Well, I expected Hillary Clinton to be our next president, so I don't have a photo of Donald Trump to post here. I considered going to one of his rallies when they were scheduled in the Seattle area to take photos, but I didn't want to listen to his insults of the day and fight the crowds.
Since I follow consumer issues, I know that Republicans will cut regulations. That's what they do. Paul Ryan has been talking for years about abolishing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the agency created after the Great Recession of 2008 to protect consumers in financial dealings. They'll also abolish the Affordable Care Act. People will go without health care and some will die as a result.
So, what deregulation does is allow corporations to do what they want. The Volkswagen and Wells Fargo scandals will look small compared to what's coming next.
The bureau is a new small agency. It's barely able to keep up with corporations. The bankers who caused the Great Recession through predatory lending, selling mortgages to consumers who couldn't afford them, then packaging them into toxic investments to sell, are at their fraudulent practices right now. Through nonbanks, businesses such as payday lenders, they're using predatory lending practices in the housing industry again. They also have moved into the financing of cars, again with predatory lending.
So, what to do. Save as much money as you can. Put lots of money in your Emergency Fund. We'll be having a recession soon. If you lose your job, you need a big cushion to help you.
The so called safety net won't be here to help you. Republicans will cut that, too. They hate poor people. Older people, too. More and more older boomers will be living in poverty.
And, if you are already poor, too bad. Millions of people will be losing their jobs, so services will be even tighter. Millions more people will be competing for the few services available to the poor. Homelessness will grow to new heights.
I can't believe the American people voted for Donald Trump. I think something is really wrong. Either Republicans were successful in their voter suppression tactics or the Russians hacked the election in the swing states.
So, good luck everyone. We'll need it. Consumers do poorly under Republicans. It happens over and over again, with history repeating itself. I don't understand why Americans believed Trump's lies. He doesn't know anything about government. He can't keep his promises. And, we're all going to suffer because of it. If you people in the Rust Belt don't think you did well enough under the recovery under President Obama, you're in for a big shock. You ain't seen nothing yet.
I’m a little nervous about the future, too, but I’m not buying your doomsday scenario. I’m counting on the checks and balances … and possibly the hope that DT isn’t as crazy as he sometimes seems.
I hope you’re right. A friend thinks the Democrats will take over the Senate and House in 2018, so not too much damage will be done.
However, John Ladenburg, a former elected official here in Washington makes these predictions:
Trump won the election and the Republicans control both
Houses and also about ¾ of the States. Now we can expect the policies they have championed to be put in place. Those may well look like this:
(1) Re-stacking the Supreme Court with corporate conservative religious jurists who will overturn Roe v. Wade. The court will be super-conservative for at
least 25 years. Many red states will again outlaw all abortions.
(2) Repeal of Obamacare throwing up to 20 million people off heath care.
(3) A national right to work law, eliminating all
unions and wage increases.
(4) A national minimum wage that outlaws state
minimum wage laws.
(5) A national gun act that eliminates state gun
laws like the one just passed here.
(6) A huge increase in deportations including those
brought here as small children many years ago.
(7) A ban on Muslims entering the country with an
immigration and visa ban on all Middle East nations including our allies.
(8) A lowering of the corporate tax rate, even none
pay our current rate, but this will be a tax shift down to the middle class and below.
(9) Trump can immediately fill over 135 empty local
Federal judge seats, turning the local federal courts extremely conservative for decades.
(10) A re-structure of our foreign policy with a
tilt toward Russia and away from Britain, France, Germany and Canada.
(11) A cancellation of the trade agreement with
Canada and Mexico, possibly a trade war with them. Cancellation of the trade agreements with Europe.
(12) Withdrawal of support for NATO, leading Eastern
Bloc nations to tilt back to Russia.
(13) Trade war with China.
(14) The elimination of the Department of Education.
(15) The elimination of the Environmental Protection
Agency.
(16) Reduction or elimination of the National Forest
Service and the sale of public lands in the West.
(17) The cancellation of all climate change
regulations and protection of the environment, more oil fracking and pipelines. Possible national law restricting state’s right to protect their environment.
(18) Reductions in Social Security benefits and a
raised retirement age to 75.
(19) Reductions in Medicare and elimination of the
prescription drug program.
(20) Defense spending to increase as a percentage of
the total budget.
That is just my top 20 of the things they have
talked about doing over the past 10 years. There are more.
If Ladenburg’s list is true, I’ll spend most of the rest of my life under conservative “rule.”
Rita