Donald Trump is ripping you off even worse than you thought

| 6:04 pm EDT August 15, 2019
Dear Palmer Report readers, we all understand the difficult era we're heading into. Major media outlets are caving to Trump already. Even the internet itself and publishing platforms may be at risk. But Palmer Report is nonetheless going to lead the fight. We're funding our 2025 operating expenses now, so we can keep publishing no matter what happens. I'm asking you to contribute if you can, because the stakes are just so high. You can donate here.

Trump and his Republican cronies continue to turn against the middle class. Sam Berger, a writer for MarketWatch, tells us how this is being done, but he doesn’t tell us the “why.” What’s in it for the Republicans to purposely hurt middle class families? That’s not really clear, other than in their zeal to make their high-powered donors happy, the middle class is collateral damage. You could say we’re just an afterthought if even that.

We already know that Trump’s tax cuts were put in place to benefit the wealthy. While you might hear Trump fans on social media talking about how well their stocks are doing and what a great tax cut they got via Trump’s tax cuts, it’s merely showboating or in some cases, downright lying. Berger reiterates what we have heard before: the tax cuts for the middle class are temporary while the corporate and wealthy cuts are permanent. Let’s say for the sake of argument that some middle class families did receive tax cuts, as Berger points out, those cuts are being wiped out by Trump’s trade policies.

As repeatedly reported by Palmer Report and other outlets, tariffs do not make money for the United States. They are paid by the American consumer. Berger reinforces that. He estimates that the current Trump tariffs will cost the average family $831 per year, which will more than offset any tax cut realized by that family. The tax cuts aren’t the half of how Trump is silently killing the middle class.

Trump stealthily overturned the rule guaranteeing overtime pay for people making up to $50,000 per year. When it is available, overtime is relied upon by many to increase income to their families. That’s gone. Instead, Trump has introduced a new rule that will in essence cut workers’ pay by $1.2 billion every year. That means your income will continue to drop every year, even as the price of everything else goes up, and we’re not even talking about the ill-advised tariffs from the ill-informed “president,” which continue to decrease workers’ pay in the form of increased prices in everyday items.

As if that’s not enough, Trump has also overturned a rule that protects people who save and retirees from unscrupulous financial advisors. We’re being thrown to the wolves so that they can feast on our carcasses. According to Berger, $17 billion in retirement savings is lost every year because of financial advisors who have conflicts of interest. Just like Trump, their interests lie in lining their pockets, not yours. Trump isn’t done with us yet.

Donald Trump wants to weaken the fuel efficiency standards as well as standards that protect our climate. Berger estimates that these changes will cost American families up to $23.8 billion per year as the price of oil spirals out of control. Even as this occurs, Trump continues to enact policies to benefit his wealthy friends, conservative donors, corporations, members of Congress, and, of course, himself.