My family and I just returned from vacation in South Carolina.
Because of damage from Hurricane Helene, part of Interstate 40 in Tennessee was closed. As a result, we were routed through parts of rural North Carolina and eastern Tennessee.
The devastation from the flooding was extensive. Particularly heartbreaking was the fact that the areas we observed have obviously been economically depressed for some time. These people did not have much to begin with, and the flooding only added to their plight.
It seemed as if there was a yard sale at every other house, and in one small town there was a Salvation Army truck handing out clothing to a long line of men, women and children.
These people are in dire straits.
Equally as sad as the devastation itself was the fact that most of these people had Trump signs in their yards. This did not come as a surprise to anyone, yet it still troubled me.
Do these people and millions of others who are struggling financially really believe Donald Trump, Elon Musk and their billionaire and millionaire buddies actually give a tinker’s damn about people like them or the suffering they are experiencing?
When has anyone ever seen Trump exhibit any compassion or sympathy for anyone or anything other than himself?
These people have been sold a bill of goods. Trump has packaged himself over the years as this brilliant businessman, and obviously millions of Americans have bought into this charade. Perhaps those people are ignorant of the reality of Trump’s business history or are so desperate they choose to ignore the truth.
He campaigned primarily on issues relating to the economy (tariffs, inflation, taxes and immigration), and those issues obviously hit home with millions of voters.
He once famously said he is so smart he does not have to read books. With respect to tariffs, I suggest he take the time either to read an intro-level economics textbook or have someone explain it to him.
If he did, he would discover that one of his major campaign promises of across-the-board tariffs (particularly targeting China) will only damage the economy, not invigorate it.
A tariff is not some magical cure; it is nothing more than a tax that will be passed on and inevitably be paid by the American consumer in the form of higher costs for products. Tariffs are also regressive taxes, meaning they are most damaging to those on the lower end of the economic ladder.
Almost all economists agree that tariffs are inflationary and often invite retaliatory tariffs from other countries. An example of this occurred during Trump’s first administration when China imposed stiff tariffs on American agricultural products, resulting in our government having to pay billions of subsidy dollars to our farmers.
The vast majority of those billions went to large agricultural conglomerates, not to small, struggling family farms.
See a pattern here?
As for tax cuts, the package rushed through by Trump in his first administration added about $2 trillion to the national debt while benefiting almost exclusively the very wealthiest Americans and American corporations. Middle-class Americans received a mere pittance.
This is an example of the classic Republican-favored “trickle down” theory, which has always benefited only those at the top, not the people conducting yard sales trying to get enough money to buy groceries.
Long gone are the days when Republicans valued a balanced budget and fiscal responsibility.
We should expect nothing different this time when those tax cuts expire in 2025.
With regard to immigration and mass deportation, recent government figures estimate there are about 8 million-plus undocumented aliens in the United States. Most of these people are working in menial jobs most Americans would not even consider.
If even a small number of those individuals, much less all of them, were deported en masse, as promised by Trump, the effects on the economy would be devastating.
Agricultural, construction and landscaping businesses would be hit especially hard, along with public service industries such as travel and food service.
This is a fact even conservative economists admit.
As a result, Trump will find himself with a conundrum. When he takes office, Republicans will control both houses of Congress. In addition, he is filling his Cabinet with fierce loyalists who would not dare question him.
Interestingly, many of these individuals (like JD Vance, Marco Rubio and others) had previously attacked Trump before his rise to power to the extent that you would have thought he was the Antichrist.
Now those same individuals wait on bended knee for the privilege of kissing his ring.
If he does not deliver on his numerous campaign promises (remember that big wall that was going to be built on Mexico’s dime?), this time he will have no excuses.
On the other hand, if he does fulfill his promises of tariffs and mass deportation, most economists predict the economy will be ravaged — a Catch-22 of sorts.
He has stated he will bring down inflation and the cost of living.
Yet, experts predict trying to accomplish that using tariffs and deportation will be counterproductive.
As an eternal optimist, however, I have tried to find the silver lining in this dark, foreboding cloud. So, on the bright side, with a Trump presidency we will no longer have to fear that our pets will be eaten by rampaging hordes of Haitian immigrants (which should make millions of pet owners happy).
We can also look forward to the end of the wars in Ukraine and in the Mideast, given that Trump has stated he would solve both of those conflicts even before he is sworn in with a simple phone call or two.
That has not yet happened, but I am certain it is coming.
On second thought, to heck with optimism. I am going to look for my yard sale sign just in case.
James McFadden is a retired investigator with the Allen County Prosecutor’s Office.