Trump's Fascist Plan: Turning Democracy To Oligarchy Isn't Enough For The Rich

Donald Trump isn't just transforming America from a Democracy into an oligarchy... he is transforming it into something much, much worse... MORE FROM THOM 📃 Thom's Hartmann's 'Daily Take' Newsletter: https://HartmannReport.com 🎦 Watch a full program re-run anytime: https://www.patreon.com/thomhartmann 🎧 Audio Podcast: https://thom.tv FOLLOW THOM 📕 AMAZON: https://amzn.to/2hS4UwY 📝 DAILY TAKE: https://hartmannreport.com 👥 FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/ThomHartmannProgram/ 📸 INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/Thom_Hartmann 🎦 PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/thomhartmann 🐦 X: https://www.twitter.com/thom_hartmann Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/hartmannreport.com 🌐 WEBSITE: https://www.thomhartmann.com 📺 YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=thomhartmann 👕 Merchandise: https://teespring.com/stores/thom-hartmann-program-2 🍺 Thom Merchandise: https://teespring.com/thom-hartmann-mug?pid=522&cid=101870 ABOUT THE PROGRAM The Thom Hartmann Program is the leading progressive political talk radio show for political news and comments about Government politics, be it Liberal or Conservative, plus special guests and callers. #MoreFromThom ✔ Amazon links are affiliate links VIDEO TRANSCRIPT Thom: Trump transforms democracy to dictatorship—a warning America can't afford to ignore. That's the title of my op-ed over at HartmanReport.com today. Former Congressman Adam Kinzinger is wondering out loud if President Musk will force Vice President Trump to shut down our government. It’s all about raising the debt ceiling, Trump says, so they can roll out the next round of tax cuts for billionaires. Something you’re not going to hear on Fox News. The actual story behind the story is even more sinister. Today’s piece is titled How Oligarchy Works: Who Wins, Who Loses. They want to borrow another $5 trillion from you, me, our children, and grandchildren so they can give it to Elon Musk and his billionaire buddies. Like I said, you won’t hear this on Fox News. I wrote a book about this: The Hidden History of American Oligarchy: Reclaiming Our Democracy from the Ruling Class. In a democracy, we elect representatives who do what the people want. For example, polling from the Associated Press and the National Center for Public Affairs shows: 83% of Americans want increased infrastructure spending. 81% want tuition-free community college. 79% want higher Social Security benefits. 72% want tuition-free four-year public college. 62% want government-insured health care coverage. 60% want higher spending on education. 60% want more assistance to the poor. 60% want increased support for Medicare. 60% want increased spending on Social Security. It goes on. These are all the things Democrats want to do, and these are all things Republicans oppose. So, what do Republicans want? Their agenda is not democratic—it’s not what the people want; it’s what billionaires want: Tax cuts for billionaires and giant corporations, including extending the Trump tax cuts beyond next year. Deregulation of environmental, financial, and food safety protections to increase corporate profits. Repealing Obamacare and cutting access to Medicaid to make more money for insurance giants. Building a wall on the Mexican border and increasing deportations. Allocating hundreds of billions more for defense contractors and private prisons. Voter suppression and gerrymandering for political gain. Criminalizing abortion. Enacting preemption laws so red states can prevent blue cities within those states from implementing tighter environmental regulations, higher minimum wages, stricter gun control laws, and better protections for women’s access to health care. How did this happen? It all started when Lewis Powell was appointed to the Supreme Court in 1972. In 1976, the Buckley decision allowed billionaires to fund campaigns. In 1978, the Bellotti decision extended this to corporations, declaring them "persons" with the same rights. In 2010, the floodgates were fully opened, enabling billionaires to run the show. Elon Musk put $277 million into a campaign, Donald Trump got elected, and now Musk is calling the shots. This is not democracy. What we are witnessing is full-blown oligarchy