When
interviewing those who work for him (or who have or have had business dealings
with him) negative stories are, curiously, lacking. After all the employees
he’s had and all the business deals he’s made there is an unmistakable lack of
criticism. In fact, long term employees call him a strong and compassionate
leader and say he has far more integrity and high moral standards than many
people
And while it may surprise many, he’s actually
humble when it comes to his generosity and kindness. A good example is a story
that tells of his limo breaking down on a deserted highway outside of New York
City. A middle-aged couple stopped to help him and as a thank you he paid off
their mortgage, but he didn’t brag about that. Generous people rarely talk of
the charitable acts they bestow on others.
But as much as all this is interesting, the real
thing that people want to know is, what is Donald Trump’s plan for America.
It’s funny how so many people say they don’t know what it is, or they act like
Trump is hiding it. The information is readily available if people would just
do a little homework. But, since most Americans won’t do their own research,
here, in no particular order, is an overview of many of Trumps
positions.
1.) Trump believes that America should not
intervene militarily in other country’s problems without being compensated for
doing so. If America is going to risk the lives of our soldiers and incur the
expense of going to war, then the nations we help must be willing to pay for our
help. Using the Iraq War as an example, he cites the huge monetary expense to
American taxpayers (over $1.5 trillion, and possibly much more depending on
what sources are used to determine the cost) in addition to the cost in human
life. He suggests that Iraq should have been required to give us enough of
their oil to pay for the expenses we incurred. He includes in those expenses the
medical costs for our military and $5 million for each family that lost a loved
one in the war and $2 million for each family of soldiers who received severe
injury.
2.)
Speaking of the military, Trump wants America to have a strong military again.
He believes the single most important function of the federal government is
national defense. He has said he wants to find the General Patton or General
MacArthur that could lead our military buildup back to the strength it needs to
be. While he hasn’t said it directly that I know of, Trump’s attitude about
America and about winning tells me he’d most likely be quick to eliminate rules
of engagement that handicap our military in battle. Clearly Trump is a “win at
all costs” kind of guy, and I’m sure that would apply to our national defense
and security,
3.)
Trump wants a strong foreign policy and believes that it must include 7 core
principles (which seem to support my comment in the last point):
* American interests come first. Always. No
apologies.
* Maximum firepower and military
preparedness.
* Only go to war to win.
* Stay loyal to your friends and suspicious of your
enemies.
* Keep the technological sword razor
sharp.
* See the unseen. Prepare for threats before they
materialize.
* Respect and support our present and past
war.
4.) Trump believes that terrorists who are
captured should be treated as military combatants, not as criminals like the
Obama administration treats them.
5.) Trump makes the point that China’s
manipulation of their currency has given them unfair advantage in our trade
dealings with them. He says we must tax their imports to offset their currency
manipulation, which will cause American companies to be competitive again, drive
manufacturing back to America and create jobs here. Although he sees China as
the biggest offender, he believes that America should protect itself from all
foreign efforts to take our jobs and manufacturing. For example, Ford is
building a plant in Mexico and Trump suggests that every part or vehicle Ford
makes in Mexico be taxed 35% if they want to bring it into the U. S., which
would cause companies like Ford to no longer be competitive using their Mexican
operations and move manufacturing back to the U. S., once again creating
jobs.
6.) Trump wants passage of NOPEC legislation (No
Oil Producing and Exporting Cartels Act – NOPEC – S.394), which would allow the
government to sue OPEC for violating antitrust laws. According to Trump, that
would break up the cartel. He also wants to unleash our energy companies to
drill domestically (sound like Sarah Palin’s drill baby, drill?) thereby
increasing domestic production creating jobs and driving domestic costs of oil
and gas down while reducing dependence on foreign oil.
7.) Trump believes a secure border is critical for
both security and prosperity in America. He wants to build a wall to stop
illegals from entering put controls on immigration. (And he says he’ll get
Mexico to pay for the wall, which many have scoffed at, but given his business
successes I wouldn’t put it past him.) He also wants to enforce our immigration
laws and provide no path to citizenship for illegals.
8.)
Trump wants a radical change to the tax system to not only make it better for
average Americans, but also to encourage businesses to stay here and foreign
businesses to move here. The resulting influx of money to our nation would do
wonders for our economy. He wants to make America the place to do business. He
also wants to lower the death tax and the taxes on capital gains and dividends.
This would put more than $1.6 trillion back into the economy and help rebuild
the 1.5 million jobs we’ve lost to the current tax system. He also wants to
charge companies who outsource jobs overseas a 20% tax, but for those willing to
move jobs back to America they would not be taxed. And for citizens he has a
tax plan that would allow Americans to keep more of what they earn and spark
economic growth. He wants to change the personal income tax to:
Up to $30,000 taxed at 1%
From $30,000 to $100,000 taxed at
5%
From $100,000 to $1,000,000 taxed at
10%
$1,000,000 and above taxed
9.) Trump wants Obamacare repealed. He says it’s
a “job-killing, health care-destroying monstrosity that can’t be reformed,
salvaged, or fixed.” He believes in allowing real competition in the health
insurance marketplace to allow competition to drive prices down. He also
believes in tort reform to get rid of defensive medicine and lower
costs.
10.) Trump wants spending reforms in Washington,
acknowledging that America spends far more than it receives in revenue. He has
said he believes that if we don’t stop increasing the national debt once it
hits $24 trillion it will be impossible to save this country. Even though he
says we need to cut spending, he does not want to harm those on Medicare,
Medicaid, or Social Security. He believes that the citizens have faithfully
paid in to the system to have these services available and that the American
government has an obligation to fulfill its end of the bargain and provide those
benefits. Therefore, he wants to build the economy up so that we have the
revenue to pay those costs without cutting the benefits to the recipients. He
disagrees with Democrats who think raising taxes is the answer and says that
when you do that you stifle the economy. On the other hand, when you lower
taxes and create an environment to help businesses they will grow, hire more
workers, and those new workers will be paying taxes that become more tax
revenue for the government.
11.) Trump also wants reform of the welfare state
saying that America needs “a safety net, not a hammock.” He believes in a
welfare to work program that would help reduce the welfare roles and encourage
people to get back to work. And he wants a crackdown on
entitlements.
.
12.)
Trump believes climate change is a hoax.
13.)
Trump opposes Common Core.
14.) Trump is pro-life, although he allows for an
exception due to rape, incest, or the life of the mother.
15.) Trump is pro 2nd Amendment
rights.
16.)
Trump’s view on same-sex marriage is that marriage is between a man and a woman,
but he also believes that this is a states' rights issue, not a federal issue.
17.)
Trump supports the death penalty.
18.)
Trump believes that there is a lack of common sense and innovative thinking in
Washington (Hmmm… looks like he believes in horse sense!). He says it’s about
seeing the unseen and that’s the kind of thinking we need to turn this country
around.
He
tells a personal story to illustrate the point:
“When I opened Trump National Golf Club at Rancho
Palos Verdes in Los Angeles, I was immediately told that I would need to build a
new and costly ballroom. The current ballroom was gorgeous, but it only sat 200
people and we were losing business because people needed a larger space for
their events. Building a new ballroom would take years to get approval and
permits (since it’s on the Pacific Ocean), and cost about $5 million. I took
one look at the ballroom and saw immediately what needed to be done. The
problem wasn’t the size of the room, it was the size of the
chairs.
They were huge, heavy, and unwieldy. We didn’t
need a bigger ballroom, we needed smaller chairs! So I had them replaced with
high-end, smaller chairs. I then had our people sell the old chairs and got
more money for them than the cost of the new chairs. In the end, the ballroom
went from seating 200 people to seating 320 people. Our visitors got the space
they desired, and I spared everyone the hassle of years of construction and $5
million of expense. It’s amazing what you can accomplish with a little common
sense.”
On top of his saving years of construction and $5
million in expenses, he also was able to keep the ballroom open for business
during the time it would have been under remodeling, which allowed him to
continue to make money on the space instead of losing that revenue during
construction time.
Donald
Trump’s entire life has been made up of success and winning. He’s been accused
of bankruptcies, but that’s not true. He’s never filed personal bankruptcy.
He’s bought companies and legally used bankruptcy laws to restructure their
debt, just
as businesses do all the time. But he’s never been
bankrupt personally.
He’s a fighter that clearly loves America and would
fight for our nation.
Earlier
I quoted Trump saying, “I love America. And when you love something, you
protect it passionately – fiercely, even.” We never hear that from Democrats or
even from most Republicans. Donald Trump is saying things that desperately need
to be said but no other candidate has shown the fortitude to stand up and say
them.
Looking
over this list of what he wants for America I see a very necessary set of goals
that are long past due. Before we criticize someone because the media does,
maybe we should seriously consider what he has to offer.
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