After all the MAGA supporters’ honking, flag-waving, and frantic behavior, do we see any evidence that Trump will reduce food prices, utility bills, or housing costs? No, we do not, and we won’t see any changes in these areas. The simple fact is that Trump has misled you about this; he essentially lies daily.
He also claimed to have no knowledge of Project 2025. In reality, he knew about it, endorsed it, was regularly consulted on it, and is trying to position Russ Vought, one of the main authors of Project 2025, as the director of the Office of Management and Budget to better assist him in implementing the project. The truth is that Trump ran for President for three reasons:
First and foremost, Trump wanted to stay out of jail.
Second, MAGA Republicans want to save their party, regardless of whether it has good ideas, integrity, or policies that benefit most Americans. They are concerned that Black and brown voters and young people will support progressive policies, so they have devised several methods to suppress individual votes. Here are some numbers from investigative journalist, Greg Palast:
– 4,776,706 voters were wrongly purged from voter rolls, according to US Elections Assistance Commission data.
– By August 2024, for the first time since 1946, self-proclaimed “vigilante” voter-fraud hunters challenged the rights of 317,886 voters. The NAACP of Georgia estimates that by Election Day, these challenges exceeded 200,000 in Georgia alone.
– At least 2,121,000 mail-in ballots were disqualified due to minor clerical errors (e.g., due to postage issues).
– Over 585,000 ballots cast in-person were also disqualified.
– 1,216,000 “provisional” ballots were rejected and not counted.
– 3.24 million new registrations were either rejected or not entered on the rolls in time to vote.
If the purges, challenges, and ballot rejections were random, it wouldn’t be a concern. But they are anything but random. For instance, an audit by the State of Washington revealed that a Black voter was 400% more likely than a white voter to have their mail-in ballot rejected. According to a US Civil Rights Commission study in Florida, the rejection rate for Black in-person votes ran at 14.3%, or one in seven ballots cast.
Third, Trump’s lack of public policy knowledge appeals to tech moguls like Elon Musk. They have embraced his policies to be closer to the seat of power, to sway his decisions, and to be in on the take. And Trump accepted their financial support so that he could become President – despite his 34 felonies and his status as an adjudicated sex offender.
So, where does this leave the vast majority of the American people? Sooner or later, it will become abundantly clear that Trump intends to make a great deal of money for himself and his cronies. He has no intention of helping the American people. Grocery prices are increasing, and Trump has now halted billions of dollars in federal grants and loans. Oh, and just wait until he institutes those tariffs.
Regarding the freeze on already appropriated federal funding, Senator Patty Murray of Washington State reminds us, “We could see a screeching halt to resources for childcare, housing, police officers, opioid addiction treatment, road and bridge repairs, and even disaster relief efforts. Trump was just in California to witness the devastation, and now he is withholding that aid,” she said. “The American people did not vote for this kind of senseless chaos,” she added.
As usual, many Idahoans voted for Trump, and against their best interests. Trump will NOT fix anything; he has never cared about you, and he never will. So go ahead and honk your horns and wave your flags. But over the next year, you may find that you can no longer afford your rent, mortgage, groceries, gas, childcare, or healthcare.
Ethel Steinmetz Marmont
