So it's been a pretty exciting week in Washington. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson's legislative package for the most part passed on a bipartisan vote, with the exception of the border security piece. The Senate rejected the impeachment articles against the Secretary of Homeland Security. The howler monkey caucus wailed and gnashed their teeth but did little else, like actually fire the Speaker, as they have been threatening for some weeks now.

The first criminal trial began against former President Trump. Unsurprisingly, a stern warning has already been delivered from the judge to the defendant regarding the proceeding's gag order which is largely being ignored.

Also in executive branch news, President Biden has announced two excruciatingly regressive initiatives: Chinese steel and aluminum tariffs of 25% and yet another student loan forgiveness scheme. We can't afford either.

This week in government is chaotic on its face, but one only has to peel back one layer to see what a quixotic, inscrutable political landscape we now live in. It's making me realize why younger voters feel unseen and disregarded and more and more voters are leaving the major parties or just want to stay home on Election Day.

Take a look at the legislative package that Johnson put together for a vote over the weekend. It included foreign aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, some sanctions against Russia and Iran, and border security. Sound familiar? It was pretty much the Senate legislation sent to the House two months ago that the House Democrats were ready to support, but got blown up because Trump directed the House GOP not to pass a border security bill.

This time, the foreign aid passed with the help of Democrat votes, but they decided to withhold their support for border security, which was a separate bill this time.

What a difference eight weeks can make! February? Democrats for border security, Republicans against. April? Reverse that position. I can provide the analysis for this outcome in another 500 words, but really, try to explain this to a first-time voter in 2024 in a way that makes any damn sense.

The Congressional lunchroom drama ("You're my best friend this week! She was my best friend last week.") at least shifts the focus away from the inane policies the White House is throwing out. Tariffs on imports are a tax on everyone, and directly inflationary. 25% on Chinese steel and aluminum will hit low-income Americans especially hard through inflation, even as Biden makes claims to be the friend of the working class. Biden is also looking to block the sale of US Steel to a Japanese company in an attempt to curry favor with trade unions, an important voting bloc he has been losing to Trump.

But Candidate Trump offers no relief. He insists he will slap a 10% tariff on all Chinese imports as soon as he takes office. That is practically a 10% tax on everything we order on Amazon. This will be an extremely punitive measure for American consumers and have an immediate impact on inflation to our detriment. Moreover, Biden's proposed steel and aluminum tariffs are on top of tariffs Trump implemented during his presidency, in flagrant defiance of conservative economic policy.

Trump on the campaign trail is largely silent on Biden's other big announcement this week: the latest student loan forgiveness effort (I think this is number four). I have to give this administration credit: it is absolutely relentless on this theme. This effort, announced on April 16, involves new Department of Education regulations that would forgive loan interest and provide relief to nearly 30 million voters. This comes on the heels of another regulation announced on the 12th. These two new policies, combined with the relief already enacted, will cost taxpayers more than $300 billion, according to the Committee for a Responsible Budget.

Trump did forgive student loan interest during the pandemic, which Biden extended until 2023. Obviously the cohort most in favor of student loan forgiveness are those Americans carrying student loans. According to the Federal Reserve, that's about 43 million Americans, or 13% of the population. According to 2022 voter registration records, student loan debt holders are about 27% of the voter population (if they were all registered to vote, which we do not know). 43 million votes could definitely decide an election, even if it costs $7,000 per vote (it's taxpayer money anyway, so who cares?).

Congressional caucuses are flip-flopping in turn on border security to the result that we still don't have any. Successive Presidents from opposing parties have both embraced the most regressive of economic policies to suck up to the unions, while ignoring the inflationary impact. Is there really a platform for either of the major parties right now except "Raise more money than the other side"?

I am quite frustrated with my own party, and it is honestly hard to see redeeming qualities in the opposition. I have immersed myself in public policy for three decades, and I am having a hard time discerning clear direction or even a brand from the Republicans or the Democrats except for "we're better than the other guys." What on earth is a casual voter supposed to make of the state of America's sausage factory?

Merritt Hamilton Allen is a PR executive and former Navy officer. She appeared regularly as a panelist on NM PBS and is a frequent guest on News Radio KKOB. A Republican, she lives amicably with her Democratic husband north of I-40 where they run one head of dog, and two of cat. She can be reached at news.ind.merritt@gmail.com.