America and the world deserve better than Trump

Photo from the SWMI Hands Off Protest on April 5 in St. Joseph, MI

Americans are as anxious about President Trump’s dangerous actions in the first months of his second term as we were during his irresponsible behavior during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Americans are in favor of military support for Ukraine’s valiant defense against the war criminal Putin as he uses Russian power to try to take over the entire country. President Trump aligns himself and his party with the Russians. He continues to claim that Putin can be trusted, even after Russia viciously attacked Ukraine two hours after Putin allegedly agreed “in principle” to a ceasefire. 

Americans believe in free trade as we work out mutually beneficial trade regulations with other countries. President Trump and the Republican Party are using tariffs as a money grab across the board, creating an unnecessary and destructive trade war with our own allies. The cost of these tariffs will be borne by American consumers, as each one of us gets this new “tax” on everything we purchase. Trump is planning to use the revenue produced by his tariffs to justify continuing tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires. These tax cuts will wipe out twice as much revenue as the amounts brought in by tariffs, thereby increasing the deficit exponentially and unnecessarily. 

Americans are not happy with the blanket pardons Trump gave to the January 6th criminals. Even Republicans believe that protests should be peaceful and those who use violence should be held accountable. But then to laugh in the face of jurors who deemed them responsible for their actions…..! 

Americans are against the extreme cuts and takeover of our government agencies by a person who gets billions directly from our government every year. Conflicts of interest come to mind immediately. We all want fraud and waste eliminated, but drastic cuts are being made without proof of any wasted tax dollars by a person who has not passed security clearance, nor has he reported to Congress about any such fraud exposed. This is a power grab suggesting the ultimate goal is to privatize all agencies. 

The privatization of our healthcare system has led to the highest healthcare costs in the world but with health outcomes lower than the top third of developed countries. Many Americans cannot even access healthcare in America. This example of privatization should be a warning to us all about this scheme. 

Americans do not believe we should be attacking our near allies and friends to the north and south of us. Our Canadian friends have been so insulted by Trump’s threats to force their country to become part of the United States that many of them are now boycotting U.S. goods. They are also boycotting vacation trips to the United States, so our tourism trade will suffer. Most recently, the Canadian government, and the governments of other countries, have warned their citizens that travel to the U.S. exposes them to the risk of being arrested and held in detention for flaky charges against their normal visas. 

Americans deserve better; the world deserves better from us. 

Cynthia Miller