BLUE COLLAR BETRAYAL! When Will Trump Voters Realize They've Been Had? [View all]

[eniwetok]

Trump was on record that he was FOR free trade but the US wasn't competitive in the global economy because US wages and corporate taxes were too high. This is a typical right wing position. Yet just how can US wages be too high? In terms of share of aggregate national income the US Census reported in 2014 the bottom quintile peaked in 1974 and has decreased 28% by 2014... while the income of the top 5% went up 32% during that same period. This is what we'd expect given the far right's war on labor.

The GOP has long tried to undermine labor laws to shaft US workers and benefit corporations. For example if the 1968 minimum wage were simply adjusted to inflation it would today be $11.05... or $7300 more a year. This affects millions of workers who fall in that $7.25 to $11.05 range. This war on the minimum wage demonstrates typical far right duplicity. They've worked for decades to addict our economy to a depreciating minimum wage then they use that addiction as an excuse to keep the MW down. Then there is the abuse of worker categories to exempt workers from wage and hour laws by dubbing them "supervisors". Obama was finally going to stop some of this abuse... as Carter tried to so... but the GOP has been in a uproar about these changes.

Trump's pick for labor secretary, Andrew Puzder, is proof Trump intends to continue to the rights war on labor... and to use a depreciating US minimum wage and other labor law abuse as backdoor welfare for US corporations. But, it comes as no surprise Trump is more than willing to give uber-rich and himself massive tax breaks.

Trump knows how to play the PR game as he did with Carrier. It's the perfect distraction from his real agenda. While the Blue Collar faith in Herr Trump may be high, their detachment from reality won't forever blind them... and it's only a matter of time before these suckers realize they've been had. Trump's idea for making the US competitive are exactly what we'd expect from a sociopathic billionaire: Trickle Down 3.0. Trump and his billionaire buddies aren't getting enough goodies, and the workers aren't sacrificing enough pay and benefits.