Trump fortified the swamp

By Robert Blanner, North Las Vegas

Saturday, Jan. 21, 2017 | 2 a.m.

Donald Trump won the presidency primarily because of the support he had from his devoted base. He appealed to its anger and frustrations with government.

His Cabinet and advisory appointments have been pretty much the opposite of what they hoped for.

He choose Tom Price to head Health and Human Services, which oversees the Affordable Care Act as well Medicare and social security; he has vowed to get rid of all three.

The Environmental Protection Agency will be run by Scott Pruitt, who refuses to recognize even the possibility that climate change is at least partially man-made. Betsy DeVos was named secretary of education. She has openly campaigned for the voucher system at the expense of public education. He picked Ben Carson to head the Department of Housing and Urban Development after Carson had said he was unqualified for the job. When it comes to the Treasury, Trump has surrounded himself with billionaires such as Carl Icahn and Steve Mnuchin, the Treasury secretary appointee. Wall Street will be well-represented in his administration. His Labor secretary is a staunch opponent of the minimum wage.

All of the above-mentioned appointees will negatively impact the lives of Trump’s base.

Trump did not “drain the swamp” as promised. He fortified it and made it deeper than ever.

I wonder how his base feels about his love affair with Russia and his appointment of people, such as Rex Tellerman and Mike Flynn, who have worked closely with Vladimir Putin in the past few years.

As the saying goes, be careful what you wish for.