Are the Chickens Heading to Trump’s Roost?

Are the Chickens Heading to Trump’s Roost?

“You know that governments historically have messed with GDP… They count government spending as part of GDP. So I’m going to separate those two and make it transparent.” 

 Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on Fox News Channel’s “Sunday Morning Futures,” March 3rd.

As President Trump continues with his fire hose of executive orders, there are two major vectors that may not matter to MAGA diehards but clearly scare the non-MAGA voters who tipped the scales for Trump’s November victory, by a scant 1.5% of the popular vote: 1. he’s not remotely delivering on his major economic pledge to contain consumer price increases (and in many ways is making this issue worse) and 2. he is only beginning to realize that no one, and I mean no one, has yet to measure the damage (and cost to fix) inflicted on the American economy and political system resulting from Musk’s meat-axe decimation of federal employees and agencies.

While the concept of a massive attack on the entire federal administrative system looked good in the headlines and in the Project 2025 approximately 900-page agenda, the impact on daily life for most Americans is turning out to be negative in oh so many ways. Contrast this gleeful DOGE-staffer hack-job with the studied budget cuts during the Clinton administration that did not generate a single challenging lawsuit, but with the cooperation of the agencies trimmed, generated $400 billion (uncorrected for inflation) in annual savings and an overall budget surplus.

First, the statistics and facts that are being reported are ugly reminders of Trump’s falling performance numbers and his cozy relationship with the billionaire class, always at the expense of average Americans (particularly those in the bottom third of earning levels). So, when labeling failure as a victory – gaslighting 101 – no longer resonates, the next Trump pathway is to erase or obfuscate those facts and metrics. It’s happening all over the federal government.

For example, the Trump administration eviscerated a law (the Corporate Transparency Act) passed to clamp down on money laundering and fat cats hiding behind corporate anonymity to hide their political and economic dirty work. On February 27th, the Treasury Department/Financial Crimes Enforcement Network federal stated it would not seek enforcement actions pursuant to that statute. So, any failure to file or update any beneficial ownership information reports has no real-world consequences. “President Donald Trump has celebrated the Treasury Department's announcement that it will not enforce fines under the Corporate Transparency Act, an anti-money laundering law that aims to increase transparency around the ownership of certain business entities.” Newsweek, March 3rd. Lying is the new American way, and no one will find out!

Or, as evidenced by the above quote, try this sneaky effort to negate the giant negative numbers that are slowly rolling in: “Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Sunday that government spending could be separated from gross domestic product reports, in response to questions about whether the spending cuts pushed by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency could possibly cause an economic downturn...Doing so could potentially complicate or distort a fundamental measure of the U.S. economy’s health. Government spending is traditionally included in the GDP because changes in taxes, spending, deficits and regulations by the government can impact the path of overall growth. GDP reports already include extensive details on government spending, offering a level of transparency for economists.” Associated Press, March 3rd. Since GDP (gross domestic product) is a much-touted Trump measure of success, any significant decline of that number reflects an economic failure.

But wait, there’s more! We know the Trump administration hates mainstream media. Aside from trying to remove the 1964 Supreme Court Times vs Sullivan “actual malice” requirement in defamation actions against legitimate members of the press, Trump wants to block their access to government actions in the first place. First, by excluding traditional members of the press that may have been critical of recent government decisions from briefing rooms in the White House or the Department of Defense and substituting Trump-supporting media (like Breitbart) in their place, and…

Second, by “interpreting” federal statutes, designed to mandate government transparency, as not being applicable where the censored information might be embarrassing to the Trump-Musk administration. “While standing next to President Donald Trump in the Oval Office earlier [in late February], billionaire Elon Musk, the de facto head of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency ( DOGE ), claimed that his team had been ‘ maximally transparent ‘ as the Trump administration seeks to gut the federal workforce. But in recent court filings, the government said it will not provide DOGE records to the public under Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests , claiming that the organization is exempt from the law.” Law & Crime, February 28th. Huh?

How about the strategy of simply ignoring bad news… like that that mounting evidence of irreparable damage from Trump/Musk policies now terrifying many Republicans facing the 2026 min-term elections… if there are indeed going to be mid-term elections with full and fair access to the ballot box. “President Trump promised during the campaign to lower prices on day one of his presidency. But with costs still high, Republicans are worried the same economic factors that helped Trump win the election could come back to bite him if inflation remains stubborn.

“In his frequent public appearances and social-media posts, Trump is more likely to talk about federal workers, diversity programs and foreign policy than the price of eggs. That is a contrast from last year’s presidential campaign, when Trump, urged by his advisers, made high costs a centerpiece of his bid to retake the White House.

“Republicans, who still pin the blame on Trump’s predecessor, say voters have been willing to give Trump some leeway to enact his agenda—but they warn that goodwill might not last… ‘I’m nervous about it,’ said Stephen Moore, a veteran outside adviser to Trump on economic issues. ‘The Trump administration needs to keep its eye on what’s happening with prices. It should be a top priority. The trend is a little bit troubling.’… Further compounding the political risks: Trump’s far-reaching plans to impose tariffs on foreign imports could drive up prices further, according to economists.” Tarini Parti, Xavier Martinez and Josh Dawsey for the March 2nd Wall Street Journal.

Turns out that DEI attacks and an assault on “woke,” sideshows in Trump’s campaign’s main focus on the out-of-control cost of living, have now replaced the out-of-control cost of living issue… since the cost of living is even more out-of-control! Trump shrugged that he could not control prices and hope just to move on. Musk Trump no longer seemed to care much anymore. Although Trump believes he could increase tariffs on lumber and remove most of the restrictions protecting our national forests, thus solving the high cost of building new housing. Really, that’s all it needs? The lack of construction workers (with a sizeable cadre of undocumented labor) has nothing to do with the stall in new housing being built? Good luck with that approach Donny, sacrificing our national forests for a failing solution to our housing crisis. Here come those chickens!

I’m Peter Dekom, and even as Jeff Bezos’ Washington Post withers under Trump’s assault against the free press guarantees of the First Amendment, its masthead still screams the truth: “Democracy dies in darkness”!!!