The New York Times – Page 6

Donald Trump continues to enjoy unwavering support from his base, despite the ways he has harmed them. As the Trump administration continues to swing its wrecking ball over the U.S., Trump’s supporters persist in their conviction that he is Making America Great Again. Though some Trump voters are beginning to experience buyer’s remorse, Trump’s base remains unwavering in its support, seemingly oblivious to the harm the Trump administration has done them.

Trump’s tariffs, he claimed, would help bring manufacturing jobs back to the U.S. In reality, the tariffs are raising costs for many manufacturers and sending them out of the U.S. The tariffs on steel, for example, are reported to have increased annual costs for GM up to $1 billion. General Motors and Ford both announced the closure of several plants in the U.S., as well as layoffs for thousands of employees. Many of those who are losing their jobs fall into Trump’s base, yet not only do they continue their unwavering support, they blame the manufacturers, not Trump.

Farmers, too, many of whom make up Trump’s base, have been hurt by Trump’s tariffs. Yet, as one farmer in Iowa, a Trump supporter, said, “We can overlook some things. We need to see the end result.”

Trump’s attempts to obliterate Obamacare, had they been successful, would have been a direct hit to a large number of Americans who make up Trump’s base – rural voters without college degrees. Though many previously uninsured rural Trump supporters gained health care under Obamacare, they voted for Trump on the faith that he would replace Obamacare with something better. Even as Trump continues to push a plan that would leave almost 18 million Americans without health care, Trump’s base insists that he’s going to change health care for the better.

Trump’s coziness with anti-freedom dictators such as North Korea’s Kim Jong-un, and his questionable relationship with Russia’s Vladimir Putin, both leaders that Trump’s base once hated and distrusted, have rung no alarm bells among the base. Despite Trump’s chumminess with them, and the risk of compromising U.S. security as a result, Trump’s base have unwavering support of their leader, and insist that he knows what he’s doing, and that it’s for the good – not the undoing – of America.

Donald Trump’s Government shutdown, the longest in U.S. history, wrecked the finances of many federal employees, some of whom make up Trump’s base. Though the shutdown did cause Trump to lose some ground with those who voted for him, now that Trump has ended it and re-opened the government, the diehard Trump supporters seem to have returned to the belief that the whole thing will be for the good of America.

According to Newt Gingrich,”The fact is, the president’s base is with the president…If he goes to them and says, ‘I got this done for the wall. I got this done to protect America. I’m doing these good things you believe in,’ the base is going to say, ‘fine.’ ”

“I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn’t lose any voters, OK? It’s, like, incredible.”

Does the unwavering support of Trump’s base, and their inability to be presented with facts, a result of the Dunning-Kruger effect (in which they are not only misinformed, but unable to recognize that they are misinformed)? Or are they so full of fear of all of the possible threats to their world as a result of Trump’s fear-mongering, that they’re ready to latch on to him as the One who will protect them? Or does Trump’s base offering unwavering support because they see the Trump-induced harm to them as a worthy sacrifice for the ultimate goal of Making America Great Again?

‘Everyone is in shock’: Ohio community reacts to GM plant closure |
Washington Post [2018-11-30]

How Donald Trump’s base is hurting from his trade wars but sticking with their man | The Telegraph [2018-11-04]

The safety impact of the partial government shutdown, which began on December 22, 2018, continues to grow. Even though the shutdown only affects 25 percent of government functions and services, few Americans will be spared at least some of its ramifications. One of the (many) widespread ripples of the partial government shutdown is its safety impact.

For Americans not among the 800,000 federal employees who are either furloughed or who continue to work without being paid, life may go on as usual – for now. But among those who are not currently collecting a paycheck for their federal jobs are those who do the work of keeping us safe.

Thousands of Secret Service agents are required to continue working without pay. Among their responsibilities are protecting the president and vice president and their families, as well as protecting former U.S. presidents. Visiting foreign heads of state also require the protection of U.S. Secret Service agents.

According to many in the Secret Service, agents are angry and full of anxiety about the shutdown.

“They are asking you to put your life on the line and not paying you — it’s ridiculous. Morale is a serious issue,” said 20-year Secret Service agent Donald Mihalek, who has served during the George W. Bush and Barack Obama administrations. “This is an incredibly stressful job that requires your full attention, and if you are standing there thinking about your mortgage, or your credit card bills, or the fact that you are burning through your savings, you are distracted, you’re not able to give 100 percent.”

The Secret Service protects 42 people in the Trump administration alone. According to The New York Times, Randolph Alles, the current director of the U.S. Secret Service agency, said in 2017 that “the sprawling Trump entourage was putting unprecedented strains on his agents, in terms of staffing and budgeting.” The shutdown only adds strain to an already over-burdened agency.

Though protection by the U.S. Secret Service may not directly impact most Americans, the safety impact of the partial government shutdown is evident in other ways. Corrections officers at federal prisons are also currently working without a paycheck, as are many agents at the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and many members of the U.S. Coast Guard.

At U.S. airports, Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers are also required to come to work, though they’re not getting paid. Many have called in sick, and/or are looking for other work. The resulting understaffing, as well as lowered morale, is causing delay at major airports, as well as posing clear national security risks.

As of January 15, the partial government shutdown – now the longest in U.S. history – will be at day 25. While federal law enforcement and safety employees do their best to either continue working without compensation or navigate a furlough, bank accounts are draining, morale is plummeting, federal employees’ families are paying the price, and – what impacts us all – the safety impact of the partial government shutdown continues to become more of a threat.

Flight attendants say government shutdown threatening airline safety |
Global News [2019-01-10]

Federal workers’ paychecks on hold as partial government shutdown looms | Fox News [2019-01-10]

Category: The New York Times

The Unwavering Support of Trump’s Base Despite the Harm

The Safety Impact of the Partial Government Shutdown