Before anyone assigns me a political jersey, a few disclosures. I’ve voted Republican and Democrat. I own guns, taught Sunday School for more than nine years, and spent 40 years in entrepreneurial and venture-backed businesses. I believe in capitalism, fiscal discipline, personal responsibility, and occasionally admitting that your brilliant idea was actually pretty stupid.
Imagine applying those standards to government. By today’s standards, I should be a Republican. Or a Democrat. Or possibly under surveillance by both.
I didn’t vote for President Donald Trump, but Make America Great Again was a hell of a slogan. My problem was that I thought America was already pretty great. Flawed? Absolutely. In need of improvement? Always. Apparently, I missed the memo announcing our descent into mediocrity. After all the promises, rallies, outrage and merchandise, I have a reasonable question: Are we great yet?
Let’s start with affordability. Trump promised to begin rapidly driving prices down upon taking office. Presidents don’t personally set grocery prices, which makes the promise interesting in the first place. And slower inflation isn’t falling prices. If your grocery bill rises from $100 to $120 one year, then to $123 the next, inflation has slowed. You’re still paying $23 more. Congratulations. Perhaps the receipt needs a patriotic hat.
Then there are tariffs. In his inaugural address, Trump promised to “tariff and tax foreign countries to enrich our citizens.” Except importers pay the duties, then absorb the expense, negotiate over it, or pass it along. New York Federal Reserve researchers found that nearly 90% of the economic burden of the 2025 tariffs fell on American firms and consumers. If we’re paying more and Washington is collecting the difference, which foreign country is mailing the check? I’d like to meet its accounts payable department.
There are legitimate arguments for tariffs. Protecting strategic industries can involve real costs. Fine. Explain the trade-offs. Selling Americans a tax while assuring them somebody else pays it strikes me as impressive marketing and questionable respect for the customer.
That distinction between promises and performance ought to matter here in Minnesota, where families balance budgets and businesses have to explain their results. I don’t expect government to operate exactly like a company. Citizens aren’t inventory. But asking what a policy accomplishes, what it costs, and whether it works shouldn’t require declaring allegiance to a party.
Nor should defending constitutional limits. Executive orders can be legitimate. They don’t become substitutes for legal authority because Congress is inconvenient. If we’re celebrating the Constitution, perhaps we should use all of it, including the parts that constrain presidents we like. Have our elected legislators been reassigned to the applause department?
And as someone who taught Sunday School, I remain puzzled by politicians who appear to claim exclusive ownership of God. Jesus’s instruction was to love your neighbor. I don’t remember an exemption for the blue ones. Faith should inspire humility, not certainty that the Creator personally manages a voter database.
I’ve voted for both parties and found reasons to question both. Spending more doesn’t automatically solve a problem. Calling government smaller doesn’t make concentrated presidential power less troubling. Accountability requires something beyond congratulating your team for showing up.
If you promise a result, measure it. If the strategy changes, explain why. If it fails, acknowledge it. And if the costs outweigh the benefits, reconsider. Those aren’t partisan demands. They’re expectations I thought we already had for responsible adults.
Which brings me to my local meteorologist. If the forecast promises sunshine and Minnesota gets six inches of snow, we can establish the discrepancy without congressional hearings. Nobody needs to prove the clouds were rigged. Reality has helpfully deposited the evidence in the driveway.
What I expect next is an explanation: What changed? What did you miss? What does the new evidence show? Imagine applying that expectation to someone seeking another term instead of another weather segment. Acknowledging uncertainty shouldn’t be disqualifying. Neither should admitting an error. Refusing to do either ought to concern us considerably more.
I don’t need a president who promises sunshine every day. I need leaders who recognize a storm, explain how bad it might get, and bring an umbrella instead of blaming the rain on the previous administration.
Maybe America’s greatness depends on whether the people we elect deserve our trust. If making America great again began with making promises mean something again, that’s a slogan I might put on a hat. Until then, I’ll keep checking the forecast against the window. It seems a reasonable standard for Washington, too.
Mark Walinske is a Minnesota entrepreneur and author with more than 40 years of experience in entrepreneurial and venture-backed businesses.
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