Tried and True Strategy

President Elect Donald Trump's social media droppings this past week included tweets scolding Boeing over the cost of a fleet of new presidential jets, scolding Alec Baldwin over his SNL impersonation of Trump himself, and scolding a local union leader for questioning details around Trumps self trumpeted Carrier deal.  Notably missing was any mention of support for coal miners who stand to lose retirement healthcare benefits as congressional Republicans renege on a promise their predecessors have honored for more than 60 years.

Trump, who campaigned on an energy policy that promoted expanding the use of coal to bring back lost jobs in mining states was noticeably absent from the dialog over action that would devastate retirees in that depressed industry.  Where was Trump's tweet outrage at Senate leader Mitch McConnell who has a record of blocking legislation to address the issue?  Where was Trump's bravado about a deal to save healthcare for retirees in an industry with an inherent risk of injury and long term health problems?  There were no tweets and no support for the workers in 16 major coal mining states - most of which Trump carried in the general election.  The only voices behind the mine workers were senate Democrats willing to hold up a government spending bill in an attempt to force positive action.

Lack of action by Trump and the Republican leadership is consistent with the party's long standing behavior to prioritize tax cuts over the greater good of all else.  At issue this time is a key United Mine Workers of America pension plan that is severely underfunded after suffering significant investment losses during the 2008 Wall Street financial crisis and industry bankruptcies in the wake of the moves to cleaner energy sources.  If the the federal Pension Benefit Guarantee Corp. has to cover the healthcare obligation, Congress will need to allocate nearly 2 billion dollars to meet the debt.  Republicans likely see that as a threat to their agenda of tax reductions which they believe the sole answer to stimulating economic growth and lining their own pockets.

No tax cut will make up for reneging on the health care guarantee.  Removing the safety net promised to thousands of retirees and their families would be devastating.  Ignoring that impact defeats the ideals around government for all the people and breaking the promise devalues the word of the the United States of America.  As part of a body that itself has a government promise of healthcare for life, the hypocrisy and lack of empathy Republicans exhibit over the issue is staggering.  Rather than even pass a short term extension to buy time for a long term fix, Republicans would rather do nothing and gamble the mining constituency not strong enough to exert meaningful influence to alter their priorities.  Bets like that have been solid for Republicans in the past and there is no reason to expect this time will be different.

Republican leaders deserve credit for continuing to wager on what they've identified as nearly sure things.  They have been shrewd in their calculations on what the public at large will devote time to understanding particularly when it comes to complex issues and their outcomes.  West Virginia, one of the states that will be hit hard should miner benefits disappear, voted nearly 68% in favor of Trump.  Yet, there appears to be no buyer's remorse on behalf of state voters given Trump has not denounced his party's desire to abandon them.

Republican leaders are masterful in their ability to stir up voters with over emotional issues like religion, abortion, and nostalgia of a better time while staying away from in depth education on the impact the economic policies they manipulate will actually have on the poor and middle class.  Like in West Virginia, blue collar voters in Indiana should have immediately had buyer's remorse when it became apparent much of the money Carrier will get in Trump's deal with go toward automating workers out of jobs.  It's unlikely any outrage will take hold there either since the devil in those details were leaked after the collective attention span of the electorate at large had moved on.

Sure, some people are just plain gullible and don't require much effort bamboozle.  However, when faced with clear actions and outcomes many individuals can make decisions that won't put themselves in jeopardy.  Republican leaders work hard to make sure actions and outcomes not positively impacting broad swathes of Americans are well veiled by short slogans, sound bytes without context, and misleading information spread online.  The work required to uncover the truth simply goes beyond the investment many people are willing to make at the expense of other things in their lives.  That is unfortunate and changing the behavior will be difficult.  Democrats have not demonstrated the wherewithal to even grasp the problem let alone craft a strategy to address it.  In the meantime, Republicans have no reason to change what's proven to be a tried and true strategy.