Republicans and Democrats alike were stunned this week when Trump capriciously made a deal to sign a Harvey relief bill that only extended the debt ceiling for three months, as requested by Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi. The agreement increased the Democrats’ leverage and crushed McConnell and Ryan’s hope of extending the debt ceiling fight past the 2018 mid-term elections. Baffled commentators scrambled to make sense of Trump’s decision, ascribing his motives to everything from a narcissistic need for positive press coverage to boredom at the debate during the Oval Office meeting. Regardless of the reason for this small victory, we would be foolish to take it as a harbinger of moderation or bi-partisanship from this administration. While we were busy crowing at Pelosi and Schumer’s ability to snooker the President, his administration was continuing apace with its destructive policy agenda.
First, clearly still smarting from his failure to accomplish Obamacare repeal, Trump moved to sabotage the law by refusing to send out funding allocated for ACA navigators, who assist with sign-up and recruitment. This has already caused some programs to lay off workers and others to close altogether. (Source: “Trump Has Found Another Way to Undermine Obamacare,” Sarah Kliff, Vox, 9/8/17). This unconstitutional refusal to faithfully execute existing law will destabilize insurance markets and increase premiums.
Second, mis-Education Secretary Betsy DeVos announced that she was overturning the letter providing Title IX guidance to schools on their handling of sexual assaults on campus, issued by the Department’s Office of Civil Rights during the Obama administration. This decision leaves assault victims once again vulnerable to the vagaries of institutions that are often more concerned with protecting their reputations and sweep these assaults under the rug.
Third, nativist liar, Kris Kobach, of the bogus Election Integrity Commission, claimed to have uncovered 5903 people who voted illegally in New Hampshire in the 2016 election. His basis for that claim was the fact that several of these voters presented out of state drivers’ licenses, despite the fact that it is completely permissible to vote in New Hampshire with an out of state license. New Hampshire Public Radio debunked this claim in their February investigation, which uncovered that 4000 of these voters lived in college towns and were in all likelihood, students who chose to register in New Hampshire while attending school. (Source: “Kris Kobach says he has ‘proof’ of voter fraud in New Hampshire. He can’t be serious.” by Christopher Ingraham, The Washington Post, 9/8/17) It is no surprise that Kobach lied in an effort to legitimate their voter suppression efforts.
Most devastatingly, in the face of catastrophic fires, floods and hurricanes, science denialist Scott Pruitt says that it is disrespectful to the people of Florida to discuss climate change. Toxins from chemical plants poison the air and water in Houston and sicken emergency responders and the EPA is MIA. Their only tepid response is to submit a “questionnaire” to Arkema, asking for a list of chemicals stored at their exploded plant. The refusal of these archconservatives to acknowledge the reality of climate change or adequately plan for it, is literally killing people.
So, don’t be dazzled by a minor victory. Understand that the Devil is busy, come hell or high water.