The Tide May be Turning
I am not so positive as Robert. I believe we have a long way to go and endure with this president. In the short term, we can work for a change in the House. Perhaps with a turnout of voters we can once again drive policy for people.
Robert Reich makes some good points, read on . .
The Tide May be Turning, Robert Reich
It’s easy to be depressed, discouraged, dumbfounded by the cruelty and brainlessness of Trump and the people around him.
But today I want to celebrate what may be a turn in the Trump tide.
Elon Musk had to exit Trump world not because he couldn’t continue as a special government employee (there are a hundred ways around this), but because most Americans have become infuriated with Musk’s attacks on things they value, like veterans benefits and Social Security. Musk had become a huge political liability.
I call this progress.
Musk also had to leave because Tesla was tanking, partly thanks to you and so many others who wouldn’t be caught dead in a Tesla after what Musk has done.
I call this progress, too.
The nation’s major trade court has found that Trump doesn’t have authority to impose tariffs (i.e. taxes) on American consumers. Although a court of appeals has temporarily paused the ruling, it makes mincemeat out of Trump’s attempts to “negotiate” tariffs with other nations. Why negotiate when Trump may well lose his authority?
More progress.
And Trump’s so-called “Big Beautiful Bill” — which, if enacted, would be the largest redistribution of income in American history, from the poor and working class to the rich and ruling class — is bogged down in the Senate.
Republican senators are finding it impossible to accomplish three things simultaneously: protect Medicaid, deliver a huge tax cut mainly to the rich, and prevent the budget deficit and national debt from exploding. Two of the three are possible, but not all three. (Even Musk understands this.)
Which means the bill’s chances of survival are plummeting. And its poison pill to render the courts powerless to enforce orders may never see the light of day.
Even more progress. .
Trump’s polls are plummeting. The vast majority of Americans are rejecting him.
When I say the tide is turning, I don’t mean we’re out of danger. As we know only too well, Trump gets even wilder and crueler when he feels cornered — and he’s capable of just about anything.
And his main henchmen — Stephen Miller, Russell Vought, and JD Vance — are as ruthless and authoritarian as he is.
We still have our work cut out for us. We must continue to be vigilant and courageous. We must stand up to his neofascism and call out those who are unwilling to do so.
We must continue to protect the vulnerable — including people in our community exposed to Trump’s dragnet, and judges whose lives are being threatened because of Trump’s vicious rhetoric.
We cannot relax.
But at least we can breathe a bit easier today. The forces of sanity, decency and the rule of law are pushing back.
Be safe. Be careful. Hug your loved ones. We will prevail.

“Tesla was tanking”
Investors disagree. If you plot a best-fit line on the stock price since its recent low in January 2023, it’s still on an upward trend.
I will post an image as to why Robert Reich may believe Tesla stock prices were on the downswing.
“Tesla Taking? Apparently so and it has now recovered somewhat. Not to what it was in January.” ~$222.00 low March 10 and April 8 and ~$346 May 30, 2025.
The high was December 17, 2024 at ~$480.
@Bill,
Cherry-picking. Post the graph for the past five years.
Tesla Stock for 5 years. However, Musk and Trump were not in office for 5 years. I believe Robert Reich is discussing since TRump came to office January 2025 and that is ~ when Musk joined Trump sad little band of jackasses.
I see a slight slope for which much of it came to be before Trump. As the first graph shows, Tesla stock dropped after he joined Trump and would have dropped further if he stayed with Trump. Pre-2025 is not a marker for Tesla as Musk was managing Tesla and not trying to destroy the US economy along with Trump starting in 2025.
Joel:
Since Musk was guiding the good ship Lollipop, it would not surprise me if the dips were the result of Musk follies. I have not looked at the history of Tesla. It does not interest me. It is an up and down mode. So, what was he doing?
@Bill,
I carry no brief for Elon. His DOGE has basically been about terrorism, since there’s no evidence that it’s saved a dime.
I certainly don’t care about Tesla. I don’t own a Tesla and I don’t own Tesla stock. EVs here in Rhode Island run on natural gas, so they’re not green here.
My only point is that you need to look at a longer timespan to evaluate trends. Four months could easily be noise, as the 5-year graph demonstrates amply. Stock prices go up and down. I don’t buy individual stocks because I’ve been invested for 40 years. I’m an investor, not a gambler.
Joel:
I am fully aware of the value of slugging away money, measuring the value of it, and careful investment. We do not have oodles of it; but we are secure.
Musk went off to play in politics and put his company in jeopardy to the point of which the Board was discussing getting rid of him. That was all in the last 5 months. He appears to be a control freak in running his business. If such and he is off playing his role with Trump, then who is in charge and do they have the authority to make decisions? Probably not, hence a decline the short period of time he is gone.
I really appreciate your comments here Joel. Knowing you as I do, I am sure you made wise investments.
@Joel,
You are 100% correct the EV cars technically run on natural gas. But a combustion turbine power plant is far more efficient and considerably less polluting than an internal combustion engine running on gasoline. So EV cars are much “greener” in the final analysis.