Economics vs. Ethics or, what’s not to like?

Shannon Bohrer

(10/2019) The country we live in seems to be divided along party lines. We hear complaints about the president from the opposition party and sometimes from members of his own party. We also hear praise from members of the presidents’ party, telling us how good things are. His supporters say they like his policies, but wish he did not tweet so much. Defending complaints about him is almost becoming routine for some of his supporters. From my perspective there is really no defense for his constant dishonesty and words that seem to divide us. But, everyone is entitled to their own opinion. We are a free nation with the freedom to criticize our own government, which is a good thing.

President Trump supporters mention that they like his policies and deregulations and some say they really like the economy. His supporters like to give him credit for the economy but they should also give former President Obama some credit. Our economy grew for eight years under the previous administration and has continued to grow under Trump. So, with those facts maybe both deserve credit.

A number of people defend the president by saying "My 401K is doing very well," as if nothing else matters. What I have noticed is that when people mention how well their 401 is doing under Trump, they never mention the trillion dollar deficits. Apparently, their 401K performance justifies everything else that he has been accused of doing. Not everyone may agree with that, it’s just my opinion. I think at times we can all be guilty of justifying our positions, finding what we want to believe and rationalizing what we see to support our positon(s).

In a recent issue of the Emmitsburg News Journal, the author of the "American Mind," whose column appear to the right of this one, wrote his column supporting the President. The title was "On your mark, get ready…" and toward the end of the article he says, "What’s not to like about this Presidency?" While I disagreed with much of what was said, the article was well written. After reading the article my first thought was that sometimes people are willing to trade the things they may not agree with for an economic value. I am not accusing this author of being disingenuous; he may believe everything he said in the article. What I am saying that there are some presidents’ supporters who have chosen economics over ethics.

The article touts the low unemployment numbers, the re-worked NAFTA trade deal and the tax cuts. He says that blue-collar workers are optimistic, job satisfaction is up and there is optimism in manufacturing. What he does not say, actually says a lot. While the good news is related to economics, not all of the economic numbers are good. The federal budget deficit projection for fiscal year 2020 is $1.10 trillion. In the 2019 budget the deficit was $1.09 trillion. Adding over a trillion dollars a year, is not good fiscal news. Under the Obama administration the first year deficit was 1.4 trillion, which occurred during the financial meltdown. His budget deficit for 2016, his last year in office was 548 billion; about half of what this president has for just this year.

A major factor adding to President Trump’s deficits, include his tax cuts. Sure, the economy is good, if you borrowed a trillion dollars each year you can live well. The problem is what happens with the bills come due. There is a lot - not to like about the fiscal management of this presidency.

Aside from the fiscal issues, there are other reasons to be disappointed with this Presidency. The following list is not all inclusive, that would take a much longer article.

• "President Trump’s refusal to even use the phrase alt-right has many white supremacist gleefully praising him as their ally in the White House" I don’t believe that all of his supporters are white supremacist, but his refusal to call them out, is not the ethics I can support.
• Under this administration, our civil rights have been under attack. Our Justice Department has been seeking out of court settlements, instead of going to court, over consent degrees. The justice department has been trying to cut the civil rights division, including the Environmental Protection Agency’s environmental justice program.
• Rolling back civil rights for the LGBT community. This included a ban of transgender persons in the military. Civil rights are only important, when everyone is entitled. You may not think that is important, until someone comes for your civil rights.
• Not standing for the rule of law. At one speech the President encouraged the police to assault those being arrested. He has criticized federal law enforcement and the courts when they have ruled against him. The rule of law is the centerpiece for a civilized society.
• The President’s failure to acknowledge the Russian interference in our election. He not only refuses to acknowledge it was done, he said in a press conference that believes Putin, and disbelieves our intelligent agencies. He said that Putin offered Russian services to help investigate our voter fraud and the hacking of the Democratic Party computers. Think about that.
• Over 1,000 former federal prosecutors signed a letter, stating that the Muller report outlines 10 instances of obstruction of justice and that if the president was a citizen, he would be charged with crimes.
• The President complains about the lack of patriotism of his distractors, but he disrespects a Gold Star family. Then he disrespects and complaints about Senator McCain, a man who served his country for 60 years, 5½ of which as a prisoner of war. That is not patriotism.
• The President and his family are prohibited from sitting on none-profit charitable organizations in the state of New York. The president collected monies for charities and then used them for himself and his family as personal slush funds. Literally - that is stealing from the poor.
• The President clearly admires dictators, thugs and tyrants, and then is openly displeased with our democratic allies. He has no knowledge of history and we are likely to stumble into war, because of his actions.
• In May of this year it was reported that the President made false and misleading claims 12,019 times in just 928 days. You can say that everyone has lied or mislead someone, but 13 times a day for 2 ½ years. How can anyone tell when he is not lying?

The president of the United States chooses economics over ethics, and that dictates his actions. From my perspective, "What’s not to like about this Presidency?" is substantial because of his lack of ethics.