The Trump and Musk massacre has begun

A little over a month since inauguration, we have already tasted what President Donald Trump and Elon Musk have to offer. Even for those who voted for Trump, it may not be the change they expected.

Medicaid has been attacked to fund billionaires’ tax cuts, and 19-year-old Doge kids have access to our most sensitive information, a novel program we rely on, and egg prices are still rising. While many Americans clearly want a safer border, they probably didn’t expect Trump to pursue immigrant raids at their churches and schools.

So, when the President prepares to address the nation, we need to look past his rhetoric and ask the difficult questions about where he will take us.

The change has expired. It is a common failure of decades of elected officials, leaving many pressing issues unaddressed because they either don’t listen or the Congress was dysfunctional. Too much respect was given to norms and “the way we always did things.” It’s no surprise that the changes Trump promised were fascinating.

But before you cheer on the Sledgehammer, understand what is at stake.

Our government and its dedicated career civil servants have made many heavy lifts to make our daily lives safer. Still, it is often behind the scenes and is taken for granted. For example, when the plane tragically collided with a Black Hawk helicopter near Reagan National Airport, it was the first fatal commercial plane crash in 25 years. The number of workers killed or injured at work fell dramatically. And while we continue to see rare cases of occasional food-borne illness outbreaks and contaminated eye drops, robust monitoring and recalls keep us safe.

From the outside, the government can look huge and opaque. And when someone says they have a destructive ball in the name of efficiency, it may sound quite a bit. There’s little tax, right?

In business, Trump and Musk are used to moving fast and breaking things. You can take great risks in Silicon Valley and real estate. Trump’s companies have filed for bankruptcy at least six times, with Twitter/X almost 80% less than when Musk bought it.

For the government, interests are the health and safety of your family. Recently, we have seen massive government layoffs that oversee nuclear weapons, protect us from the avian flu and affect those who produce air traffic navigation maps. People can die from crashing planes or working when the government fires the wrong people or cuts down the wrong programs.

If the government is not falling into beets, faceless companies can throw away toxic waste in our water by producing foods and drugs that make us sick, cutting out the corners, or throwing away our water. If the government is too focused on firing FBI agents and is looking for “internal enemies,” the actual external enemies will see openings and attacks.

When Trump spoke to the nation, we came to the fork on the road. Congressional Republicans should be allowed to gut Medicaid – should they hurt 72 million Americans in red and blue states and give themselves and more billionaire donors like Musk? Should we bring the destruction ball to scientists, air traffic controllers, and other experts who keep us safe?

We should allow billionaires to mine our data and payment systems. Are you looking for competitive advantages that will benefit their business? Should the President be allowed to run roughshods in the constitution and endanger basic rights?

When the President speaks, it is your duty to ask questions about his plans, whether you match the Magazine or want to live your life freely from politics. And don’t believe everything you say. Trump recently told Fox News, “Medicare, Medicaid – none of that kind can be touched.” The next day he supported a budget that almost certainly cut billions of dollars from Medicaid.

You may not have been in his crosshairs when he targeted immigration and diversity programs, but your rights and benefits may be next to the chopping block.

Yes, we need to make the government more sensitive to its citizens. Yes, we need to address legitimate concerns from Americans about fentanyl and the border.

But Trump and Maga Republicans are making serious mistakes by making hostile takeovers of our government and stripping it for the part. Sometimes, with bargain contracts, you get exactly what you pay.

Ben Olinsky is the senior vice president of structural reform and governance at the Center for American Progress. He wrote this for Insidesources.com. It will be rerun with permission.