Day: April 29, 2017

At 100: Pros And Cons

I cannot enjoy my Saturday until I set things right…..

I gave my take on what I see in Trump’s first 100 days….I am sure that there are supporters of Trump that will see it differently….so to be fair I will give what some others have written…..both pro and con (something you will not see on the Right wing rags)……

We begin with the Pros……..

  • Republican Rep. Brian Babin of Texas enthuses at the Hill that “we’re off to a great start” under Trump, who he says has issued and enacted dozens of executive orders and bills, created 500,000 jobs, and put Neil Gorsuch on the Supreme Court. “We are moving in a strikingly different direction than the malaise days of the Obama era,” he says.
  • With this Trump presidency we’ve experienced a “sea change,” Hugh Hewitt writes for the Washington Post, adding that conservatives should break out the bubbly. Hewitt concedes there were initial “fumbles,” “stumbles,” and “a jumble of ups and downs,” but he says Trump has since found his footing, especially after Gorsuch, the strike on Syria, and dropping the “mother of all bombs” on Afghanistan. “Just imagine what the next three and two-thirds years can bring,” Hewitt writes.
  • “A rousing success” is how Justin Haskins and H. Sterling Burnett describe the first 100 days for Trump in the Sun-Sentinel. They tout reforms Trump has jump-started to “reignite the American economic engine,” as well as the sharp decline in illegal immigrants coming into the US since he took office—a “wildly successful” presidency so far.
  • On the Americans for Tax Reform site, Justin Sykes praises Trump’s first months as a “boon for US energy,” listing the 10 executive orders Trump has already signed that “will boost US energy independence and growth.”
  • Fortune lists the seven economic promises it says the president has kept, including pulling out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal and getting rid of obstacles to the Keystone XL pipeline.
  • Eli Lake writes that Trump has disproved the “Russian stooge” and “fascist” labels that have been hurled his way, noting at Bloomberg View that the president has begrudgingly adhered to court decisions (even if he has insulted them) and that “US-Russian relations are cratering.” “Slowly but surely, he has begun to resemble something less menacing and more normal than his foes predicted,” he writes.
  • Sarah Palin wouldn’t give a letter grade to Trump during a Breitbart interview Thursday, but she did offer he’s doing “very well.” She also told conservatives who may still have their doubts to “keep doing your ABCs”—i.e., remind themselves that the mission for this presidency was “Anybody But Clinton.”
  • One of the most glowing reviews of all sees little to no need for improvement, and it comes courtesy of Sean Hannity and Lou Dobbs. On Fox Thursday, Dobbs said Trump has “worked his tail off” and called his performance “pretty close to perfect.” Hannity nodded: “Everything he could do on his own he’s doing.”

And now for what the critics have to say….the Cons…….

  • Daylin Leach at the Sun-Sentinel says we should count our blessings Trump has been as ineffective as he has because the small amount he has accomplished has “ranged from the very bad to the truly horrific.”
  • The Washington Post says Trump’s presidency has gone well for one group—late-night comedians—and rounds up some of the best jokes from the first 100 days, including this one from Stephen Colbert: “How could Trump blow the honeymoon? He’s had three of them.”
  • While “the Trump administration has engaged in a stunning display of ham-fisted, tone-deaf, and downright incomprehensible policy maneuvers” so far, John Feffer at Foreign Policy in Focus says it could get much worse—think North Korea.
  • Philip Carter at Slate says Trump has spent his first 100 days making America less secure by lacking a clear foreign policy or a staff to implement that policy. “Until the situation improves, we will all be consigned to living in a state of national insecurity.”
  • Even Trump’s supporters should be upset with his early presidency—because it bears so much resemblance to the one that came before it, Yochi Dreazen at Vox says. “From North Korea to China to NATO, Trump has talked about jettisoning the Obama administration’s foreign policy and replacing it with something far more aggressive. … He hasn’t done so.”
  • Despite being a weak president, “Trump has managed to wreak considerable destruction on both the stature of the American presidency, its credibility and its influence, and the course of US policy at home and abroad,” including his one major accomplishment: putting Neil Gorsuch on the Supreme Court, the San Francisco Chronicle argues.

What is your take on how Trump has done?

Me?  I gave him an “F” in my previous post………

Can we predict what will happen in the Trump admin from this point on?

Not by what Trump says.  He changes his mind more than a kid in a candy store.  But if we would like to find what is in the future then I say look to his major advisers…..they will set the pace and the outcome…..

Now time to back off and go to the garden for breakfast…..have a day my friends…..see ya tomorrow….chuq

1st 100 Days

I break from my normal posting schedule on weekends…..usually I try to post on anything but the day’s BS from the media…..Trump’s 100 days ends today…..so I feel I must report on the “Big Event”…..(drum roll….trumpets sound….let the peasants dance)…….

But first Mr. Trump made a statement that sums up his whole 100 day thing….

President Trump has been the most powerful person in the world for almost 100 days, and he seems to be finding it kind of a drag, according to a Reuters interview. “I loved my previous life. I had so many things going,” Trump said in what Reuters describes as a “wistful” look back at his pre-White House days. “This is more work than in my previous life. I thought it would be easier,” he said.

Who in their right mind would ever think that being president of the most powerful country on the planet would be an easy thing to do?  This dude is woefully inadequate.

Now on to the first 100 days and the grades he gets for his efforts (or lack thereof)…….

It all began in the years of FDR and has continued on…..the new president is judged by his first 100 days….personally I believe that it is too arbitrary but the media loves the idea….makes great copy.

There will be lots of grading of this admin before and after the 100 days….there is one thing that Trump is good at….talking…I mean using a plethora of words without saying anything substantive….

So let us look at Trump’s promises for his first 100 days……

1. Middle Class Tax Relief And Simplification Act. An economic plan designed to grow the economy 4% per year and create at least 25 million new jobs through massive tax reduction and simplification, in combination with trade reform, regulatory relief, and lifting the restrictions on American energy. The largest tax reductions are for the middle class. A middle-class family with 2 children will get a 35% tax cut. The current number of brackets will be reduced from 7 to 3, and tax forms will likewise be greatly simplified. The business rate will be lowered from 35 to 15 percent, and the trillions of dollars of American corporate money overseas can now be brought back at a 10 percent rate.  Grade:  F

2. End The Offshoring Act. Establishes tariffs to discourage companies from laying off their workers in order to relocate in other countries and ship their products back to the U.S. tax-free.  Grade:  F

3. American Energy & Infrastructure Act. Leverages public-private partnerships, and private investments through tax incentives, to spur $1 trillion in infrastructure investment over 10 years. It is revenue neutral.  Grade:  F

4. School Choice And Education Opportunity Act. Redirects education dollars to gives parents the right to send their kid to the public, private, charter, magnet, religious or home school of their choice. Ends common core, brings education supervision to local communities. It expands vocational and technical education, and make 2 and 4-year college more affordable.  Grade:  D

5. Repeal and Replace Obamacare Act. Fully repeals Obamacare and replaces it with Health Savings Accounts, the ability to purchase health insurance across state lines, and lets states manage Medicaid funds. Reforms will also include cutting the red tape at the FDA: there are over 4,000 drugs awaiting approval, and we especially want to speed the approval of life-saving medications.  Grade:  F-

6. Affordable Childcare and Eldercare Act. Allows Americans to deduct childcare and elder care from their taxes, incentivizes employers to provide on-site childcare services, and creates tax-free Dependent Care Savings Accounts for both young and elderly dependents, with matching contributions for low-income families.  Grade:  F

7. End Illegal Immigration Act. Fully-funds the construction of a wall on our southern border with the full understanding that the country Mexico will be reimbursing the United States for the full cost of such wall; establishes a 2-year mandatory minimum federal prison sentence for illegally re-entering the U.S. after a previous deportation, and a 5-year mandatory minimum for illegally re-entering for those with felony convictions, multiple misdemeanor convictions or two or more prior deportations; also reforms visa rules to enhance penalties for overstaying and to ensure open jobs are offered to American workers first.  Grade:  C

8. Restoring Community Safety Act. Reduces surging crime, drugs and violence by creating a Task Force On Violent Crime and increasing funding for programs that train and assist local police; increases resources for federal law enforcement agencies and federal prosecutors to dismantle criminal gangs and put violent offenders behind bars.  Grade:  F  (graded because he has not filled all positions needed to make this program work)

9. Restoring National Security Act. Rebuilds our military by eliminating the defense sequester and expanding military investment; provides Veterans with the ability to receive public VA treatment or attend the private doctor of their choice; protects our vital infrastructure from cyber-attack; establishes new screening procedures for immigration to ensure those who are admitted to our country support our people and our values  Grade:  D

10. Clean up Corruption in Washington Act. Enacts new ethics reforms to Drain the Swamp and reduce the corrupting influence of special interests on our politics.  Grade:  F-  (This is biggest lie and his biggest failure)

His overall grade is a “F”……

Think I am being too hard on Mr. Trump?

Those items are his items that he set forth in his “Contract With The American Voter”…..but read it for yourself……

Source: O-TRU-102316-Contractv06.indd – O-TRU-102316-Contractv02.pdf

Trump has called this a “ridiculous standard” and yet he set it up to fail….not a very intelligent move on his part.

Did you really expect better?

Trump has been a busy man these 100 days….but doing what exactly?

Source: Trump Is Very Busy Doing Nothing At All | New Republic

His creations have been nothing more than illusions….and the sheeple ate it up….

“Don’t you want God to show up and say He’s kidding?” Louis C.K. asked Stephen Colbert on The Late Show a couple of weeks back.

Source: The 100 Days That Turned America Upside Down | Alternet

Listen closely!  That sound you hear is the nation imploding!

I’m out……I want to enjoy my day…..so keep the faith baby!