What a mess.

I mean America’s corporatized, bureaucratic, profiteering medical system. It’s as though the Marx Brothers and Franz Kafka conspired to create it.

Yet, in the midst of that mess, there is one saving grace – namely the everyday workforce of dedicated nurses, therapists, hygienists, and other skilled, hands-on professionals who are the true heart of health care.

Astonishingly, though, when Trump & Co. bellowed this year that they intended to reform the medical system and slash costs, guess who they targeted for cuts? Certainly not the lavishly-paid CEOs and corporate price gougers who donate billions to Trump. Instead, they’re going after our frontline caregivers, the one segment of the system that prioritizes patient health over corporate profits.

Yet, channeling Kafka’s surrealism and Groucho’s slapstick, Trump and his GOP Congress are not only downgrading this vital workforce, but denigrating it. They’ve directed the US Education Department to decree that nurses are no longer “professionals.”

One immediate impact is that many young people who want to pursue careers in patient care will no longer be eligible for the government’s student loans for advanced medical courses. This means that non-rich students will effectively be blocked from earning specialized degrees … and higher salaries. In the bigger picture, Trump’s insult to these essential medical professionals amounts to government-enforced plutocracy, mandating inequality, as well as inferior health care.

Moreover, three-fourths of the health-provider jobs Trump wants to degrade are filled by women. Apparently, it’s part of his increasing attempts to belittle and bully women. As one nurse says of his attack on her profession: “It’s just a smack in the face.” For information and action, go to NationalNursesUnited.org.

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