The Mickey Mouse Economics Presidency: One Man Rule Under Fake State of Emergencies
August 4, 2025•759 words
"The United States is now governed by the least responsible, most corrupt, and most dangerous leadership in its history." - Jeffrey Sachs
"The truth is that the Congress in Washington is a bunch of millionaires working for billionaires. They don't represent the people, they represent the money." - Chris Hedges
"Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies... a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed." - Dwight D. Eisenhower
"The American political system has been corrupted to the core. Campaign finance is legalized bribery. Congress is bought and sold." - Lawrence Lessig
"When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross." - Sinclair Lewis
There are significant indications that democracy is at risk in the American political system.
The fear of one man, Donald Trump, appears to be paralyzing the Senate and the House of Representatives. Instead of defending democracy or the Constitution, lawmakers who were elected to represent the people now seem more interested in not being mocked on Trump's Truth Social platform. They have opted for self-preservation and silence rather than resisting authoritarianism. Thus, executive power is undermining the Congress and ignoring the Judicial branches of government, the very institutions that was created to keep the President in check. These two branches have weakened enormously due to the inaction of both branches.
This is how the United States got to a point where a president can rule by decree and bypass legislative processes under doubtful declarations of national emergency, transforming the highest office into a one-man authoritarian comedy circus. Though the repercussions are tragically real, what should be serious governance has turned into a political comedy show.
The United States lags well behind other contemporary liberal democracies in terms of social spending, which includes programs that shield people from extreme poverty, lower mortality rates, and stop crime spikes. The Trump government spends about $2 trillion more annually than it takes in. Why? because Washington keeps giving money to the extreme elite rich and multi-billion dollar companies without wisely taxing them in exchange.
This is ingrained in the American political system and goes beyond a simple fiscal error.
Rich donors and influential corporate lobbyists provide the majority of the funding for members of Congress. They serve the very people who oppose higher taxes in order to remain in office. Thus, "Spend, but don't tax us" becomes Washington's unofficial motto. This leads to a dangerous trade deficit and a long-term budget imbalance.
Jeffrey Sachs, an economist, has openly criticized this corruption.
He points out that both Republicans and Democrats are stuck in a cycle of relying on donors, which prevents them from addressing pressing societal issues. Rather, they advocate for tax cuts and steer clear of any legislation that would put their donors in jeopardy. Instead of working for the common Americans that voted them into political office, they work for the elite rich which line their pockets.
Sachs also makes a clear connection between the United States' growing federal budget deficit and its over extended military presence.
He calls the U.S.'s current military presence in 80 countries, nearly 800 bases, "crazy!" Sachs argues that closing hundreds of these bases would be a reasonable first step if the objective is actually to reduce spending and the deficit. He claims that diplomacy is far less expensive than war.
Sachs admits the importance of a robust national defence, but he draws a crucial distinction between protecting the country and funding a war economy, an expensive, all-encompassing militarism for its own sake. He warns that there is constantly an "economic headache" linked to any American military base, and that the government currently spends over $1 trillion annually on the domestic military-industrial complex.
The MAGA movement and president at the centre of it all advocate extreme economic protectionism while demonstrating little to no grasp of fundamental economic concepts. Trump's economic policies frequently appear to be driven more by emotional off-the-cuff actions and bizarre extreme far right nationalist beliefs than by knowledge or data.
The outcome?
A simplistic, comedy show, and impulsive version of Mickey Mouse economics.
While actual problems like poverty, infrastructure, education, and public health still fester, there is a display of right-wing ultra-nationalistic authoritarian gestures disguised as leadership. A cartoon president based on political threats or "punishments" of tariffs on countries for no intelligent rationale, based on economic ignorance, and fear is not what Americans deserve.