One of the slogans of Trump’s campaign was that the forgotten men and women would no longer be forgotten. He would serve their interests, not special interest groups. So what about those forgotten Americans?
Public input on Trump’s proposed regulations will put this promise to the test, because the public has spoken about the administration’s April 26 Executive Order to “review” (shrink or eliminate) the country’s national monuments. The response is starkly one-sided. Impressively, there were over 2.7 million comments submitted during the brief 60-day public comment period. According to one analysis of 1,000 comments, only one percent supported Trump’s proposed shrinkage.
Similarly, at a Monday hearing about the rollback of a rule to limit methane pollution, the public was consistent in its pushback and overwhelmed those who support more pollution. (We heard it was 116 witnesses advocating on behalf of public health versus two industry supporters.)
But will Trump listen to over two million “forgotten Americans,” or one of the many former Koch operatives he’s hired?
While you ponder that, here’s one that’s a little harder: will Trump supporters care that he’s handed DC over to the lobbying class he so loudly decried? Fresh polling shows four in ten Republicans believe we’ve gone too far in protecting the First Amendment rights to a free press and to criticize the government. That polling also shows that a majority of Republicans think colleges and universities, as well as the national media, are destructive to American society. Because who needs a free and informed democracy when you have Russia Today and Breitbart and the Daily Caller and Fox News?
Not Putin, the Mercers, Kochs or Murdochs, that’s for sure. Apparently they’re the forgotten people Trump promised to serve.
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