Cogito Ergo Non Serviam
Trump Mocks "Affordability" at Rally
Donald Trump has responded to the several shocking defeats the Republicans have had in special elections the last while by hitting the campaign trail. He went to Pennsylvania (the Alabama part in the middle) to tell the mob that "affordability is a Democrat [sic] hoax." He went on a 15-minute verbal walkabout before ever mentioning the word in his 90-minute tirade. But the fact that prices are not falling just proves that affordability is a problem, and he ran on making paychecks stretch farther. His party has both houses of Congress, the White House and a 6-3 majority on the Supremely Political Court. Whatever happens is his fault, and he hates responsibility.
At the root of the problem is one irritating fact. Overall prices have surged 25% over the last five years, generating widespread frustration, despite wage growth over that period, according to a BBC report. Pay did not keep up enough. The hollowing out of the American middle class begun under President Reagan has reached levels that suggest the American dream is on life support. People are rightly angry about this, and Mr. Trump has implemented policies that make things worse.
The single worst idea of the administration are the tariffs. The tax is paid by Americans, not foreigners as Mr. Tump believes. Any tax increase slows economic activity. Yet the president thinks it is a good thing. "We've taken in hundreds of billions of dollars -- really trillions," he said in his speech. There was a time when a Republican president would have resisted a tax increase of hundreds of billions. And no, Mr. Trump, not trillions. Not even a single trillion.
Mr. Trump is not good at arithmetic. "Because I have invoked FAVORED NATIONS STATUS FOR THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, DRUG PRICES ARE FALLING AT LEVELS NEVER SEEN BEFORE, 500%, 600%, 700%, and more," Mr. Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social. In truth, if a price falls more than 100%, the producer must be paying customers to take the stuff off their hands. No pharmaceutical company on the planet pays patients to pick up their prescriptions. The blather proves how little the man understands.
President Trump claimed that affordability "doesn't mean anything to anybody," and that rising costs are a "fake narrative" created by Democrats. In his Pennsyltucky (the part of Pennsylvania that looks and acts like Kentucky) speech, he said "They always have a hoax. Their new word is affordability." And then he said "I can’t say 'affordability hoax' because I agree the prices were too high," Mr. Trump said, before claiming the word "affordability" makes people believe "Trump has high prices." Almost in the same breath, he claims he has made America more affordable, even though he has not.
When he squirms around verbally on something, it means he does not know how taking one side or the other gives him an advantage. And since he has no principles beyond self-aggrandisement, he is free to pick whatever policy option he likes.
He then wandered off topic to complain about the Somali immigrants in Minnesota and how Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, a Somali-American, should leave the country. There may be problems integrating them into the US, like most immigrant communities have had ove the last 400 years, but they are not responsible for food prices being high, for housing being out of reach of many and higher education being a ticket to debt. Racism always comes out when the right fails to deliver.
Mr. Trump has the luxury of being a lame duck. He never has to face voters again. He does not have to care. He has walked into a Democratic trap, and by engaging on their terms, with his record, he has set the stage for a GOP disaster next November. It is not too late for him to change course, but the same was true on the bridge of the Titanic right up until it hit the iceberg. The captain did not want to do what was necessary and neither does the president.
The decline under the Trump administration continues to accelerate.
© Copyright 2025 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Ubuntu Linux.
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