2016 May 9^th

What pithy phrase will now describe the Republican Party’s recent actions? Shooting themselves in the foot comes to mind, but such an injury isn’t fatal and Donald Trump’s rise will be lethal for them. And the irony is that these people, with their Tea Party members insisting on shutting down the government (to save the country of course), have given Trump both the gun and the ammunition he needed to finish off the Grand Old Party. There are those who say good riddance.

Grover Norquist, the anti-tax fanatic, is the poster boy for limited government. You can limit government if you starve it for money and that is just what Norquist, the Tea Party and other right wing Republicans want to do. They have been very successful with their program, successful enough that Congress has passed little meaningful legislation because to fund program “A” you must defund program “B.” This ineffective government has produced many very angry citizens; then along comes Donald Trump with a plan, non-specific of course, to “Make America Great Again.” (There are specifics but they have more to do with pandering to Patrick J. Buchanan’s xenophobia than providing health care, education and fixing the infrastructure.)

If the tax base could fund it, fixing the country’s infrastructure could provide many good-paying jobs. The Tea Party and right wing Republicans will not hear of that. Here in Michigan the Governor is focused on saving money so the antiquated Flint water systems continue to leach lead into the city’s drinking water. Governor Snyder tells us that the State of Michigan has a better than 500 million dollar surplus this year; isn’t that grand?

Consider the country’s highway system: Its disrepair is obvious to anyone who drives his/her car out of the garage. But then there is also the problem of the decreasing number of highway miles available for each car. From 1980 to 2010, a period of thirty years, this country has increased federal highway miles by just 5.8 percent. That’s not much. On the other hand, the number of vehicles on the highways has increased by nearly 77 percent over that same  period. I remember when “going for a drive” in the evening was a form of recreation; that has changed. The crowded, potholed highways have made the change from recreation to fogetaboutit?

The most recent Trumpian gaffe is the Donald’s suggestion that if elected President he would “negotiate” the nation’s enormous debt. By that he means that he might be willing to pay the debt but not 100 cents on the dollar.  Guess what that idea will do to the interest rates both in this country and overseas. If our treasury bonds become speculative what does that do to interest rates on everything from student loans to home mortgages? Trump cannot play with the country’s debt as he would with his own. Unfortunately, he doesn’t know that but he will learn and it will be at our expense.

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