Hey America, Trump-Musk Policies: What’s in It for You?

   

Hey America; Trump/Musk Policies: What’s in It for You?

What sounds good, makes good headlines – well, often it does not work in practice

PETER ON THE WRITERS’ HANGOUT PODCAST!

The problem with rising autocracy with a rubber-stamp legislature, even if tempered by “elections” and a competent bureaucracy, is that the hammering repetition of sounds bites and attention-grabbing headlines often convinces a confused constituency that there are bona fide solutions in them thar words, spoken by people so many believe in. Even within the inconsistency of Trump’s vacillating statements, there is still a hammering consistency: “only I can fix it” overall “principles” that do not change: tariffs are good (they will generate lots of income for the government, make America a manufacturing hub again and really won’t cost more in the near future), immigrants are bad and mostly criminals (particularly from south of our border), Putin is mostly right, Europe and Canada have played us for suckers, climate change is hardly as bad as Democrats say, woke books are polluting our nation, DEI denies our fundamental White Chistian National essence, presidential orders under national security realities and the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 cannot be challenged by radical activist judges, the executive branch may deport any non-citizen it chooses without due process, detailed war plans on insecure media platforms are not classified, government funded medical and scientific research are a waste of money, expert regulatory agencies created by Congress can be ignored, media licenses to media that criticize the government should be revoked, the government has a right to review and control the teaching curricula and research programs of American universities, etc., etc. Quite a paragraph, but relatively short when compared to the roughly 900-page Project 2025 agenda Trump once denied he even knew about… and is following as a checklist of executive orders.

When a governing autocrat is irrefutably married to the severe doctrine that moved him (not many hers) to power, the flexibility needed to govern in a rapidly changing world becomes impossible. You need only look at the November election that Trump declared to be a mandate (with a 1.5% higher popular vote?), as his MAGA following believes his assassination survival was a message from God, including his appointment of chainsaw wielding mega-Trump donor and profiteer from federal contracts followed by a never-ending litany of executive orders which, when challenged under our Constitution, seldom pass judicial muster.

A Trump mandate? Just look at the steady plunge of: Trump approval polls, consumer confidence metrics, the stock market, our global creditability, any thought of moderating consumer prices, the increasingly frequent lapse of vital national security, the fall of well-paying job openings, the slowdown in housing starts, the shortages of vital farm labor, the litany of natural disasters from that “climate change hoax,” and special elections in Florida and a judicial election in Wisconsin that show eroding voter support for the GOP.

Harsh realities thrown by the wayside: 1. Complex economic problems are constantly changing, take long-term constant fine tuning and require massive expertise. The construction of new factories at any level requires years with stable economic parameters. Manufacturing jobs never paid well and are being replaced by robots. Even if a few US manufacturers fare well, the tariffs on building materials may take that joy away fast. 2. Federal judges enforcing the Constitution are neither radical activists nor rogue jurists. 3. Without reasonable immigration, our population (and the growth we need) is contracting fast. 4. Without access to cheap labor, consumer costs will skyrocket, and our housing shortage will get worse. 5. Cutting university research will allow other countries to be the tech job creators of the future and will result in an increasing number of American deaths from otherwise preventable diseases. 6. Antagonizing our allies, even claiming a right to take their territory, leaves us to bear the burdens of growth, national defense against obvious foes, entirely on our own. 7. US travelers to foreign countries and tourists to the US will continue to decline in a sea of hostility. 8. “Drill, baby drill” will not make America great again. 9. While the value of the US dollar will decline as planned, it may be replaced as the global reserve currency, either directly or by the workaround cryptocurrency which is not controlled by monetary or fiscal policies.

Behind all of this is a clear shift in American and international attitudes, pushing back against the most unpopular men in America, pictured above. From recent publications and statements:

• A top European Union official warned the United States on Tuesday that the world’s biggest trade bloc “holds a lot of cards” when it comes to dealing with the Trump administration’s new tariffs and has a good plan to retaliate if forced to… “Europe has not started this confrontation. We do not necessarily want to retaliate, but if it is necessary, we have a strong plan to retaliate and we will use it,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told EU lawmakers. AP, April 2nd. And no, Donny, the 1930 Smoot-Hawley tariff passed under the Hoover administration didn’t abate the Great Depression; it only invited reciprocal tariffs and accelerated bank failures!

• Democracies in Europe and their detractors in Washington have radically different understandings of why the continent depends on American military protection. Donald Trump and his aides constantly talk as if crafty Europeans have cynically manipulated the United States for decades, making Americans pay for their defense while Germany, France, and the like enjoy their lavish welfare states, early retirements, and carefree lives. “I fully share your loathing of European freeloading,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told Vice President J. D. Vance in the Trump-administration Signal chat that accidentally included The Atlantic ’ s Jeffrey Goldberg . “It’s PATHETIC,” Hegseth added…European leaders, meanwhile, believe their countries have been dutifully following America’s direction on geopolitical matters for 80 years. Hundreds of millions of Europeans have completely subordinated their fate to the desires of the United States, which looks after them, protects them, and even thinks for them. Most Europeans now alive have known no other security arrangements. Contemplating the disappearance of NATO, the U.S.-led military alliance, is so unnerving for many in Europe, including many of the continent’s political leaders, that they seem incapable of thinking for themselves. The Atlantic, March 30th.

• Experts are sounding the alarm that the fossil fuel industry may be losing its grip on the market. A new analysis shows that oil and gas stocks are underperforming, with companies like Solaris Energy Infrastructure, Inc. seeing sharp declines… While that might sound like bad news, it's actually a positive sign of something bigger: the clean energy transition is reshaping the economy, and dirty energy sources are becoming a riskier bet. Oil and gas companies have already been on shaky ground. In 2024, fossil fuel stocks returned just 5.72%, while the broader market gained over 23%. The Cool Down, March 30th.

• [Mega-Private Equity] BlackRock CEO Larry Fink warns that America’s rising national debt could threaten the dollar’s status as the world’s reserve currency, potentially leading to decentralized assets like Bitcoin taking its place. He and Bridgewater’s Ray Dalio caution that if the U.S. fails to manage its debt, global confidence in U.S. Treasuries may collapse, triggering economic instability and a shift toward alternative financial systems. Fortune, April 1st. The billionaire tax cut will add trillions to the national deficit.

• Nearly 90% of U.S. Christian religious leaders believe humans are driving climate change. When churchgoers learn how widespread this belief is, they report taking steps to reduce its effects, as we found in our research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences … According to that data, while the overwhelming majority of Christian religious leaders accept the human-driven reality of climate change, nearly half have never mentioned climate change or humans’ role in it to their congregations. Further, only a quarter have spoken about it more than once or twice. The Conversation, April 2nd.

• "It's clear the US is no longer a reliable partner…The old relationship we had with the United States based on deepening integration of our economies and tight security and military cooperation is over." Canadian PM, Mark Carney, March 27th.

• Nearly 400 books have been removed from the U.S. Naval Academy's library collection in a DEI purge ordered by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth... Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell confirmed late on Tuesday the unified resolve of military academies, stating, "All service academies are fully committed to executing and implementing President Trump's Executive Orders." Irish Star, April 2nd.

I’m Peter Dekom, and exactly how have and how will Trump/Musk policies made/make your life better?