It’s called “Nibor Dooh,” Robin Hood spelled backwards, and this popular expression from the George W. Bush era is poised to stage a comeback.
When Trump was asked about Project 2025, he replied, “What’s that?” as if he never heard of it. Now, he’s putting its architect in charge of the federal budget.
Russell Vought, and Project 2025, have advocated cutting Medicaid and nutrition programs to help pay for Trump’s tax cuts for the rich (see story here). That’s literally taking from the poor and giving to the rich.
There’s a racial component to this, because America’s poor are disproportionately black. But Vought’s ideology doesn’t stop with welfare programs. He’s also targeting Social Security and Medicare, which are earned benefits paid for with worker’s taxes, for a higher eligibility age and privatization, respectively.
Reagan, Bush, and Trump all enacting sweeping tax cuts for corporations and wealthy individuals. Contrary to “supply side” theories, which Reagan’s budget boss David Stockman labeled “voodoo economics,” these tax cuts didn’t increase federal revenues, they increased deficits. And contrary to conservative “trickle down” theories, they didn’t benefit workers. The wealth gap has only increased under these Republican policies.
Post-election surveys indicate Trump won the 2024 election with working class votes for cheaper eggs and gas. On the Democratic side, there’s angst over “losing the working class,” and soul searching about winning them back.
But Democrats, who’ve fought for workers and the non-rich since Teddy Roosevelt’s time, don’t need to change. When those confused voters find out what they actually voted for, they’ll come back on their own. So will the disgruntled voters who sat out the 2024 election.