Trump cabinet, part of the swamp

Dear Editor,
The author claimed in his column ‘Trump’s vision’, Feb. 2, pg. 6, Obama catered to the political elite but not to the ordinary working Americans.
So, ‘Obamacare’ was not for the ordinary Americans? Do you realize that 60 per cent of all bankruptcies are the results of medical costs? Private health care in America is a $3 trillion cottage industry that benefits doctors, insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies and hospitals, not the consumers.  That is why those interests didn’t want any changes to their system which costs, per capita, are twice as much as Canada’s or most western European countries.
That is why they opposed any changes to the medical system, and the conservative party in America (GOP) has stood by that vested interest group in opposing any major changes to private health care since the late 1940s.
Why would they want to change a system that brings in so much money, the goose that lays the golden eggs?
Trump said he was going to “drain the swamp”, yet look at the people he appointed to his cabinet. They are all part of the swamp and when you look at the people who were just elected to the US Congress, most are politicians who have been elected over and over, and most of them have no interest in changing the system either.
After all, it’s the politicians in Washington, like in Ottawa, who write in the tax loopholes that benefit the top 10 per cent of society.
Ever hear of the “Panama Papers”? Tax havens in the Caribbean?
Since the “Great Recession”, which was caused by greedy bankers, mortgage lenders, and their political backers, the top 10 per cent of our society has seen their wealth increase by more than 20 per cent, while the rest of North American society has barely kept up with taxes and inflation. Oh yeah!
While the super-rich have been able to avoid paying their fair share in taxes, we (the peasants/serf) have been forced to carry the burden of paying taxes for our democracy (public schools, roads, bridges, health care, defense, police services, emergency services, fire departments, etc.).
So, if some of your readers really think Trump, who has a history of bankruptcies and shady business dealings, will “save” America, I have some ocean front properties for sale in east central Alberta, and if you buy that, I will throw in the Calgary Tower.
George Thatcher
Trochu, Ab.