Congressional approval ratings are measured monthly, and for the last quarter of 2023, have pretty much bottomed out. December polling, the most recent available, showed 85% of Americans disapprove of the job its Congress is doing.
And that was before the GOP-led House killed the bipartisan combined border security and foreign aid package, threatened the stand-alone foreign aid package, and successfully impeached the Secretary of Homeland Security by a single vote on the second try.
Never before in my previous five decades on this planet has the world been as frightening as it is today. Israel continues to wage war against Hamas while the Red Sea has become a no-sail-zone for global commerce thanks to Iran-backed Houthi thugs. Ukraine continues to fight for its soil inch by inch as upwards of 20,000 of its children have been seized from their homes and shipped to Russia for re-education and brainwashing.
And Russia has embarked on a massive military buildup, likely doubling its troops along its NATO border and increasing its troop strength to 1.5 million. Things do not look good for the Baltic nations, for a start.
Border security, never good in this century, and lacking meaningful legislation from Congress all the while, is worse than ever. Border crossings in December approached a quarter million people. Tensions at the state and municipal level, particularly in Texas, New York City, and Chicago, are ready to explode.
It should be without question that Congress would pass emergency funding for the border and for Ukraine and Israel. Global and national stability depend on it. But Candidate Trump doesn't like the idea of his election opponent scoring a win on these issues. So he has let the GOP caucus know that he will react very, very unhappily if these measures pass.
"Unhappily" could take the form of smearing on social media, badmouthing at campaign rallies, or the worst blow of all to anyone running for reelection: convincing donors to withhold their cash.
He's even flexing his foreign affairs muscle again, observing that as President he'd let Russia invade any NATO nation not meeting the 2% defense spending threshold. What a heartening signal to Vladimir Putin, who learned everything he knows about nation building from his time in the KGB.
This is the America and the world that Donald Trump wants. This is the Congress that Donald Trump wants. Is this what you want?
We're getting a free preview of what President Trump 2.0 will look like. Voters must pay attention and decide if they want the next four years to look like the last six weeks.
If for no other reason than for national security, Nikki Haley should be your presidential choice. Then there's Trump's disastrous economic plans, starting with a 10% tariff on imports. That's a 10% tax on every consumer in every income bracket. And he has zero plans for addressing the Federal debt, which is over the long term a larger worry for Americans than the border or global crises.
Donald Trump brings nothing to the White House but a desire for personal retribution and a policy portfolio that will send the nation back decades. A second loss to Biden will give him resolve to challenge election results yet again. He must be stopped in the primary.
Merritt Hamilton Allen is a PR executive and former Navy officer. She appeared regularly as a panelist on NM PBS and is a frequent guest on News Radio KKOB. A Republican, she lives amicably with her Democratic husband north of I-40 where they run one head of dog, and two of cat. She can be reached at news.ind.merritt@gmail.com.