10 November 2016

What Are The Consequences Of The Election?

As a result of the 2016 election, we will have a Republican President for the next four years who is the least competent man to hold that office of all time, a Republican controlled U.S. Senate for at least two years, a Republican controlled U.S. House of Representatives for at least two years, and a conservative controlled U.S. Supreme Court for the foreseeable future.

(Incidentally, this continues the long term trend of realignment as the Northeast has fewer Republicans in Congress, while "A third of all House Democrats now hail from three states (CA, NY, MA). California alone accounts for 20% of the House Democratic caucus.")

Republicans now control 33 Governorships up from 31 before the election, and more state legislative chamber than the 79 out of 99 that they already controlled.

This is an unmitigated disaster from a policy perspective. 

Somehow or other, Obamacare will be repealed and many millions of Americans will lose their health insurance. There will be no improvements in access to higher education.

Somehow or other there will be reckless changes to the tax code that reduce federal revenues without offsetting spending cuts driving up the deficit and favoring the rich. 

Our economy will falter as public investments decline and sensible regulations are not enacted or are rolled back. Our environment will suffer. Science will be suppressed.

All progress on social issues will go down the drain. Civil liberties will be trampled upon.

Any effort to make our elections more fair or to restrain corruption will be rolled back.

We will become isolationist and xenophobic on immigration, refugees and trade.

Our nation will become an international diplomatic pariah. 

We may very well commence World War III, recklessly, in an expressly anti-Muslim war.

It may actually be good for me personally, at least from a business development perspective, as I will have to help clients adapt to and plan around a whole range of rapidly changing federal policies. But, it will not be good for America.

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