The photo is of Trump when he was surging in the campaign back in 2016. That is when he started telling people they would get sick of winning. It was a salesman's con and a nation saturated by advertising and addicted to high consumption bought it eagerly. But just as one could look at Trumpcare and say the bill Paul Ryan pushed was a disaster, there is nothing about the unfolding Trump agenda that looks like a win. The reasons for this pessimism are quite plain.
House of cards
Trump apparently plans, the New York Times tells us, on taxes as his next big legislative move.
But do not forget that the logic of starting with healthcare was that by bumping 24 million from the health insurance and other draconian measures, there were going to be big savings. Those savings were going to offset the shrinking revenue from taxes occasioned by a monster slash administered by Trump. Everyone was going to get a cut, sort of like what W did. Well, with Trumpcare a bad memory, taxes are looking like another nightmare.
Piling on debt
Debt is the big number. The deficit is the smaller. Debt is the one that grows like topsy and creates a sort of ongoing and general anxiety. The debt is what the Trump tax plans could mushroom. The debt could be increased by a big cut in corporate tax rate, something Trump badly wants.
Without healthcare savings, Trump's tax agenda, if it can even be agreed on, is unlikely to go very far. In fact, we seem to be edging back to the national mood of stasis that produced talk of a grand bargain.
Dealt a Defeat, Republicans Set Their Sights on Major Tax Cuts https://t.co/V8qgHPmgOW
— Stephen C. Rose (@stephencrose) March 27, 2017
Why losing?
The reason why losing is in the future is because of factors Trump forces ignore.
Our economy is built on an idea of growth that goes against the tendency of both nature and technology. Technology is making savings more likely and work more and more scarce. Nature is broadcasting a need for attention to oceans, now turned into dumps. It is challenging us with the decimation of species and the probability that we could be in for some serious airborne epidemics.
These would result in part from cuts in the essential protective services our president wants so he can bloat the military. When one is trying to revive the past that was not that great and ignoring the present and possible future, getting tired of winning seems a bit far-fetched.
