Buyer’s Remorse; Tariffs, Social Security, and Beyond

 Buyer’s Remorse; Tariffs, Social Security, and Beyond

I wonder how many Trump supporters are having buyer’s remorse. It’s hard to admit your mistakes. It takes a person who is totally honest with themselves to make such an admission. I’m sure many of them had things Trump supported that were important to them. They thought Trump would change “things” to make their lives better. Trump’s appeal is his “everyman” approach. You have to admit, it takes an excellent con man to convince the average citizen that a wealthy sociopath has their best interests at heart.

Some must have thought that, if he has all this money, he certainly doesn’t need more. He must be doing this because he has a pure heart. What they didn’t realize was that, he is a different breed of person. His type is normally found as the villain in a Bond movie intent on destroying the world for their own gain. You don’t run across people like Donald Trump every day. Just be thankful for that.

Both low-information and educated voters supported the Republican businessman, hoping for a better financial future. Assumptions were made regardless of their backgrounds. If current events align with your voting expectations, either your views are consistent with them, or you have not experienced any adverse impacts.

Trump couldn't care less about many issues on which he has publicly taken a wobbly stand, but tariffs are something in which he seems committed. As a general rule, tariffs are bad, especially the shotgun across-the-board variety. Very specific tariffs to correct a targeted inequity might be of some value when done with careful thought, but wild, on-again-off-again decisions make matters worse. The economy doesn’t like uncertainty.

So far, the Trump tariffs have been indecisive and disruptive and have had a negative impact. To use a phrase even Trump might understand regarding his tariff policy, he shanked his shot from the first tee into the rough. Trump tried to call a mulligan. The stock market penalized him a stroke. He has now hit the tariff pause button. America will have to wait to see if he just takes to the podium and announces a hole-in-one, or if he drives our financial golf cart into the nearest water hazard. He might do both.

So far, Trump’s entire second term has been a series of mulligans, shank shots, hooks, and slices. He hasn’t kept much of anything on the fairway. His random firings of federal employees have immediately impacted those agencies and their employees. People served by those federal offices are just beginning to feel the pain.

Next on the agenda is the “reform” of Social Security. Even though Social Security deductions are capped at the first $176,100, to the wealthy, SS represents a gateway drug into other “socialistic” areas.

“The government shouldn't restrict pollution, as it affects profits. Worker safety is irrelevant if replacements are available and I don’t have to pay for their insurance. High interest rates generate significant profits, and monopolies eliminate competition. Consumer protection is unnecessary; buyers should beware.”

Billionaires and the morbidly rich have long sought to privatize Social Security to the disadvantage of an aging population. The threat of raising or even eliminating that $176,100 income cap to solve the looming solvency problem gives them nightmares. “How dare they allow this socialistic scheme to impact my extravagant lifestyle?”

Upcoming changes may also involve reductions to Medicare, which will be aligned with cuts to Medicaid. Following the Great Recession and the Covid-19 pandemic, there has been an increase in the numbers of people relying on government-funded health care. Addressing this issue is not a priority for the extremely wealthy. For them to benefit from an extension of the 2017 tax cuts, they need to find another $880B of cuts to Medicaid. “Sure, rural health clinics may need to close and half of all American children may have to do without health care, but what is that compared to my tax cut.”

Now that Republican congresspersons are being booed at town hall meetings things are getting dicey. The recommended solution from Republican leadership is simple, don’t do town hall meetings and you won’t have to answer embarrassing questions. Meanwhile, Republican voices are beginning to sound like Chicken Little of folk tale fame and, “the sky is falling” may be more than just rocket debris from a failed SpaceX flight.