As Always, Trump Talks Great PR, Then Shafts The People Who Believe It

The most important lesson to learn with Donald Trump is to focus on what he actually does or (usually) doesn't do as opposed to the outrageous things he says. His words are meaningless; they are just a reflexive PR statement that positions his brand, whether business or political, and have no basis in reality. Yesterday, Trump promised "From this moment on, it's going to be America First. Every decision on trade, on taxes, on immigration, on foreign affairs, will be made to benefit American workers and American families." Sounds wonderful if you can ignore the anti-Semitic Nazi slogan of "America First".

But look at what the first few actions of the Trump administration actually were. First, he rolled back the reduction in mortgage insurance rates for FHA mortgagees that was scheduled to go into effect on January 27th. That reduction in mortgage insurance fees would have saved over three-quarters of a million primarily middle class homeowners around $500 per year in the cost of mortgage insurance. That doesn't sound like its putting America's working and middle class first.

Next, the Department of Justice asked for a delay in the Supreme Court hearing concerning the reduction in voting rights in Texas in order to "brief the new leadership of the Department on this case and the issues to be addressed at that hearing before making any representations to the Court." The voter ID plan in Texas was struck down by a lower court as being discriminatory against minorities. The case will probably still go ahead but it remains to be seen whether the DOJ will still remain party to the suit. If not, it would be putting white Americans first, but that's what was Trump probably really meant.

Immediately after Trump's inauguration, the sections devoted to civil rights, LGBT rights, sexual assault survivors, and climate change on the WhiteHouse.gov website were all deleted. The sections on climate change was replaced with a section on an energy plan that focuses on more drilling in the US. The civil rights sections was replaced by a section called "Standing Up For Law Enforcement". At the Department of Labor's website, the sections on advancing LGBT workplace rights is gone. At the Department of Justice, the lawyer who represented North Carolina in the HB2 "bathroom bill" court case has been picked to run the Civil Rights division. The DOJ also announced the phasing out of 25 grant programs designed to address the problem of violence against women. All of these moves once again indicate that "America First" only applies to certain Americans, particularly white heterosexual males.

Lastly, Trump signed what a few days ago the GOP referred to as one of those abuses of Presidential power, an executive order, that gave the Health and Human Services Department broad discretion in how they enforce the ACA, or Obamacare. One of those powers will allow the agency to provide waivers for the "individual mandate", one of the three pillars that makes Obamacare work. As I have mentioned many times before on this blog, a move like this would effectively kill Obamacare in 2018 without the Congress having to even pass a bill to specifically repeal it. Democrats and the press are finally waking up to this strategy. Since most insurance companies have to make a decision before April or May of this year as to whether they will remain in the exchanges next year, this executive order essentially signals to the health insurance companies that they should leave the exchanges. Early this summer, Republicans will point to all the insurance companies dropping out of the ACA and claim that the program is collapsing of its own accord, just as they had always predicted. At that point, they can pass whatever pathetic replacement plan they want to because their hands will not be bloodied by openly murdering the program, just killing it by stealth. Democrats and the press need to be prepared for this strategy and constantly focus on the issue that any waivers to the individual mandate is the equivalent of a vote to repeal. If ripping health insurance away from 30 million Americans doesn't sound like its putting America first, you would be correct. Because those people are not the Americans that Trump is putting first. It is the 400 households who will get a tax break that is equivalent to all the Obamacare subsidies in 21 states. That's who Trump really cares about.

Trump is a congenital liar. He has promised to cede control of his companies to his sons. He has not done that. He promised that he would "explain" Melania's immigration status. It never happened. He promised he would "drain the swamp". His cabinet is filled with Wall Street potentates and billionaires. For all those who believe what he says, please take a close look at what he actually does. He is a PR master and he will inundate you with his sales pitch. Ignore it and look at what he actually does. And for those of you on Obamacare who truly thought he was going to fix the few problems the program had, you will shortly find out that you have been taken, just like those attending Trump University. When that happens, I hope you never forget that you essentially voted to have your insurance taken away. You also voted to have my insurance taken away. And that's something I will never forget.