THREE MAIN REASONS WHY THE DEMOCRATS MAY LOSE THE ELECTION: REASON NUMBER TWO:

Collective amnesia is the only rational explanation for voters who keep re-electing politicians and leaders who only care about themselves.

“I have accomplished more than most previous U.S. presidents.” D. Trump.

Much has been said about the disconnect between feelings and reality when it comes to polls’ approval ratings between Donald Trump and Kama Harris. If the approval rating between both contenders in the presidential race is almost neck to neck[1], the difference between the two seems fuelled by a feeling of nostalgia for the Trump’s years, forgetting that by the end of his administration, Trump only had an approval rating of 34 percent.

SINCE IT IS ASSUMED THAT VOTERS ARE MORE CONCERNED ABOUT WHAT AFFECTS THEM PERSONALLY, LET’S LOOK INTO THE REAR-VIEW MIRROR TO SEE WHAT HE ACTUALLY ACCOMPLISHED FOR WORKERS AND THE MIDDLE CLASS.

Here are the ways the Trump administration has failed workers, starting with recent actions (or inactions) and extending back to the beginning of the Trump’s presidency.

1.      It has failed to support adequate fiscal stimulus during the coronavirus pandemic.

2.      It has diminished the integrity and accuracy of the 2020 U.S. Census

3.      It stopped funding for Social Security

4.      It dismantled fiduciary protections for retirement savers

5.      It has engaged in persistent efforts to take away workers’ healthcare

6.      It narrowed the scope of ‘protected concerted activity’ under the NLRA

7.      It has persisted in attempts to end DACA

8.      It suspended the issuance of green cards

9.      It has failed to act to protect the health of workers during the pandemic

10.  It issued guidance that allows states to deny unemployment insurance (UI) benefits to workers who refuse to return to unsafe jobs

11.  It issued an executive order that intimidated local health departments from closing meat-processing plants with significant COVID-19 outbreaks

12.  It excluded millions of workers from paid leave provisions in the Families First Coronavirus Relief Act (FFCRA), including 9 million healthcare workers and 4.4 million first responders

13.  It significantly narrowed benefits under the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program

14.  It allowed poultry plants to increase line speeds during the coronavirus pandemic

15.  It issued interim guidance that removed most employer responsibility to investigate or record workplace-related coronavirus cases in non-health-care workplaces

16.  It pushed to lower wages for migrant farmworkers

17.  It suspended all union elections

18.  It completed the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s (anti-worker) wish list

19.  It has obstructed workers’ right to fair union elections

20.  It narrowed the joint-employer standard under the NLRA

21.  It has encouraged offshoring

22.  It has denied workers more bargaining power on the job

23.  It narrowed the joint-employer standard under the FLSA

24.  It has allowed states to privatize employment services.

25.  It has decreased workplace safety inspections.

26.  It has proposed a rule that would lower the earnings of tipped workers.

27.  It has sought to expand the use of the fluctuating workweek method, which makes it easier for employers to avoid paying overtime.

28.  It has undermined job security for service workers.

29.  It has hindered workers’ ability to organize during nonworking hours.

30.  It has sought to exclude student employees from the NLRA

31.  It prevented millions of workers from receiving overtime.

32.  It put forward anti-worker DOL nominations.

33.  It has neglected to address the overvaluation of the U.S. dollar.

34.  It denied workers a minimum wage increase.

35.  It allowed the misclassification of gig workers.

36.  It proposed a rule allowing young workers to perform unsafe tasks in healthcare occupations.

37.  It undercut public-sector workers’ freedom to organize.

38.  It denied workers the right to class or collective claims by reversing the Justice Department’s prior position in Epic Systems.

39.  It eroded the collective bargaining rights of federal workers.

40.  It weakened standards for mine safety inspections.

41.  It appointed anti-worker NLRB members.

42.  It hid economic analysis on the ‘tip stealing’ rule.

43.  It has allowed employers to gerrymander bargaining units.

44.  It passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act—which benefits the wealthy at others’ expense.

45.  It removed the public record of worker deaths from OSHA’s homepage.

46.  It removed requirements that employers disclose their use of union-avoidance consultants.

47.  It repealed a requirement that employers report workplace injuries and illnesses.

48.  It delayed enforcement of a rule protecting workers from exposure to silica dust.

49.  It made it easier for contractors who violate basic labor and employment laws to be awarded contracts paid for by taxpayer dollars.

SOURCE: The Economic Policy Institute

If you started to get a headache just by reading Trump’s policy to curtail or eliminate

any progress and protections earned by ordinary workers and the middle class, the ones listing his economic, social, and environmental failures, and policies to favor the rich are even longer. Suffice it to say that the national debt rose to almost $7.8 trillion during Trump’s time in office which ended with an approval rate of 34%..

So, yes, things were great under Trump, the reason why we want him to serve another term, or two, or more.

[1] 42% for  D. Trump vs 41% for Joe Biden. Source 2024 Gallop Poll.