Everyone talks about the weather but nobody does anything about it. Similarly, we Democrats talk about reducing wealth inequality but what do we do? Bernie Sanders — who isn’t even a Democrat — and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez draw big crowds on their “Fighting Oligarchy” tour. But name one piece of legislation enacted or policy implemented due to their leadership.

Meanwhile, Donald Trump acts. In just 100 days, Trump has done more to level wealth than almost any president you can name. And he’s got 1,400 days to go! Already, the stock market as measured by the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index is falling, wiping out an estimated $9.6 trillion in wealth, mainly held by the upper classes. The gazillionaires seated behind Trump at the swearing in are a “Who’s Who” of biggest losers. According to Forbes magazine, Elon Musk tops the list with a well-deserved $45 billion loss. Jeff Bezos of Amazon follows with $35 billion, Larry Ellison of Oracle with $28 billion, Sergey Brin of Alphabet with $26 billion and Mark Zuckerberg of Meta at $22 billion. Altogether, America’s billionaires have lost $300 billion.

This is a follow-up to the wealth destruction wreaked by Trump in 2020. As Trump fiddled while the COVID pandemic burned, the S&P 500 plunged 33%. Trump would have leveled wealth further were it not for the unlucky break of Operation Warp Speed producing a COVID vaccine in record time. One thing we can be sure of is this: RFK Jr. will prevent any vaccine from truncating the spread of a future pandemic and moderating wealth destruction during Trump 2.0.

The sad fact is that Democrats, from “Sleepy Joe” Biden to Barack Obama, are the party of enhanced inequality. We make the stock market thrive when we could be building on the “soak the rich” wealth destruction of Republicans such as Trump and George W. Bush. Remember the mortgage and stock market meltdown of 2008-09? That was George W. And who presides over the recoveries and subsequent enrichment of the billionaire class? Democrats!

For that matter, who was there when the stock market crash of 1929 led to a 92% meltdown during the Great Depression? Republicans led by Herbert Hoover. And what policy was enormously responsible for the wealth wipeout? Tariffs!

Let’s face it. Being the party of anti-Trump has gotten Democrats in Congress a 27% approval rating. It’s time to shift gears and get with the program. Trump proves you don’t need new taxes to take money from the wealthy. You just need a new president. We’ve got him. Embrace him. One-up him. Don’t claim that the Trump tariffs are too high. Claim they are too low. Don’t claim that immigration helps the economy. Deport the native born. Sure, there will be a little pain when the less well-off lose their jobs, default on their loans and struggle with basic necessities. But shrinking wealth differentials through executive action wins elections and, hey, you can’t make an omelet without breaking a few high-priced eggs.

Yours in solidarity.

Jeffrey Scharf welcomes your comments. Contact him at jeffreyrscharf@gmail.com.