Asked what he would do in a second term, Donald Trump finally gave his answer: “But so I think, I think it would be, I think it would be very, very, I think we’d have a very, very solid, we would continue what we’re doing, we’d solidify what we’ve done, and we have other things on our plate we want to get done.”
There are those who say the Republicans did not put out a platform, but they actually did: “The Republican Party has and will continue to enthusiastically support the President’s America-first agenda.” No longer the Grand Old Party but POT, Party of Trump.
The Republican National Convention focused solely on promoting The Big Lie about what Joe Biden would do if elected president, a dystopian comic-book fantasy of America under Democrats (take your guns and shut your churches, open borders and move in MS-13 next door).
But unlike the Democratic platform (climate change, health care, income inequality, criminal justice reform, voting rights, civil rights, job creation, building sustainable infrastructure, public education, promoting democracy here and abroad), here’s what the POT agenda actually means, because it is unfolding in the here and now:
COVID-19. “Herd immunity” is Trump’s COVID-19 policy (“Let it wash over the country.”). Even after 2 million die of COVID-19 out of 200 million (under an Imperial College projection for the U.S.) and 40 million who wind up with permanent health problems, it turns out there is no permanent immunity and despite the $1 trillion investment, vaccines don’t actually work.
Repeal Obamacare, Medicare and Medicaid. Health insurance companies can charge exorbitant premiums and disqualify people for pre-existing conditions, putting health care out of reach for 140 million.
Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid: Cut funding to try to make up for $1 trillion budget shortfall, which become insolvent by 2023.
Tax policy: Cut payroll taxes which only accelerate the insolvency of Social Security, keep SALT caps on tax deductions in place that hurt Blue State residents, decrease taxes on the wealthiest and richest corporations.
Jobs, Housing, Poverty: Main Streets become ghost towns; cities are Trumpervilles of homeless. Unemployment soars. There are soup kitchens and bread lines, a widening gap between rich and poor; 40 million are evicted; hunger expands (one in eight go hungry now), while cuts are made to the food stamp program. Trump repeals Fair Housing Act, cuts Title 8 voucher program.
Deregulation: Repeal Clean Air and Water Act regulations. Asthma rates, health conditions soar because of polluted air and water.
Climate Hoax: Repeal regulations mandating limits of carbon emissions; eliminate local communities’ ability to exert environmental protection. Oil and gas companies get more lucrative royalties and tax credit. Fracking rigs go up in minority neighborhoods. Climate catastrophes – superstorms, floods, wildfires – accelerate, wiping out whole communities and creating millions of climate refugees. FEMA funds, diverted to anti-migrant activities, allocate scarce disaster aid depending on how much governors and localities fawn over Trump.
Public lands, national parks fair game for drilling, mining and guns. The Environmental Protection Administration is turned into the Environmental Pollution Agency and the Interior Department turned into an auction house for leases.
Education. Public schools must teach “American Exceptionalism.” Expand school choice, so that public schools must divert scarce tax dollars to parochial, private and for-profit charter schools and home-school companies.
Repeal laws prohibiting gender discrimination and promoting affirmative action, restoring the ability to discriminate against people in housing, jobs, education.
Protest is anarchy, white supremacy is patriotism. Having declared anyone protesting against the Trump regime “anarchists” and “Antifa” a terror group, with mandatory 10- year prison terms, protest becomes the new crack to empty neighborhoods of black and brown, Democratic and liberal young men. Under Trump, they also permanently lose their voting rights. Ignoring Posse Comitatus Act, Trump sends U.S. military into Democratic-run cities under the guise of “law and order.” Gun-toting white supremacists are deputized for neighborhood militias; any black person with a gun, knife or poster is shot under liberalized “Stand Your Ground” laws.
End Immigration: Deport undocumented immigrants, shut down legal immigration. Cancel DACA. End federal funding to Sanctuary Cities. Unleash armies of ICE troops to invade and raid neighborhoods and food-processing plants, causing food shortages and soaring food prices.
Zero Tolerance. Trump, unrestrained, gets his wish to “discourage” migrants by stealing their children, imprisoning asylum-seekers indefinitely without hearing, shooting migrants in the legs, bombarding migrants with heat rays.
“Legal” immigration consists solely of the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program – $1.8 million investment in businesses and real estate ventures buys you a visa and pathway to citizenship (Treasury Secretary Mnuchin gets to choose and remarkably most are owned or affiliated with Trump or his cronies).
Loyalty is policy. All cabinet officials, staff, judges, inspectors general (such as they are), federal workers (2.1 million) must take a loyalty oath to Trump and sign an NDA. Democrats need not apply.
The Department of Justice no longer upholds voting rights, civil rights or addresses police brutality; instead, Attorney General William Barr opens cases for treason against Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, Adam Schiff and Nancy Pelosi and any others viewed as part of the anti-Trump regime. Trump continues his policy of pardoning those who have been “ill-served” by Justice but serve his political or personal interests.
Press freedom. End it. Lock up journalists under Espionage Act, prosecute those who report leaks and whistleblowers, ease libel laws to discourage press from holding government to account.
Shut down the U.S. Postal Service; replace with non-bid for-profit contractors that charge rates based on how desperate consumers are to send or receive mail. Service levels depend on whether communities vote Republican or Democrat. Mail-in ballots will have to designate “D” or “R” next to the signature so election authorities know which ballots to discount.
Census is used as instrument for gerrymandering, voter suppression, and disproportionately allocating federal aid away from minority, immigrant, impoverished communities.
Disband the Consumer Financial Protection Board, repeal Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. The Wild West returns to Wall Street, setting the stage for the next bubble-burst meltdown.
America First foreign policy: The U.S., which has already withdrawn from the World Health Organization, Iran nuclear deal and Paris Climate Accord, withdraws from NATO and the United Nations. More tariffs invite retaliation and prolong a global recession. Russia and China expand their sphere of influence; North Korea, feeling ignored, accelerates nuclear activities.
Foreign aid depends on what Trump gets out of the deal; dictators are emboldened to crack down on dissidents, shut down free press. American foreign policy is stunningly supportive of Putin’s foreign policy.
More militarization of Outer Space; withdraw from nuclear arms control treaties and resume nuclear testing. Meanwhile, adversaries (Russia, China, North Korea, Iran), unconstrained by treaty or convention, increase nuclear and cyber warfare capability, and use ability to shut down critical infrastructure to extort favorable US policy.
If this sounds Outlandish! Ridiculous! Impossible! Just read what the Republicans actually issued: https://ballotpedia.org/The_Republican_Party_Platform,_2020. And just look around at what the first four years have wrought.
Indeed, the one thing that both the RNC 2020 and DNC 2020 agreed on is that this election is existential and will determine whether America remains a democratic republic.
Make sure you are registered properly and vote early.
