Getting Personal

Is the Trump Administration Tone-Deaf?

Will the Trump Administration hear the voices of the hundreds of thousands (millions?) of protesters across our country last Saturday – not to mention in cities around the world rejecting his politics of division, chaos and cruelty? Will the 55% – 45% margin of victory for the liberal candidate in the Wisconsin Supreme Court race give some Republicans in the Administration and in Congress pause? And what about their House candidates in Florida who did win, but with substantially smaller margins than Trump’s victory in those heavily Republican districts just a few months earlier?

The opposition is starting to matter, but there is much work to be done. This is only the beginning. In the meantime. . .

Let’s Get Personal . . . .

The opening months of the second Trump administration have proven more disruptive than we anticipated but have not directly disadvantaged every American family – yet. Bad things continue to happen. The new tariffs could have a profound impact on every family. Hoping for the best is not a tenable strategy for those who aren’t yet feeling the pain.

We hear this from some: “Bad as this Administration is proving to be, I believe my family and I will be alright. We aren’t members of a minority; we are all citizens who don’t rely on Medicaid, subsidies under the Affordable Care Act, or SNAP. I’d like to live in a kinder society, and in the America that led and stood for important things in the world. But I and my loved ones can live with this regime.”

While this may seem personally comforting, this sense of immunity may not hold up to scrutiny. Your health, your wealth, your physical safety, your freedom to speak out, and those blessings for your children and grandchildren, may seem OK now. But they are at grave risk. The inexpert and indiscriminate slashing of federal budgets and the federal work force will leave a legacy of both short and long term harm:

– Many Administration cuts involve things that are invisible until suddenly and catastrophically they aren’t, like contagious childhood and adult diseases that could have been prevented by vaccinations and other traditional public health measures, and foreign diseases that have previously been contained by our foreign aid programs, to say nothing of lifesaving drugs and other breakthroughs that prevent and cure diseases and that now are delayed or lost because of cuts to our great research institutions.

-The stock market is hemorrhaging, and there are numerous signs of great uncertainty and impending recession. Many retirement plans may have to be rethought, including the deferral of set-asides for the education of children and grandchildren. Gutting the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which took actions to reduce the risk of widespread instability arising from indiscriminate subprime mortgages, makes a repeat of the 2008 meltdown more likely.

– We are in an anarchic and volatile international climate, with a President who favors Russia and treats Canada as an adversary. We have alienated allies with whom we have traditionally worked in times of international crisis. We are now in an unstable economic environment and facing reduced national security. The immense security gains resulting from longstanding intelligence-sharing programs with our closest allies are at risk. And the Administration has greatly reduced much of the US early-warning system for cyberattacks, through which tech firms work with the F.B.I. and intelligence agencies to protect electric power grids, pipelines, and telecommunications networks.

– Corporations are jettisoning policies that are contrary to Administration views. Restrictive actions against major law firms and the corporations that retain them are designed to punish private organizations that do not align themselves with the Administration’s views on social and other policies. All of this is an attack on freedom of thought and expression, and on the rule of law.

– The list could go on: reduced access to America’s national parks and forests due to staffing shortages; delays in processing Social Security and Medicare benefits or tax refunds, or in obtaining recourse when there are mistakes; and reduced warnings of natural disasters like hurricanes and tornadoes, due to a truncated weather service.

We are on an unpredictable trajectory driven by a messy and obscure process. While court cases are temporarily deferring some impacts, and may possibly eliminate some bad policies, the menu of foolish, cruel, and irresponsible cuts is expanding, and predictably will jeopardize even those who now feel safe.

The greatest and most lasting damage may be to our political culture, sowing seeds of distrust that grow into weeds that defy quick eradication. No matter our policy views and priorities, we all need a shared commitment to the constitutional order and to an underlying sense of decency. Those are the essentials for a stable and successful America – the America that we want for our children and grandchildren.

So, why are we pulling together in one memorandum a lot of what you already know? Because, if you are waiting to get active and oppose this Administration, now is the time to engage. The courts can hold some ground, for some time, but it is all too clear that ultimately, it is the American people who will succeed or fail in saving decency and the rule of law. And the more we wait, the harder it gets.

Many organizations offer ways to take action now. We identify some of them in our emails and on our website. Support organizations and candidates that believe in democratic means to achieve sensible goals, including organizations and candidates vetted and endorsed by P4D. Democracy at risk is not an abstract concern. It is directly about the wellbeing of you and your loved ones.