Commentary by Jerry Lanson

I’m a Democrat, and a liberal to boot.  But I bet we can agree on some things: That our country needs a stable economy. That it needs decent medical care and coverage.  That we need to treat our veterans with respect. And that we need at least enough of a government to keep us safe, warn us of approaching storms, and help care for our kids and aging parents.

There’s mounting evidence the Trump Administration is breaking down safeguards in all these areas – and fast. So I’m writing to ask for help in convincing your GOP representatives to tap the brakes even as they (and you) press forward with the perceived need to shake things up.

Let me ask some questions to make my point:

• 1) Do you believe tariffs are going to lower prices?

The Trump administration this week imposed and then lifted 25% tariffs on most products arriving from our two strongest trading partners, Mexico and Canada. At least for four weeks.  These chaotic actions have caused a stock market rollercoaster ride that’s mostly pointed sharply downhill. Here’s why. First, after the big three American auto manufacturers warned that car prices would quickly spike thousands of dollars, the administration ordered a 30-day hold on tariffs for cars and trucks. Then, the administration must have realized food and energy prices would continue to climb. It postponed most tariffs until April 2, first on Mexico and then later for Canada. 

This helter-skelter approach has done little to bolster consumer or business confidence. 

Consumers are spending less of their discretionary money. They see inflation continue to tick up at 3% or more annually. Gas prices climbed about 20 cents a gallon this week in my Cape Cod town. And the price of eggs? They are high and keep going up. 

Wrote The Economist magazine: “Trump’s tariff turbulence is worse than anyone imagined.”

• 2) Do veterans deserve to be singled out for hurt by government cuts?

It may not be intentional, but they have been. About 30% of the federal government’s more than 3 million employees are veterans. And tens of thousands of federal workers already have been fired. Half live outside Washington, D.C.

Now, the Veterans Affairs Administration is planning for deep cuts in serving our veterans.  An internal memo, sent this Tuesday to top officials and obtained by CBS News, says that by August, “The department’s goal is to …  cut more than 70,000 workers.”  

That’s one hell of a thank you to the men and women who served in Afghanistan and Iraq. They deserve our help with physical and psychological health issues, jobs and more.

•  3) Do you want to know when the next big storm is going to hit?

Big storms are a given. Hurricanes slammed Florida and the Carolinas this season, floods and tornados pummeled the South, and fires, whipped by high winds, tore through parts of the West Coast.

Predicting big storms is the work of NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Its information is essential in preparing for storms. NOAA forecasts, issued in the billions each year, reach 96% of US households, The Associated Press reports.

The Trump Administration’s job cuts are crippling this weather forecasting.

In the latest round of cuts Monday, it fired 1,300 NOAA employees, the AP reported. AP noted that the American Meteorological Society is warning these cuts have put the country at greater risk. 

“The consequences to the American people will be large and wide-ranging, including increased vulnerability to hazardous weather,” the meteorological society wrote in a statement.

Rallies across the country were scheduled for Friday, March 7 in support of science and against deep cuts to this and other agencies.

• 4) Do you think government spending cuts are being carried out with planning and care?

They aren’t.

President Trump says he’s proud of Elon Musk’s DOGE boys for getting rid of waste.  But the cuts Musk is making don’t reflect worker performance reviews or the importance of particular jobs. They’ve been deep, arbitrary, and often as chaotic as the on-off tariffs.   

For example, Musk cut the medical detectives in the Centers for Disease Control just as scientists were saying bird flu could jump from birds to humans.  On Thursday, 180 CDC workers fired two weeks ago received emails asking them to return immediately, the AP reports. 

It's not clear where they worked.  But we know DOGE’s cuts have focused disproportionately on so-called “probationary employees,” a anyone who has been hired, changed jobs or been promoted in the last year or two.  Musk’s team fired just about all probationary workers because they have fewer protections.

The CDC situation is no aberration either. The New York Times noted as much in an article titled, “Fired, then Rehired by the Trump Administration.”

“Even as the Trump Administration continues to slash federal jobs, a number of federal agencies have begun to reverse course – reinstating some workers and pausing plans to dismiss others,” the authors wrote.

On February 13, the Administration laid off more than 300 employees of the National Nuclear Security Administration, which maintains and secures the country’s nuclear warheads. A day later, it recalled some. It fired and then rehired workers who review food safety, respond to the bird flu and protect forests. DOGE, it seems, operates a little like a drunken driver weaving back and forth over a double-yellow line.

• 5) What’s next?

By Thursday, President Trump had issued 117 executive orders. Soon, he will eliminate the Department of Education, which dispenses grants to college students from less affluent families and supports K-12 programs for kids with a wide range of disabilities. Deep cuts in Medicaid could drive many thousands of elderly from nursing homes. In April, the administration plans to deport 240,000 Ukrainians who were given temporary legal status under the Biden administration..

Only pushback from the Congress, the Supreme Court or “we, the people” -- including you, the president’s supporters – can slow or limit these actions.

If anything I’ve touched on bothers you, speak up. Don’t leave it to libs like me.  The Republican National Committee has told Republican members of Congress to stop holding public forums. But they still have voicemail and email. Please consider using both.

Lanson writes From the Grassroots at Substack.