Politicians disappoint their followers. This is universally true. It doesn’t matter if they are conservative, progressive, or any other stripe – they overpromise and underdeliver. But it is rare that they do the opposite of what their followers need or expect – this is a recipe for political disaster. Why? Because strong political followings, even in our two party system, are actually quite narrow. About 30% of voters identify with each party, with the other 40% identifying as independent or unaffiliated. Other than turnout, it is these voters who decide our leaders. Assumably, these voters just want politicians who they can align with and will keep their word.

So it even more shocking that in 2025, the Republican leaders have nearly completely ignored their constituents and often pursued policies against their interests. The vast majority of this betrayal lies with the Executive Branch (read, President Trump), with the complicity of the Congress that has abdicated its oversight functions and permitted the Executive to take their Constitutional powers as their own (tariff, appropriations, labor law, etc). Americans do have many of their representatives to hold to account for their lot in life. Let’s explore the betrayals:

1. Corporate America – the simple objective of the Republicans have always been to create a favorable business climate for corporations, be they small businesses on the Main Street, large conglomerates, or farmers. Lower costs, less regulation, open markets – the promise of Ronald Reagan. In return for their support they have gotten higher costs, government meddling, and more competition from other countries. Remember Trump’s ‘drill, baby, drill’ mantra and his ‘deal’ with energy execs in return for campaign donations? Now it is widely believed that the administration’s deals with Middle Eastern OPEC leaders is wreaking havoc on future oil development, as well as their attacks on clean energy efforts running contrary to the investment that energy companies are making. The massive tariff regime is simply a tax on business, to the tune of close to $3T over the next 10 years – far more than any Democratic Party proposal to increase corporate tax rates. Meanwhile, the administration is cutting programs that support small businesses. Not to mention the increased input costs (from tariffs) and meddling industrial policy.
2. Farming/Ranching America – Farm country largely votes conservative, not simply because of their socially conservative views but also because they presume conservative politicians will prioritize their access to capital for their farms, access to markets for their goods, and permit them to make a living without government intrusion. Instead of a supportive government partner, the Trump administration has ignored the needs of the farmer. Higher tariffs make inputs more expensive and make exports less competitive – hurting farmers more than they were already hurting. The recent ‘deal’ with China bakes in half of the ordinary amount of soybean exports that US farmers expect this year and lock in no growth in the out years. Ranchers are angry as hell with proposals from the administration to buy Argentinian beef. The government is meddling in markets, but they are only making things worse.
3. Rural America – the needs of rural communities are distinct from urban ones – they require more support (medical, utilities, disaster recovery) and often are some of the poorest areas of the country (relying on basic needs support from the government). But the cuts in the Big Beautiful Bill were aimed at the poorest Americans, who live all over rural America. Cuts to SNAP are substantial (starting in late 2025) impacting about 4 million people. The administration decided to get a head start on those cuts, trying to cut off benefits during the government shutdown. Medicaid (1 in 4 people in rural America are on Medicaid) and ACA changes (affecting 2.8 million rural Americans) are planned for different times during 2026, resulting in approximately 16 million people losing healthcare coverage. In addition, rural hospitals are teetering on closure (some have already announced closures). Finally, the promises of the administration’s fight against fentanyl appears to be window dressing as President Trump removes any pressure on China on the matter in his most recent trade ‘deal’, and the bombing of small boats near South America do nothing to interdict fentanyl, or interdict any significant quantity of drugs.

The Congress remains silent (and the House, in particularly, doesn’t even show up to work), while the pleas of the American people (from all corners) are ignored. The betrayal is blatant and palpable.

And the national disgrace continues…