Trump
Returns?
I
had an interesting email the other day praising the Accomplishments
of Donald Trump while he was President.
So,
in fairness, I started to check.
Obamacare
Trump
didn't repeal Obamacare — he accidentally bolstered it. (not
much of an achievement from his supporters point of view.)
Defence
Spending
The
move: The 2018 strategy rewired the Defense Department’s vast
bureaucracy away from a focus on fighting insurgents and terrorists
in the Middle East toward a long-term strategic competition with
China and Russia. As a result, the military is changing how it trains
personnel, which technologies it buys, and the geographic areas of
the world where it prioritizes its forces.
The
impact: Already it has led to a reordering of the Pentagon budget and
new investments supported by a bipartisan majority in Congress,
including billions of dollars to beef up the U.S. military presence
in the Asia-Pacific.
The
upshot: Despite differences in tone and rhetoric, this is a
refocusing of the United States’ military posture that is expected
to continue in the Biden administration. (looks like a plus for
Trump)
Coronavirus
Trump
failed to provide workplace guidance, making safety harder for
workers. (we
all know what a tangle Trump got into over the virus, need we go
further?)
Religion
in schools
Trump
boosted religious organizations in education. (may
please some of his core supporters, most folks won’t even notice)
Oversight
Trump's
Interior Department set a new standard for ignoring Congress. A
dangerous precedent
Cannabis
Legal
marijuana spreads across most of the country. (I
suspect the country is split on this one, but who knows? Next
step - legalise heroin, thus depriving the Taliban of most of their
income?)
Loan
forgiveness
Trump
curbed relief for defrauded students. ????
Shell
companies
Trump
made it easier to prosecute financial crimes like money laundering.
A
plus!
Poverty
Trump
shrank the food safety net — a lot. Can’t
see how this is a plus?
Overtime
pay
Millions
of workers lost access to extra pay for long hours. (
Popular with whom?)
Drones
Trump
imposed a near-ban on government use of Chinese drones (Clear
win for Trump, but does the public care?)
Taxes
Trump
goosed the economy with tax cuts that didn't pay political dividends
(open
to question at the moment)
Robotcalls
Trump
cracked down — mostly successfully — on unwanted calls and texts
(
a good policy and clearly a win for Trump)
Climate
science
Trump
exiled climate scientists from Washington—literally. The
Agriculture Department went to great lengths to quietly quash
scientific research conducted by its employees or funded by
government dollars, in particular research about how the agriculture
industry could play a critical role in combating climate change.
Secretary Sonny Perdue was aggressive in reshaping USDA, most overtly
by relocating many of the department’s research scientists out of
Washington to the Midwest. The Agriculture Department went to
great lengths to quietly quash scientific research conducted by its
employees or funded by government dollars, in particular research
about how the agriculture industry could play a critical role in
combating climate change. Secretary Sonny Perdue was aggressive in
reshaping USDA, most overtly by relocating many of the department’s
research scientists out of Washington to the Midwest.
The
move: Officials refused to publicize dozens of studies that carry
warnings about the effects of climate change on the agriculture
sector. The department even stopped the release of a plan on how to
respond to the climate change crisis.
Foreign
Workers
The
administration, however, said U.S. employers are abusing the work
visa because they want to replace American workers with cheaper
foreign labor. The administration’s most recent rules sought to
limit the types of jobs foreign workers can apply for, while also
requiring employers to pay them more.
The
impact:
Some
changes — including those that narrow the definition of a
"specialty occupation" and that require employers to pay
foreign workers more — were expected to reduce the number of
approved H-1B visa petitions by one-third. Those efforts have since
been halted in court. Businesses seeking these non-immigrant worker
visas also saw an increase in requests to provide more evidence in
their applications and a higher rate of visa denials.
Toxic
chemicals
Trump
impeded regulation — even though Republicans wanted it.
Trump
took a big swing at finally fixing health-care technology
Sexual
harassment
Trump
rescinded rules protecting workers at federal contractors
On
the eve of the #MeToo era, Trump and the GOP-controlled Congress
repealed transparency safeguards designed to protect
hundreds
of thousands
of
people working for companies bidding for federal contracts from
sexual harassment. Business groups vehemently opposed the
requirements, which they dubbed the “Blacklist Rule,” arguing
that the regulation was so broadly worded that potential contractors
could be barred from doing work with the government based on
allegations alone.
Immigration
A
big crackdown on legal
immigrants
While
it was no surprise to anyone who followed his 2016 presidential
campaign that Trump wanted to crack down on illegal immigration at
the southern border, his administration also imposed tighter
restrictions on legal immigration, even of the high-skilled workers
he claimed to want in the country.
The
move:
The
Department of Homeland Security has pushed through restrictions and
changes to the H-1B visa program that allows U.S. businesses to hire
high-skilled foreign workers for “specialty“ jobs. Businesses
rely on these workers to fill jobs they say they can’t fill with
home-grown workers
Farm
aid
Trump
doled out billions in aid to farmers (popular in Missouri!)
Banking
Trump
rolled back rules on banks designed to prevent another financial
crisis
Trump
fulfilled a major GOP priority in 2018 by signing the first big bank
deregulation bill since the landmark Dodd-Frank Act was enacted in
2010. It was a victory for the nation's lenders, which spent years
fighting to roll back rules enacted in the wake of the 2008 Wall
Street meltdown. Republicans and moderate Democrats had been working
on some of the proposals well before the 2016 election, but the Trump
administration played a key role in making it possible.
Housing
segregation
Trump
rolled back rules on racially segregated housing
Trade
rules
Trump
made trade a top priority, but had only mixed results
Trump
prioritized trade concerns far more than any other president in
recent history, pursuing a hyperactive agenda that flummoxed allies
and adversaries alike. In particular, Trump shifted the United States
toward a more nationalist trade policy characterized by an aggressive
use of tariffs and sharp criticism of China, the European Union and
the World Trade Organization.
The
move:
Trump
abandoned the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement supported by most
other Republicans and ran roughshod over the rules-based trading
system to pursue his political objective of boosting U.S. industry.
He imposed tariffs on more than $350 billion worth of Chinese goods
and on billions of dollars’ worth of steel and aluminum imports. He
struck a trade deal with China that eliminates many agricultural
trade barriers but left many other serious trade issues unaddressed.
He also used the threat of withdrawing from the North American Free
Trade Agreement to strike a more protectionist version of the
agreement with Canada and Mexico.
The
impact:
Trump
elevated concerns about China’s trade practices and acquisition of
American technology to a new level and helped usher in what many now
are calling a cold war between the world’s two largest economies.
He also weakened the World Trade Organization through his willingness
to hamstring the group’s dispute settlement system and to
unilaterally impose tariffs to punish trading partners and protect
domestic industries.
The
upshot:
Trump
leaves office with a mixed record on trade. The new
U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement has groundbreaking provisions on labor
enforcement and costly new rules for North American automakers. Trump
fell far short on his promise to negotiate bilateral trade deals to
make up for his decision to pull out of the TPP, although he did
negotiate a number of partial trade deals with the EU, Japan and
Brazil and borrowed heavily from the TPP in his NAFTA update.
Overall
this is a mixed bag. The idea that Donald Trump did nothing
whilst in office is clearly wrong. But, any good must be
balanced with his clear mistakes.
The
Bad and some downright Ugly, we have to balance the books
The
beginning of the presidential candidacy of Donald Trump included
statements that would have ended the campaign of any other
politician. Has an announcement speech ever looked so much like a
flashily produced political suicide? Did he really just call a key
part of the electorate criminals and rapists?
Ever
since his blunt, racially divisive debut in Trump Tower in June 2015,
Trump has proven that gaffes do not singe his hide like they do the
fragile and fretful politicians who tiptoe through the typical
campaign for public office. Time and again, Trump poured gasoline on
himself and lit a match. Time and again, pundits predicted fatal
self-immolation. Instead, Trump often rode the ensuing firestorm like
an Atlas rocket. His poll numbers actually went up after he insulted
John McCain’s war record. What mainstream politician has ever said
something like that, much less received a boost out of it? The only
thing more stunning than Trump’s dismantling of campaign norms has
been how consistently he has flirted with disaster.
He
has insulted brown people, black people, Muslim people, Jewish
people. He has insulted women. He has insulted the grieving parents
of a dead soldier. He has mocked a disabled person and expressed
admiration for dictators. He has ham-handedly pandered to a
politically critical portion of the population by posting to social
media a picture of gringo Tex-Mex captioning it, “I love
hispanics!” He has suggested he could shoot somebody and not lose
votes. He has openly talked about the possibility of the
assassination of his opponent. Twice. And these are just the insults,
not the demonstrable falsehoods.
Some
examples:
1.
“When
Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re
not sending you. They’re not sending you. They’re sending people
that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems
with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re
rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.”
June
16, 2015,
announcement speech.
It
helped him dispatch 16 challengers in the extended primaries of a
party of which he has been an off-and-on member, and it has taken him
to Monday night, to the first of three debates against Hillary
Clinton—his best chance yet to get an edge in the race to become
the 45th president of the United States. Amid the pre-debate
speculation that he could say something at the debate that would cost
him the election, it’s difficult to imagine what he could say that
would do what so many other statements of his were unable to and end
his campaign.
Here
are 37 of his gaffes that could have been fatal—but somehow
weren’t.
1.
“When
Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re
not sending you. They’re not sending you. They’re sending people
that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems
with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re
rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.”
June
16, 2015,
announcement speech.
2.
“He’s
not a war hero. He was a war hero because he was captured. I like
people who weren’t captured.”
July
17, 2015,
Family Leadership Summit in Iowa. Trump was referring to Senator John
McCain, a former Navy pilot who was tortured during his
five-and-a-half years as a POW during the Vietnam war.
3.
“You
could see there was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of
her wherever.”
August
7, 2015,
CNN interview about Megyn Kelly, one of Fox News’ moderators in the
first Republican debate.
4.
“Well
I really watch the shows. You really see a lot of great, you know,
when you watch your show and all of the other shows, and you have the
generals and you have certain people that you like.”
August
16, 2015,
interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” trying to name his foreign
policy advisors.
5.
“Look
at
that face! Would anyone vote
for
that? Can you imagine that, the face of our next president?!”
September
9, 2015,
in Rolling
Stone,
talking about GOP candidate Carly Fiorina.
6.
“It
has not been easy for me ... My father gave me a small loan of a
million dollars.”
October
26, 2015,
on NBC’s “TODAY” show.
7.
“@mygreenhippo
#BenCarson
is
now leading in the
#polls
in
#Iowa.
Too much
#Monsanto
in
the
#corn
creates
issues in the brain?
#Trump
#GOP.”
October
22, 2015,
retweet by @realDonaldTrump.
8.
“I
want to know who are the soldiers carrying suitcases with $50
million? How stupid are we? I wouldn’t be surprised if those
soldiers, if the cash didn’t get there.”
October
1, 2015,
speech in Keene, New Hampshire, suggesting U.S. soldiers embezzled
cash intended for disbursement to officials in Iraq and Afghanistan.
9.
“Now
the poor guy, you ought to see this guy. ‘Ah, I don’t know what I
said! I don’t remember!’”
November
24, 2015,
physically mocks New
York Times
reporter
Serge Kovaleski, who has a congenital condition called arthrogryposis
that affects his joints.
16.
“If
and when the Vatican is attacked by ISIS, which as everyone knows is
ISIS’s ultimate trophy, I can promise you that the Pope would have
only wished and prayed that Donald Trump would have been President
because this would not have happened. … For a religious leader to
question a person’s faith is disgraceful. I am proud to be a
Christian and as President I will not allow Christianity to be
consistently attacked and weakened, unlike what is happening now,
with our current President. No leader, especially a religious leader,
should have the right to question another man’s religion or faith.”
February
18, 2016.
Press release from the Trump campaign.
17.
“Well,
just so you understand, I don't know anything about David Duke, okay?
I don't know anything about what you’re even talking about with
white supremacy or white supremacists. So, I don't know.”
February
28, 2016
on
CNN, asked if he’ll disavow the endorsement of former Ku Klux Klan
leader David Duke.
The
judge was appointed by Barack Obama, a federal judge. Frankly, he
should recuse himself because he’s given us ruling after ruling
after ruling, negative, negative, negative. What happens is the
judge, who happens to be, we believe, Mexican, which is great. I
think that’s fine.”
May
27, 2016,
rally in San Diego, in which he criticizes Indiana-born Judge Gonzalo
Curiel, who, on the basis of his Mexican ancestry, Trump alleges
cannot judge fairly in a lawsuit related to Trump University.
It’s
against two NFL games. I got a letter from the NFL saying ‘This is
ridiculous.’”
July
30, 2016,
in an interview with ABC about the presidential debate schedule. The
NFL categorically denied sending such a letter.
You’re
living in poverty, your schools are no good, you have no jobs, 58
percent of your youth is unemployed. What the hell do you have to
lose?"
August
19, 2016,
at a rally in Dimondale, Michigan, explaining why African Americans
should vote for him.
So
we have to ask how did he overcome these seemingly fatal mistakes?
Let’s add to the list his dysfunctional personal life. It
seems almost impossible for him to win and to rermain a viable
Republican candidatefor the next election.
Conclusion:
the general perception of Donald Trump is just about spot on.
He should get credit for overcoming so may obstacles to become
President - most of them of his own making. he remains a deeply unattractive character who will not be missed on the political scene.
