Since the kickoff of his campaign, Donald John Trump has become the king of controversy. Bloggers, journalists, memers, Hollywood stars, talk show hosts, literally everyone can’t stop talking about the pumpkin faced media mogul. What are they saying about him? He must be super popular for a reason, right? Is it his clever ideas and expert policy positions? No, it’s because he’s hilarious. That being said, the media has completely ignored his policies, and even if they do they misconstrue them to the point of unrecognizability. They call Donald sexist, racist, vulgar. Other than a few archaic lawsuits and some sny comments, these insults hold little water. What are Trump’s policy positions, and what’s wrong with them? What’s the problem with Donald Trump? Position If you ask anybody what Donald Trump’s position on the political spectrum is, some will tell you where the he’s super conservative (some even say the most conservative presidential candidate since Ronald Reagan), while others call him literally Hitler or Mussolini. Hitler was a national socialist, meaning that he promoted a racial hierarchy, supports bureaucratic agencies, and pushes complete mercantilism. Fascists, like Mussolini, believe in strong nationalism, want a single-party state, enforce traditionalist values, and push a corporatist economy (which means instead of competition, they want collective bargaining and negotiating). Donald Trump is neither one of these things. He is a populist, pandering to the majority. Trump supports domestic competition, and wants to get rid of certain federal departments. He supports fair trade, expanded welfare, higher wages, and putting “America First.” He’s very similar to Bernie Sanders in those regards. Populists often preach against elites and minorities. Trump has said our leaders are “stupid” and have dissed Muslims constantly. After studying Trump's positions and taking the test similar to how he would, I got this result. You can see he is firmly populist, maybe leaning towards nationalism and left populism. He is pretty far away from the Republican Party. Con is the Constitution Party, Dem is the Democrats, Lib is Libertarian, Grn is the Green Party, and PSL is the Party for Socialism and Liberation. The app is I took this on is called "Voter 1." Minimum Wage Ignoring the fact that setting a federal minimum wage is unconstitutional, therefore should be handled on the state and private level, Donald Trump supports raising the minimum wage to $10. Further proof that he is a populist. This can have a variety of negative effects on the economy. We can see a correlation between wage increases and inflation, which means the amount of money goes up, and the value of that money goes down. Small businesses wouldn’t be able to hire people, at least not legally. Unskilled, first time workers will have a hard time finding a job because their work may not be worth $10 an hour. Prices will go up because businesses have to pay their employees and make a profit. Large companies will have to fire people and outsource their jobs. Don’t you worry though, Trump has a solution for that one. Trade Trump has had the same position on trade since the 90s, and it’s a very popular position (HINT HINT). He wants to punish companies that outsource their jobs to places like Mexico and China. Is he gonna spank them? Send them to bed without dinner? Trump wants to impose tariffs on specific goods and countries until the jobs and investment come back to America. A tariff is a tax on trade, and it’s a clear indicator of nationalism and economic populism. What these “free but fair” trade supporters don’t realize is that we’ve done it before. In 1930, Congress and President Herbert Hoover enacted a law called the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act. What happened? Well it was passed during the Great Depression, and caused more economic strain on the agricultural sector. Some economists say it was a big perpetuator of the Depression. Exports and imports decreased because nations felt like they were being targeted. They didn’t see business with the United States as profitable. So, in short, tariffs will decrease imports, exports, and will cause toxic foreign relationships. “But we’re bringing back the jobs!” you might be screaming at me. What jobs are we bringing back with tariffs? Manufacturing, for the most part, maybe some agriculture. Well, those are hard working jobs, and most Americans won’t take them, meaning they’ll be taken by immigrants. Trump has our back on that one too! Immigration This has been the number one cornerstone of Trump's presidential campaign. Most know about Trump's Wall and making Mexico pay for it, but what else does he have planned? This is Trump’s full immigration plan, put into a simple bullet-point list:
Let’s ask ourselves why Mexico sucks. The cartels and large gangs corrupt their government, which would probably be hindered if the Drug War ended. Donald Trump said in the 1990’s, when he was a social liberal, that our drug enforcement was a joke. Now he says that we should legalized medical marijuana, and let the states decide on the legality of drugs. Legalizing drugs on the federal level is “not something that he would want to do.” 40% of Mexico is desert (compare that to the 5% of the United States). Mexico is one-fifth the size of America, but their population is almost one-third. That can hint at some overpopulation problems, and Trump has been riding the pro-life wagon for the entire election. “They’re stealing our jobs!” They take the jobs that no one wants, like manufacturing and agriculture. How do we know this? Alabama and Georgia cracked down on illegal immigration and their economy ended up failing. What’s the reason people hire illegal immigrants? Because they hate their country? No, because they work harder for cheaper wages. That’s capitalism. It’s not the government’s job to protect your job from someone who’s gonna benefit your employer more. And by the way, cheaper labor means that a company can lower prices, which benefits consumers. It’s not just the authoritarianism and misunderstanding of economics that makes Trump’s plan fail, it’s the lack of success. Mexico sucks. That’s why they move here. What does Trump want to do again? Get rid of free trade, which will cause their economy to suck, causing more illegal immigration. Decrease Mexican foreign aid, which could help Mexico, causing more illegal immigration. Dramatically decrease the amount of work visas and possibly raise the fees to get them, which will block up process and will (you guessed it) cause more illegal immigration! Not to mention the mere absurdity of building a wall on the border, considering the fact that Mexico already has tunnels, catapults, and helicopters that transfer people and drugs across the border. Motives It should be considered that raising the minimum wage, increasing tariffs, and getting rid of cheap employees will damage small businesses, and make the market less competitive, allowing large companies to take grasp. Established companies that already have lots of money, like, this is just hypothetically speaking here, the Trump Organization. It’s not like it was founded by his grandmother, like he’s been with the organization since 25, like he’s basically built it into a commercial empire, like he’s going to leave it in the hands of his beloved children when he leaves. I see no conflict of interest here. Budget Donald Trump has said, “We've got to start balancing budgets.” To be completely honest, I don’t think Trump knows what the federal budget looks like.
Along with expanding our biggest debt-causers, Trump also wants to cut taxes across the board. Instead of seven tax brackets going 10-15-25-28-33-35-39.6, there would be four going 0-10-20-25. Trump will also get rid estate and death taxes, and cut corporate taxes to 15%. Our debt will explode under a Trump presidency, and that can lead to fiscal crises and higher costs of living.
Environment Donald Trump is complete garbage when it comes to the environment. In his book “Crippled America,” the chapter explaining his energy and environment positions was called “The Energy Debate: A Lot of Hot Air.” And, of course, we all remember this glorious tweet. He wants to create the Keystone Pipeline (which will require the confiscation of private land), he wants to plunder the Outer Continental Shelf for oil (land that isn’t ours for the taking), and cancel all the progress we’ve made on protecting our planet (like the Paris Agreement and other resolutions). Global warming, the Holocene extinction, and other effects have been appearing as we continue to produce mass pollution and raid the Earth for her resources. Phony Patriotism To be a populist, you’re gonna have to pander to national pride. “But Donald Trump actually love this country, unlike Hillary!” No one just hugs a flag out of the love for their country. They might post a cute picture with it on Independence Day, but Donald Trump, not once but twice, literally hugged the flag like it was a good friend. That’s grade A panderin’, right there. People who support Donald Trump, like the person who posted that video, love to call themselves patriots. A patriot is someone who loves their country and its values, willing to defend them against enemies or challengers. What are America’s values? The answer to that question can be found in a single document: The Constitution of the United States of America. The oath to become President is, "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States." So… Will Donald do that? “I Alone Can Fix It” While Hillary Clinton took this quote from Trump’s nomination speech and used it to promote hard-working Americans, I was concerned when I first heard it. Alone means with no one else, so my first thought was Trump scribbling down executive orders and actions all day long. This would be a violation of Article I, which gives law making power to Congress. It is possible that he just meant that he was the lone candidate to fix America, but considering Donald has praised executive orders on the campaign trail, I wouldn’t rule Trump-branded tyranny out. I Like the First Amendment But... This is perhaps the biggest red alert when it comes to Trump’s views on the Constitution. For those that don’t recall the first amendment protects freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, freedom to petition, and freedom of/from religion. The Donald wants to “open up libel laws” so he can easily sue newspeople and news organizations that he feels are “horrible and false.” Trump’s press advisories declared that events in public shall have “no homemade signs, banners, professional cameras with a detachable lens, tripods, monopods, selfie sticks, backpacks or large bags.” One can argue the homemade sign ban is an infringement on one’s free speech, and the camera restriction is obviously targeting the press. While it’s true, Donald has the right to ban the media from his events, it does show that he does have a toxic relationship with it, and can lead to a Nixon-esque administration. And, of course, there’s Donald Trump’s battle with freedom of religion. Donald Trump has been pushing his Christian side, which makes sense because they still make the majority of the nation. With his “two Corinthians” comment, it was pretty clear Trump was pandering to the majority yet again. I don’t think we’re gonna have to worry about Donald Trump, the man who has a model wife and has been on the cover of Playboy, imposing evangelical law on America. However, he does come pretty hard with the discrimination of Muslims and the Islamic religion. Banning Muslims from entering the United States, which Trump has advocated for, is against the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” The Right to Bear Arms “What,” you must be saying, “Donald Trump has praised the second amendment, and even got the endorsement of the NRA!” That’s true, but he also received that endorsement before he pushed banning people on the federal terrorist watch list for buying a gun. Trump did this after the Orlando shooting. Now, the federal watch list is an inefficient method of prevention. Innocent people get on the list all the time, and if Trump’s ban is imposed, that means innocent people won’t be able to buy their guns. This is a violation of the second and fifth amendment, which protect the right to bear arms and the right to due process respectively. Err Towards Security Trump supports the National Security Agency (NSA) and PATRIOT Act. Most people found out what these two aspects of our post-9/11 society are back in 2014 when the Edward Snowden story picked up speed. Basically, the government was spying on us. Some of us are cool with the federal government collecting metadata and information on us, while others say it is a violation of the fourth amendment, which protects us from unreasonable searches and seizures. To quote Rand Paul, “Get a warrant!” Due Process and Eminent Domain Jeb Bush was completely slaughtered by Donald Trump. There was only one time on the campaign trail where Jeb fought decently, and that was on eminent domain. Jeb absolutely destroyed Donald on that one issue that no one cares about. Basically, eminent domain is when the government takes your property because it will “benefit the public.” Donald fully supports eminent domain, to the point of abusing the system multiple times. He wants to create the Keystone Pipeline, which would require the confiscation of private property. Donald doesn’t support due process for Muslims and suspected terrorists, wanting to shove more people into Gitmo, supervise and shut down mosques, and create multiple databases and watchlists. Once again, this is an infringement of the fifth amendment. We Have to Beat the Savages Trump has had the same position on the death penalty since 1989, which is that he 100% supports it. He calls it “vigilance,” while others call it justified murder. Innocent people are killed every year because of government trying to keep us “safe.” Donald also supports torture and “enhanced interrogation techniques,” when it comes to terrorist suspects. He has voiced support for waterboarding and “a lot more.” What does that mean? Well, a CIA report released in 2014 detailed some EITs that America used on certain prisoners. These include such methods as rectal rehydration and exploiting entomophobia. I’m willing to believe that Trump will try to deregulate torture methods, therefore making these common practices in our military. Let's not forget the comments he made about "going after their families," suggesting the torture and murder of innocent people, which is just going to create more terrorists in the process! The 8th amendment protects people “cruel and unusual punishment,” and it needs to be enforced. Kasich Administration If you didn’t hear, Donald Trump, Jr. contacted one of John Kasich’s aides to offer up the Vice Presidential position to the Ohioan governor. He said that Kasich would be the most powerful VP in American history, in charge of domestic and foreign policy, while Trump will be in charge of “making America great again.” Kasich, hating everything Trump stands for, denied the offer, and Trump moved on to select Indiana governor Mike Pence. Article Two of the Constitution gives the Vice President no execute powers, and this further shows Trump’s lack of knowledge on how the government works. So, if Trump wins, odds are Mike Pence will be leading the nation. How bad could he be? Mike Pence As an average Republican politician, Mike Pence has some things right, like the deregulation of the economy and supporting gun rights. Pence also proposed a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution, pushed the creation of a nationwide AMBER Alert System, supports transparent campaign financing, and promotes tax cuts across the board. So what’s the problem with Mike Pence? Well, Mike supported the Iraq War, which Donald Trump has forgave him for. He wants to make the PATRIOT Act permanent, and opposes whistleblower protection. He wants to impose his traditional Christian values on the nation, including banning abortion, getting rid of gay marriage, opposing the idea of secular nation, and supports abstinence-only education. He is anti-science, rejecting facts such as climate change and the dangers of tobacco. He also wants to stop teaching evolution in our schools and limit stem cell research even further. A Trump/Pence administration would just be a more erratic version of what we’ve seen before from establishment politicians, appealing to the majority to get elected and ruining our nation even further. Donald Trump is not a fighter, like so many people tried to say at the Republican Convention. He's not the savior of our nation, the image of pure patriotism that so many try to portray him as. He simply is not. Trump is a media shill, trying to get attention 24/7, using populist rhetoric and absurd ideas to do so. Trump doesn't want to fix America, make it great again. Donald Trump simply wants another hat to wear, another title to have under his belt. He wants to be the figurehead of our nation, giving all the duties and responsibility to other people. Trump is the guy you get for a school project that wants to do the presentation, not the actual hard work going into the project itself. He's not a fighter, he's a mascot for his company, and wants to be one for America.
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Hillary Clinton has officially gotten away with it. The FBI has said that Hillary Clinton, even though she has broken the law, will not be indicted and no criminal charges will be placed against her.
What did she do exactly? Well, Hillary used her family's private email when she should've been using the State Department's. Using her private email, she endangered classified information and the lives of American citizens. Her emails have been released on Wikileaks, containing some interesting information While, yes, the media and certain candidates emphasized this event to no end, it doesn't make sense. Or does it? Obama, the current President of the United States and leader of the executive branch, has officially endorsed her and has even joined her on the campaign trail. For those that don't remember middle school civics, the executive branch is in charge of the enforcing laws, like those than prevent endangerment of classified information. This is also shortly after the meeting between Hillary's husband and former President Bill Clinton, and Loretta Lynch, Attorney General of the United States. Unlike Bill's last private meeting with a woman, it is understood universally that this probably played in Hillary's favor. The two met at a Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, when their planes just coincidentally landed at the same place and the same time. The two supposedly talked for maybe 30 minutes about the grandchildren and nothing "discussed was related to the investigation." Interesting. So with Washington on her side, how do the American people and the other candidates think about this entire situation? It shouldn't be a surprise to most that one of the most disliked candidates in American history, getting away with a crime, caused outrage in the media and on social media. Donald Trump took the opportunity to point out Hillary's relationship with corruption and has milking this for everything its worth. Gary Johnson, on the other hand, has said that she isn't a criminal simply because there was "no criminal intent." Mr. Johnson, manslaughter is still a crime, and I hope you backtrack on this. Hillary Clinton. One of the most corrupt, dishonest, disliked politicians in America. A person who might likely become President of the United States. I can't see how anyone can vote for such a shape-shifting snake. We must remember her proud words during the debate: "There should be no bank too big to fail and no individual too big to jail." |
Christopher CaldwellJust some thoughts on current events and such. Archives
January 2017
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