It’s only a matter of time now before Donald Trump says, “Let ’em eat cake.” Mark my words. All he needs is the set up line, “But Sir, the people have no bread,” and he’ll be there to suggest that they eat cake, taco bowls, KFC, you name it, oblivious to what is actually being said to him; the people are broke. Only seeing is believing.
While Americans suffer from the government shutdown and farmers go bankrupt from Trump’s trade wars, Trump rides around his golf course telling his rich friends their taxes are going down. So out of touch.
pic.twitter.com/0V8HoWuLl9— Republicans against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) October 13, 2025
The trade wars affect us, yes. The farmer’s are in a world of hurt, yes. And that translates as groceries costing more. And insurance is on the moon. I just now got off the phone with my auto insurance company. They’re going to give me a good driver’s test and when I pass it, they’ll knock eleven bucks a month off of my policy. That is the level, dead best that I can get. And I have a spotless driving record.
My renter’s insurance has tripled in five years and my friends who have homeowners insurance tell me their woes. Huge increases coming out of the blue or policies being canceled outright for no reason at all. The underwriter decided to bail. Get yourself somebody else.
But does Donald worry? Phuque no. He’s on the golf course (I think that’s his granddaughter) and he’s telling his rich asshole friends, “Don’t worry, your taxes are coming down. You can keep more while the people on the bottom suffer.” (The second phrase is mine but that’s what is translates as.)
Oh, and speaking of the bottom: Our military has been put at the bottom because they’re not getting paid now. Nor our TSA people. Nor anybody on the governmental payroll. But Trump is rich and getting richer by the billions all the time. He’s not worried about how all this “trickles down” (you should pardon the expression) to us.
How bad can it get? Economists are wondering if a second Great Depression could hit. Wow. Would that be something? I remember my older friends, the WWII crowd, talk about the Depression. The stories they told. I hope I don’t live to see what they spoke about in my old age but I could.
Are we tired of winning yet? Asking for a friend.
I hope nobody but the cabinet and Congress get paid. what a hoot that would be oh yeah….
Unfortunately, Congress literally has no say. As part of that little deal that prohibits them from raising their pay during their current term, their salaries cannot be withheld or stopped. Members with some degree of a conscience have been known to donate their salaries to charities during government shutdowns but the LAW does not allow for them to go unpaid.
I’m not sure whether it would require just an act of Congress or if an amendment would be needed; the 27th Amendment, which had been one of the original amendments as part of the Bill of Rights but not added for some 200 years, was the actual instrument that prevents Congressional pay raises until after an election but that was mainly because Congress didn’t seem willing or able to do it for themselves. The problem, of course, is that Congress must initiate the amendment process and we’d need 290 members of the House and 67 Senators to play along. (I don’t think there’d be any problem getting the required 38 states to ratify. State legislators’ pay wouldn’t be affected and some legislatures might be more than willing to “let the voters decide” the issue. Frame it as a “non-binding” vote and, after the legislators get the overwhelming “yes” vote results, suggest the governor call them back into session and ratify the amendment post haste.)
As for the Cabinet members, it doesn’t seem that they get paid during a shutdown. The only government officials who MUST get paid under the law are the President and members of Congress (because of prohibitions on any changes on their salaries).
Oh, the anecdotes I could tell you about insurance companies, Ursula! I’ll share just one: my auto insurance premium increased because the company, for no reason, bumped up the number of miles I was “expected” to drive each year. I challenged the increase and showed them, from auto maintenance invoices, that my actual mileage went down from previous years. The company did adjust the premium, but it was still higher than the prior year.