Something Nice About Trump

 

As some of my critics have pointed out, I don’t often say something nice about Donald Trump. That is true. Today is an exception.

As everyone knows, the American government has been partially shut down for more than 4 weeks. Not everyone knows this has caused serious problems. It causes serious damage to the American economy as many things can’t be done, that should be done. Even more important, it has caused serious damage to many Americans. About 800,000 American government employees are not being paid. Many of them are still expected to go to work. That is inherently unfair.

I blame both sides. Not just Donald Trump, but certainly including him. Trump has said he won’t approve spending that does not include money for a wall on the southern border. This is an absurd position. It is highly unlikely that a wall will do any good. It is just window dressing for his ego. He is asking for about $5  billion at this time. This is small  beer in terms of American political spending. The Democrats say they were elected on the basis of opposing the wall. But Trump also got elected on the basis of promising a wall. Both sides should get over it.

This stand-off  shows how crazily dysfunctional their system of government is. This keeps happening over and over again, particularly as the chasm between Americans deepens. I damages the American international reputation. Extremism is on the march. This should be resolved. That will required either statesmanship or compromise or both. Since statesmanship is conspicuously absent, that means the parties must compromise. That means both sides have to agree to a settlement that is less than ideal from their perspective. So be it. Politicians willing to compromise in America appear to be a species on the endangers species list.

I listened today to  a small part of an interview with Joseph Stiglitz a respected American economist. I really just heard one small part of his talk. That was enough. He said there were figures out there that indicated that 40% of Americans have less than $400 in their accounts. 25% have less than $1,000 That means such a shutdown has serious consequences for these people. I have heard that Air traffic controllers have been working over time at second jobs with Uber so that they pay their portages. Americans need to be fair to their civil servants (even though many of them don’t respect civil servants). Many other people have lost their jobs because they depend on working with government employees. All of this is a serious drag on the American economy.

Today Donald Trump offered to approve a temporary extension of protection for people facing deportation on the basis that they are undocumented, so that both parties in Congress have more time to come up with a solution for this serious problem, but only if Congress approves a spending bill that includes money for the wall. In the circumstances Trump has made a reasonable offer. This will help thousands of people in America who are anxiously awaiting a return to work so they can feed their families and pay their bills. It will  postpone many deportations for at least 3 years. This is good. Not perfect, but good. Democrats should not let perfection be the enemy of the good. The Democrats should compromise, even though that will be painful for them. It will be good for the country. It will be good for many individuals and families. That is more important. Much more important.

4 thoughts on “Something Nice About Trump

  1. mr. new field

    no entiendo your logic. at all.
    first of all we are talking about a proto-fuhrer, somebody under investigation by the fbi counterintelligence, mind you, secondary to concerns about the probability that he had been flipped by the russians. Whether ultimately proven absolutely and impeached, this guy has been made by russian intelligence.
    secondly, it is the proto-fuhrer who shut down the government, who refused to keep it running while the immigration issue was hashed out. He had a clear choice. This is not insignificant.
    thirdly, the proto-fuhrer RESCINDED the legislated temporary visas for those brought to the country as children by parents without documents. Now he wants to use what he rescinded as THE bargaining chip to get the wall. That is not political negotiation. That is a joke.

  2. I just think the Democrats should try to negotiate something. There are many people who are suffering a lot on account of the shutdown. Government employees and people who needed government services that are shut down. Sitting back and doing nothing helps no one. What is the purpose in that?

    1. mr. newfield

      you are the quintessential civilized man – literate, liberal, ethical, tolerant. as such you also are representative of the best of canada.
      it is very difficult to deal with an entity like the proto-fuhrer or newly dubbed grand wizard from that position though.
      the fuhrer/wizard created the shutdown. only he can change that. as he said he would own it. so it cannot be sold to the opposition, by himself or even you. and in fact the latest polls suggest that the great unwashed overwhelmingly find him to blame.
      the whole situation is much larger than the people being damaged by this. it reflects the fracturing of the western post wwii political order. much more perilous times are on the horizon.
      this exists even in cozy canada. things came very close during the harper years.

      jr

  3. Herr Doctor Rampel

    You are very kind and entirely right n you assessment of DT. However, in the meantime, until our doom, I think we have no choice but to do business with DT. I think he is such a poor negotiator (contrary to his own vain assessments of himself) if we negotiated he might sell the farm. Perhaps we could get something for the Dreamers. The$5B is irrelevant as more has already been spent. What do we have to lose?

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