White rural Trump voters and "small government"

The people voting for Trump wanted something. It was maybe jobs now, not community college. Or maybe it was the "somebody is getting something I'm not" feel of middle class and poor middle class. The poor folks in cities were maybe getting something.

They got Trump:

That winning was going to be something. They wanted to cut down government, cut down regulation etc etc. They were suspicious of government spying on us.

Guess what? They got a little. A few dollars in the paycheck. Trump himself saved millions in taxes, if he pays any. They got an impression of EPA held back and coal jobs coming back a bit. It's not doing much for jobs.

But the whole thing is pretty much a front. Trump is running a public relations campaign, mostly about him as the tough guy, savior of capitalism and the white folks old world, where gay wedding cakes do not make the press.

But the BIG government is still there. The military is big government, we spend a lot on that and they spy for "homeland security" as needed. No domestic terrorism goes undetected for long.

Corporations own government. Monsanto still writes the farm bill. In fact almost nothing has changed in the way things are done. Corporations do not care about Mexico walls, Trump war with press, abortions etc etc. They run strictly on profits. Oil rigs still are as unsafe as before Deepwater Horizon. National parks are open for drilling. Despite some friction with Trump, the Koch Brothers still dictate energy policy.

Big Government is run by corporations and Trump cut their tax. You've been had. Your hourly wages went down as far as buying power. They have gone down for decades.

I’ve neglected a small group of Trump voters who actually do know where the money goes. These people do not mind the money going to corporations. ”As long as it does not go to the poor people in the city. They should get a job!” Most of them have a job. At minimum wage, some of them have to have two. No such problem in Denmark. See the video.

Meanwhile in Denmark, with 56% tax:

All those decisions were made by voters and politicians. Not corporations. But the corporations adjust.

Finally, a small anecdote from a bike tour on the prairie:

A rancher allowed us to set up a rest stop across his ranch entrance. He told us about his 200 bison and thousands of acres. And he sounded very involved in county level matters.

People in these counties are 90% Republican. They support county spending. You need three things: roads, water supply and storm water/creek management. Healthcare? You just die and hand over the farm or ranch to kids.

If a rancher were able to control his tax money better, he would pay. Lets say he pays 5% state and 30% federal, he would be happier taking that 30% and sending 20% to the state and 10% to feds. He gets farm insurance, flood insurance, subsidies back. But why route that money through the feds at all? Just keep it here.

Trump's false message

I don't know who I am writing this for, but here goes.

President Trump goes to give rallies and makes bold generalizations and follows that by "believe me!" It's not like any of the people there are to go home to check on these claims. They already believed them before he said them. There is a tendency of people in a country such as ours that has two major parties to believe that people supporting the other party, not yours, do all the bad things.

Trump claims Democrats are unpatriotic. False. They don't spend enough on defense. False, there was never a reduction on spending. Welfare ended in the Clinton era and is no longer the safety net it once was, though some is left. Trump is financing all his grandiose things, military and tax cuts, by borrowing. when the bill comes, he is no longer president.

Some of his claims are ridiculous. Foreigners do not commit all the crimes, in fact it makes no sense to commit crimes. If you are working illegally, you are more likely to be caught after a crime, then deported. Just do your job and lay low. If you have a green card and commit a serious crime, the card is taken away and you are jailed or deported.

Trump claims are also stereotypes. Blacks are lazy, Mexicans are rapists. There is no truth to any of it, though poor people do end up in desperate situations where a wealthier person would not. The stereotypes only exist for his followers to nod to and think "yeah, I though so. Tell them, Trump!"

Democrats are soft on crime. Really? And where it happens, it is not a bad thing. The liberal judges we support give shorter sentences. But maybe that is because we do not want to support the private prison industry. That industry is also making good profit on the illegals arrested, instead of being deported with no time in prison. You are paying for that. You are paying for the detained children too, more than they  would cost if they were with their parents. Other than that, drug possession and small time use (legal in many states) is not really treated well by locking up the accused for years.

These things Trump brings up are certainly there, and we even have gangs he mentions. But most of this is never going to affect life in suburbia where most of the white voters for Trump live. Even less in rural areas. The prescription opiate epidemic hit all of the middle of the country because they were legal. All you had to do was go to the nearest drug store.

Trump also likes to reward evangelicals. And his claims are not wong: Democrats support abortion rights. That may be some of the small long term effect he will have. The supreme court does not change often. The right wing judges are on Trump’s side. They want small government and side with corporations over citizens.

Perhaps the white working class voter thought it was a package deal? Guns babies and Jesus, check. American dream, check. Foreigners out, check.  Not so fast. The American dream is just a trick. You have not improved your standard of living for 50 years. Trickle down economics does not work. You are worse off than your parents, as healthcare is more expensive past the age of 50. It may cure your cancer, but you will die penniless if you make it to age 90.

Environmental damage can be undone more quickly after Trump is gone. It is all EPA and executive order, the law has not changed. There is no "clean coal". Trump simply repeats stuff he hears. Some directly from Fox and Friends. If your world is Fox News and Trump, you can be safe in your make believe world for a couple of years, but it cannot last.