Of Cabbages and Kings
To The Editor: The Trump Cult writes upset at criticism of their Grand Poohbah. The story line: “The End Justifies the Means.” Whatever Trump does, laws broken, ethics violated, basic morals ignored, the members of the cult, incredibly, invent excuses and become dangerously upset when he is held to account. Laws are for “the little people,” not their Poohbah. The cult claims they are “Law and Order” folk, yet revel in Trump’s lack of order and disrespect for laws. Hillary was pilloried for her attempt to retain government records on a private server with chants of “Lock Her Up!” Trump commits theft of more than 700 pages of classified material, unlike the case of Hillary, are original documents with the highest possible classification, Top Secret Special Access. The cult conveniently forgot that Trump had previously lied to our National Archive that he had no more classified documents after the initial removal of 15 boxes. Where are the cries to “Lock Him Up?” We should be proud that our government applied our laws equally, even if it took the feds one year and seven months to retrieve all documents. In a democracy, legal equality ensuring that no person is privileged over others is fundamental. The Trump Cult demands legal immunity for their Poohbah, and that is scary. We receive frequent reminders directly from Trump of why he is toxic. Recently on Monday 29 August, the billionaire ratcheted up his delusional claims about the election demanding that he be proclaimed the “rightful winner” or conduct a new national election immediately.
No, the End does not justify the Means. Such beliefs are for communists and fascists, not for democratic societies. People who do not read and cannot comprehend our Constitution and our history do not belong near the levers of power. Trump increased our national debt by 37% in just four years of office. His successor, President Biden is also working on fiscal calamity. The recent executive order from President Biden that a massive amount of student debt be forgiven is a constitutional travesty. Our Constitution provides for only Congress to legislate. It does not give one man the right to give away massive sums in search of votes. Taxation and spending originate in the House of Representatives. Nancy Pelosi emphatically stated that the President does not have the power to do such a thing without Congressional legislation. Nonetheless, it is unlikely that Speaker Pelosi has the integrity and “Profile in Courage” to confront this issue.
The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania calculates the cost as follows: “Under strict “static” assumptions about student borrowing behavior and using take-up rates within existing income-based repayment programs, the proposed new IDR program will cost an additional $70 billion, increasing total package costs to $605 billion. However, depending on future details of the actual IDR program and concomitant behavioral changes, the IDR program could add another $450 billion or more, thereby raising total plan costs to over $1 trillion.”
For calculation purposes, we will use another number in the Wharton School calculations, “debt cancellation alone will cost up to $519 billion.” Today the population of the USA is 335 million and the cost is $1,519 per resident, or $6,196 per family of four. For reference, our official national debt is $31 trillion dollars, or $92,537 per resident ($370,000 for a family of four). These numbers scare rational people, and adding to them is reckless. Note that none of this considers the interest payments on our excess government spending, which will last forever and is money that future generations cannot spend on social programs.
All of this to pay for 34% of degree holders who work in jobs that do not require a degree, others who burn money on degrees such as General Studies, Art History, Adventure Education, Culinary Arts, etc., and privileged professionals who graduate into high paying jobs The United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) on their website says: “GAO’s latest report on the nation’s fiscal health paints a sobering picture. Without substantive changes to revenue and spending policy, the federal debt is poised to grow faster than the economy, a trend that is unsustainable.”
Neither Biden nor Trump belong on the ballot.
O di immortals non intellegunt homines, quam magnum vectigal sit parsimonia. – Cicero (O immortal gods. Men do not understand that thrift is a great revenue.)
Edward R. Dykes La Grange