The Trump election has brought with it a level of uncertainty that we haven’t seen since the great recession. Every safety net program is now in jeopardy. Will jobs come back, or will tariffs cause a recession? Will we have health care, or lose it because of pre-existing conditions and cost? Will Social Security be cut? Will Medicare become unaffordable because of block grants? Will my IRA lose its value because market upheaval? Will our neighbors be blocked from returning home from abroad? Will we become pariahs to our current allies? Will the worst that global warming has in store come to pass?

These are big, complex issues that require thoughtfulness to resolve. Tweets and hastily written executive orders without any consultation with Congress, or the agencies that would have to implement the actions, will not suffice.

I believe that Donald Trump is dangerously underqualified and reckless in his actions. He has surrounded himself with like-minded demagogues with scores to settle. This does not bode well for the American people.

I think Republicans in Congress believe that they can control Trump and can get him to enact their wish list of anti-safety net legislation, tax cuts for the rich, the gutting of environmental regulation, and voter suppression legislation. But they have underestimated the sheer outrage and fear that Trump has unleashed.

Fearful Americans will not spend. They will hunker down, and try to conserve what resources they have. Consumer confidence will fall, sales will fall, and recession will begin. And that is even before the tariffs and sanctions come into play.

Maybe I’m a little hysterical. But maybe I’m right.

This is the Republican president. They must get control of him, or we all suffer.

Maureen Turgeon

Orr’s Island