Getting Stuff Done?

There is no single explanation for the popularity of Trump. But one thread is that he can “get stuff [sh-t] done.”

Supporters (MAGAs) don’t care about his long history of cheating people out of their money, his talk of “grabbing pussies”, or even that he violently tried to overthrow an election. “He gets stuff done.”

I do give credit to Trump for three things from his first term:

1) Ending the Reagan era of strangling government services by being willing to spend money on the people when it was needed during COVID

2) Not starting any new wars

3) Ending the obsession of elected officials to watch every word they say

The latter is actually quite important. I am OK with an elected official saying something stupid occasionally as long as they admit they are wrong and fix the mistake. Biden has been infamous for making verbal gaffes his entire career and I really don’t care.

I invite my side to be honest and ask what they would do if the situation were reversed. Suppose our side had a winning candidate who was accused of some illegal and/or unethical behavior. Would you be willing to overlook that in order to achieve certain vital goals?

For me, it would depend on the urgency and importance of the goals. And how serious was the bad behavior. Trump seriously crossed that line for me, but not for the MAGAs.

Polls show that millions of Americans think our system is broken and want someone who will “shake things up” even if it means breaking things. The problem with Trump is that he has zero interest in the public interest. He is only interested in his own wealth and power.

I actually had some hope in his first term that he might fulfill his promise to create a universal health care system. And his promise to build high speed rail. He could have done those things because he owed nothing to the health industry or to the fossil fuel/auto industry.

Instead, he pushed an extreme agenda against immigrants and against reproductive rights.

Hungarian scholar Bálint Magyar compares Trump to Hungarian dictator Viktor Orbán. Trump wants loyalists. Ideally, loyalists who are unfit for the job by design. It has a name. A “kakistocracy” is a government run by the worst, least qualified, or most unscrupulous citizens.

Robert Kennedy, Jr. is a mix. He makes insane claims about health and nutrition. But he makes some valid points. The FDA serves Big Pharma more than regulates it. More money is made by keeping people sick than making them well. Highly processed food is engineered to create addiction. The question is whether Kennedy could change any of this, if he is even approved as Secretary of HHS.

Elon Musk is another interesting case. He built his career on solving the climate crisis – investing in electric cars and battery storage for sustainable energy. But it seems doubtful that Trump will listen to his climate advice. Trump only listens to what brings him personal gains. Or satisfies his bizarre whims.

We really do need to rethink our system of government so that it can get stuff done without partisan and parochial turf battles. Or unnecessary regulation. Our side often blocks sustainable energy projects.

It turns out there already is a government branch for efficiency: The Government Accountability Office. Their web site’s current report has over 5,000 unfulfilled recommendations. That would save hundreds of billions of dollars and make government serve the public better. Boring stuff that can actually help.

The problem is that real solutions to real problems involve real work, real money, and sometimes temporary sacrifice. The opposite of what MAGAs want.

Historian Yuval Noah Harari says institutions are the bedrock of society, taking generations to build. Destroying them without a plan means no stuff gets done.

I plan to write more about these issues. It’s good to save government money. I am more concerned that urgent and important problems get solved. The world can survive many mistakes by the U.S. But the world cannot survive continued U.S. inaction on the climate crisis. I don’t care who gets credit, but that stuff has to get done.