Donald Trump has been dismantling the pillars of this great democracy, the United States of America. How is he doing this? He attacks anyone who disagrees with him — the press, the Democrats in Congress, our allies, and treats them like his enemies. He has replaced vital members of his cabinet with inexperienced or third-tier “yes” people. Now, the Dow has plunged to great depths in the worst December since the Great Depression. Democrats have fought back for the life of our democracy.
Incoming House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Senate Democratic Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY) just released a formal statement soon after the stock market shut down, after its holiday half day:
‘It’s Christmas Eve and President Trump is plunging the country into chaos. The stock market is tanking and the president is waging a personal war on the Federal Reserve – after he just fired the Secretary of Defense.’
Monday was the worst trading day on Christmas Eve since the stock market has been keeping records. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dove off the cliff and down 653 points. It was not alone. The S&P dropped 65 points, and the NASDAQ dropped 145.
Trump’s Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin was already on vacation in Mexico, when he rallied to call the largest banks and urged them not to worry. The opposite happened.
The president asked his administration whether he could fire his Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, who has been doing a spectacular job, after he increased the interest rates by just one-quarter of a percent. Trump does not understand that Powell must to raise interest rates to counterbalance the economy’s rapid rise and potential inflation. If inflation hits, the Fed’s option is to lower interest rates. If they are already at the bottom, there would be no place to go.
Trump wanting to fire Powell made matters worse. He tweeted:
‘The only problem our economy has is the Fed (and Powell).’
Meanwhile, POTUS has shut down the government. He wants to show his base that he is fighting for them, fighting to get $5 billion to build his medieval wall along the southern border. When, in actuality, he turned down bills that would have included $25 billion for border security, and $40 billion earlier.
The Democratic leaders continued:
‘Instead of bringing certainty into people’s lives, he’s continuing the Trump Shutdown just to please right-wing radio and TV hosts.’
The commander-in-chief has walled himself up in the White House living under a cloud of paranoia leanings. He needs this fight.
Pelosi and Schumer say that Trump has taken on as his mantle to shut down the government, but it is lying in a bed of chaos:
‘Different people from the same White House are saying different things about what the president would accept or not accept to end his Trump Shutdown, making it impossible to know where they stand at any given moment.’
The Democratic leaders continued:
‘The president wanted the shutdown, but he seems not to know how to get himself out of it. As long as the president is guided by the House Freedom Caucus, it’s hard to see how he can come up with a solution that can pass both the House and Senate and end his Trump Shutdown.’
Featured image is a screenshot via YouTube.
