5.30.2017
It was only a few weeks ago that everyone in the press and on TV and on any other form of media were focused on Trump’s first 100 days in office. Well, today he has been in office about 130 (more or less) days so I will take a look at Trump’s first 130 days in office. There is absolutely no particular reason to pick this number of days other than today’s the first chance I’ve had to start writing about this. Let’s kind of review some of the major events, executive orders and happenings since he’s been sworn in as president.
Since January 20th Trump has tweeted over 500 times. Most of these were unnecessary and many of them just nonsense. His propensity to respond to most situations without thinking through his words make his tweets and public statements a detriment to his credibility and cause most Americans, including many in his own party, to question if he is able to conduct himself appropriately as President of the United States.
Not to long ago we shot 62 missiles costing about $1 million each at a Syrian air base and accomplished virtually nothing. We dropped a MOAB 21,000 bomb on a terrorist enclave and killed about 100 terrorists. This is good but a small dent in the ranks ISIS. I wrote on these events April 12th and 16th at Random Thoughts March 2017
Since taking office Trump has produced a large variety of executive orders, actions and memorandums. Among those were orders to protect whistleblowers in the VA, move the HBCU offices to the White House, he established a task force to evaluate regulatory reform, he ordered a complete audit of the executive branch, a review of military readiness and ordered the secretary of defense to develop a plan to defeat ISIS. These all seem like positive and worthwhile actions. The VA is still a mess and better protection for whistleblowers may help bring problems to light. The HBUC is a positive move for all involved. It kind of amazes me that we need to create a plan to defeat ISIS, didn’t President Obama have one the last 8 years?
In addressing immigration enforcement and border security Trump has issued two executive orders that include attempting to deny grant money to sanctuary cities (which is now in court), authorizing a wall on the south border, enforcing deportation laws for illegal immigrants and hiring 5,000 more border patrol agents. Also along the lines of immigration Trump issued an order to review the H1B Visa program. The overall effect of this will be mixed. Trump’s stated strategy is that he is trying to protect Americans, deport criminals and combat the evil actions of the drug cartels and terrorists. The claims from the far left are basically that it’s a purely racist action and that Trump is an evil racist and that wants to deport all immigrants and everyone else who is not just like him. While there have been a lot of far right Nazi type racist zealots making a lot of noise about deportation for all illegal immigrants we know that this will not happen. Common sense and human decency dictates that any actions along those lines is absurd. It seem like the zealots on the far left are over reacting to the zealots on the far right, the zealots on the far right are over reacting to the zealots on the far left, Wow, extremists overreacting to other extremists. Gee, how unusual.
I have no problem denying entry into this country to criminals and terrorists and they should be deported when caught, after they are punished by the legal system. There are to many horror stories of innocent Americans who have been victimized by criminals and terrorists due to lack of enforcement of current immigration laws. Also it is loathsome that Americans have been harmed and killed by illegal immigrants that were caught and released by local authorities in sanctuary cities when these malefactors should have been punished and deported. However we also know that criminals are a small percentage of immigrants, legal or illegal. Trump needs to mix these tougher immigration policies with a path to citizenship for not only the “Dreamers” but many other immigrants, both legal and illegal, that have lived in America for substantial periods of time and are living an honest life and making a positive contribution to our country and our society.
Also in attempting to deal with immigration and national security Trump issued 2 poorly written executive orders to attempt to stop refugees from 7 countries previously defined as terrorist hot spots from entering the country for 120 days. These orders banned immigration from Syria, Libya, Yemen, Somalia, Sudan, Iran and Iraq. These orders both have anti-muslem overtones to them that I don’t like, even though these 7 counries were identified by the Obama administration as dangerous to America due to terrorist activities within their borders. I do not want our government to discriminate against anyone for their race, relogion or ethnicity but I do think it is necessary for the general safety and well being of the average American to know who is coming into this country. These orders are currently involved in litigation in the 4th and 9th circuit courts of appeal. This issue is headed for the Supreme Court.
On February 23rd, 2017 I commented on this at Random Thoughts for January/February 2017
For more on the immigration issue see The Raving Moderate on Illegal Immigration
He has issued orders to establish various task forces within the Department of Justice to reduce violent crime, reduce attacks against police and to fight drug cartels. He also established the president’s commission on combating drug addiction. I sincerely hope that this task forces can actually deal with these issues. Fighting the drug cartels is going to be the equivalent of fighting terrorism, it is going to be an ugly and vicious battle. I can’t even imagine how Trump is going to address that issue, and he has made the job extra difficult since he has alienated the Mexican government and generally insulted the people of Mexico. Reducing violent crime and crime against police is badly needed. It will require change not only in the racist policies of some law enforcement officers and agencies but also a seachange in a lot of the inner-city cultures of gang violence, hate and fear .
The President wrote a memorandum to the Labor Department effectively shelving the fiduciery responsibility rule signed by President Obama. This rule required commissioned financial professionals who are giving advice on retirement to put their client’s interests first.
This is really, really messed up!
Two questions immediately come to mind…. why would you not want this rule to be implemented? …and .. Why didn’t a law like this exist prior to Obama’s administration?
The argument I read for Trump’s action is that the “best interest” standard of care from financial advisers is the status quo in the financial industry. Well, that may be, but calling it the ‘status quo’ doesn’t mean that all financial advisers abide by that principle. This seems like a rule that is good for Americans and should be enacted and enforced. It should be passed into a law by congress. I have to question Trump’s motives and values by his action of delaying or annulling this order. It seems like the man who swore to drain the swamp is draining it a little selectively.
In ordering a lifetime ban on executive branch officials working as lobbyists for foreign governments and extending the previous 2 year ban for any lobbying to 5 years Trump seems to be at least trying to disrupt some parts of the ‘Good Ol’ Boy” network that has existed way to long in Washington. He said he will ask congress to pass it into law to make it more permanent than an executive order. Well, good luck. The legislators have too many pals in the executive branch to do that. Also, this does not stop members of the legislative branch from going into the lobbying business a year or two after they retire or are voted out of office.
The following quote is from Politifact “… Currently, congressional officials are still beholden to the “Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007″, which dictates a two-year cooling off period for senators, and a one-year period for representatives lobbying their formal office or committee. If Trump wants to change the lobbying rules for congressional officials he’ll need to convince Congress to pass a law that overrides or amends the act.”
Really?
The law that legalizes this revolving door that allows legislators to take a year or two off then go back to Capitol Hill to collect on past favors and throw money around to their pals is called the
“Honest Leadership and Open Government Act”.
Who made that name up, Orwell’s Ministry of Truth?
Trump does deserve some credit for at least trying to slow down the juggernaut of corruption that is the culture of Washington, DC.
Trump also signed an executive order instructing agencies that whenever they introduce a regulation, they must first abolish two others and the overall effect must either reduce the overall budget or be budget neutral. Also an executive order that ordered every agency in the government to establish a Regulatory Reform Task Force to evaluate regulations and recommend rules for repeal or modification. The 2nd order seems to create a lot of extra work for bureaucrats and spend a lot of money on processes that may or may not be productive. While these 2 orders seem a bit simplistic they addresses that fact that government regulation has reached the point of being abusive to Americans. I could not even find information on how many total government regulations we actually live under, but I did find that there are more than 300,000 federal regulations that can be enforced with criminal prosecution. This alone is absurd, but add to this all the state and local laws and you can see why the average American violates at least three of these laws or regulations a day without even knowing it. We have so many laws and regulations that it has made the average law abiding American a criminal. Yes, each of us is a criminal on a daily basis and we don’t even know why. I give Trump accolades for this action. This appears to be a step in the right direction to reign in a bureaucracy that is out of control.
Another executive order imposed a hiring freeze for some federal government workers to attempt to shrink the size of government. The military is excluded. Again this is a somewhat simplistic solution to a complex problem but it is a step in the right direction. Along with over regulation comes bloated bureaucracy, and Trump is trying to address the need to trim the fat in government. It will be interesting to see how this affects government operations and public services.
On the issue of foreign trade Trump issued a notice that the U.S. Will begin the process of withdrawing from the Trans-Pacific Partnership. He also issued memos ordering investigations into the effect of using foreign made steel and aluminum have on national security. I don’t see a problem with the investigation on aluminum and steel. If it could adversely affect our ability to defend America we should be aware of it. Maybe it will result in more American jobs. I just hope it’s not a waste of time and money. As far at the Trans-Pacific Partnership withdrawal there is good and bad to that, overall it looks like it may protect American jobs but increase prices at the local WalMart. Trump also issued an order to increase the collections of duties on imports. This is good, if we are not collecting all the duties that are currently due we should be. We need the money.
Trump reinstated the “Mexico City Policy” that blocks Federal Funding to non-governmental organizations that provide abortion counseling or referrals, advocate to decriminalize abortion or expand abortion services. This is a big “so what?”. Originally enacted in 1984, this policy has been rescinded by every Democrat president and reenacted by every Republican president since then. This is not a surprise and has never had much impact on the abortion issue in America one way or the other.
It appears that several of the orders and actions by Trump will have an adverse affect on the environment. Trump ordered a review of regulations that affect the agriculture industry and President Obama’s National Monument designations. He also issued an order reversing restrictions put on offshore drilling by President Obama and reviewing the restrictions on drilling locations in general. If it is typical of Trump’s ongoing policy of decreased regulation the eventual outcome will be to lift environmental restrictions on big agriculture as well as the oil industry, and probably return some of the land currently designated as national monument lands to a different classification and usage laws. With Trump’s ongoing policies of reducing government regulation I am sure that this will mean fewer protections for the environment, food production and of course government lands. These do not sound like good choices. I know President Trump’s theory is that fewer regulations will result in increased food production, lower energy costs and more jobs. But at what cost to the our health and to the environment? Let’s hope these regulatory reviews are overall beneficial for both the American people and our fragile global ecosystem.
He also signed an order to undo much of the regulation in President Obama’s Clean Power Act. This will allow changes to the restrictions of green house gas emissions from coal-fired power plants. It also lifts restrictions on disposal of waste such as coal ash. Overall I’m sure this will mean more jobs in the coal and railroad industries and their dependent industries, but it will probably do irreparable harm to the environment.
There is no such thing as clean coal, the best technology we have can lessen the toxic effects burning coal has on the environment by a little bit. Burning coal still creates way to much harm to our planet and our atmosphere. There are much more effective ways to balance our need for energy with protecting the environment. This is very short sighted regulation.
Sixty nine percent of Americans want to restrict emissions from coal fired power plants. The sad part is that this bill actually just allows the U.S. to do the same shameful damage to the environment that most other countries are already doing. There is no good answer to this problem.
To complicate issues Trump is threatening to drop the U.S. out of the Paris Accord on Climate Change. This is not a good idea. It is true that the U.S. will have to make more sacrifices and contribute more money than most of the other countries combined. Yes, this will have a negative affect on American jobs, definitely in the short term and maybe in the long term. Yes, it will give other countries an unfair competitive advantage in world markets at least in the short term. These are all points that need to be renegotiated, but we need to stay in the accord to renegotiate them. I understand that President Obama did not do a good job for Americans when he helped create this agreement but we need to fix what is wrong, not run away from our responsibilities.
For more on this see my essay on Climate Change
I have also commented on this issue at Random Thoughts for December 2016
and on January 17th, 2017 at Random Thoughts January/February 2017
A couple weeks ago Donald Trump fired FBI Director James Comey. Trump stated it was because Comey “was doing a bad job”. The Democrats claim it was because Comey was investigating Trump and was about to prove that Trump was a Russian collaborator. Trump is now being investigated for obstruction of justice. It’s very possible that the Democrats are correct but it’s probable that nobody but Trump and Comey know what the truth is, and there will ned to be hard evidence to prove this accusation. What amazes me is that in the last seven months both Republicans and Democrats at some time have both loved and hated the FBI director. This is typical of the two-faced, self serving nature of politicians on both the left and the right.
Almost since day one Trump has been under investigation for collusion with the Russians in hacking the DNC database and adversely affecting the 2016 presidential election. There are currently three separate investigations going on regarding this and Trump has already fired national security adviser Michael Flynn because of questionable connections with high-ranking Russian officials. There hasn’t been any hard evidence to prove guilt, but there sure are a lot of soft connections. Where there’s smoke there’s usually fire. I would not be surprised if we eventually find that Trump is somehow connected to this, and if so probably impeachment proceedings won’t be far behind. If he is impeached criminal charges will follow. Think about it, a conspiracy between a major presidential candidate (who is now the President), several of his aids and a hostile foreign government to sway a presidential election. That is at least election fraud, conspiracy, obstruction of justice and possibly treason. That sounds like a plot out of a bad spy movie but it could mean a long time in prison for anyone that’s convicted.
Yet what I still don’t understand why Hillary Clinton and others in the DNC are not under investigation for their equally evil doings. Hillary Clinton, Debbie Wasserman-Schultz and and their cohorts also engaged in election fraud and conspiracy. A conspiracy that also involved Donna Brazile, DNC Vice Chair and CNN news commentator, and apparently even includes then Attorney General Loretta Lynch. The DNC emails show they all conspired in some way to get Hillary the Democrat presidential nomination. Think about that, a conspiracy between a major presidential candidate, the chairman and vice chairman of a major political party, a major news network and the sitting Attorney General to quash the investigation into a candidates illegal actions, obstructed justice, engaged in election gerrymandering, defraud voters by affecting the televised debates and many of other illegal acts. This is election fraud, conspiracy and federal crime at one of its highest levels. The actions of these individuals and their underlings had much more of an adverse effect on the election than anything done by Donald Trump, anyone else in the Republican party, Russian hackers, Wikileaks, Vladimir Putin or anybody else on this planet. If Hillary Clinton and friends had not been part and parcel to their illegal, evil underhanded dealings then there would not have been anything to expose. There is currently much more evidence to prove high crimes against Hillary and other high ranking Democrats than there is against Trump. We should actually have Clinton and Wasserman-Schultz on trial for election fraud and conspiracy. It is amazing that our media continues to ignore these facts about the internal crimes of the DNC, as it is obviously more important to hate Trump than it is to demand all criminals in this besmirched DNC mess be prosecuted for their crimes. Another example of our media Party Nazi’s at work.
If Trump and his cohorts are guilty of the current accusations they should be tried and convicted and locked up.
If Clinton and her cohorts are guilty of the current accusations they should be tried and convicted and locked up.
Think about the irony of it …… Hillary and Donald playing dominoes together behind bars ….. wow, what a visual that is.
That would be a sad and embarrassing day for America but a truely honorable day for American justice.
I commented on this in my essay on the 2016 election a while back.
See my 2016 Election Analysis.
Also on December 11th and December 16th, 2016 at Raving Thoughts for December 2016
and on January 17th, 2017 at Raving Thoughts January/February 2017
In attempting to give a grade to Trump’s first 130 days there is a lot to consider. He has not been able to make much progress on some of the issues that are most important to the American people. He has not been able to address tax reform as he promised, but that is probably not a realistic expectation for the first 130 days. He has thrown the health care system into worse chaos than it was already in and failed at his attempts to pass any legislation to solve the problem. He has insulted many foreign dignitaries and leaders and made good impressions and fostered good relations with others. He has strengthened ties with some of our allies and and alienated others. He seems to be creating jobs. He seems short sighted on environmental issues. He has taken steps to enhance national security but it is not clear at this point if those steps will be effective. Trump has sent out so many tweets that it has become absurd, and he is his own worst enemy when it comes to staying on point and delivering a message when he speaks to the press or the public.
Trump’s worst problems are the investigations going on that could subject him to charges of conspiracy, election gerrymandering and possibly treason. This has had the effect of distracting him, his cabinet, the press and the rest of America from the things in this country that really need work. Trump has the lowest approval rating in history for a presidents first 100 days. Depending on who’s poll you look at he has an approval rating of somewhere around 42%. He is the only president in history to have an approval rating below 60% for that time frame.
Overall Trump’s actions during his first 130 days have been ineffective, troubled and riddled in doubt. It is often difficult to determine just what Trump actually is doing, or how effective his actions are, because so much of the media is slanted to the left that the bias against Trump or any other Republican is often misleading. Yet as president Trump needs to be effective and well spoken enough to overcome the bias of the media and he has not shown that effectiveness. In fact he has given his antagonists way too much ammunition through his childish reactions to their criticisms, poor choices for cabinet and staff members, unclear and sometimes obtuse communications and ineffective negotiations even within his own political party. In his first 130 days in office he has had more failure than success.
On a A through F grading scale Donald Trump rates a D overall for his first 130 days as President of the United States.