A New York Times poll released this month revealed that more voters believe Donald Trump’s policies benefitted them personally than feel that way about Joe Biden’s policies. We have news for these Americans. The policies you miss are actually Barack Obama’s.
Yes, President Trump passed a massive tax cut for large corporations and the wealthiest Americans. Those voters may rightly cheer the boost to their pocketbook. But what really helped everyone else was that Trump was unable to achieve the draconian budget cuts and other policies he and his team so desperately desired.
Although Trump entered office with a 241 to 194 majority in the House and a 52-48 majority in the Senate, his proposed budget cuts never came close to making it out of Congress. And, most famously of course, Sen. John McCain foiled Trump’s plan to repeal Obamacare, leaving millions of Americans with health care protections that are part of the Trump nostalgia.
Trump’s budget was a work of pure cruelty. In addition to gutting health care, Trump would have cut the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (i.e, food stamps) by $193 million; cut funding for a variety of student loan programs by $143 million; slashed retirement programs for federal employees by $150 million; and eliminated safety net programs such as the low-income housing energy assistance program, community development block grants and school lunches.
Cuts too were slated for scientific research, for job centers aimed at helping young folks get their start and even for the shutting of 49 national historic sites. All this in addition to slashing by 10 percent the budgets for the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Education, Health and Human Services, Agriculture, Commerce, Education, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, Labor, State and Transportation. In short, Trump wished to take away the things that make Americans a proud and caring people.
Fortunately, GOP majorities in the House couldn’t agree on how to make these budget cuts happen. Some thought the cuts went too far and others wanted to go further still. So in order to pass budgets at all, Trump had to rely on sizable Democratic support on Capitol Hill. Not only that, but the sharp budget cuts Republicans had imposed on Obama in the name of reducing the deficit were no longer operable, meaning that Trump was forced to funnel more money into Democratic priorities, including increases to the safety net and record boosts to health care research.
This meant Trump wound up managing a country with a Republican approach to taxes and a Democratic approach to spending. The deficit ballooned — as Nikki Haley reminded us when she challenged Trump for the 2024 nomination — but federal fiscal stimulus helped keep the Obama boom going.
Why don’t voters understand to what extent Democrats called the tune during Trump’s early years? The answer is simple. Democrats kept as quiet as they could about it. Had Democratic leaders tried to take credit for anything good, Trump would have immediately reversed course. He was willing to give up his plans to dismantle the federal government, as long as no one pointed out how much he was losing.
A GOP Congress swept into office in 2024 would be highly unlikely to keep Trump in check a second time. His current plans to keep taxes low for the rich, gut the environment by increasing the use of fossil fuels, cripple the civil service, ban abortion nationwide and once again try to repeal Obamacare wouldn’t make life better for most Americans. The policies voters actually like come from the Democrats and President Biden.
Jason Paul is a lawyer in Newton, Mass. and author of “Trench Warfare Politics in the Tinder Era.” Jeremy Paul is a professor of Law at Northeastern University.