Destroying America From The Top Down
By James Donahue
March 21, 2017
The Trump-Bannon package of executive orders appear to be a calculated series of actions designed to dismantle the government of the United States, one brick at a time. And they are doing it with such speed the nation’s elected and appointed lawmakers and legal eagles seem awestruck and perhaps powerless to stop them.
The attacks are so broad and so unexpected it has been almost impossible to keep up with them all. From the destruction of President Obama’s executive orders and the Paris Climate Summit agreement and stripping of Environmental Protection Agency powers to a proposed budget that strips assistance to the poor and elderly and pours the money into an even larger military, this administration is giving all the appearance of creating a brazen oligarchy to replace the democratic system we once thought we still had.
In the past few days we have watched in disbelief as Mr. Trump moved to dismantle the department of Housing and Urban Renewal (HUD) which has long been a haven for the poor, thus threatening to generate an even larger homeless population in an already impoverished environment for the poor and middle class. Trump and his cohorts are attacking the food stamp program, Meals on Wheels, stripping money from programs for expectant mothers and are threatening Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid programs.
Everything that was designed to assure stability on the American home scene appears to be under severe financial attack by Mr. Trump and his scary companion Chief Strategist Steve Bannon, who some watchers believe may be the brains behind Trump’s well-designed moves. All the while this has been going on the media has been entertained by the peculiar antics of this peculiar president since taking office on January 20. Are all the tweets and wild public accusations but a smokescreen to hide the quick destruction of our democratic system?
While most media reports seemed not to even notice, the coup-de-grace may have been slammed into the mix last week when Mr. Trump signed a “Comprehensive Plan for Reorganizing the Executive Branch.” If you have any understanding of the three branches of government are, the president IS the executive branch. In other words, he now has a plan to change and reorganize his own powers. And what do you think the man has on his mind for these possible changes? Would he dare to declare himself king of America? Or is there a plan to give Mr. Bannon the power of authority over the nation? Before Trump moved into office did the executive chair ever have a “Chief Strategist” at his side? The job of Chief of Staff was given to Reince Priebus, who appears to be an invisible and insignificant force on the Trump team.
In signing the document Mr. Trump noted that his goal was to improve the "efficiency, effectiveness and accountability" of federal agencies. But knowing the way the Trump/Bannon team has been operating so far, with cabinet appointments still left unfilled yet an entire team of "shadow government" characters assigned to watch over the operations of every office, we can only expect more shocking revelations to come.
Having just given himself this new executive power, if not stopped by Congressional action, we may soon see entire departments eliminated, other offices merged, and a lot of Washington employees soon standing in unemployment lines with the rest of the nation.
With some cabinet appointments still waiting to be filled there is a question as to how a review of the agencies can be made without relevant heads in place. There is concern among the workers in these offices that the departments may be marked for the chopping block.
A writer for the Washington Post said last week the new proposal could “shake the federal government to its core if enacted.”
Jackie Simon, spokesperson for the American Federation of Government Employees, said the workers in these departments “are very devoted to the missions of their agencies. If there are fewer of them on the job, the mission of the agency is undermined.”
Anyone that has stood in long lines at motor vehicle or unemployment offices due to under-staffing, already knows the impact government staff reductions can have on human services. Things can only be expected to become much worse in the months ahead. We may be lucky if these familiar services will be offered any more at all.
By James Donahue
March 21, 2017
The Trump-Bannon package of executive orders appear to be a calculated series of actions designed to dismantle the government of the United States, one brick at a time. And they are doing it with such speed the nation’s elected and appointed lawmakers and legal eagles seem awestruck and perhaps powerless to stop them.
The attacks are so broad and so unexpected it has been almost impossible to keep up with them all. From the destruction of President Obama’s executive orders and the Paris Climate Summit agreement and stripping of Environmental Protection Agency powers to a proposed budget that strips assistance to the poor and elderly and pours the money into an even larger military, this administration is giving all the appearance of creating a brazen oligarchy to replace the democratic system we once thought we still had.
In the past few days we have watched in disbelief as Mr. Trump moved to dismantle the department of Housing and Urban Renewal (HUD) which has long been a haven for the poor, thus threatening to generate an even larger homeless population in an already impoverished environment for the poor and middle class. Trump and his cohorts are attacking the food stamp program, Meals on Wheels, stripping money from programs for expectant mothers and are threatening Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid programs.
Everything that was designed to assure stability on the American home scene appears to be under severe financial attack by Mr. Trump and his scary companion Chief Strategist Steve Bannon, who some watchers believe may be the brains behind Trump’s well-designed moves. All the while this has been going on the media has been entertained by the peculiar antics of this peculiar president since taking office on January 20. Are all the tweets and wild public accusations but a smokescreen to hide the quick destruction of our democratic system?
While most media reports seemed not to even notice, the coup-de-grace may have been slammed into the mix last week when Mr. Trump signed a “Comprehensive Plan for Reorganizing the Executive Branch.” If you have any understanding of the three branches of government are, the president IS the executive branch. In other words, he now has a plan to change and reorganize his own powers. And what do you think the man has on his mind for these possible changes? Would he dare to declare himself king of America? Or is there a plan to give Mr. Bannon the power of authority over the nation? Before Trump moved into office did the executive chair ever have a “Chief Strategist” at his side? The job of Chief of Staff was given to Reince Priebus, who appears to be an invisible and insignificant force on the Trump team.
In signing the document Mr. Trump noted that his goal was to improve the "efficiency, effectiveness and accountability" of federal agencies. But knowing the way the Trump/Bannon team has been operating so far, with cabinet appointments still left unfilled yet an entire team of "shadow government" characters assigned to watch over the operations of every office, we can only expect more shocking revelations to come.
Having just given himself this new executive power, if not stopped by Congressional action, we may soon see entire departments eliminated, other offices merged, and a lot of Washington employees soon standing in unemployment lines with the rest of the nation.
With some cabinet appointments still waiting to be filled there is a question as to how a review of the agencies can be made without relevant heads in place. There is concern among the workers in these offices that the departments may be marked for the chopping block.
A writer for the Washington Post said last week the new proposal could “shake the federal government to its core if enacted.”
Jackie Simon, spokesperson for the American Federation of Government Employees, said the workers in these departments “are very devoted to the missions of their agencies. If there are fewer of them on the job, the mission of the agency is undermined.”
Anyone that has stood in long lines at motor vehicle or unemployment offices due to under-staffing, already knows the impact government staff reductions can have on human services. Things can only be expected to become much worse in the months ahead. We may be lucky if these familiar services will be offered any more at all.