We Have 50 States?

“We’re a big country,” Donald Trump said. “We have 50 states. We have all these other people. We’re fighting wars. It’s not possible for us to take care of daycare, Medicaid, Medicare, all these things.”

I have a similar problem – with all of the chaos and turmoil our country is currently going through, it’s difficult to call attention to a single issue, a specific problem, when there are so many others that deserve consideration. In fact, Tuesday I had to wait to see if we were going to exterminate a country before I could finish this column – a different decision there would have forced a different result here.

With wars exploding, Epstein files languishing, Cabinet members getting fired, political opponents being indicted, inflation raging, Trump construction projects expanding, measles and other eradicated diseases returning, and the constitution being ignored, it might seem that daycare and Medicare are not our first priority. But to some, they are.

In 2024, Trump campaigned that his administration would address the costs of childcare and guarantee the funding of Medicaid and Medicare. In a Breitbart interview on March 13, Trump committed, “I will never do anything that will jeopardize or hurt Social Security or Medicare. We’ll have to do it elsewhere. But we’re not going to do anything to hurt them.” Whew, color me relieved.

So Republicans gave a huge tax cut to billionaires last year and are currently blowing up (literally) billions of dollars in a war that no one wanted. Instead of doing things that would benefit Americans and despite an “America first” rhetoric, this administration’s focus, and taxpayers’ money, are going to an overseas conflict that wasn’t approved by Congress.

Does it concern anyone that in today’s America, one person gets to make every decision, unburdened, or unrestrained, by the so-called co-equal branches of government?

I agree with the president. We have fifty states; I think that might have been one of the questions on the president’s multiple cognitive tests – next to the giraffe. And, we really DO have all these other people. And we ARE fighting wars… regrettably.

During that 2024 campaign, while Trump made promises, the size of the country wasn’t an issue. If memory serves me, we had fifty states in 2024, too.

Fast forward to post-campaign-mid-term and we are now too sprawling to care. So many states, so many people, and now wars. I’m a little concerned when Mr. Trump says all those factors could jeopardize my Medicare. I paid a great deal of my earnings during a working life that started at age 14, to taxes, to social security, and to Medicare. America owes me. In fact, as a small business owner, I paid more than a million dollars to fund social security and Medicare for my employees. What has America been doing with all that money.

Oh yeah, it takes a billion a day (betting here that it’s more) to go bomb Iran, not counting lives lost on both sides. It seems those should count, because there are surely “good people on both sides.”

If the Iran war is going to suck away my promised benefits, and the benefits I paid for my employees, what’s next? Attacking Greenland and Cuba won’t be cheap.

I get it; America is a big country, with a lot of people. But didn’t we all understand that BEFORE the last election? We certainly should have realized that before we started another war. Look, if you want to be president of the most powerful, and wealthiest, nation in the world, it’s gonna be challenging. Sorry about that.

If we were Luxembourg, we’d all have free childcare, universal healthcare, free college, and free public transportation to get us around. And Luxembourg has not started any wars…

Maybe we should be emulating Luxembourg instead of invading other countries.

Elon Musk got a tax cut last year. While inflation continues, and while Americans struggle to pay for healthcare, groceries, and gas, we are spending billions overseas for a war to stop Iran’s nuclear progress, which was said to be “obliterated” just nine months ago in another attack.

While our national debt soars past $39 trillion (remember when it was only $37 trillion last year, or $10 trillion in 2008?), we are choosing to spend $1 billion+ a day on a war that “we’ve already won.” But, “it’s not possible for us to take care of daycare, Medicaid, Medicare, all these things.”

I thought DOGE saved us trillions and tariffs brought in more trillions – why is the national debt still exploding?

Are we executing the “America First” strategy? Is Congress coming back from the recess they took while the war ramped up? Are we keeping score?

“We have 50 states.” Yeah, we know.

Cutting support for healthcare while lower taxes on billionaires isn’t taking care of your constituents, it’s buying expensive friendships. Ignoring childcare issues while talking about family values isn’t being tough; it’s being ironic. Claiming budget shortfalls for domestic needs while starting wars in foreign lands isn’t making tough choices; it’s making the wrong choices. Someone should represent us. We fought a war over that once.

But Democrats would be wise not to get too comfortable. Elections aren’t won on the failures of others alone. Voters require alternatives that don’t just point out what went wrong, but what comes next. And Democrats often seem to turn imminent opportunity into future excuses.

Today’s truth is, America has 50 united states. That’s a poor excuse for those in power to ignore the people they serve. We are owed better.

__________________________________________________________________

Curt MacRae is a resident of Coldwater, MI and publishes opinion columns regularly.

To be notified by email when a column is published, or to offer feedback: rantsbymac@gmail.com