Ah yes, Donald Trump, the champion of the common man! The billionaire real estate mogul who spent his life stiffing workers, dodging taxes, and stuffing his gold-plated penthouse with the tears of unpaid contractors. But somehow, when he rants about the ‘elites’—the very club he’s belonged to his entire life—MAGA think he’s not talking about himself. That, my friends, is the magic of Trump 2.0: Fake Populism.
While he tweets about bringing jobs back and ‘draining the swamp,’ what does he actually do? Cut taxes for the ultra-rich. Deregulate Wall Street. Hand out corporate welfare like it’s Halloween candy and slap tariffs on everything he can pronounce. And let’s not forget: when his rabid fans cheer for ‘America First,’ they apparently mean America’s billionaires first. Because who else benefits from slashing corporate tax rates and gutting labor protections? (Hint: It ain’t you.)
The Corporate Welfare Bonanza: Your Tax Dollars at Work (for CEOs) –
Let’s talk about real welfare queens—the kind where the government hands out cash like a game show host, but only if you’re already a billionaire. America, land of the free (markets) and home of the brave (CEOs who lobby for taxpayer-funded bailouts). Our government generously hands out hundreds of billions in subsidies every year to corporations that are somehow too big to fail but too fragile to pay taxes. From fossil fuel giants to big banks, Uncle Sam is practically a corporate ATM. And guess who foots the bill? That’s right—the same working-class taxpayers Trump pretends to fight for.
UnitedHealth and the Art of the Medicare Scam:
And now, for the grand theft that nobody talks about enough: UnitedHealth’s Medicare scam. ProPublica has been screaming from the rooftops about how UnitedHealth and other insurance behemoths are bilking Medicare Part D for billions—by overcharging the government, manipulating billing, and denying care to actual human beings while making record-breaking profits. It’s simple: they collect premiums, deny services, and rake in cash while your grandma struggles to afford her insulin. That’s the free market at work, folks! But don’t worry, the executives at UnitedHealth are doing just fine—millions in bonuses ensure they don’t have to choose between food and medicine.
Bernie Sanders: The Last Guy Standing for the Working Class:
Meanwhile, the real populist, Bernie Sanders, has been shouting into the abyss for decades about how oligarchs are looting the country. The guy has the audacity to suggest that maybe, just maybe, billionaires shouldn’t exist in a country where people die because they can’t afford healthcare. Radical, right? The real populists have been laying out the receipts for years—how capitalism, in its current form, serves the few at the expense of the many. And yet, Bernie is the one labeled ‘extreme’ while the government hemorrhages trillions to corporations.
So Who’s Really Fighting for You?
So next time Trump or his copycats tell you they’re ‘fighting for the working class,’ ask yourself: Do they mean higher wages, universal healthcare, and corporate accountability? Or do they mean more tax cuts for their billionaire golf buddies while you fight over the last loaf of bread at Walmart? Real populism puts people over profits. Fake populism convinces you to cheer while they rob you blind.
Your move, America.
by Robert Cain
Art by Malc McGookin/Independent Australia