A President’s Day Reflection: Here’s How Donald Trump is Making the Rigged System Worse
President’s Day is better known for its retail sales than a time of national reflection about our nation’s leaders. But this year is different. No, the nation’s not reflecting on George Washington, for whom the holiday was originally created. Rather, we’re taking stock of Donald Trump, after his first turbulent year in office.
There are endless metrics we can use to evaluate Trump’s presidency. For example, he’s been an outspoken apologist for white nationalists, anti-Semites, and — most recently — domestic abusers. When it comes to foreign affairs, he has successfully managed to offend some of our closest allies (Australia, we’re sorry) while simultaneously engaging in new levels of nuclear brinkmanship with North Korea. It’s been one heck of a year.
At End Citizens United, a national group dedicated to getting big money out of politics — we’re most concerned with unrigging the system in Washington so our government works for everyone, not just special interests and mega-donors.
The sad irony is Donald Trump came to office with a promise to take on this rigged system and, in his now infamous words, “drain the swamp.” Exit polls from 2016 showed that two out of five voters prioritized a candidate who could bring change to Washington, and voters who wanted change the most voted for Donald Trump.
Instead, Trump and his Republican colleagues in Congress have only made it worse — putting corporate interests above voters’ interests. A recent Monmouth University poll found only 20 percent of Americans believe Donald Trump has made progress in his efforts to drain the swamp, while 70 percent feel nothing has changed or that the swamp is even worse.
For example, Bob Murray, CEO of the major coal company Murray Energy, donated more than $300,000 to Donald Trump’s inaugural committee. Once Trump became President, he pulled out of the Paris Climate Agreement and repealed the Clean Power Plan, two of Murray’s primary priorities. If that wasn’t enough, he then proposed an energy plan that explicitly benefits Murray Energy, according to reporting by The New York Times.” With his actions, Trump enriched his friend and mega-donor and, in turn, risked the health and safety of every American — and every person — on the planet.
Trump’s appointed Chair of the FCC, Ajit Pai, recently moved to repeal existing net neutrality protections, the set of rules put in place to make sure the telecom industry provides the same internet speeds to all websites. But with the repeal of net neutrality, companies like AT&T and Verizon can slow down internet speeds for certain websites — allowing them to sell access to the highest bidder. This effort was spearheaded by Pai, a former Verizon lawyer, and was widely supported by Republicans who had received massive campaign donations from telecom companies. To no one’s surprise: Verizon was thrilled by net neutrality repeal.
While Trump claims that the Republican tax bill will not help him at all, the opposite appears to be the case. In fact, according to The New York Times, the law seems “almost tailor-made to enrich the president,” while raising taxes on many middle-class families. He still refuses to release his tax returns, so it is impossible to say how the law will affect Trump specifically, but there is no doubt he will benefit. Trump is not only using his position to help his mega-donors — he is using it to profit himself, at the expense of the millions of hardworking Americans who voted for him.
The Alliance for Justice released polling recently where 61 percent of respondents say they believe President Trump is also likely to appoint federal judges who will “favor the wealthy and powerful over everyday people.” It does not get swampier than this.
While the problem is getting worse, Americans continue to hunger for reform, with independent voters, many of whom were decisive in Trump’s victory, ranking the influence of special interest money in politics as their second-biggest priority. ECU’s own polling shows that Americans overwhelmingly believe that the amount of spending in elections harms them, and that Washington works only to benefit a few.
At a time when Democrats in Congress are playing defense against Trump’s extremist policies, a reform agenda offers a solution. In calling for a full overhaul, Democrats show voters they are serious about unrigging the system and send a message to Americans that they’ll truly offer change — instead of just paying lip service to the idea of draining the swamp. If Democrats can be that alternative, then the sky’s the limit for us in 2018.
