Trump, Cleveland more similar than you thought
I wish Washington Post columnist Hugh Hewitt had expanded on the similarities between Donald Trump and Grover Cleveland (Monday, page B7, “What Grover Cleveland Can Teach Donald Trump”).
For example, when vetoing a farmers’ relief bill in 1887, Cleveland famously said: “Although the people should support the government, the government should not support the people.” In dealing with the pandemic’s funding, testing, contact tracing and budget cuts to national health spending, Trump clearly echoed Cleveland’s sentiments. Sixteen million cases and 302,000 deaths speak to that fact.
Both presidents abused American taxpayers. In dealing with a surplus in the Treasury, our 22nd president decided that investors could turn in their bonds before their due date and receive a bonus of $28 for every $100 dollar bond. The money for the bonuses came from taxes and tariffs paid by all Americans, but of course, most of the population did not own bonds.
In 2018, Trump doled out $19 billion in taxpayer dollars to farmers because of their loss of income as a result of tariffs he imposed. Yes, Trump is a lot like Cleveland. Both practiced reverse Robin Hoodism.