The Breaking Point
When President Donald Trump was first elected in 2016, I was shocked. Like many other political analysts, I underestimated voters’ willingness to tolerate blatant corruption and misinformation for the sake of change. While there is no doubt in my mind that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton would have been a remarkably capable president, she represented a status quo that tens of millions of Americans were eager to break.
By 2020, Americans saw the consequences of that change. Trump fractured our alliances around the world, accelerated the transfer of wealth from the poor and middle-class to the rich and failed to keep the COVID-19 pandemic under control, which led to the deaths of more than 350,000 Americans in 2020 alone. When former President Joe Biden decisively won the 2020 election, followed by an insurrection stoked by Trump that will haunt this country for decades, many assumed that Trump was done for.
Once again, we underestimated him. Trump steamrolled through the other Republican presidential contenders in 2024. Political analysts will spend years assessing the conditions that led to his return to the White House, but one thing is clear: Trump tapped into primal fears and anxieties that countless Americans share.
Like many other political analysts, I underestimated voters’ willingness to tolerate blatant corruption and misinformation for the sake of change.
As he started his second term, I prayed for his success. I wanted him to do all the things he said he would do, such as drive down the price of eggs and bring an end to the war in Ukraine. I may not have voted for him, but I hoped that he was sincere when he proclaimed his desire to make life less expensive and easier for the American people.
I also hoped that both the guardrails of our democracy and the advice of experienced leaders would keep his worst instincts in check, as they did in his first term. Trump did a lot of damage in his first term, but there were at least a handful of people around him to tell him, no.
That is no longer the case. Just three months into his presidency, we are seeing the consequences of unchecked abuses of power. Not only has he failed to make good on his promise to reduce inflation “starting on day one,” he has allowed Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to take a chainsaw to the federal government and the institutions on which this country is built.
The federal government employs millions of people, including hundreds of thousands of veterans, working on everything from aviation safety to livestock health to cancer research. There is no doubt that our bureaucracy has become a little bloated, but improving it is work for a scalpel, not a bone saw. Instead of taking time to assess where efficiencies can be found, tens of thousands of employees have been laid off with no notice and no justification, upending not just their lives but the lives of their families and millions of senior citizens, students, people with disabilities and countless others who rely on a functional government.
And for those who are still employed, every week brings new threats and uncertainty about their jobs. This is not a side effect of Musk’s efforts – it’s the goal. Hundreds of thousands of workers are no doubt already looking for other jobs just in case. These efforts are not about making government better. They are about fundamentally destroying agencies so the money that funds them can finance additional tax cuts for people making millions, rather than benefiting the average American.
Make no mistake – we are the ones paying the cost, and it will only get more expensive with every month. Tariffs have already driven up the cost of everything from bacon to home electronics while devastating our agricultural community that exports around $190 billion per year, including approximately $4 billion from Georgia.
The United States has long been a beacon of stability, freedom and economic prosperity. Despite our failings, despite the desperate need to improve life for those among us with the least, we have been a nation of creators and innovators. In less time than I ever thought possible, we are now destroying what our forefathers built.
As even Trump’s most diehard supporters begin to feel the pain, now is the time for all of us – citizens and legislators alike – to stand up and say, “enough is enough.” We’re better than this.
We have to be. 
