TRUMP REGIME

Newsweek - Donald Trump has said he will impose tariffs on the European Union if the bloc does not make up its "tremendous" trade deficit with the United States."I told the European Union that they must make up their tremendous deficit with the United States by the large-scale purchase of our oil and gas," he wrote on Truth Social. "Otherwise, it is TARIFFS all the way!!!"The European Union has not yet expressed a clear plan on how to avoid a trade war with the U.S. should Trump actually impose tariffs on goods and services coming from the bloc, as he threatened.

Hartmann Report -  2023 polling by the Associated Press and the NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that Americans’ top priorities for government for 2024 were:

1.      Increased infrastructure spending — 83% support funding for roads, bridges, and ports.

2.      Tuition-free community college — 81% support a federal program providing two years of free tuition.

3.      Maintaining or increasing Social Security benefits — 79% believe Social Security benefits should not be reduced.

4.      Tuition-free four-year public college for families earning below $125,000 — 72% support this proposal.

5.      Government-ensured health care coverage — 62% believe the government is responsible for ensuring health care coverage.

6.      Increased spending on education — Approximately 60% say the government spends too little on education.

7.      Increased spending on assistance to the poor — Approximately 60% say the government spends too little on assistance to the poor.

8.      Increased support for Medicare — Approximately 60% say the government spends too little on Medicare.

9.      Increased spending on Social Security — Approximately 60% say the government spends too little on Social Security.

10.  Increased child care assistance — Over 50% say the government spends too little on child care.

11.  Increased federal spending on drug rehabilitation — Over 50% say the government spends too little on drug rehabilitation.

12.  Increased federal spending on the environment — Over 50% say the government spends too little on the environment.

This list broadly lines up with the priorities of the Democratic Party (and some of the accomplishments of the Biden administration), so it’s reasonable to say that’s the “party of democracy.” Democrats generally do what the majority of the people want.

But when you examine the top legislative priorities of the GOP, based on the legislation they’ve proposed and/or passed at the federal and state level, you see an entirely different priority list which shows the Republican Party’s exclusive embrace of the goals of big corporations and the morbidly rich.

This is, quite simply, an oligarchic agenda with little support among the general population:

1.      Tax Cuts for billionaires and giant corporations — Trump’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017: This significant legislation overhauled the tax code, reducing corporate tax rates and altering individual tax brackets.

2.      Extending billionaires’ tax cuts after 2025 — Republicans have prioritized extending provisions from the 2017 tax cuts set to expire at the end of 2025.

3.      Deregulation of environmental, financial, and food safety protections for average Americans to increase corporate profits — Example: Financial CHOICE Act: Passed by the House in 2017, aimed to roll back aspects of the Dodd-Frank Act, reducing regulations on financial institutions. Republicans cut back environmental protections by a crippling 39% during the last Trump administration, and tried to force through massive cuts to the FDA and IRS.

4.      Repealing Obamacare and cutting access to Medicaid to increase health insurance company profits— Affordable Care Act (ACA) Repeal Efforts: Republicans have repeatedly attempted to repeal the ACA, though comprehensive repeal efforts did not succeed thanks to Senator John McCain.

5.      Building a wall on the Mexican border and increasing deportations — Border Security Measures: Republicans have consistently advocated for increased funding for border security, including the construction of a border wall and stricter immigration enforcement.

6.      Hundreds of billions more for defense contractors and private prisons — National Defense Authorization Acts (NDAA): Republicans have also supported increased defense spending and massive appropriations for private, for-profit prisons.

7.      Voter suppression and gerrymandering for political gain — Voting Regulations: Republican-led state legislatures have enacted laws making voting harder, fine-tuning gerrymandering, and purging tens of millions of Americans from voting rolls in the years prior to major elections including 2024.

8.      Criminalizing abortion — Abortion Legislation: most states with Republican majorities have passed laws imposing restrictions on abortion access and criminalizing getting an abortion, helping a person get an abortion, or even advising people about how or where to find a healthcare provider offering abortion. Republicans in several states are now promoting “personhood” legislation, which would mean women getting abortions could be charged with murder and in some states face the death penalty.

9.      Preemption laws — These laws are typically imposed on Blue cities in Red states outlawing their ability to raise their minimum wages, have their own stricter environmental rules, tighten gun control laws, or protect women seeking healthcare.