Señor Trumpanzee: "We Must Maintain Efforts To Put Our Nation On A Fiscally Sustainable Course (So Let's Give Billionaires Tax Cuts And Make Workers Pay For It)"

A brand new Harvard CAPS/Harris poll indicates that just 22% of voters say they will "definitely" vote for Trump in 2020. Another 11% say that will "probably" vote for him. 33% said they would definitely vote for whomever the Democrats run against him and another 11% said they'd probably vote for the Democrat. Of course it's early and things can change. It's likely that Trump will continue behaving like a baboon and that his approval ratings will continue to sink. That 11% who said they will probably vote for him could dissipate. There is little doubt he will drag his whole party down with him, especially if they keep enabling his behavior.

Example: Trump and his pliant congressional enablers have shut down the government over the Christmas holiday for no reason at all other than Trump's power-play to get billions of tax dollars for his childish wall. Most voters are angry and getting angrier about it. Now he's telling laid off workers to barter with their landlords soothed don't get evicted for now-payment of December or January rent. This is part of a letter the Trump regime has suggested laid off workers send to their landlords after speaking with them on the phone:

I will keep in touch with you to keep you informed about my income status and I would like to discuss with you the possibility of trading my services to perform maintenance (e.g. painting, carpentry work) in exchange for partial rent payments.

Here's one for mortgage holders, at least the ones who don't see this as an opportunity to seize your home:

Trump himself, though, decided this would be a good time to rub some salt on the wounds of federal workers. On Friday, just as the financial consequences of the layoffs were really kicking in, Trump issued an executive order freezing federal workers' pay for 2019, reneging on a 2.1% pay raise that was set to take effect next week, basically to allow workers too keep up with the cost of living increase. Trump claims the federal budget can't afford it, something do with the Republican tax scam, allowing billionaires and multimillionaires to cease paying billions in taxes.

About 380,000 federal employees are on furlough and 420,000 are working without pay as the new year approaches.

In a letter to House and Senate leaders in August, Trump described the pay increase as "inappropriate."

"We must maintain efforts to put our Nation on a fiscally sustainable course, and Federal agency budgets cannot sustain such increases," the President wrote.

Trump also stressed that a pay freeze would not affect the federal government's ability to attract qualified workers. He cited his statutory authority to adjust pay out of "national emergency or serious economic conditions affecting the general welfare."