Republic for sale -- Sabrina Haake [View all]

[erronis]

https://sabrinahaake.substack.com/p/republic-for-sale

‘Koru,’ Jeff Bezos’ Sailing Superyacht, at 410 feet long, is ten times the average length of a single family house

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Trump’s plan to privatize the federal government

Characteristically opposed to the wants and needs of ordinary Americans, Trump is seeking to increase rather than decrease privatization of all government services, seeking to extract profits from heretofore not-for-profit entities.

Thanks to Citizens United, the disastrous 2010 case that gave wealthy corporations outsize influence over elections, Trump is indebted to hundreds of industry leaders from tech, auto, education, banking, arms, prison, healthcare, and fossil fuel sectors. Attuned to his donors’ quid pro quo expectations, Trump is working out which government agencies to hand over to his billionaire donors, and which agencies should be shuttered altogether because they are unable to turn a profit.

Pursuant to the mandates of Project 2025, which Trump disavowed disingenuously during his 2024 campaign, the Trump administration is actively seeking to defund many departments entirely. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse called it a tool of “creepy billionaires” who seem to get unhealthy pleasure from depriving Americans of the government services their tax dollars have paid for.

In service to Project 2025’s oligarchic takeover of the remaining agencies, Trump is targeting these federal agencies for privatization:

U.S. Postal Service (USPS);

Department of Veterans Affairs (VA);

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA);

Transportation Security Administration (TSA);

National Weather Service;

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgage companies;

National Parks;

Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA); and

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Handing federal agencies to wealthy donors

Trump and his billionaire cabinet are either unaware or disinterested in the fact that most Americans oppose privatizing most government services. In a 2022 survey, 85% of Democrats and 74% of Republicans said the federal government should play a major role, for example, in responding to natural disasters.

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