Ten ways Trump and his lot have wrecked things

Ralph Nader -  Here is a brief tour through the wreckage wrought by Trump, Musk, and Trump’s lawless maniac, the clenched-jawed Russell Vought, director of Trump’s Office of Management and Budget.

1. Trump has illegally and impeachably closed the Agency for International Development, fast winding down critical humanitarian aid – medicine, food, clean water, etc. – to millions of impoverished families in poor countries abroad. Tens of thousands have already perished, according to aid officials.
2. He has illegally and impeachably paralyzed the protector of consumers – the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau – that returned many billions of dollars to consumers from corporate rip-off schemes, mostly from the finance companies. Throwing corporate law and order out the window, Trump is setting records for being soft on corporate crime – ending dozens of underway prosecutions of companies by the Justice Department.
3. He has illegally and impeachably closed the cabinet-level Department of Education, throwing student aid programs and the status of existing loans into dark holes of chaos.
4. Across other federal agencies, Trump has closed down crucial scientific programs designed to understand and alert the people to mega-storms and wildfires, infectious diseases, looming pandemics abroad, and expand basic research in medical science for the public’s health.
5. With his toady EPA Administrator, Lee Zeldin, Trump is chopping our protection against deadly toxic air, water, and soil pollution into pieces. He is closing down the EPA’s celebrated scientific research section, firing people everywhere, and declaring that the EPA has no authority to deal with the oil, gas, and coal fossil fuel emissions causing global warming. Crazily, he has blocked lower-priced solar energy and wind power projects, calling windmills “ugly.” This is just deranged.
6. FEMA employees have signed a desperate petition to Trump to stop strip-mining the agency, stop slowing its emergency response time, and restore the staff pushed out during the DOGE lawlessness. For their courage, Trump fired or suspended many of these hurricane, flood, and wildfire rescuers, as he does for civil servants who sign other letters and petitions because  they report they are unable to perform their work because of his actions. He has weakened an already weak OSHA and further jeopardized the health and safety of Americans in their workplace.
7. Trump has reduced successful programs such as Meals on Wheels America, Head Start, and aims to get rid of the Job Corps and AmeriCorps. Again, illegally defying Congressional mandates.
8. Trump, who eats well, is cutting food stamps for millions of poor Americans. This is hurting desperate families and supplying farmers.
9. Earlier, Trump got through Congress a law that will cause over 10 million people to lose their Medicaid; nearly five million could lose health care coverage soon when the elimination of subsidies causes prices to skyrocket under Obamacare scheduled by the end of this year. These serious deprivations, sure to cost lives, are what the Congressional Democrats are insisting be reversed before they go along with the omnibus government funding bill. GOP leaders, Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, are resisting. Of course, they have good health insurance paid for by taxpayers.
10. Trump has shut down diplomacy abroad, replacing it with threats, violence, fantasies, and boastful rhetoric. The skills of the Foreign Service in the State Department are frozen under the arrogant Secretary of State, Netanyahu toady, Marco Rubio.