The fight for democracy and justice continues

Bob Sheak, Dec. 11, 2025

Arlene Sheak edited

Introduction

It’s not a sure thing that an already tenuous democracy in the US will survive over the next few years from the onslaught of Trump’s abuses and misuses of presidential power. Millions of people will suffer. At the same time, there is opposition to him from large majorities of Democrats and Independents. And his support from his base is less strong than in the recent past.

Unfortunately, he still has over three years in the White House or more likely at Mar-a-Lago.

And he glories in the power. You may have also noticed that he typically doesn’t acknowledge bad news about him or his administration. For the public, he says there has never been a better president than he (https://www.livemint.com/news/us-news/donald-trump-nobody-does-it-better-than-me-10-times-us-president-said-hes-the-best-11741083334974.html). At the same time, journalists and doctors question his mental acuity and stability.

(https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-mental-health-fears-cognitive-decline-b2625124.html).

Whatever his mental state, Trump is using his enormous presidential power for self-glorification and to enrich himself, his family, and his allies among the rich and powerful (How Trump’s Family Enriches from Presidential Policies). He is supporting the deployment of ICE and sometimes of state national guard to apprehend and deport immigrants, including even naturalized citizens and immigrants who have lived in the country for many years and who have contributed to making the economy better than it would otherwise be (https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/12/04/us/ice-arrests-criminal-records-data.html).

………

Trump’s poll numbers

Whatever his mental state, Trump continues to dominate the Republican Party and continues to have the support of his Republican base, though the economic fallout of his tariffs and from his links to the Epstein scandals have led to some weakening in that support. His overall poll numbers remain low.

Kathryn Palmer reports on a poll released on December 9 that attests to Trump’s unpopularity (https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/12/09/trump-poll-ratings-increase-cost-of-living-affordability/87683560007). Here is some of what she reports.

“President Donald Trump‘s approval rating ticked up a few points in the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll, after it dipped last month to the lowest in his second term.

“In the survey released Dec. 9, Trump had a 41% approval rating, compared with the Nov. 18 poll that put him at 38%. The most recent poll interviewed 4,434 adults nationwide and had a margin of error of 2 percentage points in either direction. His disapproval rate was 57%.” The small increase is due, Palmer points out, “to Trump’s scaling back some of his tariff increases and his pledge to combat high food prices.” A veiled admission of his mistakes.

Whatever he thinks, “Trump’s performance on the cost of living, where he earned a 31% approval rating, is among his weakest popularity scores, Reuters reported. But the numbers are still up several points from last month’s poll, which was at 26% in late November.”

Republicans are unsurprisingly less critical of Trump, but the findings are mixed.

“In the December poll, which lasted six days and closed on Monday, Dec. 8, 69% of Republicans rated Trump favorably on cost-of-living issues. Overall, 85% of Republicans said that they approved of his overall performance as president; that

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Affordability – A “hoax.” No, a real problem.

In a speech Trump gave in Pennsylvania on Dec. 9, Trump called “affordability” a hoax.

Julianne McShane reports on the president’s speech for MSNow, Dec 9, 2025

(https://www.ms.now/news/trump-affordability-speech-pennsylvania-economy). Here’s some of what she reports.

“President Donald Trump’s Tuesday night visit to the swing state of Pennsylvania was billed by administration officials as part of an ongoing, broader effort to reshape perceptions of an economy that many Americans say is failing to meet their needs.”

“It was 15 minutes into his Pennsylvania address before President Donald Trump first uttered the word ‘affordable’ — and it wasn’t long before he began railing against the concept entirely.”

“‘They have a new word, you know’ Trump said of Democrats. ‘They always have a hoax. The new word is ‘affordability.’ So they look at the camera and they say, ‘This election is all about affordability.” He agrees there is some truth in the statement, but blames high prices on Joe Biden and the Democrats.

“‘They gave you high prices,’ Trump said. ‘They gave you the highest inflation in history, and we’re bringing those prices down rapidly — lower prices, bigger paychecks.’

“Between mocking Biden’s alleged cognitive decline and railing against the Democratic-led impeachments he faced in his first term, Trump touted a drop in the prices of eggs and Thanksgiving turkeys. He brought onstage local workers whom he said benefitted from his policies, including eliminating taxes on tips and overtime work. And he made several dubious claims — about newly-created jobs going entirely to American citizens and wage growth for factory workers and miners — that do not appear to be supported by publicly available evidence.”

“‘But’ McShane writes, “the reality is more complex, and the White House has scrambled to soften some of the harsher consequences of the administration’s economic policies. Last month, the White House rolled back tariffs on dozens of food products in an effort to reduce rising prices for consumers. And on Monday, the administration rolled out a $12 billion aid package for farmers who have been hit by Trump’s trade war.”

McShane notes that such measures are insufficient. And she refers to policies he has supported that have the opposite effect.

“The Trump-backed ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ enacted historic cuts to both Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which many low-income families rely on to afford health care and groceries. More than 20 million low- and middle-income Americans are about to be walloped with skyrocketing health care premiums if Congress does not extend enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies by the end of the year.”

Polls find that many Americans are finding it difficult to cope with high prices. “A new Harvard CAPS/Harris poll out Tuesday shows that affordability and inflation remain top concerns for voters, and that a majority of voters think Trump’s tariffs are hurting the economy. The U.S. inflation rate has remained steady at close to 3 percent, about the same as it was when Trump took office in January.”

“A Politico poll released last week found that almost half of respondents — including 37 percent of Trump voters — say the cost of living is the worst they ever remember. And a Fox News poll released in November found about twice as many voters blame Trump for the economy than blame Biden.” 

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Trump’s tariffs and high prices

David E. Sanger considers this problem in The New York Times (https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/08/us/politics/trump-trade-affordability.html).

Here are excerpts from the article.

The tariffs have generated economic chaos and contributed to rising prices

Sanger writes: On President Trump’s proclaimed ‘Liberation Day’ in April, he introduced his tariffs and promised that ‘jobs and factories will come roaring back into our country.’ “The imposition of taxes on imports, the president promised, ‘will pry open foreign markets and break down foreign trade barriers,’ leading to lower prices for Americans and a revival of domestically-based manufacturing.

As we know, Trump’s rosy forecast was totally wrong. The tariffs raised domestic prices, “putting the Trump administration on the defensive over deep public concern about the cost of living.” Sanger adds: “there is scant evidence to date of any wholesale return to American towns and cities of the manufacturing jobs lost to decades of automation and globalization.” Still, in Trumpian-fashion,

“he has dismissed talk of high prices at grocery stores, insisting they are coming down. But inflation edged upward in September, to about a 3 percent annual increase, almost exactly where it was when his predecessor left office.

And manufacturing jobs have continued to decline gradually this year, with losses of roughly 50,000 since January.

American farmers were hit hard by the tariffs. Under pressure, Trump authorized $12 billion in emergency relief for American farmers after a Chinese boycott of American farm goods. Sanger cites Scott Lincicome, director of general economics at the Cato Institute, who said “Prices are depressed because the Chinese boycotted our farm goods much of the year,” he noted. “But fertilizer, machinery, those costs have remained elevated, and subject to tariffs.”

Mr. Lincicome said that the tariffs have also introduced a new level of “unprecedented, crippling and truly insane complexity” to operating businesses.”

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Health costs are up and coverage is down

Millions will likely go without health care insurance in 2026. Some of this situation is due to unaffordable health insurance and the relative absence of health care insurance. This problem and others burdening people with low incomes is analyzed in Mariana Chilton’s book, The Painful Truth About Hunger In America (published in 2025).

Karissa Waddick and Stephanie Innes discuss part of the problem

(https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2025/11/19/aca-obamacare-tax-credit-shutdown/87336302007).

 In the absence of government subsidies under the Affordable Care Act, health care premiums will rise to levels that millions of Americans cannot afford.

“Democratic lawmakers had been pushing to include an extension of the Obamacare subsidies in a spending package to reopen the government. But eight Senate Democrats relented on those demands and voted with Republicans Nov. 10 to end the record-breaking 43-day government shutdown. Shortly after, the compromise passed in the House, and President Donald Trump signed it into law, without the health care measure.” Note that Trump and the Republicans showed no willingness ever to support the extension.

“Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-South Dakota, has promised to hold a vote in December on a plan to extend the Obamacare subsidies that help millions of Americans afford health care. But Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson said he would not commit to a similar vote in his chamber.”

Some background on the tax credits

“Congress initially created the enhanced tax credits in 2021 to ensure Americans could afford health coverage amid the COVID-19 pandemic.  

“The plan expanded the pool of people eligible to receive subsidies on ACA plans to include those making more than four times the federal poverty level, which is about $63,000 for a single earner today, if their premiums exceeded 8.5% of household income, according to an analysis by the health policy organization KFF.

“It also decreased the percentage of income all enrollees needed to pay for coverage.  

“In the past five years, the enhanced subsidies have more than doubled the number of people enrolled in ACA plans, and a majority come from red states such as North Carolina, Florida, Georgia and Texas, according to KFF.” 

Without subsidies

Waddick and Innes: “The organization estimates that as many as 22 million Americans on ACA plans could see their monthly health insurance premiums jump 114% if the tax credits lapse, and many could lose coverage. 

“The Congressional Budget Office estimated that about 4 million people would go uninsured without an extension to the ACA tax credits.

Sabrina Corlette, codirector of the Center on Health Insurance Reforms at Georgetown University, says the soaring prices are caused by several factors.

“Without the expanded subsidies, people will need to pay a larger percentage of their health insurance costs.  

“At the same time, insurance companies in the ACA marketplace are increasing the price of premiums because they expect more people to drop insurance coverage as a result of sticker shock from the ACA cuts. Fewer people, particularly fewer healthy people, paying into the system means the expenses are spread over a smaller pool, which raises rates.

“That’s why they’re implementing gross premiums that are on average 20% to 30% higher than they would be otherwise,” Corlette said. “This is a serious financial hit to millions and millions of American families.” 

“Who is impacted by the loss of subsidies? 

“Of the 24.3 million Americans insured through ACA plans, about 92%, or about 22 million, receive some form of subsidy. 

“Small-business owners and people who work for small businesses that don’t provide employer-sponsored health insurance make up a large chunk of people on the ACA marketplace, according to KFF. 

“Those include farmers, real estate agents, restaurant workers, retail employees and people working gig jobs, among others, said Anthony Wright, executive director of Families USA, a health care advocacy group.” 

Trump and the Republican-dominated Congress seem unprepared or unwilling to take any meaningful action.
 

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Medicaid as an example of Republican negligence

Jasmine Laws considers updates from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on Trump’s pending changes to Medicaid eligibility (https:www.msn.com/en-us/money-other-medicaid-changes-trump-provides-updates-for-states/ar-AA1S1?ocid=BingNews/Serp).

The article was published on Dec 9, 2025.

The changes don’t go into effect right away, but they will be instituted in about a year and will make it more difficult to obtain assistance through Medicaid. The key change is that it will require recipients to complete at least 80 hours of work or community service per month.

Laws quotes CMS: “The requirements outlined by the Working Families Tax Cut (WFTC) legislation are among the “most significant Medicaid eligibility and financing changes in more than a decade,” CMS said.

The agency advised that, in their implementation of the policy, states should ensure they “connect members to work and community,” and “balance the benefits of state flexibility with the potential costs of options, including systems and operational costs.” States are also expected to ensure that “state community engagement determinations and verifications are easily auditable.”

The agency also provided additional guidance for states, outlining a total of $200 million in fiscal 2026 for states to establish the necessary systems to carry out these measures.

This is a Republican initiative, with the aim of cutting Medicaid spending by $785 billion over a decade.

Laws continues. “No Democrats voted for the bill in the House, and no Democratic supporters for it have emerged in the Senate. So, Republicans who hold a slim 53-47 Senate majority must reconcile demands of budget hawks who want deeper spending cuts against concerns of others worried about the toll on rural and working-class voters who helped elect Trump.” Medicaid covers 71 million low-income Americans.”

“Any cuts to Medicaid would hit hard in rural areas and small towns, where roughly 18% of adults are enrolled in Medicaid compared with 16% for the country as a whole, according to Georgetown University’s Center for Children and Families.”

“Rural residents tend to be sicker, with higher rates of addiction, mental illness, and mortality from heart disease, cancer and stroke, the center found.

“The National Rural Health Association said the bill could force providers to cut services or close. Nearly half of rural hospitals currently lose money, and 120 have closed or stopped offering inpatient services over the past decade, the trade group says.”

“At least 41 of the Senate’s 53 Republicans represent rural states, and several said they will work to remove the bill’s limits on the provider tax.

“Leave the provider tax alone. Put the work requirements in and all that kind of stuff. But for God’s sakes don’t cut into the bone,” said Senator Jim Justice of West Virginia.

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The Trump administration attack on “free speech.”

Melinda Haas writes on the unconstitutional policy of Trump’s government to label dissenting beliefs as terrorism, Dec 3, 2025 (https://theconversation.com/labeling-dissent-as-terrorism-new-us-domestic-terrorism-priorities-raise-constitutional-alarms-269161). Hass is an Assistant Professor of International Affairs, University of Pittsburgh.

Hass opens here article with these statements. “A largely overlooked directive issued by the Trump administration marks a major shift in U.S. counterterrorism policy, one that threatens bedrock free speech rights enshrined in the Bill of Rights.

“National Security Presidential Memorandum/NSPM-7, issued on Sept. 25, 2025, is a presidential directive that for the first time appears to authorize preemptive law enforcement measures against Americans based not on whether they are planning to commit violence but for their political or ideological beliefs.

“You’ve probably heard a lot about President Donald Trump’s many executive orders. But as an international relations scholar who has studied U.S. foreign policy decision-making and national security legislation, I recognize that presidents can take several types of executive actions without legislative involvement: executive orders, memoranda and proclamations.

“This structure allows the president to direct law enforcement and national security agencies, with little opportunity for congressional oversight.

“This seventh national security memorandum from the Trump White House pushes the limits of presidential authority by targeting individuals and groups as potential domestic terrorists based on their beliefs rather than their actions.

“The memorandum represents a profound shift in U.S. counterterrorism policy, one that risks undermining foundational American commitments to free speech and association.

“The presidential memorandum signed by Donald Trump identifies ‘anti-Christian,’ ‘anti-capitalism’ or ‘anti-American’ views as potential indicators that a group or person will commit domestic terrorism.”

“Executive memoranda instruct government officials and agencies by delegating tasks and directing agency actions.”

“Unlike executive orders, they are not required to be published. When these memoranda, like NSPM-7, relate to national security and military and foreign policy, they are called national security directives, although the specific name of these directives changes with each administration.

“Many of these directives are classified. They may not be declassified, if at all, until years or decades after the end of the administration that issued them.

Haas continues. “The stated purpose of NSPM-7 is to counter domestic terrorism and organized political violence, focusing mainly on perceived threats from the political left. The memorandum identifies ‘anti-Christian,’ ‘anti-capitalism’or ‘anti-American’ views as potential indicators that a group or person will commit domestic terrorism.”

“The strategy laid out in NSPM-7 includes preemptive measures to disrupt groups before they engage in violent political acts. For example, multiagency task forces are empowered to investigate potential federal crimes related to radicalization, as well as the funders of those potential crimes.”

‘Domestic terrorist organizations’

The memorandum directs the Department of Justice to focus the resources of the FBI’s approximately 200 Joint Terrorism Task Forces on investigating “acts of recruiting or radicalizing persons” for the purpose of “political violence, terrorism, or conspiracy against rights; and the violent deprivation of any citizen’s rights.”

Domestic terrorism

“NSPM-7 marks a major conceptual shift in U.S. counterterrorism policy. Its focus on domestic terrorism significantly departs from historical approaches that primarily targeted foreign threats.

“Earlier presidential directives largely defined terrorism as a foreign threat to be countered through military power, diplomacy and international cooperation.” NSPM-7 “reorients the machinery of national security toward the policing of belief.”

Conflicts with First Amendment on “Free Speech”

Thirty-one members of Congress sent a letter to Trump expressing “serious concerns” about NSPM-7, warning that it poses “serious constitutional, statutory and civil liberties risks, especially if used to target political dissent, protest or ideological speech.”

As the ACLU warns, any definition of terrorism that includes ideological components risks criminalizing people or groups based on belief rather than based on violence or other criminal conduct.

The purpose: Silencing dissent

“NSPM-7 does not authorize new actions in the legal and institutional framework for counterterrorism. It does not criminalize previously legal conduct.

“Rather, it states that the Trump administration’s investigative focus will be around the identity and ideology of supposed perpetrators. Prioritizing investigations into this broad swath of ideologies serves to instill fear, silencing anti-fascist and other messages in opposition to the Trump administration.”

“In fact, most domestic terrorists in the U.S. are politically on the right, and right-wing attacks account for the vast majority of fatalities from domestic terrorism.

Yet NSPM-7 focuses disproportionately on left-wing ideologies. NSPM-7 departs from prior U.S. counterterrorism frameworks by prioritizing the suppression of ideologically motivated dissent, even in the absence of concrete evidence of violent intent.”

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Concluding thoughts

The reality is that Trump and his government dominate the federal government. Their immense power is issuing policies that are doing great harm to millions of Americans and immigrants. Trump is inept and has pushed policies that will likely do yet more harm before his term ends – it if does – in 2028. There is concern that he may start a war or arbitrarily institute the Insurrection Act to stay in office before the end of his presidency. At the same time, his economic policies are alienating more people. And, as recently elections won by Democrats indicate, strong leaders may emerge that will alter the ominous, anti-democratic policies of Trump and his following.