White House and Congressional domestic and foreign policies are rapidly driving the United States deeper into an economic downturn and political instability
Political Review
On November 4, the electorate in several United States municipalities and gubernatorial races delivered a resounding rebuke to the current trajectory of the MAGA Republicans who control both Houses of Congress and the White House.
The elections came just over two weeks after the second “No Kings Day” around the U.S. which mobilized an estimated 7 million people.
Therefore, on electoral and mass levels people are expressing their disagreement and anger with policy imperatives of the current administration. During the months of October and early November, the U.S. Senate could not agree on a national budget to keep the federal government functioning.
The major issue stalling an agreement was the threat on the part of the administration and its allies in Congress to not provide adequate funding for the Affordable Care Act (ACA) which was passed during the tenure of former President Barack Obama. Although the ACA has never been a viable substitute for a genuine national insurance program which would guarantee healthcare to all persons living in the country, the dissolution of what is labelled pejoratively as “Obamacare” absent of an alternative would of course prove disastrous.
These cuts in healthcare funding, which delayed the reopening of the federal government for 43 days, resulted in the refusal of the administration to provide billions of dollars in Supplemental Nutrition Agriculture Program (SNAP) benefits to tens of millions of people. It would take a federal court decision demanding that the Trump administration pay out benefits to families which rely on these programs for a bare minimum of food to compel partial payments. Some states in the U.S. recognizing the potential for severe malnourishment, did release emergency funds to stave off a major food deficit crisis.
Yet the crises are by no means resolved. Although the Republicans in the Senate pledged to reopen a debate on the extension of existing ACA subsidies, there is no methodology for holding them accountable. If the costs of healthcare premiums for ACA recipients increase substantially, it could very well portend the demise of the program since those within low-and-moderate income households would not be able to afford enrollments in this program.
In addition to threats to the existence of the ACA, there is currently a bill under consideration in Congress which would place two-year limits, with some exceptions, on Section 8 housing subsidies. If these plans are carried out it would result in homelessness for millions more in the U.S.
Consequently, the suspension of SNAP benefits, the overpricing for healthcare coverage and the severe curtailment of housing subsidies would inevitably result in the premature deaths of millions in the U.S. One commentator over the conservative Fox News network said on air that people who have no homes to live in should be given lethal injections by the government.
These developments had a profound impact on mass mobilizations against Trump as well as the outcomes of the November 4 elections. The emerging crises requires an independent strategy to build a sustainable resistance movement to not only stop the ongoing attacks from the White House and Congress, the struggle must move to enhance the social safety net and improve the overall economic conditions for the workers, farmers and youth inside the U.S.
The Significance of the November 4 Elections
One of the most watched elections during early November was the mayoral race in New York City, the largest municipality in the country. Zohran Mamdani won the election as a stated democratic socialist committed to lowering the cost of housing, public transportation and childcare.
Mamdani emphasized that the municipality was a “city of immigrants” and therefore should not cooperate with efforts by the Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) agents to hunt down and deport residents of New York. During the days leading up to the elections, ICE personnel attacked vendors on Canal Street in Manhattan who are there daily merely to make a living amid rising inflation. People in the neighborhood battled the federal agents demonstrating their opposition to the immigration policies of the White House.
In other elections where Democratic candidates won gubernatorial races in New Jersey and Virginia, undoubtedly were the voters’ response to the presence of ICE and the worsening economic situation facing working people. In California, a referendum to create five new Congressional districts was a direct response to the actions of the Texas state legislature to enhance the membership of the MAGA Republican representation in the House of Representatives.
Los Angeles, the second largest municipality in the U.S., has been targeted by the Trump administration by deploying large units of ICE agents along with federalized National Guard troops and Marines. These efforts by Trump have not endeared people in California and other states to his domestic policies.
In Memphis, Tennessee and Washington, D.C., the deployment of the National Guard was carried out absent any support for these actions by the people. The State of Illinois and the City of Chicago have taken legal and political actions to prevent the sending of National Guard troops into the third-largest city in the country. On a daily basis people in Chicago and its suburbs have been challenging ICE in their raids on communities, workplaces and commercial businesses.
Portland, Oregon, which is not a majority African American or Latin American municipality, has also been targeted in all likelihood for its progressive population which fought the deployment of federal agents during the George Floyd uprising of 2020. On a legal basis and through mass demonstrations, the people of Portland strongly objected to the sending of National Guard troops into the city.
Although Trump declared that ICE, the Custom and Border Patrol (CBP) agents and the National Guard are being deployed to find, detain and deport migrants, in actuality his security personnel have stated that they are after “gangs” and drug traffickers. These agents are setting up checkpoints to monitor the populations as a whole.
Despite the claim of economic prosperity over the last ten months, untold numbers of workers, farmers, agricultural employees, small and medium-sized businesses are suffering immensely due to the repressive apparatus of the state. Many people are afraid to go to work while others cannot patronize businesses due to cutbacks in services.
Large transnational corporations are being impacted as well with layoffs in the auto industry, delivery services and hospitality sectors. Sonder corporation after ending its partnership with Marriot International, has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Amazon, UPS, Verizon and others have announced the layoffs of tens of thousands of employees. These layoffs will compound the problem of joblessness brought about by the massive downsizing within the federal government since the Trump administration came to power.
Foreign Policy Raises the Threat of World War
During the campaign for president in 2024, Trump claimed that he would end the war in Ukraine within 24 hours. After 10 months, the war rages on with Russian Federation troops now surrounding Ukrainian forces in Pokrovsk and Kupiansk. Sanctions against the Russian Federation and continuing weapons supplies from the U.S., UK and the European Union (EU) have failed to turn the tide of the war.
Many other false statements related to ending the war in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have further exposed the ineffectiveness of U.S. foreign policy. The forced migration to at least five African states continues to prompt protests and legal actions in the U.S. and in at least one country on the continent.
The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela is threatened with wider military assaults. Dozens have been executed extrajudicially by the Pentagon under the guise of fighting illegal drug smuggling into the U.S. In response, the government of President Nicholas Maduro has mobilized over 5 million people to resist any attempted land invasion.
In Palestine people are still being killed, displaced, denied food and medical services weeks after a ceasefire was declared. Trump’s meeting with the Saudi monarchy will not benefit the workers and oppressed peoples in the U.S. and West Asia.
These domestic and foreign initiatives by the U.S. administration are not reflective of growing strength among the imperialist states. It is a clear signal of a political quagmire and economic decline of Washington, Wall Street and its allies around the world.
Therefore, the resistance movement to the Trump administration must seek allies broadly inside the U.S. as well as internationally. This global alliance of progressive and revolutionary forces provides the only method for the reversal of the present period of reaction.
Source: newsghana.com.gh
