According to a new survey by Quinnipiac University, most Americans believe that Donald Trump is not fit to be president. It is quite remarkable. But we should ask ourselves how much higher the number would be if the citizens really knew what was happening.
Because the problem with Trump is not only what he does, but also what he does not do. In his mind, everything is him. And while caressing his fragile ego, he neglects the basic functions of government, or worse.
Let's talk about two news that apparently have nothing to do with each other: the fatal abandonment of Puerto Rico, and the continued sabotage of US health care. What these news have is common is that millions of Americans are going to suffer, and hundreds, if not thousands, die because Trump and the members of his government are too self-centered to do their job.
Let's start with the disaster in Puerto Rico and the neighboring Virgin Islands (also in the USA). When Hurricane Maria struck more than a week ago, it left all Puerto Rico powerless, and electricity will take months to recover. The lack of energy can be in itself deadly, but even worse is that, due largely to the blackout, much of the population still lacks access to potable water. How many people are going to die because hospitals do not work, or because of diseases transmitted by unhealthy water? Nobody knows.
But the situation is terrible, and time is not in Puerto Rico's favor: the more that happens, the worse the humanitarian crisis will be. Undoubtedly, it would be hoped that the transfer and distribution of aid would become the top priority of the US government. After all, we talk about the lives of three and a half million of our fellow citizens, more than the population of Iowa or the metropolitan San Diego.
And have we seen that effort of full and unconditional aid that a catastrophe of this kind requires? Do not.
It is true that quantifying the federal response is difficult. But none of the extraordinary measures that could be expected has materialized.
The deployment of military resources seems to have been slower and slower than in Texas after Harvey or in Florida after Irma, although the situation in Puerto Rico is much more urgent. As of Thursday, the Trump Government had refused to suspend the Jones Act (requiring US flag and crew for cabotage services) for Puerto Rico, even though it had been lifted for Texas and Florida.
Why? According to the president, "those who work in the transport sector" do not like the idea. Moreover, although it has been more than a week since Maria touched down, the Trump Government has not yet submitted a request for aid to Congress.
And where is the leadership? There are reasons to expect visible attention from the president to major national disasters, including visiting the affected area as soon as possible (Trump does not plan to visit Puerto Rico until next week). It's not just theater; is a signal of urgent priorities for the rest of the government, and to some extent for the nation at large.
But Trump spent the days following the mess of Maria tweeting about American football players. When he finally deigned to say something about Puerto Rico, it was to blame the territory for its own problems.
The impression he gives to one is that of an enormously egocentric individual, unable to focus on the needs of others, even though that is the main part of his work. In addition, there is healing. The revocation of Obamacare has failed again, for the simple reason that the Bill of Lindsay Graham and Bill Cassidy, like all other Republican proposals, was nothing but miserable trash. But while the Affordable Health Care Act (ACA) survives, Trump's government is openly trying to sabotage its operation.
This sabotage is occurring on multiple levels. The government has refused to confirm whether it will pay insurers a key subsidy to cover low-income clients.
He has refused to clarify whether he will enforce the requirement for healthy people to insure themselves. You have canceled
or suspended promotion of the system to get more people to sign up for it.
These actions translate directly into a sharp increase in premiums: insurers do not know if they will be compensated for the main expenses, and they have plenty of reasons to foresee a smaller and sicker client portfolio than before. And it's too late to reverse the damage: As you read this, insurers are already finalizing their rates for 2018.
Why do the trumpists do this? Is it a cynical calculation: get the law to fail and then claim that it was already doomed? I doubt it. In the first place, because we do not speak of people known by their deep
