Dear America,
With self-aggrandizement being the first order of business in the Oval Office starting January 20 and given that Donald Trump is the grand master of self-aggrandizement--second-to-none when it comes to narcissism--we have to be ever-diligent with regard to the message he sends, whether by tweet or in person. He will spin everything he does, and everything each of his critics do as well, so as to either excuse himself when he fails or take credit when none is due, and lest we must endure not just one term of his leadership but two, we need to be prepared. Setting aside the appointments and nominations he has made--including his son-in-law, a presumable sycophant and kindred spirit who "made" his first money while still a purportedly cum laude sociology student at Harvard by borrowing money from family members to invest in Somerville real estate, then taking over his uncle's company as if he built it himself, as much a self-made man as his father-in-law himself--Trump has forewarned us of his true bent in many ways. But, though the future for those who voted for him on a wing and a prayer doesn't look as rosy as the promises he made, they voted for him once based on the Trump devised Trump myth, and if he is allowed to perpetuate that myth, they might well vote for him again. So we must remind them of the truth over the course of however long Trump can avoid impeachment in the hope that they will soon see the light, if they haven't already given the billionaire boys club that the Trump administration has become.
Primarily, what we have to be watching for now isn't whether there are more jobs or better pay. There will be; we are already on that course. What we have to ensure is that the electorate holds Trump and the Republican Party responsible for what they do rather than allowing them to take credit for trends that they had nothing to do with creating...that the Republicans did everything they could to prevent. In short, if current trends continue, Trump and the Republicans will have done no harm in those regards. But if those trends weaken or reverse, that will surely be their doing. And reliance on the Dow Jones Industrials Index for vindication will not suffice. The Dow tells us only how the rich and investment institutions are doing. Our paychecks tell us how we are doing. And as for gross domestic product, it measures primarily how much we spend, not how prosperous we are. Consumer spending comprises 70% of GDP. The rest is government spending and business investment, neither of which helps any of us directly, or even indirectly in many respects. We must insist on measuring the performance of the currently all-Republican federal government by trends in the incomes of the bottom 90% and in income and wealth inequality. Worker earning power, the federal deficit, accessibility to health care and poverty levels indicate the well-being of the American people, not how rich the rich are becoming. And trends are what counts, because as time passes, population increases, so all the other numbers do too. So comparisons and ratios...wealth to poverty, earned income to unearned income, wages to investment income...those are the things by which the success or failure of the new administration and the continuing Republican congress should be measured, and we have to begin harping on that point right from the beginning.
It has to be remembered, though Donald Trump continues to deny it, that the Democrats gained two seats in The Senate and six seats in The House, and their candidate won the popular vote by nearly three million votes. Barrack Obama beat Mitt Romney by only four million, and his win was considered decisive. Only the electoral college separates Hillary Clinton from President Obama in election terms. So the Democrats are not without their own mandate, and that should be remembered.
Now, all we have to do is remind everyone who the real majority are.
Your friend,
Mike
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