The
middle-class people at all income levels who voted for Trump are
good, hard-working people. They didn't see the benefit of paying
taxes. The religious far right believe he is part of some sort of
calling. They voted for him because they thought America was broken.
They are right; America was broken enough to let this come about.
When
I was young and trying to understand that greater thing outside my
little world, I asked my father, a butcher by trade, what was the
difference was between Republicans and Democrats? My father answered
matter-of-factly, “Republicans are for rich people and Democrats
are for poor people.” That simplistic description has hung in the
back of my head for over 50 years.
I
have a Bachelor of Business Administration and my field was
accounting. In the classroom it was promoted that the government
should take care of foreign policy while businesses should be civic
minded and should give back to the community. Churches and other
social organizations should take care of the needy, the lost, the
hungry...
When
a Republican talks about lowering taxes, they don't mean lowering the
taxes on those poor, middle-class, hard working Americans who just
wanted to fix the country. Republicans think that if they lower the
taxes for large corporations (emphasis on “LARGE”) those
corporations will have more money to give back to the community,
which will help the community take care of itself. It is a beautiful
idea. The government should not have to impose regulations such as
clean air guidelines which have to be supervised to ensure that such
regulations are adhered to. Corporations should have consciences and
be able to self-impose guidelines to regulate their behavior.
However, a corporation doesn't even need air to breathe. The biggest
problem I see with self regulation is that it doesn't happen. The fat
mice at the top only get fatter and they try to get away with
whatever they can. When the cat's away (no regulations) the mice
will play (follow no rules).
But
someone has to pay for roads, bridges, maintenance, clean air, parks,
health care, and so many other things that we American citizens take
for granted. Streamlining the government to offer such substantial
tax breaks to big companies requires eliminating federal departments
that take care of the people. The states should do that, right? But
what if the state has a Republican governor and legislature? They
will push for the same Republican agenda, passing the buck to the
cities who then bear responsibility for the needed projects and
people in need. Corporate leaders do not want regulations imposed by
the federal government and they want low taxes. You see where this
goes: somewhere down the line, someone has to pay either in local or
state taxes or with worse public health or degraded environment.
Someone has to pay. Who do you think that is?
That
is what is happening right now. There is no support for
infrastructure, no base of help in the federal government. Those
departments are being dismantled and thrown out, deemed unnecessary,
just extra baggage the feds have to pay for.
Besides,
we haven't had a pandemic in a long time? Trump dismantled the
pandemic response team. Now he’s saying, don't involve the federal
government. He is telling the governors that they need to clean up
their own messes. It's not Trump's mess and he doesn't feel
responsible because the federal government doesn't get involved in
such matters. It's not their problem. That's why he's telling
corporations , “I gave you tax cuts and fewer regulations -- now
come up with the goods and machines the communities need.'
There
is a massive lack of coordination, cooperation, and understanding!
And so much misleading, and denial, so many lies. Hey! I have a
memory, you deniers out there.
My
father said that Democrats were for the poor people. The basic
premise, as I understand it, is that in order to build a stronger
community we need structures that will take care of the poor, the
elderly, the unfortunate, and the children. No one should have to
worry about health care. We should take care of the air and the earth
because these should be appreciated as necessary to life on earth,
including ours. Oversight is required once we understand our
relationship with the earth, -- voluntary measures to save the
environment we depend on have have been proven not to work!
As
President Obama was sworn in and George W. Bush was leaving, George
must have whispered in Barack's ear, “Oh yeah, by the way, we
messed up and the economy is crashing.” Bush must have thought,
“Boy, I got out of there in time. All those middle-classers who
just lost their houses will see a new guy in town and blame him. And,
oh yeah, he's black. They'll never remember that it was my fault.”
I
read an article that said people who voted for Trump felt alienated
and neglected by the Democrats. They felt that the Democrats had
become an intellectual elite and no longer spoke their language. It's
so sad that Donald Trump speaks to them using the language of a 5th
grader.
Here
I am listening to this man who has no heart and is unable to
communicate intellectually. When something is written that sounds
intelligent (albeit Republican agenda) I know that it is written by
some Trump minion, not Trump. No one talks like Trump. Actually, not
even a 5th grader. I don't know. I feel so helpless. Now I
sit in our home, scared to go out, unable to see my friends. I fear
for my life. I fear for my friends' lives, I fear for the world. I
see the world collapsing, slipping through fingers unable to grasp
humanity, emotion, or empathy – fingers of people who have no
knowledge or ability to support it before we all fall to utter ruin.
Who's going to pay now?
