Why don't you stop the kleptocracy? Trump is looting us blind.

Have you heard the adage, ‘You can’t legislate morality’? But maybe we need to. Word for the day: Kleptocracy. It's when corruption becomes the primary method of governing and literally translates to "rule by thieves." A system where those in power use their positions to steal their nation's wealth and resources. In other words, the Trump administration. Government as a criminal enterprise. Recent reporting is that Donald Trump’s media company is planning to charge for special high-speed access to Truth Social posts, including possibly his own, affecting national security and financial markets. This would allow Wall Street trading firms and other institutions to get news from top Truth Social contributors in milliseconds so they could profit off subsequent moves in stocks, bonds and interest rates. What presidents say moves markets. Trump’s posts about Iran and the Strait of Hormuz moved oil prices. His spring-2025 tariff announcements crashed stocks. His follow-up posts about backing off tariffs sent them surging. This is no different than Trump giving a heads-up on a market-moving announcement in exchange for a bribe. It’s pay to play. This should be illegal, right? It is a blatant conflict of interest and a pay-to-play scheme. But, it’s not. It’s a real, live business. It’s happening. Truth Social has already signed up several clients, including high-frequency trading firms. Turns out the president is legally exempt from the conflict-of-interest rules that apply to almost every other federal official. And despite the permissiveness of the exemption law, past presidents typically put their assets into blind trusts and sold off or divested from outside businesses. They wanted to avoid even the appearance of a conflict of interest when making decisions. These presidents did this because they wanted to do the right thing, had a modicum of shame, and felt political pressure to not look like a crook. But to this president this ‘morality’ loophole is the grift he’s been looking for his entire life. And boy is he busy making hay while the sun shines for the next couple of years. There is a generalized assumption that a corruption message does not work against Trump. Voters know he is corrupt. It’s not new information. But it is still wrong…even if it’s the president doing it. In fact, it should be even more wrong. Maybe it’s not legally wrong. But it’s absolutely morally wrong. It is a momentous betrayal of the public trust. So while for we the people the classic ‘It’s the economy stupid’ remains our reality, remember that Trump and his world all seem to be more focused on raising their income than lowering our prices. They’re getting richer. We’re getting poorer. And that’s a true bottom line.