‘Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results,’ Einstein?
Insane behavior could describe the actions that President-elect Trump is promising to implement after January 20. He has said he wants to repeat what he attempted during his first term: deport millions of immigrants, impose higher tariffs on many countries (especially China), cut taxes, reduce wind powered energy, and “Drill baby Drill” for more fossil fuels.
These policies would have damaged economic growth at the least, if successful, maybe even caused a recession, but it didn’t happen. That was in part because of the COVID-19 pandemic that required emergency government relief. And many of his first term cabinet were picked for extreme loyalty rather than ability. Trumps own limited intelligence was also a factor keeping him from implementing his agenda.
So why do he and his his loyal supporters keep expecting different results this time? Because it would enhance his wealth and that of his main financial supporters led by Elon Musk, the world’s wealthiest Oligarch.
And, even partially implemented would keep red states from receiving the benefits blue states receive, such as higher minimum wages, better healthcare, laws protecting labor unions and collective bargaining by reducing regulations and cutting taxes that benefit their ruling elites.
His biggest supporters are wealthy Oligarchs who still believe in a win-lose world that ceased to exist when the industrial revolution and new technologies began to produce more than could be consumed. It took the progressive movement that culminated in Roosevelt’s New Deal to confirm that there were enough resources to benefit working Americans as well as the holders of the wealth created by American workers.
His most loyal followers have been willing to give up such benefits in return for cultural values they still believe in such as banning new immigrants and most abortions, as well as censoring libraries in red states so that their followers only have access to propaganda instead of facts.
President-Elect Trump and Republicans’ singular success in his first term has been another tax cut that has continued the transfer of wealth from working Americans to the wealthiest since the Reagan administration.
He may fail in implementing most of his agenda, but we can be sure he will be as vindictive in seeking revenge in Trump 2.0 for his perceived slights as in his first term, now that he is a convicted felon.
“Fortune Magazine reported in 2016 on candidate Trump’s negotiating tactics: “The legal actions provide clues to the leadership style the billionaire businessman would bring to bear as commander in chief. He sometimes responds to even small disputes with overwhelming legal force. He doesn’t hesitate to deploy his wealth and legal firepower against adversaries with limited resources, such as homeowners. He sometimes refuses to pay real estate brokers, lawyers and other vendors.”
And what about reducing the size of government that Republicans promise will reduce graft and waste? Who does it really help?
“Pretty much the whole Republican Party–and, if we’re going to be honest, too many Democrats–talked about the evils of ‘big government’ and called for deregulation,” Senator Elizabeth Warren said in 2016 at a AFL-CIO National Summit on Raising Wages. “It sounded good, but it was really about tying the hands of regulators and turning loose big banks and giant international corporations to do whatever they wanted to do.”
“These families are working harder than ever, but they can’t get ahead. Opportunity is slipping away. Many feel like the game is rigged against them–and they are right,” Warren said. “The game is rigged against them…. The world has changed beneath the feet of America’s working families.”
Many did listen to this warning and elected President Biden because of it. But the message was lost because many Americans thought Democrats were no longer up to the task of protecting them.
Yet we already know who Republicans intend to protect.
Harlan Green © 2025
Follow Harlan Green on Twitter: https://twitter.com/HarlanGreen
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