Earlier this week the House of Representatives and U.S. Senate did something that many, in this age of hyper-partisanship, thought had become impossible. Both major U.S. political parties got together to sponsor a bill, then passed it. The bill, titled, the 21st Century Road to Housing Act was sponsored in the House by Maxine Waters, D-CA, Mike Flood, R-NE, and Emmanuel Cleaver, D-MO. It was introduced by French Hill, R-AR. On the Senate side Tim Scott, R-SC and Elizabeth Warren, D-MA were key contributors. The bill, designed to help Americans find and maintain affordable housing, passed the House 358 to 32. Over in the Senate it won, 85 to 5.
So, break out the bubbly, streamers, and ballons, right? Congress finally got together to work for the good of the American people! What could possibly go wrong?
Well, how about that aging pile of Cheez Whiz named Donald John Trump?
Yes, the man who promised the republic he would lower the cost of everything almost immediately--then did everything he could to raise them--refused to sign the bill. (He couldn't veto it, the votes were there to override a veto which his ego could never take. Not to mention his absolute contempt for average Americans would have been fully exposed. Trump always prefers his cruelty to come with an excuse the rubes will buy.)
After the bill passed the President took to social media--where else--and announced, "Today's Housing News Conference and Signing is hereby cancelled until such time as we pass the desperately needed SAVE AMERICA ACT, which I consider to be a National Emergency. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DJT"
That's right, unless I get what I want--in this case virtually no mail in voting, photo id's at polls, and a dark labyrinth of voter registration regulations--everyone gets screwed. When one GOP hack was asked about Trump's petulant snit fit with consequences on CNN his response was, "This is the President's way of negotiating."
Luckily for us, Trump's way of negotiating doesn't have the best track record. (Check out what the Iranians are saying and doing today.) According to law, a bill passed by both houses becomes law in 10 days--not counting Sundays--with, or without the President's signature. However, as we all know, Donald Trump considers laws more suggestions and guidelines which really don't apply to him. Hell, some of his shysters even went to the Supreme Court to argue the Constitution doesn't really mean what it says right there in black and white, because it inconveniences their boss. Given this attitude, there can be little doubt he has a cadre of lawyers, probably DOJ types, already working to somehow get around this one., or at least hang it up in the courts for as long as possible.
Meanwhile the U.S. Postal Service is moving to comply with a Trump executive order signed earlier this year. It commands the post office not to deliver ballots in states which have refused to hand over voter rolls to the Trump administration. It isn't just a coincidence that most of the states who haven't are controlled by democrats and many rely heavily on mail in voting. Despite his own preference to mail his voles in, Donald Trump is insistent democratic controlled states use mail in ballots in order to commit fraud--to rig the elections against him and his hand-picked toadies. He has said more than once, the only way democrats can win elections is by cheating.
All of this tends to confirm what Maggie Haberman and Johnathan Swan wrote in their book, "Regime Change." In it, they contend Donald Trump no longer pays attention to polls, or cares about them. One CNN analyst put it another way: Donald Trump isn't trying to expand his base, because he doesn't think he has to. He believes he can win through manipulating the voting laws.
Today a CNN poll says the American electorate's most pressing concerns are 1, rising healthcare costs and 2, the rising costs of housing. (Gas prices, even though easiest to see, are fourth or fifth on the list.) In nearly six years of attacking and chipping away at the Affordable Care Act the Trump bunch has yet to propose anything remotely workable, let alone affordable to replace it. Now, thanks to his obsession with altering the outcome of the midterm elections, he is willing to jam up cost of housing relief. According to that poll, Trump's approval ratings on both healthcare and housing are so far underwater the man is in desperate need of SCUBA gear.
Haberman and Swan are right.
And we can all see what is coming down the road in November. If Donald Trump's voting schemes fail and there is in fact a Blue Wave this fall, he is going to scream fraud to high heaven. The problem we all face when that happens is, what will he actually do about it? After all, the man is fucking nuts and now no one around him has the guts to tell him no.
Just ask the people who have tried.
6-26-26
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