It will all come down to one thing–whether or not people begin to wish they had been more careful what they wished for. Allegedly, Trump is fulfilling his campaign promises. In reality, as the full extent of Trump’s tariffs become clear, and as the effects of what Trump and Musk are doing in the name of “efficiency” begin to hit home, people are beginning to second guess exactly who they put in power and why.
Tariffs look good on paper. But, in the era of social media, “low propensity voters” may not have read the fine print. The fundamental question remains: will the tariffs work to do the things that voters wanted them to work to do? It increasingly looks like the answer to this question will be “No.” Trump’s tariff gamble may pay off. But then again it might not. The American economy is now slowly slipping ever closer to recession.
Meanwhile, Trump and Musk are busy filling a power vacuum created by the fact that nothing ever gets done in America, no matter how much money gets thrown at the problem. Just about everybody believes the government needs to be more efficient. Really, if you didn’t believe this I would have to say you have your head in the sand. We need to review regulations. But that doesn’t mean chaotically and cruelly terminating tens of thousands of hard working federal employees. This isn’t fixing things. It is making a bad situation worse.
Trump got into office by correctly diagnosing the problem. What people couldn’t see was that his cure was even worse than the disease. It is what is so often true in life. No matter how bad a problem is, the most radical response is never the best one. What is actually needed is a plan to reform government–without taking a chainsaw to American executive infrastructure. America needs a strong, but measured, middle-of-the-road approach to making government work again. It can’t come from either party alone; it will have to come from both.
And that gets to the real heart of the problem. There will be no answers until the branches of government begin to work together again. What is needed is the exact opposite of the unfettered executive branch Trump is seeking. The governmental breakdown is the result of the different branches being so at odds with one another that nothing can get done.
If Trump wants to assert more power over the executive branch because he thinks that a stronger executive will lead to greater efficiency, more power to him. But his constant attempts to undermine the other branches of government only create chaos and further weaken the ability of the government to work together to meet the needs of the American people. Trump is telling the American people they are getting what he promised them. But he is lying in one critical way. He promised answers. The only thing he is prepared to deliver is an attempt at getting more power for himself.
Progressive Without Apology 