| Photo by Eric Masur on Unsplash
Part XXII of the “United States 2024 Election
In political jargon, a dog whistle is the use of coded or suggestive language in political messaging to garner support from some particular groups of voters — without provoking opposition or anger from the candidate’s original or other supporters. The concept is named after ultrasonic dog whistles, which are audible to dogs but not humans.
This wordsmith believes that Mr. Trump—after a New York jury found him guilty of 34 counts of felony charges—is “damaged old goods.” Or, to use an acronym, “D.O.G.” Thus, this is an opportunity to use “dog whistles” (pun intended). Right?
Many political opponents of Mr. Trump think that his now being a felon automatically means that he is finished as a viable presidential candidate. It may be a crucial error to assume that he is finished, as perhaps 80% of his MAGA Republican cult members and other evangelical supporters are willing to go down with him — in a G.O.P. version of the S.S. Titanic.
Very few political pundits think that MAGA-GOP strategists are not using “dog whistles.” They do and are succeeding in amplifying what many ordinary workers, especially minimum-wage minority earners, feel about the Democratic slate. The underprivileged and those who survive on the economic margins believe that “Bidenomics” is not doing that good, as the Trump supporters use them in their dog-whistle propaganda. Yes, it is bad enough that it may lead the poor to experience more indignity of poverty and economic ruin in the next four years.
The Biden economists cannot argue that the U.S. economy is booming. Why? In reality, only filthy-rich Americans are benefiting mainly from the supposed economic bonanza. Energy prices, especially gasoline, torment low-wage earners and retired people. What lowly workers get in salary increases barely covers the increased prices of necessities—more often set by the price-gouging tactics of American cartels.
One does not have to be a winner of the Nobel Prize for Economics to conclude that small businesses and even medium-sized firms are facing stress right now. Higher wages, price increases of raw materials and energy supplies, distribution costs, and maintenance of inventory and supplies are hammering entrepreneurs.
Perhaps Democratic policy-and-decision makers forget about the recent seizure of Republic First Bank. It serves as a stark warning across the banking sector. The Klaros Group has reportedly identified significant stress in 282 small banks, especially those in rural areas, and credit unions, which collectively manage an astounding $900 billion in assets. It is like the proverbial first of a pair of shoes to drop.
The other shoe? It is public knowledge, which Mr. Google can verify, that more than 100 rural hospitals have closed over the past decade. Sadly, there is news that nearly 700 additional rural hospitals — over 30% of all rustic hospitals in the United States — are at risk of closing very soon. Even if local folks have private or public insurance to pay for healthcare services, there may not be any local medical facility — within 80-to-100 miles from their community — that can provide them with emergency care or preventive medicine. So, many people may find their insurance coverage worthless. This is why many rural areas become part of the Red States because Democrats have chosen to give second fiddle only to the countryside voters.
The 282 banks, credit unions, and 700 endangered rural hospitals are nearly the metaphorical equivalent of a thousand pairs of shoes. What will the political implications be if many start to fall within the next month or so?
Then, there were more pairs of shoes—just since March 2020. Media reports say that 58 public or nonprofit colleges have closed, merged, or announced closures or mergers since then. Reports estimate that roughly 43,480 students have been impacted by private nonprofit college closures since 2020 alone. Faculty and college employees were also affected—from canteen workers to security guards to janitors and other personnel.
“The 282 banks, credit unions, and 700 endangered rural hospitals are nearly the metaphorical equivalent of a thousand pairs of shoes. What will the political implications be if many start to fall within the next month or so?”
This columnist ran a series starting on May 17, 2023 — just four days after he attended the 143rd commencement exercise of the 155-year-old Holy Names University (H.N.U.) of Oakland, California. How could city, county, and state officials (almost all of them are Democrats) permit the closure of a university that turned out hundreds of well-educated, trained, and ready-to-be Board-certified nurses and other medical professionals every graduation day? This columnist and his wife attended the graduation of their granddaughter, who finished a four-year course in kinesiology.
And to think — as mentioned several times in this column — that according to the World Health Organization, there would be a 13-million shortage of nurses and similar or allied medical professionals by 2030? It was a question of an investment of some $ 300 million only to turn H.N.U. from a Catholic educational bastion to a secular cooperative-owned university of the future. Even this fiscal year, the Golden State runs a budgetary deficit of tens of billions of greenback. Reviving the H.N.U. would have helped generate millions of California-registered nurse-taxpayers. However, the public officials refused to lift a finger to help save it. Those interested in reading the Holy Names University debacle may read the series by typing “H.N.U.” in this website’s Search Box.
This columnist estimated the number of families and clans that sent their offspring to enroll at H.N.U. Then, their children’s children, in turn, had descendants who also studied for some semesters at the different campuses of H.N.U. in Oakland (C.A.). Then, count their in-laws and childhood friends. The low figure in 155 school years may total more than a million voters nationwide.
The Biden-Harris team does not need to use “dog whistles.” As suggested in this series, a simple “Covenant With the People” on how to help the less fortunate voters down the line. And in the coming years. After all, it is public knowledge that “G.O.P.” now means “Gutting the Old and the Poor.” And let the “Biden Back-to-Basics (B2B) Doctrine” provide more details on the plans and programs for socioeconomic empowerment for the youth, especially from among the ranks of the minority communities. This journalist has written Book IV of a “Mabuhay Writings” series available on Amazon.com. Mr. Biden appears on its front cover, and it carries most of the articles about the suggested “Biden B2B Doctrine.”.
