Can Trump Really Prioritize the Working Class Now That He Fills His Cabinet with Wall Street People?
President-elect Donald Trump has promised to drain the swamp in his anti-establishment campaign to win the presidency. People placed hopes that he will do away with influential lobbyists or establishment politicians in his cabinet. Apparently, as names begin to surface, a lot of his future cabinet members are not just bad, they are also dangerous. A combination of former Goldman Sachs people and a host of billionaires will pretty much do nothing to change the status quo. If anything, they will just empower Wall Street like never before. In fact, Wall Street’s stocks have improved dramatically since Trump won the presidency.
Less regulation
If there are more Wall Street people on his cabinet, especially in influential posts like the Treasury, Commerce, and Labor, it only means that he will never fulfill his promise of draining the swamp. As it looks like, he is actually filling the swamp with more crocodiles. One of the reasons why the US has experienced financial crisis in 2008 was because of how influential Wall Street was in government’s policy making. When Wall Street was deregulated, the Bush administration promised that it will spark economic activities and strengthen the economy. Apparently, it was the other way around. It led to the worst financial crash in the country’s history. Now that these people are back in power, it could happen again.
Trump has also gloated about his deal making prowess when he has signed a deal with Carrier to not send jobs to Mexico. In exchange though, Carrier was given tax cuts. This was exactly the thing that he went against when was campaigning, but he did it anyway. He has also signaled to other companies planning to send their jobs overseas that he will just cut a deal with them through tax breaks so they won’t go away. This would cost a lot on the country’s economy. Besides, it is not like Carrier is keeping all the jobs home. They are still sending a lot of jobs to Mexico anyway.
More infrastructures but lower taxes
Aside from the fact that Trump has filled his cabinet with business-friendly people, he also has plans to revitalize the country’s infrastructure. In fact, he promises to push through with the wall that has been at the center of his campaign. Considering its cost plus all the tax cut that he has promised for wealthy businessmen, it could result to an even bigger deficit. Besides, the Republicans have been salivating for these tax cuts for a very long time. Now that they control the White House and both houses of Congress, they can easily push through whatever policies they want.
Let’s wait and see
One of the reasons why Trump has a resounding victory especially in the Rust Belt states is that he has promised to bring jobs back to America and revitalize the economy again. However, as we see with his early choices and priorities in policies, those promises will never materialize. Let us give him a chance though. As outgoing President Obama said, let us give Trump a chance to lead. Hopefully though, those who have been aggressively campaigning for him will stand by him in the end.
Photo Attribution:
Featured and 1st image by Packer, poster artist, Artist (NARA record: 8467744) (U.S. National Archives and Records Administration) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
2nd image courtesy of Stuart Miles / freedigitalphotos.net
