Well, the dog finally caught the car. Now what?  One thing is self-evident: Donald Trump is one tough dog. I’ll admit Trump has determination if nothing else. Also, pride. In spades. Also, a fear of going to jail for legitimate crimes … and he’s fought it all off like the best of any mob boss. So, a true, “kudos” for toughness. Trump is tough. We can all agree on that.  Trump also is a master of strong-arm tactics. “Nice little high-tech company you’ve got here. It would be a shame if something should happen to it.” And so, every tech titan company, from Tesla to Disney to Amazon to Apple and dozens in-between, all bent the knee, hoping either for future favors or, at least, minimal punishment. Perhaps this is nothing completely new. Titans of business have always favored and flattered and sought to influence government leaders. The scale of this submission, however, is a bit off the charts.   Let’s see what sweetheart deals SpaceX or Tesla receive moving forward as Elon Musk worms further into the Trumpian ecosystem. Time will tell, and we’ll all get firsthand seats whether the real deal is “America first” or “Corruption first.”  Like many Democrats, I’m willing to wait and see on most aspects of this tidal shift. It’s true, “Democrats had it coming” in many ways. I’m disappointed myself how little things have changed for the better over the past 10-20 years. Yes, our economy is in pretty good shape, and Joe Biden deserves good credit for his successes in passing bills related to infrastructure and green energy. We should continue to see these benefits over the course of our lifetimes.   And Democrats plainly failed to act on a very real border problem over an extended period of time. But let’s also not forget, when a bipartisan bill to largely correct the problem was up for vote in Congress, our new president used his influence to kill the bill – allowing himself the “glory” of fixing the problem. Still, Biden waited too long, and frustration simmered over the top of the pot.  Now, we’re promised the “largest expatriation of illegal immigrants in the history of the country.” I don’t know many sane people who aren’t in favor of removing any immigrant, legal or not, who commits crimes, large or small. DUI? You’re gone. Shoplift? You’re gone. Destruction of property? Gone. Sell drugs? Gone, gone, gone. And violent crime? Out on the first plane. This is rational and most countries don’t tolerate crime by guests of any sort. Neither should we.   All that said, we have some 10 million illegal immigrants in the USA and most of them are doing the hard work that most of us won’t do. If these are “disappeared” – who will do the work in the fields, farms, slaughterhouses, hotel rooms, construction, and service work? We literally don’t have enough capable bodies. So, let’s hope sanity prevails, and instead of willy-nilly ruining our economy, let’s hope Trumpists instead craft a safe and sane immigration policy that allows for immigration for both service workers as well as necessary high-tech workers, to keep our economy humming, prices manageable, and our tech sector leading the world. Let’s see how this one unfolds.  Our bout of inflation is plainly owned by both Trump and Biden. Both flooded the country with trillions in COVID relief funds. And when you have more money chasing the same amount of goods and services, the math is certain: Prices rise. Regardless of what Trump may have promised, prices will continue to rise as inflation will be steady or rising, until someone gets our deficit straightened out. Continuing Trump’s tax cuts may thrill the richer of us, but without a new tax code that actually raises revenue while we work to reduce government spending, our deficit will continue to expand and inflation will become the norm, not the exception.  Trump likes to call himself “the King of debt” – so this is a bad omen for inflation. Get ready for $10 eggs by 2029. This is the likeliest outcome.  Beyond the border and inflation, next up on Americans’ concerns is our dysfunctional medical system. Interestingly, I don’t know a soul who doesn’t like Medicare. And I know a lot of Medicare users. I also know a number of veterans who’ve become quite fond of the Veterans Administration system. Note that both have huge elements of socialized medicine. Meanwhile, the rest of us are saddled with third-party insurance that is as much a paper mill and profit center as facilitator of medical services. We may like our first-rate doctors and technology, but we hate our copays, ridiculous premiums, and forever denials and delays. I am amazed that most folks navigate this maze at all. Our current system is nuts even while we have a great example of what works in Medicare. Will Trump and his Republican knee benders actually solve this festering problem for ordinary Americans? Or will they privatize or compromise everything further, for the benefit of large medical corporations. Ending “Obamacare” won’t do anything to improve anything. We need a full-on redo. Another “wait and see.”   And so, Trump has unique potential for either good or bad … or evil. All levers of government are at his command. Will he be a man of the people, solving our intractable problems? Or will he revert to grifter form, selling gold shoes, crypto coins and favors?  I’m hoping for the best and I won’t begrudge any success. May Trump succeed in solving our challenges! But hiring TV personalities and brain worm sufferers rather than competence for key cabinet posts isn’t a good initial sign.   Cross fingers, and off we go to the races.  Gary Horton’s “Full Speed to Port!” has appeared in The Signal since 2006. The opinions expressed in his column do not necessarily reflect the opinions of The Signal or its editorial board. The post Gary Horton | Trump v2: Here We Go Again appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.