A friend sent this to me and, while I didn’t confirm that these are actually Donald Trump’s positions, I thought it represented an excellent view of most of the things I feel should be addressed in America. So I posted them here, along with my viewpoints. I hope you enjoy the read and that it sparks debate among you and your friends. After all, some of the greatest ideas and solutions have come from debates.
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 injuries.
But we were paid – just not the general public. Oil interests have and will receive far more than the expenses we incurred. And look at the HUGE sum that Halliburton made off the war, enriching all those who owned a piece (i.e. the top 1%). Or all the other contracts that went to “preferred contractors”. Oh, believe me, a huge profit was made, just not shared with the general public (we were just stuck with the bill). And billing someone you invade for your loses isn’t realistic.
2.) 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, too
Patton and MacArthur were both field strategists, not supply Generals. And while MacArthur did oversee the rebuilding of Japan and the Asia area, it was the people that worked for him, not Doug himself, that made the difference. But why do we need to “build up” if we’re not in the war business (unless we’re “renting” our armed forces out)? As Reagan showed, we need to involve newer technology, not just “build up”.
3.) Trump wants a strong foreign policy and believes that it must include 7 core principles 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 warriors.
This sort of falls into #2 above. And I agree. As for “American Interests”, I hope he means as a country, and not “business”.
4.) Trump believes that terrorists who are captured should be treated as military combatants, not as criminals like the Obama administration treats them.
Slippery slope here – I say either shoot them or let them go. This “keep them in Gitmo for years at the people’s expense” is ridiculous.
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 and 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 here.
I agree with the “make it anywhere, tax what wasn’t made here” principle, which the government SHOULD have been doing since the 80’s. As for currency manipulation, I firmly believe that China distorts (lies) everything about their economy and GNP. Mark my words, they will be the downfall of the Western Financial Markets. The way Wall Street is now, the Chinese crash will devastate 10 times over what the “mortgage crisis” did, sending our country into the dumper. Financial reform is key to saving the USA.
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.
I wholly disagree with this. We need newer and more reliable energy sources NOW. The Government can sue OPEC, who will just laugh in our face and flip us the bird. And I have NEVER seen anyone but Big Oil and the 1% make money on domestic drilling, all the while DESTROYING our National lands. No No No.
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 and 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.
The only “wall” we need to build is Honest Americans that don’t hire, but report illegal aliens. They can’t live here if they don’t work here, they can’t work here if they can’t prove citizenship or visa, and only “Americans” are entitled to the rights of the Constitution. All others are trespassers or criminals and need to be treated appropriately. We have immigration laws for a reason – and what we need is a Government that enforces those laws.
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 at 15%.
This is another slippery slope. It looks OK on the surface, but really rewards the 1%. I believe in an individual flat tax based on earnings up to $500K, with more than $500K taxed on a percentage similar to the above. Business tax should be based on the cost of infrastructure use and repair (impact to roads/utilities/volume of local labor used), as well as outsourcing. Capital gains and Dividends should be counted as part of the individual annual income. Death taxes – cash, no tax, all other assets at annual rate.
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.
I agree – “Obamacare” is an albatross. Healthcare should be regulated, with every American entitled to a “base” (like Medicare) and additional services costs based on annual income. Medical services, procedures and prescriptions should be capped across the country. Insurance and Healthcare companies are the second worst plague in America, right after Wall Street.
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.
Spend what you have, not what you don’t. However, this would require large political reform.
11.) 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.
This is “trickle down” economics and works about as well as the water supply in the West over the past few years – the trickle has stopped. Long ago, when States initially proposed tax cuts, all the politicians spoke of reductions in police and fire, in an attempt to “scare” people into not voting for it. This is the same rhetoric. The simple answer is to prioritize your spending – any family that needs to clip coupons can tell you that. And is it really a matter of “cutting spending”? Or more a matter of “proper spending”?
12.) 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 entitlement fraud.
I believe that the majority of welfare is provided to people who are willing to work but can’t, or can’t afford to live on the income they make working. Welfare needs to fix the problems of why people can’t work (like providing jobs, or daycare, etc.) and assist them in making a “living” wage.
13.) Trump believes climate change is a hoax.
I disagree – climate change is real. What isn’t real is the extent to which mankind is credited with impacting it – or the impact that mankind can have on modifying it.
14.) Trump opposes Common Core.
I have to agree here – I really don’t see America having become “smarter” in the last few decades.
15.) Trump is pro-life, although he allows for an exception due to rape, incest, or the life of the mother.
I disagree. I am Pro-Choice for one simple reason – it’s not my place to tell ANYONE what they can and can’t do with their body. Forcing a woman to have a child, especially an unwanted child, is not only cruel to her, but to the child as well.
16.) Trump is pro 2nd Amendment rights.
I’m “Pro-Constitution” and do not “pick and choose” amendments. If I don’t like it here in America, I can always leave.
17.) 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.
I disagree – this is a Human Rights issue. And America should support Human Rights. However, I would refer to anything outside of religion as a “union”, with the same rights and privileges that “marriage” affords. Since “marriage” is a term primarily used by religious sects, it is not the Government’s place to require religions to “comply” (separation of church and state). Therefore each sect can determine whether it is acceptable or not.
18.) Trump supports the death penalty.
I agree. It’s pretty hard not to – you can’t say it’s “OK” to go to another country, declare war and start shooting people – then say it’s not right to execute someone that murdered people here at home. And the appeals process needs to be modified, as it is an act of cruelty to keep people on “death row” for years on end.
19. 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.
This is semantics. I remember when “The Donald” was deep in debt, and no, he didn’t file personal bankruptcy because, much like “too big to fail” Wall Street, he owed so much that the banks couldn’t afford to “take the hit”. So they lent him more and the rest is history (unlike Wall Street).
20. 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.
I can’t think of anyone that can argue this point effectively, although there are a few who will try. But isn’t that always the case?
Let me leave you with this thought:
