What Has Trumpanomics Done For You?
How Is Donald Trump Helping Your Pocketbook? Or Is He? Plus, More Context As To the Senator John Fetterman Scenario & Other Issues
Feel free to check the past Biden Era archives and follow the editions to come in the Trump Era on Substack, Medium, and LinkedIn (First Come, First Serve!).
A couple of housekeeping items:
Here are some book recommendations from some of my political acquaintances:
In the Trenches by Matt Barron. This is an upcoming book which this blog might promote when it’s ready for publication in the future. All this, of course, will be done at the discretion of the author.
Ratfucked by David Daley
Antidemocratic by David Daley
Tio Bernie by Chuck Rocha
The Latino Century by Mike Madrid
A Common Struggle by Patrick Kennedy
Let me also recommend taking a look at Catherine Herridge’s Catherine Herridge Reports (partly to return the favor; thanks for all the subscriptions Catherine!)
Onto business now. First off, here’s why DEI was so politically problematic. For all the politically correct language, the rhetoric did not change very much on the ground. That is, the workforce did not undergo a substantial change, and white men still by far dominate most sectors of the private workforce.
In other words, too often in corporate America, DEI was little more than window-dressing and lip service to the idea of equality. That should be the lesson of the DEI attacks; not that diversity in itself is a bad thing.
Two, a lesson for the Democratic Party: the overreach of the party of power does not portend long term electoral success. What offers success is a real promising vision and regular on-the-ground engagement with voters. And it has to be open-minded, authentic, genuine, and consistent.
And Democrats will have to do that all while confronting the GOP’s voter registration hurdles, and its own rural underrepresentation in Congress.
Three, let me say this: it is not my intention to defend John Fetterman at every single turn. However, I did want to voice my opinion as to the current Senator Fetterman situation once more, as unpopular as it may be. It is worth a lesson in “winning some and losing some.”
The PA Senator comes from a 50-50 state, winning in a tough cycle on a brand unique only to him. Yes, the same can still be said about Josh Shapiro, but Doug Mastriano was also a much weaker opponent than Fetterman’s opponent, Dr. Oz. More to the point, though, Sen. Fetterman’s past campaigns have been rooted in populist progressive messaging.
At the end of the day, I have greatly respected Fetterman’s consistency as an individual on a host of issues. And it is worth saying we all don’t know how much the recent elections have taken a personal toll on the Senator. As he himself has said, the election defeat of his former Pennsylvania colleague Senator Bob Casey Jr. was devastating.
We should also not forget that, one year ago, Sen. Fetterman dealt with the types of mental health challenges and experiences that many of us can relate to. In the past, he has proudly opened himself up and shared his mental health struggles for the better of all of us. Never discount the major challenges of depression, especially a depression coming off of a stroke. You never know what someone is going through.
To be sure, I certainly wish Senator Fetterman could be on our side on more issues too, like the vote on AG Pam Bondi (who is very concerning not least as a former corporate lobbyist with ties to foreign government clients). Similarly, the hypothetical Gaza occupation take was simply out of touch and unnecessary.
Those are valid, constructive critiques of Fetterman in recent weeks.
It is also worth crediting him for his courageous stands, both pre-2024 Election Day and after. Despite previous speculation, he took unequivocal and unquestionable stands, in his opposition to highly unqualified and dangerous Cabinet appointments like Russell Vought, Pete Hegseth, RFK Jr., and Tulsi Gabbard. Thank you for those critical votes Senator.
John Fetterman is not a “Republican-in-disguise”. He may be an independent thinker and voice, but he is authentic. He may be making overcalculating Trump’s strength right now, but he is a winnable vote on many of the merits in this all-important fight for the future of our democracy. Win some, lose some, and maybe better. Again, he’s not an outright imposter like Joe Manchin or Kyrsten Sinema, who sold themselves totally to corporate America and the pro-business “bipartisan” consensus that has now formed Trump’s base of power.
That said, it is on Pennsylvania voters and constituents to keep encouraging Fetterman to stay on the right path, now and into 2028. Use every inch on the field possible.
It is true. Pennsylvania had its own red wave in 2024. Trump won 50.4% in PA, an outright majority. But very, very importantly, most PA voters did not vote for an agenda of retribution, distractions, and billionaire takeovers. That is why only 46% of PA voters now approve of him in his best “honeymoon” period so far. Imagine what will happen when the honeymoon ends.
So, just to tone down the social media panic, even for a little bit. The Fetterman situation is a far different situation from Rep. Jeff Van Drew, unless something really were to drastically change.
To Senator Fetterman, remember Trump is no business-as-usual politician at all. To the contrary, he is a man who created and stoked the fire of an unprecedented 2020 election lie, a lie you masterfully called him out on in the immediate aftermath of that election.
We need that Senator Fetterman now more than ever. Because alas, the corporate media is falling into the trap of Steve Bannon’s flood-the-zone game plan. It is what defined Trump’s first presidency, and it is the approach that Trump built off of Roy Cohn, his mentor and the lawyer behind Joseph McCarthy’s Communist witch hunts.
Don’t fall for these tricks, folks. Even if the corporate media has fallen into the same ditch twice.
Let’s talk about how the Trump Presidency is impacting you right now. What is Trumpanomics doing for you? Let’s see:
Egg prices have risen dramatically, as have other costs (eggflation, Trumpflation)
Tariffs are coming into effect with China, and may yet occur with Canada and Mexico if Trump doubles down on his trade warfare. More inflationary costs for you will come the longer a trade war lasts
Mass deportations, if they go on, will decimate the agricultural labor force, raising prices on groceries and commodities and worsening the pain of inflation
The rollback of federal government immigration apps has caused unnecessary chaos at the Mexican border
Trump Tax Cuts 2.0 would widen inequalities and potentially raise the inflation rate further
Repeal of offshore wind and solar panel leases will shrink the American energy supply and raise energy prices on consumers
The firing of the National Labor Relations Board will empower union-busting and anti-union activism by Big Business shill appointments. All this from the same president who pretended to be the champion of the people living paycheck-to-paycheck.
The disbanding of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will end guardrails on unlawful Wall Street practices like those in the real estate mortgage housing bubble of 2008
The cutting of funding to the Department of Education, which administers FAFSA applications, Pell Grant awards, and student loans, will send shockwaves through an already broken American education system
The repeal of Biden-era drug price caps will reinstate higher drug costs on American working families
Bird flu guidance removal and the suspension of funding for National Institute of Health grants will risk the spread of all kinds of diseases, endanger college jobs, and make the egg price fluctuations even more uncertain.
The hiring of multiple government lobbyists to the Cabinet will benefit cryptocurrency, Big Tech, the junk food & seed oil industry, Wall Street, and Corporate America
Federal aid freezes will cripple funding for needed programs like federal firefighters & police departments, community health centers, Meals for Wheels, childcare, Head Start, farm assistance, and cancer treatment
USAID gutting will cause American-grown crops to perish for no good reason (and will impact the lives of malnourished children and people who have HIV/AIDS)
“Buyouts” for federal government employees and civil servants will leave many federal workers in limbo, whether the Trump Administration reneges on it, whether the courts invalidate it, or for some other reason
The data breaches by Elon Musk’s DOGE team will leave Americans’ personal data and information in the Treasury payment systems vulnerable to foreign adversaries and political retribution from the Trump-Musk clan
Trump allowing Elon Musk to sabotage government will worsen the decades-long impact of union-busting in the federal government (and beyond)
The confirmation of Russell Vought by the Republican Congress reneges on a Trump campaign pledge and will put Project 2025 at the center of the 2nd Trump Administration in the Office of Management and Budget. That will have economic consequences
The purges at the FBI, CIA, DOJ, and other government agencies will compromise national security, the lives of our intelligence officers, and impact the prosecutions of hate crimes, civil rights violations, and white-collar crimes.
The use of military planes for deportations will cost taxpayers even more money
The rollbacks on legal immigrant protections for Haitians, Venezuelans, Afghans, and other ethnic refugees that will worsen labor recruitment in communities like Springfield, Ohio
The Gaza takeover proposal plan (though not necessarily serious) would displace 2 million Palestinians and upend the Middle East. Even floating the idea risks upending a fragile ceasefire and the domestic politics of American allies like Jordan
The ban on transgender service members will only worsen the military recruitment issues years, maybe decades, in the making.
The pardons and commutations of violent January 6 insurrectionists and online drug dealers will encourage political violence, with no rewards for the working and middle classes whatsoever
Trump will endanger our communities with even more gun violence by rolling back rules on ghost guns and background checks
The allowing of states like Louisiana to indict out-of-state abortion providers will create more chaos and confusion in the wake of the overturning of Roe v. Wade. And Trump is doing more than just that.
But is Trump & Co. capping credit card rates? Ending taxes on tips? Bringing down food, energy, and housing prices in other ways? Not that I know of.
These are just a few small examples (from oligarchy & inequality to corruption & kleptocracy) of how Donald Trump is not looking out for the working class coalition that reelected him to the top office in the United States.
Remember, when someone tries to distract you on any issue, ask yourself these couple of questions: Has Donald Trump lowered prices? Has Donald Trump offered a real solution to the border situation? Is he keeping his other widely known campaign promises to voters, like on not embracing Project 2025? Those are the issues he was elected on, and needs to be held accountable for if he fails to do his job.
Everything else outside of the immediate concerns of the economy and immigration needs to be called out for what it is: an intentional distraction. Or, better yet, an intentional con job—and a cover for Trump’s real goal: gaining power and getting revenge against his many enemies.