Do Trump voters feel cheated by his policies?
Lets park aside the culture war for one second...
Donald Trump became President on a populist ticket which claimed to represent the interests of the little man against Wall Street. His platform was protectionist against free-trade, interventionist in favour of infrastructure spending, as well as hinting at curbing the power of big business.
Trump has opted out of T-TIP but has done nothing to change NAFTA or apply tariffs. He has cut taxes for big businesses and the rich. He has a cabinet stacked with ex-Wall Street people. In short; his economic program is conventional right-wing Republican. Also; Trump claimed to be anti-war but morphed into a hawk on Syria, Isreal, N Korea and perhaps Iran.
You can make a case for any of these policies (though I would disagree). The fact remains though that the impact of Trump is pretty much exactly the same as George W. Bush would have had if he had come to power in 2017, just taken one step further and with added chaos and controversy. Even the tax cuts have echoes of Bush because, like Dubya's own tax cut, it has greatly increased the deficit at a time of economic growth. I'm sure people remember how that worked out.
Trump was meant to be something new; an 'anti-establishment' candidate who would drain the swamp and change the system. In reality, a vote for Trump is a vote for the same 'globalist' trickle-down economics which has dominated the Anglo-phone world since the 1980s, depressed wages and increased inequality.
Donald Trump became President on a populist ticket which claimed to represent the interests of the little man against Wall Street. His platform was protectionist against free-trade, interventionist in favour of infrastructure spending, as well as hinting at curbing the power of big business.
Trump has opted out of T-TIP but has done nothing to change NAFTA or apply tariffs. He has cut taxes for big businesses and the rich. He has a cabinet stacked with ex-Wall Street people. In short; his economic program is conventional right-wing Republican. Also; Trump claimed to be anti-war but morphed into a hawk on Syria, Isreal, N Korea and perhaps Iran.
You can make a case for any of these policies (though I would disagree). The fact remains though that the impact of Trump is pretty much exactly the same as George W. Bush would have had if he had come to power in 2017, just taken one step further and with added chaos and controversy. Even the tax cuts have echoes of Bush because, like Dubya's own tax cut, it has greatly increased the deficit at a time of economic growth. I'm sure people remember how that worked out.
Trump was meant to be something new; an 'anti-establishment' candidate who would drain the swamp and change the system. In reality, a vote for Trump is a vote for the same 'globalist' trickle-down economics which has dominated the Anglo-phone world since the 1980s, depressed wages and increased inequality.
41-45, M
