Jim Hightower: Trump's Puny Poll Numbers Are About to Crash into His Ego Trump's greatest failure is that he has no understanding of grassroots democratic idealism.
By Jim Hightower / AlterNet June 22, 2017, 11:11 AM GMT What's the matter with these people? The Trumpsters in the White House and Congress, I mean.
Start with The Donald himself, a guy who can't pass a mirror without casting an adoring eye at his own reflection. What is it about him that requires the top officials of his government to humiliate themselves publically in the White House cabinet room, making them try to outdo each other in a groveling Worship-a-thon of praise for this magnificence? And what's wrong with his Cabinet members? One after another, the Vice President, Chief of Staff, Treasury Secretary, Secretary of State and all the other supposedly-powerful luminaries of the Government of the United States of America were called upon in June's televised cabinet session to say their name, then meekly offer their smarmiest praise of Trump's integrity, agenda and manly leadership. This spectacle of forced adulation of "The Leader" was so eerily insane that even North Korea's Kim Jong Un would've been too embarrassed to orchestrate it!
Yet Trump went even further in his flight from reality. Not satiated by the string of superlatives from his cabinet of sycophants, he resorted to stroking his own ego, opening with the fanciful claim that Americans are "seeing amazing results" from his presidency. Shifting into overdrive, the chief proclaimed that "never has there been a president -- [except maybe] FDR, who's passed more legislation, who's done more things than what we've done." Uh... no, Mr. President... not actually, not even close. I realize you don't "believe" in facts, but here's one to sober you up: The Trump White House has produced no major legislation. Zero.
You're right, however, that we Americans are seeing truly "amazing results" from your six months on the job: We're amazed that in such a short time your so-called presidency is mired in conflicts of interest, constitutional quagmires, erratic behavior, ideological arrogance, tweeted ignorance, lame policy proposals and -- let's admit the obvious -- your own incompetence. If President Trump and his apologista in Congress wonder why they're consistently getting such miserable job approval ratings from the public, they should take a deep breath, hold their noses, and actually look at the god-awful policies they're pursuing.
For example, they're intentionally pushing a Draconian health care scheme that would cause widespread suffering for non-rich Americans and even deaths, while also slipping another tax giveaway of nearly a trillion dollars to corporations and wealthy investors. It's so ugly that Trump, who originally said he was "100 percent behind this," now calls the bill "mean."
And the one widely-popular idea that Trump promised -- a trillion-dollar investment to create good jobs for repairing America's collapsing infrastructure -- has turned into a scam. His actual proposal is to give $800 million in tax credits to Wall Street investors, hoping they'll put money into infrastructure projects. It's like promising to feed the oats to horses, hoping they'll pass through some seeds for the birds to peck out.
Also, remember his promise to crack down on Wall Street greed heads? Now, he and Congress are pushing a bill to coddle the banksters by removing consumer protections that restrict Wall Street greed.
But he is creating new jobs for 4,000 lucky Americans. In Afghanistan. The 16-year war there has been an interminable, unequivocal disaster for the U.S. and our troops. But rather than being a commander-in-chief, Trump has washed his hands of that presidential responsibility, becoming a wimpy delegator-in-chief by handing off responsibility to the military brass. They're now shipping 4,000 more troops into a hellish war the American people do not support.
The greatest, overriding failure of Trump and Congressional leaders is that they have no vision, no big ideas, no moxie and no understanding of grassroots people's democratic idealism. Saying "Make America Great" over and over again is easy. Any gasbag can say it. But doing it takes real leadership, and the people now in charge just can't measure up. Sad.
Jim Hightower is a national radio commentator, writer, public speaker and author of the book Swim Against the Current: Even a Dead Fish Can Go With the Flow (Wiley, March 2008). He publishes the monthly Hightower Lowdown, co-edited by Phillip Frazer.
Breakingviews - Trump’s anti-WTO rhetoric hurts America first
"Myths of Globalization: Noam Chomsky and Ha-Joon Chang in Conversation"
Gina Chon
3 Min Read
WASHINGTON (Reuters Breakingviews) - Donald Trump’s rhetoric against the World Trade Organization hurts America first. The U.S. president is no friend to the global trade body, which is hunkering down for its biennial confab. Reforms are needed but America has won most of its complaints, including against China.
[PHOTO:] U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer speaks at the 11th World Trade Organization's ministerial conference in Buenos Aires, Argentina December 11, 2017. REUTERS/Marcos Brindicci
Trump’s trade chief Robert Lighthizer will emphasize national sovereignty over multilateralism at meetings in Buenos Aires this week. His push for WTO reforms and fair trade policies has tamped down expectations for this year’s gathering, when reducing agricultural subsidies is on the agenda. During his presidential campaign, Trump threatened to pull out of the WTO and has repeatedly said the United States has been treated unfairly.
Yet America, the most frequent WTO complainant, has won more than 90 percent of the cases it has brought over the last 20 years. China has been a frequent target. In 2015, China eliminated quotas for rare earths used in mobile phones after the WTO declared the system violated trade policies. The United States followed up with a complaint against Chinese quotas on raw materials used in the steel and auto industries.
The Trump administration is also undermining the WTO’s dispute-settlement system by blocking the appointment of new judges for its seven-member appellate body. With another judge’s term ending this month, the panel will go down to four members, with three of them needed to decide cases. That could slow down U.S. cases, such as a complaint on Chinese quotas on wheat, rice and corn advocated by American farmers.
Lighthizer has a point in calling for the WTO to change. The unwieldy body has not been able to update global trade rules since the mid-1990s. America has also lost 90 percent of cases when it’s a complaint defendant, but that’s because it often doesn’t adhere to rulings, spurring multiple decisions on the same issue. In one case, the United States declined to address cotton subsidies for 10 years after a 2004 WTO ruling.
China’s WTO membership also hasn’t stopped it from dumping steel and other products. But Beijing tends to adhere to WTO rulings, making it at least somewhat effective in curbing unfair trade practices. Trump’s weakening of the body has consequences for U.S. business, too.
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