For decades, the Republican Party has railed against welfare programs, cynically arguing that Democrats use government assistance to pay poor people to vote for them.
So, what should we make of the Trump administration doling out $4.7 billion to farmers ahead of the 2018 midterm elections? While it’s obvious the program is intended to ease the sting of tariffs slapped on American agriculture in response to President Donald Trump’s ill-advised trade war, it’s also apparent that the payments are targeted at Republican core voters in an effort to encourage them to vote in November.
It also does nothing to address other industries hurt by the trade war. One could argue that’s because those industries don’t hold large numbers of Republican votes.
But that would be cynical.
— John Houck, Lake in the Hills
