COLUMNISTS

The consequences of not voting Nov. 6

Ann McFeatters
Tribune News Service

Donald Trump says the upcoming midterm elections are a referendum on him — if Republicans keep control of both houses of Congress.

After 2016, predicting what voters will do is not smart. But it looks as if Republicans will increase their hold on the Senate, while control of the House is a toss-up.

Despite enthusiasm among Democratic voters, apparently a lot of men think the new Supreme Court justice was treated unfairly and intend to vote Republican in revenge. Despite worries the economy is softening, even as Trump’s trade wars hurt farmers and factories, many think Trump is an economic genius who should be rewarded.

Before you vote, consider the following issues.

Two-thirds of Americans got nothing from Trump’s tax cut. But because of it, the nation’s budget deficit is nearing the $1 trillion mark. That means Trump will have added almost $2.5 trillion to the national debt in less than three years. And a clause added to the tax cuts directly benefits the Trumps.

Saudi Arabia’s reported dismemberment of a Washington Post journalist was dismissed by Trump as “rogue operators” getting too rough. He says he does not want to disrupt arms sales to the Saudis. Also, Saudis have personally benefitted him and his businesses by hundreds of millions of dollars, according to Trump himself.

Hundreds of children are living in tent cities because of Trump’s war on immigrants, even those with legitimate claims to entry or asylum. The United Nations now categorizes the U.S. as a violator of human rights.

Climate change will wreak havoc on millions more lives because Trump thinks it is a “hoax” and refuses to do anything about it.

Trump can’t praise the world’s worst dictators enough. He even says he loves North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, responsible for many deaths and possessor of nuclear weapons. Trump wants the world to reject globalism and the goal of peace; each country should look out for its own national interests first.

Trump remains determined to abolish what’s left of the Affordable Care Act, once known as Obamacare, although he has no plan on what to put in its place. Children could no longer stay on their parents’ insurance until age 26; pre-existing conditions would cease to be covered. The administration is arguing in court that legal protection for the chronically ill is unconstitutional.

Under Trump, racist, anti-Jewish, anti-Muslim groups are flourishing. Trump also has purposefully and successfully deepened the divide between conservatives and liberals. Of course, nobody really knows what those two labels stand for any more. Having already raised $106 million for his re-election campaign for 2020 and making headlines daily, Trump may well be re-elected. We’re supposed to laugh off the 5,000 documented lies he has told since his inauguration last year.

Many complain this election is turning out to be one of the most negative in memory, although each election cycle gets a little nastier — negative ads, sadly, are highly effective. Democrats are “a mob” of “terrorists.” Republicans are amoral, uncompassionate, unquestioning Trumpers.

Independents are up for grabs, vulnerable to Trump’s palaver. Gerrymandering favors Republicans. But the real question, as always, is turnout. Traditionally, Republicans vote in higher numbers than Democrats in midterms.

If Democrats stay home, we all must live with the consequences in a chaotic, Trump-dominated world.

Email Ann McFeatters, an op-ed columnist for Tribune News Service, at amcfeatters@nationalpress.com.