Trump Administration Progress Report

Shortly after President Trump’s inauguration I wrote:

The true test of the Trump administration will be on how much it can deliver. If President Trump can just deliver on a third of his promises, it will be a successful Presidency. Batting .333 is good in any league. I hope commentators will begin to focus on what the Trump administration is actually doing, and not on what they fear he will do.

Little did I realize how hard it would be to find out what the Trump administration has actually accomplished. The President’s constant battles with the mainstream media, unprecedented obstruction on the part of the Democrat opposition, and the never-ending Mueller probe of Russian collusion and anything else it can dig up have obscured the real achievements of the last 18 months. 

For example, a few months ago surveys showed that “consumer confidence” in this country had approached an all-time high. Consumer confidence is an economic indicator that indicates that rising incomes are encouraging people to spend and save. Nevertheless, the media outlets I follow hardly mentioned this good sign and certainly did not attribute it to the President or his policies. 

I did read that lame duck Democrat Governor Malloy of Connecticut attributed the rising consumer confidence in his state to his own measures despite the fact that he has one of the lowest approval ratings of any governor in the country. Malloy could not bring himself to give President Trump the least bit of credit for the rise in consumer confidence even though the President’s approval rating is close to a record 50%.

The other day I watched a former director of the Federal Reserve Board (the Fed) give an interview on the CNBC show “The Closing Bell.” He was asked his opinion of President Trump’s recent criticism of the Fed. He expressed puzzlement over the President’s remarks, and said that Fed officials should just ignore them. He was obviously not a Trump partisan.

Nevertheless, he did give the President a lot of credit for the current state of the economy which most commentators agree is booming. He argued that the tax reform legislation and deregulation measures pushed by the Trump administration were the two biggest drivers of the booming economy. In addition, he argued that the President was correct in his tough trade position with China which has continually refused to abide by prior trade agreements and rules.  

Maybe the President and his administration does not deserve all the credit for the booming economy, and the rise in consumer confidence but any impartial person would have to admit that President Trump would have been given all the blame if things had gone in the opposite direction.  We have to remember that just 18 months ago the political opposition and mainstream media were predicting doom for the country and the world. Only grudgingly have they been forced to admit some progress.

Earlier this summer James Himes, my representative in Congress, informed his constituents of the passage of a bill that he had sponsored to protect senior citizens from fraud and abuse. Himes is no friend of President Trump but he did note that the President signed this bill into law. 

You will be glad to hear that President Trump signed the Senior Safe Act into law this past May after it passed the House and Senate with bipartisan support. As states begin administering these important protections, be assured that I will continue looking for more ways to defend seniors from deceit and injustice.

Earlier in the year Democrat Himes had to admit that there were many good features in the huge budget bill that the President approved with bipartisan support. Recently a bipartisan defense appropriation bill was also promoted and approved by the President.

Measures like the above are just the tip of the iceberg but they and other accomplishments are largely going unreported. The national and local media complain the President Trump is attacking freedom of the press but in actuality the press in this country has long ago enslaved itself to ideology and money. 

Here is one final example of how the media have obscured some real achievements. A little noticed feature of the tax reform bill of 2017 eliminated the income tax credit for undocumented and illegal children, a measure that would save the Treasury billions. As usual, the media screamed that this measure was robbing the poorest of the poor to benefit the rich.

In reality, the income tax credit for illegal immigrant children had turned into a scam of massive proportions. People with earnings in this country but without Social Security numbers were still required to file tax returns. These tax returns listed numerous child dependents but many of these dependents did not even reside in the country. One return showed nine nieces and nephews with only one actually residing in the USA. The billions funneled out of the Treasury in this tax credit scheme did not necessarily go to poor children. Much of it might have ended up in the hands of drug lords or gangs.

Here is a link to an Indiana report done in 2013 detailing the tax-credit scam, or just click on the video below.

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Year End Review 2017

I’ve learned from experience not to make predictions or resolutions at New Year’s. But there is no harm in looking back over the past year and trying to assess whether it was a good year or not. In my opinion I rate 2017 as a good to very good year. Here are some reasons.

The World did not come to an End.

There are still real problems facing the world today but 2017 turned out to be a pretty good year despite dire predictions following the Trump victory. War still goes on in the Middle East but tensions in the Ukraine did not boil over. The North Korean nuclear threat is still there but 2017 did not see one of their missiles hit anyone.

The United States did not go down the Drain.

Predictions of doom did not materialize after Donald Trump was sworn in as President. Somehow, the nation has survived his first year as President. Despite unprecedented and vitriolic hatred on the part of his enemies, President Trump and his administration have chalked up a number of achievements. I said at the beginning of the year that it would be wise to see what Trump does as President rather than obsess over his words and tweets.

The Stock Market hit an all-time high with the Dow Jones Industrial average up 25%. Most global markets also hit record highs. At the same time, unemployment dropped to almost record lows. Interest rates remained relatively low. President Trump cannot be given all the credit for this economic boom but his election did not cause the economy to collapse.

In foreign affairs President Trump and the U.S. military must be given credit for the defeat of ISIS in Iraq, Syria, and the Philippines. The numbers of this terrorist organization have dropped from a high of 40000 in the Obama years to less than 1000 today.

Despite unanimous Democrat opposition, the Republican Congress passed a Tax Reform Bill.  Although it is still too early to tell, it would appear that the bill will benefit low income workers more than the well to do. With the increased standard deduction those living at or below the poverty level will pay little or no income tax. The so-called deductions for state and local income taxes (SALT) were cut back but that will largely hurt only high income taxpayers.

After some initial turmoil, President Trump seems to have put together a skilled and experienced set of advisors at the Cabinet level and on down. It appears as if adults and not ideologues are now in vital government offices. No one can seriously doubt that Judge Neil Gorsuch was fit to serve on the Supreme Court. Even a handful of Democrats were able to break the Schumer chains and vote for him.

Sexual Predators were exposed in 2017. The nation was “shocked, shocked” at the revelations and accusations especially when some of the accused turned out to be noted liberal supporters of women’s rights. Why were we surprised to discover that those in the entertainment industry who made movies filled with sexual abuse actually had “hands on” knowledge of abuse?

The New England Patriots won the Super Bowl and the Houston Astros won the World Series. Both teams are remarkable success stories that no one else seems willing or capable of emulating. In particular, the Astros managed to become a contender after being mired in last place only three years ago. Interestingly, while most major league scouts will not even look at a player less than six feet tall, the Astro’s second baseman, Jose Altuve became the league’s MVP at only 5’ 6”.

All in all, 2017 was not bad.  Just compare it to 1917 when Communist revolutionaries took over Russia. Last year there were celebrations of this history making event in certain parts of the world and on our own college campuses. However historians are still counting, and it would appear that over 100 Million lives were sacrificed on the altar of Communism.

I know a lot of bad things happened in 2017 and that things could get worse in 2018, but personally I will be very happy with another 2017. At the close of the year I even discovered a charming commercial with Goldilocks as spokesperson for the Purple mattress. Click on this link or see the video below.

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