As if America didn’t have enough problems here comes a cowboy from South Africa stepping into the mess (8 minutes)
As I type this we are experiencing a power outage, one of life’s little annoyances that mess with your plans. As humans, one of the things we all do is plan. We choose living arrangements to maximize living the life we want and then set up arrangements around those plans.
We plan for children, we plan for jobs, we plan for medical care and eventually we plan to retire and many plan that in their deaths their loved ones are taken care of. A major part of this planning is to take an inventory of what you have at your disposal in assets. Among such assets are things the government gives you access to such as Social Security.
Thus as we plan our day, our week, our month our year and on into the future we take an inventory and base plans on that. The government plays a vital role in our planning simply because we give things to the government such as taxes, license fees etc. and get things back from the government. For most Americans this comes in the form of Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid.
Now we stand at the threshold of a new year which is a common time for humans to re-evaluate their plans. That includes taking an inventory of assets. Most Americans do have Social Security and Medicare among assets they plan on because since their inceptions both of the programs have been sustained and untouchable.
As you know with the election in November Americans elected a majority MAGA congress and a MAGA president who made it no secret that they intend to make Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and a slew of other programs subject to change. Not having these programs as a cornerstone of individuals’ ability to plan is going to be one of many changes that will throw our economy into a major mess.
Whatever were Americans thinking when they voted for Trump? The election seems to have been some kind of payback for an inflationary period plus the propaganda that placed blame for the inflation on Democrats. Instead of voting to continue one of the best economies America has ever seen and continuing the downward trajectory of inflation voters chose the path of almost total uncertainty.
Trump has no plan and never had a plan. His method of operation is total spur of the moment and his hand-picked advisors consist mostly of rich white guys who have never felt any need to think of any other human. We have seen many signs of the chaos that awaits us in the new year and the new administration.
Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid are hardly the only programs threatened. Those are just the ones that will hurt the quickest and the most on an individual scale. Everything from farm policy to foreign policy will feel the bite of the chaos to come. There will be no ability for planning for individuals, businesses (who is buying when their money is unsure?). local governments, community groups and certainly the rest of the world.
Trump’s lack of planning and his primary focus on revenge will give us a government in unbelievable chaos. Gee, if people would only have given a few moments of thought on how Trump would govern. Or maybe if the media would have covered the predictable chaos.
When you sit down at the kitchen table next week to make some plans for 2025 make sure you come up with some alternative plans for when the government stops functioning the way it has for nearly 100 years. We all know through experience that when things start a downward spiral, it is often hard to stop.
In this case the group that is normally charged with meeting the challenges that will be created won’t care because it won’t affect them.
But Happy New Year! Maybe, despite the foreshadowing nothing I say will happen and America will somehow survive. But we all have to be watching and be willing to stand up against Trump policies when needed.
Maybe a year from now we will be on the verge total chaos as Trump readies the country for the wars in the north against Greenland and Canada and in the south against Panama. Those wars will divert attention from an economy on the edge of collapsing.
Tip of the hat to http://all-hat-no-cattle.blogspot.com
Following Gov. Kim Reynolds appointment of Sen. Chris Cournoyer as her new lieutenant governor, there will be a special election to fill Cournoyer’s seat in the Iowa Senate. Voters in Scott, Clinton and Jackson counties will vote Jan. 28 for a new state senator, Reynolds announced Monday. Candidates wanting to run for the seat have until Jan. 14 to file their paperwork. 
