The president’s promise to deliver hefty checks to all Americans if he wins is as a preposterously shallow gimmick.
Republicans often slam the left for promoting the idea that Americans ought to have access to “free” stuff — like government-backed health insurance or childcare. Those policies of course aren’t actually free, because tax revenue finances those social services. But robust social democratic policies, which have enjoyed great success in many other affluent democracies, are based on the concept that citizens are owed social rights — a guarantee of dignity for the working class. And they do so by creating sustainable mechanisms to finance such programs.
By contrast, President Donald Trump has spent his time in office financially enriching himself, his family and the richest people in this country, while confessing to reporters that he pays no heed to the plight of average Americans as he refuses to end his oil price-spiking war on Iran. Yet now he is waving the idea of free cash for Americans like a parent might dangle a toy in front of an unhappy infant, hoping that for just a brief moment they will be transfixed, with no memory of the past or ability to imagine the future.
On Wednesday, Trump pledged to send $5,000 checks to every adult American citizen — but only if Republicans win the midterm elections. The next day, he announced his intention in the coming weeks to send out $500 in health insurance rebates to nearly one million Americans, because he claims they were overcharged for Obamacare under the Biden administration.
These policies are dubious for several reasons, but notably they reek of Trump’s condescension and disdain for his compatriots. In order for these proposals to work as a persuasive tool to vote for the Republican Party, one must hold the view that Americans are morons.
These slapdash proposals stand out for how flagrantly they function as a form of bribery.
It’s safe to wager that the $5,000 checks will never happen. As my colleague Steve Benen has pointed out, they would cost well over a trilliondollars, would likely be legally contested due to the appearance of bribery and would require hard-to-come-by congressional approval — and this would need to all be sorted before the midterm elections.
Moreover, the president has made these kinds of “Trump dividend” promises before, only for the money to never materialize. Trump has at least twice during his second term pledged to issue checks to Americans based on savings from his ill-fated efficiency agenda and tariff revenue. Those checks still only exist in Trump’s imagination.
In the case of the Obamacare rebate checks, the Trump administration claims the Biden administration “accumulated a significant surplus of funds that were not used to benefit the Americans who paid these higher premiums.” It attributes this surplus to “gross mismanagement” of Obamacare funds, but provides no evidence to substantiate the claim. And as The Associated Press notes, it’s unclear “where the money for the rebates would come from and whether it requires congressional approval for disbursement.” It’s possible these proposed refunds are more plausible than the $5,000 checks, but skepticism is warranted over whether they’ll happen at all.
These slapdash proposals stand out for how flagrantly they function as a form of bribery, even if they may pass muster legally. Trump has not only failed to address the cost-of-living crisis with actual solutions, but he’s also systematically made it worse through retrograde tariffs and his foolish war on Iran. He allowed Obamacare subsidies to expire this year, causing the cost of health insurance to skyrocket for millions. And in the run-up to the midterms, he has offered no new proposals on how to mitigate those issues, instead choosing to double down on war and tariffs.
Now, just two months before Election Day, he’s conjuring up the idea of stacks of cash for the people, not based on any kind of fiscally sound plan, philosophical commitment or durable policy vision, but as a one-off game-show-style prize to divert people’s attention from his failures as president. And again, he’s only promising to deliver these goodies if his party wins the midterms, a cruel and cynical way of dangling the possibility of relief for economically struggling Americans.
I pray that people see through it, but Trump’s entire political project is based on conning the public. Despite the various administrative obstacles, it is theoretically possible that these messages will break through for some disenchanted Republicans or move some swing voters. I say that for one reason. During the Covid-19 pandemic, Congress passed stimulus checks that bore Trump’s name to help keep the economy running, and they proved memorable in the minds of many voters. It’s possible that a subset of voters could believe that Trump, despite his myriad problems, will be able to deliver at least some amount of money, while failing to look into any of the details.
The difference, of course, is that those checks were meant to help the economy deal with a public health crisis. This time, the president himself is the crisis. But he’s hoping that he can wave a shiny object in their face long enough that they forget.