“You Can’t Drain the Swamp If You Live in It”

In recent days, the Trump administration has not-so-subtly shut the door on one of the darkest, most damning stains in modern American memory: the Epstein investigation. Despite bipartisan cries for transparency, the DOJ—under Trump’s leadership—declared there was no client list. MAGA influencers expected a damning “client list” from the Epstein files—yet the recent DOJ–FBI memo declared no evidence of blackmail material or secret clients, reaffirming Epstein’s death as suicide

Even as thousands of pages of evidence vanished overnight. The Epstein client list, falling into the void - this administration calls it closure.

But for millions of Americans, it felt like a political tombstone—one that buried not just evidence, but accountability. Once again, elites close ranks. And in the era of Trump 2.0, the rules don’t apply to those at the top. They never did.

For those paying attention, this should come as no surprise. See, while the President of the United States has often touted his foreign policy record, declaring “No new wars!” it seems the President has forgotten the war he is waging at home against his own citizens.

Here’s what you missed—because you were never meant to notice:

In a country where fentanyl is now the leading cause of death for Americans aged 18-49, the Trump administration chose to target not the cartels, not the root causes of addiction, but the antidote.

The Trump administration is proposing eliminating a 56-million dollar grant that teaches first responders how to administer and distribute Narcan, the life-saving drug that reverses opioid overdoses in seconds.

While rural America is watching their children overdose, the Trump tax plan has made it easier than ever for the ultra-wealthy to write off private jets, yachts, and luxury entertainment under the guise of "business expenses."

It’s called bonus depreciation. And for billionaires, it means a 100% tax deductions on nearly everything—planes, cars, even Gulfstream G650s.

Meanwhile, Trump’s budget gutted $1 trillion from Medicaid, dismantled disability coverage, and slashed funding for Alzheimer’s, cancer, and HIV research, while tariffs and proposed tariffs raise prices on working class families. In Trump’s America, rather than ending homelessness or taking care of veterans, you can buy a multi-million dollar yacht and get reimbursed by the government.

Speaking of vets: The Navy Federal Credit Union was sued under the Biden Administration for charging inflated, undisclosed fees to active-duty troops and veterans, often targeting the most financially vulnerable: service members, disabled vets, and their families.

The lawsuit detailed how many of these servicemembers were systematically defrauded through hidden penalties, predatory interest hikes, and fake forbearance offers that deepened their debt. The 95-million dollar settlement money was in escrow, waiting to be distributed to our defrauded soldiers.

And yet — just weeks into Trump’s second term — the DOJ quietly dismissed the case. No restitution. No admission of guilt. The credit union got to keep the money, and the families got a lesson in how power works.

And once upon a time - 7-months ago, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau fought for you. It helped veterans, low-income families, and students fight back against predatory banks, payday lenders, and corporate fraud.

The CFPB forced bad actors—banks, lenders, debt collectors—to return over $19 billion to more than 200 million wronged consumers. Over 4 million consumer complaints were processed, exposing scams, fraud, and illegal fees that otherwise would’ve gone unchecked.The CFPB also cracked down on predatory payday lenders, mortgage abuses, and student loan servicers that trapped borrowers in decades of debt.

The bureau didn’t just fight for consumers—it helped honest businesses compete in a marketplace riddled with corruption.

Until Trump turned it into a weapon.

Under the leadership, the CFPB has asked a judge to reverse an incoming Biden administration policy that would have removed medical debt from credit reports.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, originally designed after the 2008 crisis to protect Americans from predatory lenders and medical debt traps, had worked for over a decade to ensure that getting sick didn’t mean financial ruin.

One of its last reforms — removing medical debt from credit reports — was meant to give families breathing room. Because no one battling Stage 4 cancer or managing diabetes should have to choose between bankruptcy and chemotherapy.

In yet another betrayal, inone Louisiana community, the air is thick with refinery soot and the stench of chemicals. Cancer rates are among the highest in the country. Residents - mostly poor - call it what it is: "Cancer Alley."

And for years, the EPA investigated evidence that emissions were not just toxic. A case was built against a foreign petrochemical plant, backed by data, allegedly linking those emissions to surges in cancer clusters.

Then came the reversal: in March, the Trump-appointed EPA director dismissed the case, citing the dismantling radical DEI programs.
There is an elementary school located down the road from the chemical plant, but according to this administration, the ability to breathe in clean, unpolluted air is now DEI.

And in 2019, the Southwest Key facility — a taxpayer-funded shelter for migrant children — came under fire after multiple reports of physical and sexual abuse by staff. Some of the children were as young as six. Numerous children, sexually assaulted and abused.

The federal case that followed promised accountability. And then, earlier this year, the DOJ dropped it. These were children torn from their parents and sexually abused. And now, their abusers face no trial, no verdict, and no consequences.

You may be against immigration, but I’ve never met a single Republican who didn’t value the importance of keeping children safe from predators.

Hell, in yet another betryal, this administration even attempted to bring back asbestos, before public backlash forced the administration to walk back the proposal. Call me crazy, but I don’t believe that mesothelioma will make America great again.

Yet, from crushed credit scores from cancer bills, defrauded veteran, poisoned communities and abused children, —these tragedies share one awful truth:

The government had the power to protect them. And instead, it chose profit, corruption, and silence, while insolating the most powerful people in our nation from some of the sickest crimes imaginable.

These aren’t abstract policy shifts. These are not Liberal or Conservative ideals. They are direct attacks on the most vulnerable Americans — the sick, the poor, the voiceless, and the forgotten. And they're not accidents. They're part of a pattern.

One-third of rural hospitals are projected to be at risk of closure due to the Big Beautiful Bill, with some estimates suggesting anywhere from 50-thousand new preventable deaths annually as a result.

Millions of Americans are waking up poorer, sicker and without any hope that their government will, at the very least, not step on them as they struggle to pull themselves up from poverty, debt and illness.

This administration has dismantled consumer protections, erased corporate accountability, and gutted healthcare and research, all while handing out massive tax loopholes to billionaires.

There is no question that Liberals and Conservatives have wildly different stances on key policy issues, but we used to share in our humanity. Our politicians have normalized Alligator Alcatraz, a migrant detention facility built in the Everglades, allegedly set to house the “worst of the worst.” 8 cells, 32 beds in each one. Detainees describe conditions such as flooding, wastewater overflowing onto the floors, worms in the food. Despite Florida’s claims, there are hundreds of detainees without criminal records. When politicians were given a tour of the facility, they encountered numerous detainees screaming for help, telling our lawmakers that they were American citizens. When contacted by numerous media publications, they state of Florida wouldn’t even confirm whether or not women and children would be housed here.

This facility cannot survive a major storm. And it is an abdication of our responsibility as Americans to sentence thousands - including possible guards and medical staff on hand to likely deaths in the event of a major storm, during hurricane season.

While headlines swirl around spectacle and scandal, these quiet betrayals are unfolding behind closed doors. And unless we name them, remember them, and fight back — we will be the next forgotten name on a redacted case file.

The Epstein cover-up does feel like a stunning betrayal, but it’s par for the course for an administration that measures success based on the number of Americans it shoves into the unemployment line. Cruelty is part of the plan, but this time around, rather than focusing on just migrants, we’re on the chopping block, too.

The next time that you feel hopeless or irate because your neighbor is on government assistance, just remember: somewhere out there, there’s a millionaire, buying a jet on the government’s dime.