BEAR HOWARD | SPECIAL TO THE AMERICAN PUBLIC:”Drowned by Design: How Trump’s War on Government Turns Natural Disasters Into National Tragedies”

By Bear Howard

Sedona, AZ — The deadly floods that surged through Central Texas this week were terrifying, tragic, and all too familiar. Neighborhoods disappeared under muddy waters. Families were caught off guard. Lives were lost. And as rescue efforts struggled to keep up, one thing became painfully clear: this wasn’t just a failure of nature—it was a failure of leadership. A failure built on years of deliberate neglect.

Donald Trump and his Republican enablers love to talk about “big government,” but what they’ve built is something far worse: a hollowed-out shell of public service, gutted from within, all in service of obscene tax breaks for the rich.

This flood is just the latest example of the cost we all pay.

NOAA, the National Weather Service, FEMA—these are the agencies that exist to protect us in moments like this. They track the storm systems, issue the warnings, coordinate with first responders. But under Trump’s second term and the GOP’s “Project 2025” style blueprint for American governance, they’ve all faced deep staffing cuts, vanishing budgets, and politicized leadership. Weather forecasting is slower. Emergency coordination is clumsier. Warnings arrive later—if at all.

And it’s not just floodwaters that are rising.

This past winter, California burned through one of its worst fire seasons in a decade. But the U.S. Forest Service—crippled by hiring freezes and budget rollbacks—was already understaffed by thousands of seasonal firefighters. Firefighting aircraft were grounded. Crews were stretched thin. Entire communities were left with little more than hope and garden hoses. Once again, the price was paid in ash, in property, and in lives.

Then came the crash.

The FAA—long the gold standard in global aviation safety—hasn’t been immune to this anti-government frenzy either. Budget slashes, delayed tech upgrades, and a steady bleed of experienced staff left America’s air traffic control system in a fragile state. When that airliner went down near Washington D.C. in March, investigators found a toxic mix of overworked controllers, outdated radar, and broken communication protocols. It was a disaster waiting to happen—and the wait was over.

The truth is, these aren’t isolated incidents. They are symptoms of a much deeper disease: the deliberate dismantling of government competence.

Trump and his party don’t just want “less government.” They want less governance. Less oversight. Fewer experts. Fewer protections. They dream of a nation where billionaires keep more of their wealth, and the rest of us live with more risk—more floods, more fires, more crashes, more chaos.

Why? Because everything is cheaper when you don’t care who gets hurt.

The MAGA budget priorities are a study in cruelty masked as freedom: slash NOAA and FEMA, and then act surprised when people die in floods. Cut the Forest Service and FAA, then offer thoughts and prayers after fires rage and planes fall from the sky. All while making sure that the ultra-wealthy can still write off their third yacht as a business expense.

Enough.

America needs more public servants, not fewer. It needs more science, more planning, more coordination—not tax cuts for hedge funds and grifters. The real world is getting more dangerous by the day—climate disasters, infrastructure strain, aviation congestion. These are not abstract policy debates. They are real-world crises, and they require serious adults in charge.

So no, this flood wasn’t a surprise. It was the result of choices—cruel, greedy, shortsighted choices. And until voters hold those responsible to account, we’re going to keep reliving these disasters, over and over again, with fewer people left to clean up the mess.

This isn’t governance. It’s abandonment.

And it’s time we call it what it is.