Politics

Trump, Nine Months Later

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Almost a year ago, I remember watching the Presidential debate, and while I disagreed with a lot with what President Donald Trump, I knew from my training that he was winning audiences over with his discussion of jobs, an issue that people care intensively about. While most Americans are employed, nearly every American wants a better job that pays better and requires less physical and mental effort. Few of us are totally happy with current jobs, and wish we could move farther up the later. Donald Trump, as the Republican candidate, and whose party was on the outside of White House, could claim to he was the outsider and could do better at creating jobs. He could also point to his experience as a businessman, rather then the ultimate political insider – the former first lady in the White House.

We all know what happened on November 6th. President Donald Trump snapped up critical swing states, and became the 45th President of the United States on January 20, 2017. His White House has been one of big roll outs of executive orders, but they haven’t really gotten any major legislation done. Most of the executive orders are reinterpretations of existing law, and while their dictates have inevitably impacted many families, they are hardly sweeping new policy that changes the lives most Americans. Obamacare remains the law of the land, and even if the president is doing everything in his power to undermine the law, there is no evidence that he’s doing much to change the good of the law has done for many families.

At the same time, the economy has kept humming along under Donald Trump. His boldest claims of accelerating growth beyond the normal growth of a healthy economy haven’t come true, but unemployment continues to drop and jobs keep being created. The tiny, but regionally important, at least in perception, coal industry continues to see an uptick in mining jobs, but that’s more due to the increase in natural gas futures, pushing some electricity generation to a limited extent from gas to coal. It’s not clear how long that trend will last. Inflation remains low, and the stock market keeps climbing. While some areas remained depressed and troubled in our nation, generally the economy is quite healthy. That could change going forward, and indeed the President’s policies on the economy will get a firmer imprint when he appoints several new regional governors to the federal reserve board, and ultimately replaces the fed chair in February 2018.

Most other things haven’t changed for the public. Shooters and hunters are certainly happy with the lower prices on firearms, more sales, and more available ammunition. It really sucked that it was hard to get 22lr ammo while President Obama was in the office. Certainly some of that was hording of ammunition by shooters and hunters, under the theory that ammunition would be harder to get under some future gun control law. But that hasn’t yet come to happen, and that’s unlikely. But it sure is nice to be able to just go to Walmart and be able to choose between a big box of cheap target ammo and more expensive sporting ammo, and no it’s likely to be in stock any time you go. I don’t know how much the election had to do with it – part of it may be Remington’s new factory for producing 22lr among other things – but a lot had to do with people’s changing thoughts on how much ammunition they need to buy today.

I don’t like how our President acts so unprofessionally, or his numerous stupid things he say that risk getting our country in trouble. Certainly the elevation of partisanship about the Confederate Flag isn’t a good thing, and the growing anger between the left and right isn’t healthy. But assuming our streets don’t break out into partisan warfare, or that angry minds on the left and right don’t turn to violence, rioting or terror to get their way, I think we will be okay. Things may seem bad, but I look back at the historical record from 1967 with all the riots and disorder in our country, and I think we really live in a time of great harmony and peace, even if our president is doing what he can to do to pour gasoline on the discontented in our country.

Why the Elite Media Want You to Think Trump Is an Independent

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Why the Elite Media Want You to Think Trump Is an Independent

"And while it almost certainly isn't something they're consciously attempting to argue, I suspect that another reason reporters might want to assert that Trump is an independent is that it serves as a defense of the two-party system and the larger stability of our democracy. One way to look at Trump is that he's the logical product of a party that has set about in recent years to promote fear of immigrants, distrust of scientific authority, the specific interests of white people, the belief that all problems have easy solutions, and a contempt not just for the media but for the idea of objective truth itself. Trump is proof positive that if you say Both Sides Do It, you're completely wrong."

"On the other hand, if Trump is an anomaly who stands outside the two parties and got elected essentially by accident, then the system is basically fine. Once he's gone and all this madness has come to its merciful end, we can return to the way things were without asking whether there's a profound rot within the GOP and within America itself that allowed this toxic buffoon to become his party's nominee and then the president."

Microsoft, Apple Executives Among Business Leaders Who Oppose DACA Cancellation

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Microsoft, Apple Executives Among Business Leaders Who Oppose DACA Cancellation

"America's business leaders are speaking out against President Trump's move to end DACA."

"The president of Microsoft, Brad Smith, took a notable stand. He said not only will his company lobby for a legislative solution but also that Microsoft is calling on Congress to make immigration the top priority, before tax reform. And he is calling on other business leaders to follow suit."

Fascism, American Style

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Fascism, American Style

"Let’s call things by their proper names here. Arpaio is, of course, a white supremacist. But he’s more than that. "There’s a word for political regimes that round up members of minority groups and send them to concentration camps, while rejecting the rule of law: What Arpaio brought to Maricopa, and what the president of the United States has just endorsed, was fascism, American style. "

"So how did we get to this point?"

"Trump’s motives are easy to understand. For one thing, Arpaio, with his racism and authoritarianism, really is his kind of guy. For another, the pardon is a signal to those who might be tempted to make deals with the special investigator as the Russia probe closes in on the White House: Don’t worry, I’ll protect you."