2018 Mid-term Election
AJ Robinson

The 2018 mid-term election is coming up fast. Many people are pinning their hopes on a Blue Wave or, maybe, even a Blue Tsunami. This, they feel, will rein in Dumb Donald.

Are voters smarter this time around?

I’m not optimistic regarding the outcome of the 2018 mid-term elections. Deep in my guts, I have a feeling the voters could, again, surprise us, giving the Orange One even more power; if the GOP retain both the House and Senate, Trump will  take that a vindication of his regime. I’m hoping voters are smarter than that.

Donny has pissed off many people, so I may be wrong. Some voting blocks are now claiming unusual mobilisation. They’re going to get out the vote by rattling cages and trees to get people to the polls. According to media reports, mostly NBC News, suggest has already surpassed that of the last mid-term election, in 2014. If true, it’d be great.

Still, I’m still not sure. Look at what voters face. We have open acts of voter suppression in practically every state. With huge sections of the country gerrymandered, it seems impossible for the voters to get rid of the incumbents. Then, of course, there’s open interference by Russia, which we all know they’re going to pull again; perhaps China and North Korea are also interfering, too. Combine these factors with voter apathy, a major problem for mid-term elections, always, along with Donny’s little Trumpsters lapping up every lie he utters, as if it’s nectar from the gods, what chance do we have?

I’d like to think sane Americans have a decent chance to retrieve the country. Yet, no, I can’t say that. Here’s why.

Dumb Donald has truly damaged the nation, but who hears about it? His tariffs are crippling commerce and companies are looking to either cut back or outright move production out of the country. Joe Hinrichs, president of Ford Motor Company global operations, told Bloomberg that, with the tariffs. “U.S. steel costs are more than anywhere else in the world.” Ford management talks with the White House, “We tell them that we need to have competitive costs in our market in order to compete around the world.” He isn’t sure anyone is listening. Why has this fact not been more widely reported?

Tax cuts for the rich tanked the economy.

The tax cuts Trump and the republicans gave to the rich and corporations have tanked the federal budget; almost none of it has trickled down to the rest of us. Is anyone talking about that? Moreover, Trump is claiming he can get a ten percent middle-class tax cut in place before the 2018 mid-term elections. This is impossible, as Congress, which must pass all new tax legislation, is not in session.

No, instead, we hear of how well the economy is going. Instead, they’re looking at still more tax cuts for the rich and what are they considering for cuts? Oh, well, Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, to name only three.

Why cut these programmes? It’s simple, the republicans in Congress are complaining about the deficit spiraling out of control. Has a single member of the media ever pressed any Representative or Senator on the fact that this was a result of their tax cut? No, all we hear are crickets and then the leadership says they have no choice but to cut those programmes.

This makes me glad I’m not poor or old. Those folks are going to be in need of the old thoughts and prayers routine soon. Will they survive?

Right now, what’s the big news event? The caravan of poor people trying to get to the United States to escape hunger and violence in Central America and Trump is trotting out the old reliable bigotry card to whip up the base. Who remembers that Puerto Rico and the Florida Panhandle are both trying to recover from massive hurricanes?

It’s up to you.

In the background, is a Trump plan to erase the transgender people, almost, from existence by declaring people are the gender they are born. Huh, making some people out as less than human, where have I heard that before? Yeah, I’m worried. I hope that Blue Wave manifests itself come Election Day.