The column below reflects the views of the author, and these opinions are neither endorsed nor supported by WisOpinion.com.
Many voted for Trump because of their fears about financial security: inflation, delinquent car loans, credit card debt with exorbitant interest rates, inadequate savings for emergencies and unaffordable housing to buy or rent. Trump promised the moon on ending inflation. But Trump now says: “it’s hard to bring things down once they’ve gone up.” Trump’s memorandums and executive orders do nothing to resolve inflation or mitigate financial insecurity.
For example, the skyrocketing cost of eggs (due to bird flu-decimating chickens). However, the White House, head in the sand, has shut down research, muzzled scientists, prevented distribution of bird flu findings-studies and told farmers to take a hike. More than ever America needs a competent functioning government, not diatribes and political campaigning.
However, the White House issued an incoherent campaign-like presidential memorandum with contempt for the Constitution and Congress; illegally putting the power of the purse in the executive branch. It ordered a: “Temporary Pause of Agency Grant, Loan, and Other Financial Assistance Programs” (more than $3 trillion). It falsely said that this would end “the financial burden of inflation … .” Mind boggling. Trump’s memorandum was studied chaos, cruelty and incompetence. Children, the elderly and the sick were hit hard. It’s a constitutional crisis. Outrage was instantaneous and nationwide. Why?
It violated Article I of the Constitution which gives Congress the power of the purse. Moreover, Trump disregarded the 1974 Impoundment Control Act (a Watergate reform passed after Nixon illegally refused to spend funding Congress had approved). The so-called “temporary pause” was a shutdown of essential government funding: “Meals on Wheels, Head Start, school lunches, childcare help, student loans, disaster relief, crime-fighting assistance and Medicaid” (Washington Post). It was also a heavy blow to essential spending for veterans: burial expenses, survivors and dependents assistance, housing aid and service-connected disabilities and other cutoffs for our heroes. A cruel shocking disgrace!
Don Kettl, former UW-Madison professor of political science, said: “In two pages, we’ve got what amounts to 60 years of tradition and policies that are thrown up in the air. For those suffering most, the uncertainty will be immense.” Wisconsin Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin agreed: “I am already hearing from my constituents who are worried about funding being cut off for cops and firefighters, childcare, combatting the fentanyl crisis, food for kids and so much more. … an unconstitutional power grab. I will fight it at every step.”
Baldwin was joined by Wisconsin Democratic Governor Tony Evers and Attorney General Josh Kaul in denouncing Trump’s unconstitutional and lawless memorandum. Kaul and 22 fellow attorneys general successfully sued and blocked the Trump administration. Earlier, another federal court temporarily halted the spending freeze. The political temperature shifted. Trump surrendered and withdrew the spending freeze. The public backlash has won for now.
But remember: Wisconsin GOP Senator Ron Johnson and other GOP members of Congress endorsed this madness. They and Trump are not on the side of regular folks, just billionaires. Most importantly, protest won. Americans still have the power to oppose corporate authoritarianism.
-Kaplan wrote a guest column from Washington, D.C., for the Wisconsin State Journal from 1995 – 2009.
