This piece is part of “America in the balance: the fight for our history and future,” a special series from MS NOW that explores where we are as a nation as we commemorate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
Just in time for the nation’s 250th anniversary, Elon Musk became the nation — and the world’s — first trillionaire after SpaceX went public with a blowout debut.
The rest of us have not been as lucky. And we know it.
The nation’s economic mood as we approach the Fourth of July is anything but celebratory. You don’t need to take it from me. A recent Fox News poll found that almost six out of 10 Americans feel pessimistic about the economy’s direction.
That’s hardly a surprise. President Donald Trump, who was re-elected to the White House largely on his promises to restore affordability to American life, has done nothing of the sort. The combination of the illegal and unnecessary war with Iran, and his incompetent and corrupt tariffs, which were applied both haphazardly and designed to favor large corporations and large megadonors, has set off a renewed bout of inflation.
A recent Fox News poll found that almost six out of 10 Americans feel pessimistic about the economy’s direction.
We live in a K-shaped economy, where many of the gains accrue to the top 10% of the population. Yes, the stock market is up — with the result that the top 1% of the population now owns a record share of household wealth.
Wages are failing to keep up with inflation, and the savings rate is on a downslide. Good jobs, especially for people at the beginning of their careers, are hard to find. Small businesses ranging from restaurants to manufacturers are under increasing financial pressure. People have a progressively dim view of big corporations, with almost 80% saying they distrust corporate America.
Trump’s response to all this has been beyond contemptuous, in both word and deed. He’s repeatedly told Americans to just get over it, saying our affordability crisis is a “hoax,” “fake” and a “scam.” At one appearance, he all but simultaneously proclaimed, “I love inflation,” while saying it would “come down like a rock” once the war with Iran ended.
At the same time, his administration has also intervened to make things worse for millions of people. Even as food prices surged — ground beef for hamburgers for your July 4 barbecue is up 13% since May of last year — more than 4.7 million people have lost access to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits since the passage of Trump’s signature tax package last year, even as the top 1% of households received $50,000 in annual savings.
That same tax bill also gutted the Affordable Care Act, even as the cost of everything from pharmaceuticals to hospital stays continues to rise, resulting in almost half of Americans saying they are increasingly pressed to pay for even necessary, lifesaving care.
The corrupt Trump administration also reversed course on former President Joe Biden’s antitrust efforts, often at the behest of connected insiders, resulting in mergers that will lead to fewer jobs and higher costs for all Americans in areas ranging from real estate to entertainment. At the same time, Trump has hit the brakes on regulatory efforts to police industries ranging from Big Finance to the airlines, costing Americans billions of dollars. It’s no surprise corporate profits are soaring, even as Americans feel increasingly financially pinched.
When Democrats and Republicans in Congress joined together to pass housing legislation designed to spur increased construction and reduce prices, in part by cracking down on bureaucratic regulations that slow down the building process, also making it harder for private equity to buy single-family homes, Trump refused to sign it. He’s instead holding the housing bill — a bill he himself helped initiate — hostage to the Save America Act, an election bill that is strongly opposed by Democrats because it would make it harder for millions of people to vote.
Trump’s net worth has almost tripled since he re-entered the White House, and he and his family have earned more than $2 billion from stakes in crypto companies alone as he loosened regulations.
And, then, of course, there is the matter of Trump’s personal corruption. Trump’s net worth has almost tripled since he re-entered the White House, and he and his family have earned more than $2 billion from stakes in crypto companies alone as he loosened regulations. Ordinary investors, on the other hand, all too frequently got left holding the losing bag.
All of this — the rampant inequality, the corruption, Trump’s policies and his congressional enablers — has combined to damage our democracy itself. It’s not just that corporate donations to politicians in areas ranging from crypto to antitrust buy results. Greedy CEOs race to do what they think is Trump’s bidding (which is how you get the Ellison family, already worth more than $200 billion) turning CBS News into the Trump Broadcasting Network in a successful effort to get the administration to sign off on its purchase of Warner Bros.
Yes, there are attempts to push back, and they are gaining strength. The states put a stop to the federal government’s attempt to secure an all-encompassing settlement in its antitrust case against Live Nation-Ticketmaster, securing a victory in federal court when the Trump administration withdrew from the case. In Congress, there is bipartisan legislation, such as Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Josh Hawley’s Break Up Big Medicine Act, which would bust up the healthcare monopolies driving high prices. If Democrats take control of either the House or the Senate following the November midterm elections, the White House can expect more fierce pushback than the supine Republican majority provided.
But for now, the Trump administration, the wealthiest ever assembled, remains in the driver’s seat. It’s increasingly obvious that the obscene wealth and power of a select few, at the expense of the many, is a feature, not a bug for the Trump years. That’s because this is exactly how Trump and those who serve him think it should be. We need to reverse this, not just for the sake of our personal wallets, but for our nation’s democratic well-being. It is the opposite of a recommended prescription for civic health. Let’s hope future Fourths of July — starting with July 4, 2027 — find us in a better place.
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