DENNIS PATRICK: TRUMP’S ACCOMPLISHMENTS THE MEDIA WON’T TELL YOU
An article in the New York Times Magazine titled “55 Ways Donald Trump Structurally Changed America in 2017” written by Nick Tabor and published December 21, 2017, inadvertently illustrates President Trump’s success during his first year in office. Tabor’s subtitle is “These Are the Concrete Actions His Administration Has Taken to Alter How the Country Works.” He is not writing to extol President Trump’s success. He is a liberal writing for a liberal paper. Rather, Tabor’s piece is a clarion call for liberals to obstruct and defeat the President in any way possible.
In effect, and Tabor admits, President Trump is deconstructing liberalism and unravelling the administrative state! What follows is a comprehensive list of Tabor’s points. Space does not permit an exhaustive list.
IMMIGRATION
-Travel from eight countries is banned -- period.
-All refugees from 11 countries have been blocked from entering the U.S.
-Protections for the “Dreamers” have been rescinded.
-A program for child migrants fleeing violence in Central America is being phased out.
-The U.S. has backed out of the U.N.’s migration pact.
-Spouses and children of refugees have lost their path into the U.S.
-Immigration agents are now required to treat the claims of asylum-seekers more skeptically.
-Green cards are taking longer to process and obtain.
CRIMINAL JUSTICE
-Federal prosecutors have been ordered to seek maximum penalties for various crimes.
-Police-department mandatory race relations reform programs have been unfunded by DOJ.
-Local police are again stocking military weapons to combat heavily armed gangs and criminals.
EDUCATION
-It’s easier for for-profit colleges to collect on student debt.
-Transgender students are not guaranteed the right to use their bathroom of choice.
-Schools have more leeway on how they investigate sexual-assault reports. Under Obama, schools were told to come down against the accused.
-A plan to reduce racial disparities in schools is being delayed. Under Obama, states would have to review districts where minority students are disciplined disproportionately and more often.
ENVIRONMENT
-The U.S. has rescinded its commitment to the Paris climate accord.
-The EPA is dismantling its Clean Power Plan. The plan intended compliance by the U.S. to meet its overarching goal in the Paris deal to reduce carbon emissions by at least 26 percent by 2025.
-The Dakota Access Pipeline is now open.
-And the State Department has approved construction of the Keystone XL pipeline.
-Energy companies are no longer required to capture methane gas when they drill on public land.
-Plastic water bottles are once again allowed in national parks.
-Hunters are free to use lead ammunition on Federal lands.
-The Fish and Wildlife Service declined to put 25 animals on the endangered species list.
WORKER PROTECTION
-The government is no longer fighting pay discrimination. Under Obama, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ordered companies to start submitting detailed data on employee pay categorized by race, gender, and type of work.
-The DOJ has decided transgender people are no longer protected by sex-discrimination laws.
CONSUMER PROTECTION
-The subsidies that undergirded Obamacare have been wiped out.
-Employers can now refuse to cover birth control.
-The FCC has abolished net neutrality.
-The FCC removed limits on how many stations or newspapers a company can own in a market.
-Federal broadband subsidies for the poor are being revoked – including Obama phones.
FOREIGN POLICY
-The military and CIA have eliminated measures that protected foreign civilians from drone strikes.
-Syrian rebel groups no longer receive U.S. weapons or supplies.
-Travel and business transactions with Cuba have been severed.
MISCELLANEOUS
-States’ ability to defund Planned Parenthood has been restored.
-International nonprofits that provide abortions can be defunded, too.
Remember. Tabor listed only 55 Trump changes. He fails to mention a record number of appellate judges confirmed, passage of the most important tax reform bill in 30 years, annihilation of ISIS without adding forces, exploding the number of manufacturing jobs, black and Hispanic unemployment at record lows, seating an outstanding Supreme Court justice, bringing North Korea to the negotiating table, negotiating a $250 billion trade deal with China, and freeing the US from TPP.
In spite of opposition from Democrats, the mainstream media and never-Trump Republicans, President Trump is succeeding beyond anyone’s wildest dreams. The libs and never-Trumpers fear the next 3 years – much less possibly 4 years beyond. This is hardly the product of a lunatic as portrayed by the mainstream media. Given the opposition to Trump, his success is delicious to watch.
Dennis M. Patrick can be contacted at (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).