19th Century Gilded Age

The Gilded Age Returns: Dominance Of Billionaires In Trump Cabinet!

It is quite clear that the “Gilded Age” of the late 19th century is returning under Donald Trump, with more than a dozen billionaires being part of his cabinet and as advisers, including most notably, although unofficially, Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy.

The agenda is clear, to have massive tax cuts that will mostly benefit the super rich, with small tax savings for the rest of the nation.

And corporations will, sadly, dominate political discourse, and the aim seems to be to weaken or destroy the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Environmental Protection Agency.

Therefore, the well being of every day Americans is coming under attack, with no regard for the damage that will be wrought.

It seems clear that many of the American voters who supported Donald Trump, out of ignorance and stupidity, will soon regret their decision, and realize that life will be more tough for them than they could have imagined.

It should lead to a reaction with the hope that Democrats will have the opportunity to regain control of the House of Representatives and the US Senate in 2026.

But a lot of the damage that will have been done will likely be very hard, if at all impossible, to reverse, particularly with an extremist right wing Supreme Court.

Musk, Ramaswamy Want To Destroy Federal Programs, Must Be Prevented

The unofficial Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), formed by Donald Trump, and headed by billionaires Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy has no government authority, but is insanely proposing cutting the federal budget by up to $2 trillion, or one third of the total government spending, purely insane in nature!

Rather than raise taxes on billionaires and millionaires, including Musk and Ramaswamy, as well as other less wealthy, but prosperous Americans, so that they pay their “fair share”, Donald Trump wants another massive trillions of dollars tax cut for the elite wealthy, similar to his massive tax cuts in 2017, and earlier ones under George W. Bush and Ronald Reagan.

About one fourth of all of the national debt of America occurred under Donald Trump in his first term, and he is ready to add trillions to the national debt while cutting important programs.

Among those being targeted are:

Veterans Health Care
Drug Development and Opioid Addiction Treatment
State Department Funding
Housing Assistance
Justice Department Funding
Education Spending
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
Health Care (Affordable Care Act, also known as Obama Care)
Federal Student Loan Program
International Security Programs
Head Start Program

Additionally, the goal is to cut the federal work force, get rid of talented and competent and experienced public servants, and hire lackeys who would do Donald Trump’s bidding, and in the process, promoting total chaos and anarchy in the federal government.

Also, some Republican members of Congress would love to get rid of Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, programs adopted under Franklin D. Roosevelt and Lyndon B. Johnson, and constantly the subject of attacks by right wing forces!

Democrats, while not the majority, must do whatever they can to prevent such outrageous actions, finding those Republicans in both houses who have principles and ethics, too few, but they are there!

This is a true existential crisis of massive proportions, and every effort imaginable must be waged to prevent such a disastrous set of circumstances that would destroy the federal government!

Our government cannot go back to “states rights”, which supposedly was resolved by the Civil War!

The Gilded Age was the late 19th century, and we cannot go back 150 years under any circumstances!

Democratic Party Positives In 2024 Elections

The Presidential and Congressional Elections of 2024 produced some significant positives for the Democratic Party, despite Donald Trump’s close victory for the Presidency, and gaining of 53 seats in the US Senate and about the same tiny margin in the US House of Representatives that the Republicans already had.

Trump’s margin of victory was smaller than that of Joe Biden or Barack Obama, and Trump’s victory was less impressive than any election since the late 19th century Gilded Age. He was NOT anywhere near the landslides of Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1936, Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964, Richard Nixon in 1972 or Ronald Reagan in 1984, but Trump is trying to claim otherwise.

Also, each of these landslide victories led to a loss of seats in the following midterm elections for the President’s party, so there is hope for the future of the Democratic Party in 2026 and 2028.

Also, Democrats were able to retain control of Senate seats in four “swing” states that Trump won–Arizona, Nevada, Michigan, and Wisconsin, while losing the Senate seat in Pennsylvania.

North Carolina, despite going to Trump, elected an entire Democratic state government team, including Josh Stein, who is Jewish, as Governor.

Also, Matt Meyer, who is Jewish, was elected Governor of Delaware.

And despite attacks by Republicans on “diversity”, the Democrats were able to win or hold Senate seats with other than white straight Christians, as witness the following:

Arizona–Ruben Gallego–Hispanic male–elected to open Senate seat

Nevada–Jacky Rosen, Jewish female, reelected

Michigan–Elissa Slotkin, Jewish female, elected to open Senate seat

California–Adam Schiff, Jewish male, elected to open Senate seat

Wisconsin–Tammy Baldwin, Lesbian, reelected

New Jersey–Andy Kim–Korean American male–elected to open Senate seat

Delaware–Lisa Blunt Rochester–African American female–elected to open Senate seat

Maryland–Angela Alsobrooks–African American female–elected to open Senate seat

Ultimate Issue Of 2024: 21st Century And Preservation Of 20th Century Advancements, Or Return To 19th Century?

With all of the complex and often confusing issues that have an effect on American politics in the upcoming Presidential and Congressional Elections of 2024, one reality stands out!

Are we to embrace the 21st century and preserve the 20th century advancements of the early 20th century Progressive Era, the New Deal of Franklin D. Roosevelt, the Earl Warren Supreme Court decisions, and the Great Society of Lyndon B. Johnson?

Or are we to return to the 19th century post Civil War Gilded Age concept of limited national government, Jim Crow segregation of African Americans, lack of basic human rights for women, and states rights limiting basic freedoms and rights of all but the most powerful corporations and wealthy upper class of Americans?