By Rodger Morrow, Editor & Publisher, Beaver County Business
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Steering Through the Storm
If governing were easy, we’d have solved it back when gas was 89 cents and everyone thought Ross Perot was just eccentric. Steering a nation of 330 million self-contradicting souls has always required a knack for avoiding shipwreck. The current administration—love it or loathe it—has managed to chart a middle course between ideological purism and modern madness.
The Practical Revolution
Far from the caricature of red-hat extremism, the MAGA policy set has revealed itself as a kind of constitutional pragmatism—equal parts factory-floor realism and boardroom calculation. Tariffs have revived manufacturing jobs once thought extinct, and Beaver County’s steel and energy sectors are among the beneficiaries. Even critics admit the economic strategy has worked better than expected.
Immigration and Economic Realism
Immigration policy, often portrayed in moral absolutes, has been handled with quiet practicality. Illegal immigration is treated less as a moral crisis and more as an economic equation. Labor shortages persist, and a controlled influx of workers helps keep wages balanced and projects on track—a mix of compassion and capitalism that irritates both extremes.
Foreign Policy with a Steady Rudder
Abroad, the administration has favored historical allies while ignoring the costly lectures of globalism. It’s not isolationism—it’s triage. Domestically, the “Make America Healthy Again” agenda has invested in opioid recovery, veterans’ care, and domestic medicine production, stabilizing communities like Midland, Aliquippa, and Beaver Falls through practical policy rather than grand gestures.
The Dissonance of Success
Ironically, the success of this pragmatism has caused confusion—especially in places like Beaver County. Many who disdain the president still enjoy higher paychecks and fuller order books. The result is what might be called “Trump Derangement Economics”: the policy works even if the personality doesn’t.
Between Fury and Folly
America now sails between two perils: purist paralysis on one side and ideological chaos on the other. Governing in such times takes nerve more than genius—and whatever else one says about this president, he has that in abundance. The waters remain rough, but the ship still moves forward.
The Course We Keep
In the end, what matters most isn’t the noise from the shores but the course we steer. For Beaver County and the nation alike, survival—and progress—depend on keeping the hull intact and the compass true.
