Our ship of state needs a mutiny

Our ship of state is looking more and more like a ship of fools.

On June 1, President Donald Trump announced the United States’ withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accord. Trump spoke bitterly about its alleged unfairness and what a rotten deal it was for the United States, one of the world’s biggest polluters.

“We don’t want other leaders and other countries laughing at us anymore,” Trump griped. Even casual listeners must have caught the subtext in Trump’s complaint. It was delivered after his return from the NATO and G7 summits where he cut a lonely, awkward figure among other world leaders.

“I was elected to represent the citizens of Pittsburgh, not Paris,” Trump declared, except for the fact that 80 percent of Pittsburgh’s electorate voted for Hillary Clinton. As Trump bloviated, the world watched an ice shelf the size of Delaware breaking away from western Antarctica.

While Americans flock to beaches, parks and Pride festivals, GOP senators plot to strip health coverage from them by repealing the Affordable Care Act.

Vice President Mike Pence is touring the country building support for the repeal, promising that “the Obamacare nightmare is about to end.”

The GOP solution to that supposed “nightmare” could strip up to 26 million needy individuals of affordable health coverage over the next decade. Billions cut from Medicaid, insurance subsidies and health-related taxes may be transferred to wealthy Americans in the form of huge tax breaks.

This coup is being orchestrated behind closed doors with no plans for public hearings.

Gary Cohn, director of the National Economic Council, revealed Trump’s plan for infrastructure improvements. It requires states, localities and businesses to shoulder most of the burden of rebuilding bridges, roads and public facilities nationwide.

Cohn expressed great satisfaction with the plan, adding this Orwellian twist: “We like the template of not using taxpayer dollars to give taxpayers wins.”

Say what?

How shifting the financial burden to states, localities and businesses saves taxpayer dollars is not clear. States and localities have consistently sought federal aid because of inadequate revenue to meet their infrastructure needs. Wholesale privatization of services would involve substantial outlays for administration and oversight and still require fees for services. Privatization has often been linked to cronyism and corruption.

Will businesses be willing to contribute more? Many businesses demand public infrastructure improvements, loans and tax breaks before they will locate in a particular area. In Milwaukee, the City Attorney’s Office is swamped with cases filed by private businesses seeking tax exemptions. That doesn’t sound like a sector anxious to take on more public responsibilities.

On the international scene, Trump decried terrorism in the Middle East while making a deal with Saudi Arabia for $110 billion in weapons. Saudi Arabia is the home country of 15 of the September 11, 2001 hijackers. It funds terrorists and spreads Wahhabism, the most militant form of Islam, around the world.

When Saudi Arabia and its allies cut ties and travel to Qatar, Trump joined in the attack despite the fact that Qatar hosts a U.S. air and naval base with thousands of U.S. service members.

It’s past time for mutiny on our ship of state.