My Reservations on the Trump Presidency

It is early in the President Elect Trump's administration. I did not vote in this election cycle because I had concerns about the character of both candidates. I am withholding judgement until I see some concrete indicators.

- November 2016

How do we approach the Trump presidency? Very cautiously. I was not a supporter of Trump and thought we had better candidates. He won and we can't always get what we wish. Such is reality. However, as citizens, we can play a role in shaping our government.

Despite the protests and blame game the media is going through right now, there are actially legitimate concerns about the Trump Presidency.

Here are some reservations I have on Trump.

• He is not a conservative
• He is not a Constitutionalist
• He has a big ego
• His temperament is a question mark
• His checkered past does not demonstrate he is the ultimate outsider
• His core principles have fluctuated or perhaps "Evolved"?

My expections are that he will keep his word as summarized by his contract with America. That he will ignore the rhetoric of campaigns and govern for all the people.

The items in the contact are big. Even if he accomplishs only 50% in the first 4 years, it would be a great success. In baseball, that would be batting 500.

His success or failure will be measured by what he does, not what he said in the past. We are sophisticated enough to know that politicians lie all the time. They will tell you what you want to hear to get your vote. Once in office, they will do the bidding of the people who contributed to their campaign. That is the reality of politics in the modern world.

President Trump claims to be different. We shall wait and see. Will he put the interest of the American people above all else? The Bible has a quote that may apply here.

This idiom comes from the Old Testament (Jer. 13:23). The Hebrew prophet Jeremiah tries to persuade an evil shepherdess to become good but when he realises that it is impossible to convince her, he says: “Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots?”

Our National Debt under past administrations, both Republican and Democrat, have grown to over $20 trillion. That is the equivalent of $62,000 owed by every man women and child of our country. This looming problem has no easy solutions. It is closely tied to our increased government spending, entitlements, changing demographics and a stagnant economy.

Illegal Immigration was central to his campaign. Now we need to fix it. Will he follow through with his promise and secure the borders? Or was that just campaign rhetoric? Just to put things in perspective, watch the video of Bill Clinton in 1995 State of The Union address. Tell me if that sounds reasonable? Tell me if Trump had the same idea? So why is Bill Clinton revered by the Democrats and Trump vilified?

On Healthcare Reform, we need a new direction. The ACA has failed. It was estimated that we could have given free insurance coverage to the 20 million uninsured and still come out ahead. This 2000 page monstrocity of a bill was a disaster. It destroyed the old system and created a worst replacement. It killed jobs and slowed the economy and made everyone's health care worse. How can it not? We all know the old adage, there is no such thing as a free lunch. How can you expect to cover 20 new million people and expect it to cost nothing?

It is often good to look to history to see if there are lessons to be learned. I want to explore two competing administrations of the past. Ronald Reagan, a Republican from 1980-1988, and Barack Obama, a Democrat from 2008-2016. Both came to power during a deep economic recession. Both came to power in a decline of US stature. Both came to power in a dangerous world stage. That is where the similarities end. What happened in the 8 years of each administration?

Reagan cut taxes and increased the GDP and created millions of jobs. Obama passed The ACA and killed jobs and ended with a stagnant GDP of 2%. The weakest recovery in modern times.

Reagan was a proponent of peace through strength and the Sovet Union collapsed and the Iron Wall came down. Obama's foreign policy is one of leading from behind. The world is a more dangerous place today with ISIS growing strength and America retreating from the world stage.

Reagan reduced the role of the federal government following our Constitution of Limited government and cut many unnecessary regulations. Obama increased the role of government with numerous executive actions and mandates by the EPA and other agencies.

Here is the bottom line, when Reagan left office his approval was running high. He was elected with 49 of the 50 States. His successor George HW Bush won a third term. He is rated one of the top Presidents of modern times.

Obama is leaving office with the lowest participation of Democrats across the States. His progressive policies were rejected by the people. His legacy is unknown at this point in time but his intended successor of Hillary Clinton was rejected by the American voters.

It is my hope that President Trump will do right by the American people. That he will follow the Reagan model. The job is a difficult one and one that he signed up for voluntarily. Our country is at a crossroad. I hope and pray he makes the tough decisions that will carry us to new heights of prosperity.

• Trump announces he will not pursue Hillary Clinton email criminal investigation. - Nov. 22, 2016. (Reversal of campaign promise) Just a reminder, it is not up to President elect to determine if a crime has been committed. That is the job of the FBI and the DOJ. If and when she is charged, President Trump can choose to pardon her.
• 11/30/2016 - Carrier Company announced they will keep a plant in Indiana and save over 1000 jobs. The plant was going to be moved to Mexico. Trump have convinced the CEO with tax incentives to keep the plant in the US. I am not a fan of government intervening with individual private companies operations.
• 12/4/2016 - President elect spoke on the phone with the President of Taiwan, breaking 36 years of protocol. In full disclosure, I was brought up on the Island of Taiwan(Republic of China). I support this action by Trump. We need to be nicer to our friends and Taiwan is an ally and a Democratic Republic and we should treat them better.
• 12/5/2016 - Dr. Ben Carson chosen to be Secretary of HUD. A good pick in my opinion.
• 12/6/2016 - Trump called for cancel of new Air Force One by Boeing.
• 12/7/2016 - Trump named Person of the Year by Time Magazine.
• 12/13/2016 - IBM anounces adding 25,000 new jobs.
• 1/24/2017 - Trump signed Executive Order to build the XL pipeline.

Some examples of Trump Derangement Syndrome.

• Here is an Ad created by some celebrities...
• A college professor in CA rant against Trump.

• Jim Brown after meeting with Trump.