I met a resident on High Street in Southampton recently. He is a reader of the Saugeen Times. He asked me if I had any thoughts about Trump’s influence on life in our community and Bruce County.
It was a very good question. I had no immediate opinion for him. I’ve thought about it since and now have something to say.
Trump’s behavior is erratic and combative. He is proud to strike back at any perceived offense. He would make a very poor poker player. His ‘tells’ are well known. He is predictable, but rarely exercises self-control. He never prepares himself for debate of any kind. He is easily distracted and his ego is always the wild card in any situation.
Like a poor poker player, he bluffs too much and tries it on the wrong people. He is used to being able to sue adversaries to scare them, avoid paying bills or as a defense measure.
Let’s look at how he could influence the quality of life in our area:
Environmental Protection
Trump’s environmental policy has been and is draconian. He ‘used’ as a hammer a now disgraced Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) cabinet member Scott Pruitt. Pruitt finally resigned on July 5, 2018 amid numerous ethics investigations. He was outrageous at best and a crook in motives and detail.
Trump’s non-policy based EPA could cause drastic consequences in the Great Lakes and lead to giant steps backward for our most precious resource. He now proposes a 31% budget cut for EPA.
He pulled the US out of the Paris climate agreement. This was a giant snafu on Trump’s part. It cost the US little to cooperate with other countries and makes him out the fool to other world leaders.
Energy Plan
Trump has no energy plan except the hollow words … safe, clean, cheap and beautiful coal.
Even his staunchest followers know that promising and depending upon safe, clean, cheap coal is a dead end for an energy policy. He uses the words to coax out a few votes from West Virginia and Kentucky.
The lack of an energy plan can be a disaster. The US has an army of aging nuclear power plants.
The lack of energy in the Trump plan could adversely affect Bruce County by placing even more pressure on the grid. More important than that pressure is the stress on broad based manufacturing, which requires a long range energy process.
The nuclear industry is unknown to Trump. So far, he has let it alone, but this could change. He could lash out with an ill-considered war on energy. He is so volatile. He is driven by ego. He bites when cornered. He is correct by being Donald Trump. Lies abound and truth is fragile.
Financial Stability
The crown jewel of Trump’s regime (not an administration) is the giant tax cut. It is holding Trump upright, but like all artificial economic stimuli, it will have a turn down. This could damage the entire business community.
There is a gathering consensus about who has been helped with the tax cut. People are now saying that it has helped the rich, but the trickle down to the average worker has not been dramatic. Unemployment is low, but salaries have not increased.
Worst of all the US national debt is ballooning. Trickle-down economics seems to have no effect on the US debt.
If the US economy undergoes a turn down, it will be bad for Canada and Bruce County. The advantage in Bruce County comes from the power industry because it is less volatile in times of economic turndown. People turn out the lights, but business needs the off switch deactivated..
What will Trump do in a financial crisis? His past record is not good. He goes bankrupt and he might just blame others and run. The most dangerous trait Trump has is his habit of lashing out and blaming others in crisis situations. He lies and hides.
