Trump wants us sick and poor, and he's not even hiding it anymore.

Trump and his Republicans want billion-dollar planes and gold-plated rooms instead of millions of Americans having access to basic health care and dignity through Medicare. It’s that shameful. That’s the choice Trump makes every time: luxury for himself, suffering for the rest of us.

If the government shuts down, let’s be clear about one thing. It is one hundred percent the fault of Donald Trump and the GOP. They control the presidency. They control Congress. They control the Supreme Court. They control the government. Democrats control practically nothing. And yet if everything falls apart, Republicans will say it’s the Democrats’ fault. They always do.

I spent part of today in an emergency room. I’m okay, but I could use some extra rest, so this post may be lighter in words than usual, though not in weight. Because what I saw sitting there told me more about this country than any press conference ever could.

The room wasn’t packed with car crash victims or people rushed in from ambulances. It was filled with people who had nowhere else to turn. People whose infections had dragged on for weeks. People whose chronic conditions spiraled because they couldn’t get in to see a doctor, or never had one in the first place.

That shouldn’t surprise us. Nearly one in three Americans don’t have a primary care doctor. I’m lucky. I have a wonderful doctor I can reach when I need to. But it was disheartening to see how many people don’t. People left to wait until things get so bad they can’t ignore it anymore. People who deserve the same care and reassurance I know I can count on.

So they end up in the ER. And the ER has become the front line. A front line that is cracking under the weight.

Now imagine tearing away the subsidies that let millions hang on to even a shred of coverage. The coverage that allows them to go to the hospital without fear of bankruptcy afterwards. Imagine what happens when hospitals are told they won’t be reimbursed. They won’t just be crowded. They’ll collapse.

And rural hospitals are at the greatest risk. Since 2010, more than 190 rural hospitals have closed across the country. When the only hospital in a town closes, it’s not just inconvenient, it’s deadly. Ambulances that once took ten minutes now take forty-five. Women in labor drive an hour and sometimes deliver in the back seat. Overdose victims don’t make it in time. And the jobs vanish too. Many of these hospitals are the largest employers in the area. The hospital cafeteria workers, the laundry service, the clerical staff, all gone. It’s not just the medical personnel. The ripple effects hit every diner, every grocery store, every school. A shuttered hospital isn’t just a health crisis. It’s the death of a community.

And that’s exactly the future Trump is pushing. Democrats are asking for one thing: keep the subsidies, keep Medicare safe. Republicans are threatening to shut down the government to rip even that away. This isn’t a negotiation. It’s a hostage note.

We’ve been through shutdowns before. In 2019, Trump gave us the longest one in history, thirty-five days. Federal workers lined up at food banks. Airport security officers called in sick en masse because they couldn’t afford gas to get to work. Trash piled up in national parks until overflowing dumpsters attracted rats. The Congressional Budget Office calculated the cost at $11 billion, $3 billion of which was never recovered. That government shutdown was temporary. Painful, but temporary.

Not this time.

This time Trump has ordered permanent cuts. Mass firings. Erasures. What does that look like in practice? At the Department of Agriculture, food safety inspections are being slashed, meaning contaminated meat stays on shelves. At the FDA, new drug approvals stall, leaving patients in limbo when timely care is the difference between life and death. At the CDC, epidemiologists are sent home, so the next outbreak spreads faster and wider. At Veterans Affairs, claims processing slows to a crawl, and wounded soldiers wait months for benefits. When the government doesn’t pay contractors, whole small businesses fold. These are not abstract numbers. They are rotting groceries, untested drugs, untracked viruses, and veterans waiting by the mailbox for checks that never come.

This is not a budget fight. This is demolition. It is sabotage dressed up as politics. Shrink the government so it can’t protect you, but leave it strong enough to punish Trump’s enemies and support his authoritarian ways. That’s the blueprint. That’s the point.

So what does this look like in practice? Week one, federal workers stop receiving paychecks. They line up at food banks, embarrassed but desperate. Week two, SNAP benefits run dry and food banks are overwhelmed. Families can’t feed their kids. Week three, small businesses can’t access federal loans, tax refunds are frozen, and bills pile up. Week four, Social Security offices lock their doors. Airports grind into chaos as TSA agents walk away. By the second month, the cuts calcify. Rural hospitals close for good. Federal inspectors don’t come back. Researchers never return. The permanent damage sets in.

And instead of working to avoid a government shutdown that will hurt millions of Americans, Trump is busy posting racist AI videos of Democratic leaders. He shared a deepfake that showed Chuck Schumer calling Democrats “woke pieces of shit” and Hakeem Jeffries in a sombrero and mustache, set to mariachi music. This isn’t politics. It isn’t leadership. It isn’t even serious. It’s a game to him. Another cheap trophy to capture. Another way to humiliate, degrade, and distract.

He doesn’t care what happens to this country. He never has. No other president in our history would behave this way in a moment of crisis, not Democrat, not Republican. In normal times, with a functioning and competent government, this alone would have been grounds for the 25th Amendment. Grounds for impeachment. Grounds for resignation in disgrace.

Instead, we have a chorus of men cheering him on, like jesters in the king’s court, clapping for every outrage, staying loyal for the royal perks. They aren’t leaders. They’re courtiers in his crumbling realm, desperate to keep their place in line while the rest of America burns.

And while he distracts the country with lies and cruel hate, he’s quietly raising tariffs yet again that will squeeze working families even harder. He just announced a 10% tariff on imported lumber and softwood timber, and a 25% tariff on kitchen cabinets, vanities, and upholstered furniture. By January, those rates rise to 30% and 50% for countries without trade agreements. Officials call it “national security.” In reality, it means higher housing costs, higher furniture costs, higher bills for families who are already struggling to afford the basics.

Instead of protecting Americans from harm, he is inventing new ways to cause us harm.

And who pays? The same red towns that cheered him on. When a rural hospital closes, the heart of the community goes dark. The grocery store loses customers. The school district loses tax revenue. Young families pack up and leave. What’s left behind is shuttered storefronts and empty parking lots. He is not saving them. He is hollowing them out.

Part of me wants to say you play, you pay. But I can’t. Because suffering spreads. Desperate people don’t just get sick, they do desperate things.

That is where Trump is steering us. Straight into collapse, and then into control.

But here’s the thing. It doesn’t have to happen.

We can stop it by refusing to let this be normalized. By naming it for what it is: cruelty. By demanding that Democrats hold the line, even if this is their only leverage left.

And we need to let everyone know how this really works and who is to blame. Democrats want people to have access to healthcare. Republicans don’t. It’s that simple.

We need to make sure our friends and family understand how tariffs are really taxes Americans pay. We have to make the truth louder than Trump’s propaganda and lies.

And we need to document everything. Especially when it comes to these fascist ICE raids.

Governor Pritzker said it best:
“Get your cell phones out — record what you see. Put it on social media. Peacefully ask for badge numbers and identification. Speak up for your neighbors. We need to let the world know this is happening — and that we won’t stand for it.”

If you are in Illinois, Washington D.C., Portland, Oregon, anywhere this is unfolding, record it. Upload it. Share it. Back it up with friends outside the U.S. so it cannot be erased. Because dictators and fascist regimes rewrite history. Trump is already trying. But when we document it, when we share it, they can’t hide. Crimes have names. Crimes have faces. And history will have evidence.

So tonight, on the eve of the government shutdown, let’s remember who is really to blame for the possible carnage ahead. The GOP, who control everything. Not the party that just wants people to have access to medical care.

I’ll see you tomorrow.
Because we’re still here.
We’re not done.
And neither is this fight.
-Heather