Trump Scorecard-His First Three Years
No US president has inspired more vitriol than the current occupant,
#45 Donald Trump. His supporters are quick to mention that he has done more
than any other president, so this article reviews his policy changes and budget
impacts in a handy table for your scrutiny.
Fact #1
Fiscal Spending & budget
Fiscal prudence matters, the only president to reduce the
national deficit in modern times was Clinton
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Trump has blown up the federal deficit, which has
increased 39%
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To understand what this means think of the world as a
community pot of money where foreign investors, largely China buy US debt as
an investment. Should they ever cease to do this, the nation would have a historically massive depression, ruining the livelihoods of your children and grandchildren.
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Fact #2
Increased the risk for global terrorism by facilitating
the release of Isis members held in Syria after pulling US troops out
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Trump pulled US troops out of Syria, where our allies, the
Kurdish army (where women are fighters) were slaughtered without warning and forced
to side with Russian ally, Assad.
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The complete and total betrayal of long-standing US ally,
the Kurdish Army, has resulted in the growing power of Putin, who controls
Assad.
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Fact #3
Reduced the competitiveness and efficiency of US motor
vehicles and accelerated the growth in greenhouse gases by rejecting Environmental
Protection Agency scientific recommendations
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Trump has rolled auto fuel efficiency standards back to 37
MPG versus 54 under the Obama Administration. He is also attempting to force
all states to accept his reduced standards for fuel efficiency and greenhouse
gas causing exhaust. For decades 17 states have chosen to comply with
California standards, including Washington.
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Like Reagan he longs for the 1950’s, but the rest of the
world has moved on with higher performing vehicles and more efficient
infrastructure for the future. Retarding innovation in the US will not help
with jobs or economic security, let alone offsetting damaging global pollution-we’ll
all be choking on US exhaust soon enough.
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Fact #4
Ripping up long standing agreements with US allies, including
NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization
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Trump’s current budget includes significant reductions in
funding NATO, which is a bulwark against Russia aggression to our European
allies.
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The world is a small place and shredding agreements with
our allies will not make the US stronger, but plays directly into Putin’s
hands and could potentially help China.
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Fact #5
Interfering with Military Tribunal Findings for War
Criminals
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Trump threw out the prison sentences for three Navy Seal
members convicted of war crimes, overruling the highest command when removal of
the Navy Seal Trident for these miscreants was imminent.
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All branches of the military require a kind of blind
service based on honor. Humiliating seven peers who testified against Gallagher
does not enhance this valor or the safety of our troops.
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Fact #6
Has used public money to finance religious based sham family
planning clinics which do not provide basic birth control education or
services
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It is unconstitutional to use public funds to promote any
religious perspective in education or healthcare or anything in the public
domain.
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Our founding fathers specifically created a secular
constitution to avoid conflicts among sectarian groups. Freedom of religion
doesn’t mean your ability to impose your will on others, but their freedom
from religious tyranny.
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Fact #7
Undermined the Affordable Care Act by making it more
difficult for people to enroll and eliminated some funding sources
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The ACA or Obamacare was a revenue neutral bipartisan act
that created a marketplace for millions of Americans to get medical care by
subsidizing the purchase of medical insurance. The ACA also removed the
pre-existing conditions exclusion and other onerous insurance industry
restrictions.
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Making it more difficult for working class people to get
healthcare undermines the economy and especially family survival. The US
birth rate is at an all-time low because of family concerns over the high
cost of healthcare, childcare, and education that have gone unanswered under
Trump.
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If the United States is to survive, we must find a way to
stop the rhetoric about “sides” as anyone with a decent education knows there
are lots of gray areas in life and the tricky part is accommodating them in
policy making. To date I have yet to see anything tricky or masterful in the
Trump Administration policy making. As the fervor of the religious right builds as
they approach their eschatological climax, those of us who are more sentient
are reluctant to embrace the greenhouse gas which envelopes our globe
slowly simmering us all.
And this is the healthpolicymaven signing off encouraging
you not to sign blanket medical releases before inpatient procedures and do
specify that for which you agree and those treatments you decline. Do not allow
someone’s else’s religion to determine your health care.
References
Davidson, K. (2019, June 12). US Deficit Grew 39% in
First Eight Months of Fiscal Year. Wall Street Journal. Retrieved
November 29, 2019, from
https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-budget-deficit-grew-39-in-first-eight-months-of-fiscal-year-11560362539
