medicaid recipients, social security recipients or whomever. They are inside the Treasury system which makes the payments for the Federal government, a place where they have no business to be. It's not just a question that they have information about people; they have the ability to stop payments to people.
As far as USAID, people are trying to justify it by twisting around the motivation to say that it's in the self interest of the American people to actually help poor people in other countries. Everything has to be justified in terms of self interest because that's the only dynamic Americans seem capable of appreciating. It's not enough to say that these people need our help. They deserve our help, and its in the tradition of every religion to help those in need. That runs counter to everything Americans stand for and have been taught, and that is don't do anything simply because it helps someone else. Only do things that are in your own self interest. No wonder the rest of the world is not exactly enchanted with American values. Americans look at every issue through the prism of their own self interest especially if it has anything to do with helping people in some other country.
Trump of course looks at everything through the prism of his own self interest. That's why in the runup to solidifying the budget for the next fiscal year, Elon is stripping all the money out of every program in the Federal budget that doesn't help rich people. This is in preparation for justifying a huge tax cut to the rich which is the main item on Trump's and Elon's agenda. The Republican controlled Congress will go right along with this. A huge tax cut for the rich will benefit 1) Elon and 2) Trump. And a lot of other billionaires and millionaires. The Democrats should make this their main issue something Bernie Sanders has been dwelling on for years. You can't have a democracy when you have such huge disparities in wealth. Inequality is the primary issue or should be for those who continue to be interested in whatever remnants of a Constitutional democracy that remain after Trump and Elon get done with it.
