Trump's Broken Promises

As President Donald Trump closes in on his first 100 days in office he is scrambling to defend his inept performance so far in office.  Perhaps this is best illustrated by his announcement last week that he was sending an armada toward North Korea, only to  find out Monday that it was on its way to Australia.  

Candidate Trump made big promises on the campaign trail.  His promises were targeted at key voting blocks in order to mobilize them to vote last November.  A crackdown on illegal immigration, a border wall with Mexico, tax reform, repeal and replacement of Obamacare, better trade deals, a ban on Muslims, extreme vetting, and a stronger military are among the issues Trump ran on.  The strategy gave the GOP control of the White House and both houses of Congress in a bitterly fought election, which included an assist from Russia.

On Tuesday President Trump told a rally in Kenosha, Wisconsin, "No administration has accomplished more in the first 90 days."  Never one to let the truth get in the way of a good story, it appeared that the president was trying out his talking points in advance of the 100-day mark.  But the truth is President Trump has failed to truly deliver on most of his promises.   And a  recent Gallup Poll shows that just 45% of Americans believe Trump keeps his promises, a sharp decline in two months.   

For seven years Republicans demonized President Barack Obama and this eponymous health care bill.  Candidate Trump promised to repeal and replace Obamacare on his first day in office.   But Republicans could not bridge the deep divisions within their own party, especially with the conservative House Freedom Caucus.  In February, a frustrated President Trump told a meeting of governors, "Nobody knew health care could be so complicated."  

House Speaker Paul Ryan had to withdraw his healthcare bill, even following heavy lobbying from the president, in large part because polls showed it had the support of about 17% of Americans. The GOP alternative would have kicked 24 million people off of heath insurance.  This is in sharp contrast to what Trump told 60 Minutes in 2015.  "I am going to take care of everybody.  I don't care if it costs me votes or not," he said, adding, "Everybody is going to be taken care of much better than they're taken care of now." 

The GOP healthcare bill is linked by party leadership to tax reform.  A repeal of Obamacare would mean a $1 trillion cut in taxes for the wealthy.  Republicans would then have an easier task of finding savings in the budget to secure further tax cuts.   The fate of tax reform is now uncertain.

The wall along the U.S. border with Mexico became a battle cry for Trump supporters during the campaign.  And candidate Trump insisted that Mexico would pay for the wall, which he estimated would cost $8 to $12 billion.  Mexican officials have been consistently adamant that they will not pay for the wall, which Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill, who sits on the Senate Homeland Security Committee, now estimates could "soar" to $70 billion in construction costs.   And to what end, since a majority of immigrants in the U.S. illegally either overstayed their visas or came on a ship?

With much fanfare the president signed a controversial executive order in late January which suspended the U.S. Refugee Program and denied entry to citizens of Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Sudan and Yemen.  The EO led to chaos at airports around the world, and international denunciations.  A federal judge blocked the order because it unfairly targeted Muslims, as thousands of protestors jammed airports around the country to oppose the order.   The EO was poorly conceived and executed, and led to internal finger pointing.  A new updated EO was issued in March, but it is subject to an indefinite preliminary injunction.   So much for Trump's Muslim ban.  

The president campaigned passionately against the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA, which he has promised to renegotiate.  He said it was taking away American jobs.  But Trump will have great difficulty redoing this complex trade deal, and he knows it.  And now the president has reversed himself on his campaign charge that China is a currency manipulator.  Given the need to enlist China's support in dealing with North Korea, and following a meeting with the Chinese leader, Trump has flip-flopped.   Perhaps not so coincidentally, China approved three trademarks for Ivanka Trump's company on the same day she dined with her father and the Chinese president at Mar-a-Lago.  

The president has signed executive orders undoing some of President Obama's regulation, including related to the environment.  He was also able successfully appoint Judge Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court with an assist from the Senate Republicans.  But Trump has had the worst first 100-days of any modern era president.  To exacerbate his problems, the probes continue into whether the Russians had any ties to members of the Trump campaign.  Infighting between chief strategist Steve Bannon and son-in-law Jerod Kushner has broken into the open and spawned unprecedented leaks to the media.  Trump continues his attacks on the "fake" media while tweeting reckless and untrue comments, like President Obama wiretapped him.  And Trump has decided to keep the White House visitor logs secret, which now raises questions about transparency.  

With Trump's popularity low and a rocky start of his presidency, Republicans are beginning to speak out.  Senator Joni Ernst distanced herself in comments at a town hall in Iowa yesterday.   "I think we have a president that has a number of flaws," she stated with unusual candor.  "I support a majority of his policies, versus the actual person, but I decry any time a person is ugly towards another person, I don't think that's appropriate."  She also said Trump should release his taxes.

Republicans control the White House and both houses of Congress, so President Trump should have had an easy time achieving much of his agenda.  But governing takes a different set of skills than campaigning.  Trump's lying, personal attacks, distortion and distraction have worn thin on the very people he needs to support him.  So too, thankfully, has the list of unfulfilled promises, many of which would severely impact the very people who voted for Donald Trump because they mistakenly believed he alone could fix it. 

Is Trump Losing It?

"The best defense is a strong offense" is a centuries old military tactic that can lead to a strategic advantage.   But it is hard to understand how President Donald Trump will benefit from tweeting as a fact Saturday that President Barack Obama had Trump Tower wiretapped shortly before the November election.   The tweet left surprised White House aides scrambling for details, put the Democrats on attack mode, and led the head of the FBI to request the Justice Department publicly reject the claim.

Deputy White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders defended her boss but did not provide any supporting evidence on ABC's This Week Sunday.   "Look, I think he's going off of information that he has seen that has led him to believe that this is a very real potential," she said.  "And if it is, this would be the greatest overreach and the greatest abuse of power that I think we have ever seen and a huge attack on democracy itself."   In a statement Sunday, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said, "President Donald J. Trump is requesting that as part of their investigation into Russian activity, the congressional intelligence committees exercise their oversight authority to determine whether executive branch investigative powers were abused in 2016."   He added that the president would not comment any further until such oversight is conducted.

A spokesperson for President Obama called Trump's accusation false.  He also noted that the president cannot order such a wiretap.   President Obama's Director of National Intelligence, James R. Clapper, denied Sunday that Trump Tower was tapped.  Speaking on NBC's Meet The Press, Clapper said, "There was no such wiretap activity mounted against the president, the president-elect at the time, or as a candidate, or against his campaign."  Any such wiretap would have to have been authorized by the Federal Intelligence Surveillance Court Act (FISA) based upon some evidence.   Clapper was asked if such a FISA order existed.  He responded, "I can deny it."

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi attacked President Trump for using wild accusations to deflect attention away from the growing investigations into his administration's ties to the Russians.  Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Sunday on Meet The Press, "It's beneath the dignity of the presidency.  It is something that really hurts people's view of government."

Meanwhile, Republican Senators Marco Rubio and Tom Cotton said Sunday they had seen no evidence to support Trump's claims.  Republican Senator Lindsay Graham said Saturday, "If the former president of the United States was able to obtain a warrant lawfully to monitor Trump's campaign for violating the law, that would be the biggest scandal since Watergate."  Republican Senator Ben Sasse said Saturday, "The president should ask that this full (FISA) application regarding surveillance of foreign operatives of operations be made available, ideally to the full public, and a bare minimum to the U.S. Senate."  And House Intelligence Committee chairman Devin Nunes, a Trump loyalist, said Sunday his committee will include Trump's allegations in its current investigation into Russian meddling.  

Late Sunday the New York Times reported that FBI Director James Comey asked the Justice Department to "publicly reject President Trump's unsubstantiated claim that former President Barack Obama ordered his phones to be tapped."  This report was later confirmed by several news organizations, and is a remarkable action by an FBI chief .  Comey reportedly thinks the Trump claim suggests the FBI broke the law.  The Justice Department has so far not commented.  

President Trump has been dealing with a growing scandal involving past and present members of his administration and Russia.  U.S. intelligence agencies have already determined that Russia meddled in the U.S. elections to tilt the race toward Trump.  Despite repeated denials from Trump and his spokespersons, members of Trump's team had repeated contacts with Russian officials, even before the election.   In 2008, Donald Trump Jr. was quoted by a travel industry news website making comments about Russian investment in Trump businesses.   "Russians make up a pretty disproportionate cross-section of a lot of our assets; say in Dubai, and certainly with our project in SoHo and anywhere in New York."  He concluded, "We see a lot of money pouring in from Russia."   No wonder President Trump has never said anything bad about Russian President Vladimir Putin.  No wonder Trump wants the whole Russia issue to go away.  Da!

Of course, Americans could get a better understanding of Trump's complex business ties with the Russians if he released his tax returns.  During the campaign Trump said he could not release the returns because he is under audit, but promised he would do so when the audit is complete.  However, an audit does not preclude someone from releasing their tax returns to the public.   And Trump has refused to release a copy of the IRS audit letter.  The whole IRS audit claim may be a lie.  However, now his campaign says that Trump will never release his taxes because the American people elected him and they don't care.

The many investigations into Trump's Russian ties appear to be making progress, which may explain why he is tweeting unsubstantiated and outrageous charges about President Obama.  The man who once said "I alone can fix it!" is in a fix, and he is not going to be able to tweet his way out of it.   It appears that he may be losing it.  

There is now an urgent need to get to the truth about President Trump's latest allegations accusing a former U.S. president of illegal wiretapping.  And about the true nature of his ties to Russia.  It is also time for all members of Congress to demand Trump publicly release his taxes so that all potential conflicts of interest are disclosed.  

This is about putting America first--not Donald J. Trump!

Undoing Obama

On January 20, President-elect Donald Trump will be sworn into office and he promises to hit the ground running with a flurry of actions that will undo regulations enacted by President Barack Obama.  "Regulations are coming off," he said to the crowd gathered at his New Year's Eve party at Mar-a-Lago, his Florida retreat.  Republican lawmakers, who will soon control both houses of Congress, have made undoing Obama's legacy their top priority.  

Of course, the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, is the prime Republican target for repeal.  They have described the law as a disaster, and have charged it has increased health care costs for many individuals and small businesses.  In truth, the ACA track record is more mixed.  Nonetheless, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said that repeal would not mean that those receiving health care through the law will lose coverage.   "This has to be done carefully," he said, "It has to be done in a phased-in way over a period of time."  However, it is unclear how Republicans plan to replace the ACA.  

Obamacare has remained unpopular with the American public despite all of the benefits it provides.  About 20 million Americans have health insurance through Obamacare exchanges or Medicaid expansion. Senior citizens pay less for Medicare coverage and prescription drugs under the law.  The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that repeal of Obamacare would increase Medicare spending by $802 billion over 10 years.  Obamacare totally eliminates the donut hole in Medicare prescription drug coverage by 2020.  All of these costs will be passed on to beneficiaries. Repeal may also mean that children up to 26 would no longer be automatically covered by their family policy, and those with pre-existing health conditions can again be denied health insurance coverage.

Democratic Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said on Twitter Monday, "The GOP wants to dismantle ACA & consequently increase costs.  It's wrong.  It will have an major impact on hardworking families & raise taxes."   She also warned that Republicans want to "dismantle Social Security, Medicare & Medicaid."   Many Republicans are for making changes in all of these programs in order to rein in government costs.  

President-elect Trump and Republicans also want to undo the many regulations President Obama has enacted.   They have their eyes set on the Dodd-Frank financial reform law, which includes the "Volcker Rule" that restricts banks from trading for profits.  Dodd-Frank, which was enacted following the 2008 financial crisis, calls for a series of reforms meant to decrease risk in the financial system.   A Trump administration is likely to slow these regulations and rewrite the law.  

Trump will also go after several environmental regulations.  The Environmental Protection Agency's Clean Power Plan is likely to be repealed.  It calls for a 32 per cent cut in the power sector's carbon emissions by 2030.  The EPA and Army Corps of Engineer's Clean Water Rule is likely to be scrapped.  It makes small waterways, like wetlands and ponds, subject to federal rules much to the ire of many businesses.   The EPA's rule to limit ground-level Ozone, which is largely the byproduct of fossil fuels, is likely not to be strictly enforced under a Trump administration.  And Trump wants to eliminate rules that make hydraulic fracturing more difficult.  

These measures enacted by Obama were all an effort to protect Americans and make the environment safer.  But Trump is a world class self-promoter and businessman whose priority it is to undo Obama's regulations and legacy.  This, he says, will create new jobs and strengthen the economy.  However, many economists say ending regulations has not historically led to a large increase in jobs.  But it sure may help short-term profits for corporations.

This is how Trump will make America great again! 

Obama: Passing the Baton

"America is already great," President Barack Obama proclaimed to delegates at the Democratic Convention is his speech that highlighted his accomplishments in office, attacked Donald Trump, and enthusiastically endorsed Hillary Clinton to be his successor. The president's speech was brilliantly written and masterfully delivered.  

Delegates welcomed the president with thunderous applause, the man who first appeared before them 12 years earlier as an Illinois State Senator.  It will be the last time that he addresses delegates as president, and this may have been his best speech.  "I stand before you again tonight, after almost two terms as president, to tell you I am even more optimistic about the future of America,"  he told delegates.

The president highlighted his achievements in office, including guiding the country out of the worst recession in 80 years, saving the auto industry, creating 15 million new jobs, enacting the Affordable Care Act, which expanded health insurance coverage to millions, the growth of clean energy, a global climate agreement, a nuclear agreement with Iran, the opening of relations with Cuba, and the death of terrorist leader Osama bin Laden.   He also highlighted his actions on immigration, student loans, consumer protection and marriage equality.  "By so many measures, our country is stronger and more prosperous than it was when we started," the president asserted.   

"I am here to tell you yes, we have more work to do," the president continued.  He pointed to those still in need of jobs or a raise, paid leave, a decent retirement, and to children in poverty, and called for safer streets and a fairer criminal justice system.  "That work involves a big choice this November," he said.  "This is a more fundamental choice about who we are as a people."

President Obama then said, "But what we heard in Cleveland last week wasn't particularly Republican -- and it sure wasn't conservative.  What we heard was a very pessimistic vision of a country where we turn against each other, and turn from the rest of the world."  He continued, "There were no serious solutions to pressing problems -- just the fanning of resentment, and blame, and anger, and hate.  And that's not the America I know."

The president then made a strong case for Hillary Clinton, describing her as a leader with plans to break down barriers, blast through glass ceilings, and to give opportunity to more Americans. "That's the Hillary I know.  That's the Hillary I've come to admire.  And that is why I can say with confidence there has never been a man or woman, not me, not Bill (Clinton), nobody more qualified than Hillary Clinton to serve as president of the United States of America."  

President Obama then harshly attacked Trump.  "He's not really a plans guy.  Not really a facts guy either," he said.  "Does anyone really believe that a guy who's spent his 70 years on the earth showing no regard for working people is suddenly going to be your champion?"   President Obama then criticized Trump for calling America's military a disaster, for suggesting America is weak, for cozying up to Russian President Vladimir Putin, for praising Iraq's late dictator Saddam Hussein, and telling NATO allies they will have to pay for U.S. protection.    

Saying that Trump just offers slogans and fear, he countered that, "America is already strong.  And I promise you, our strength, our greatness, does not depend on Donald Trump."  Later, he added, "Our power doesn't come from some self-declared savior promising that he alone can restore order.  We don't look to be ruled."  

President Obama then returned to the spirit, values and character of the American people, "The American Dream is something no wall will ever contain."  He said that America is about what we can achieve together, "not about what one person says he'll do for us."  Then, acknowledging the "vocal and persistent" supporters of Senator Bernie Sanders, he urged delegates to vote for Democrats up and down the ticket.  

Calling Hillary Clinton a fighter, a stateswoman, a patriot, he said, "That's the America she is fighting for."  He concluded his speech by saying, "I am asking you to join me--to reject cynicism, to reject fear, to summon what's best in us; to elect Hillary Clinton as the next President of the United States, and show the world we still believe in the promise of this great nation."

Presidential historian Michael Beschloss described Obama's speech on MSNBC as the best endorsement ever given in convention history by an incumbent president for his party's nominee.   The president's speech spoke to independent voters and Republicans who are uneasy with Trump.  Obama was poised, confident, warm and presidential in his delivery.   His speech was a rich tapestry of words and ideals meant to unite the delegates behind their party's candidate.  

All in all, Wednesday was a fabulous day for Democrats, and it may well be an important pivot point for their convention. President Obama now has handed the baton to Hillary Clinton, who will give her acceptance speech Thursday evening.  And it very well may will the most important speech of her political career.

Judge Merrick Garland

President Barack Obama's Supreme Court nominee, Judge Merrick Garland, is described as brilliant and eminently qualified to serve on the Supreme Court by both Republicans and Democrats.  In making his announcement, President Obama described Garland as, "someone who brings to his work a spirit of decency, modesty, integrity, even-handedness and excellence."   But, unfortunately Garland's superb qualifications will not matter. 

Garland is currently the chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit Court.  He is a native Chicagoan, and was the valedictorian of his high school class.  In 1974, he was valedictorian of his Harvard class, where he graduated with an A.B. summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa in social studies.  He then attended Harvard Law School, graduating in 1977 with a J.D. magna cum laude.  He was also a member of the Harvard Law Review.   He was a clerk for Supreme Court Justice William Brennan, and took a job as a federal prosecutor during President George H. W. Bush's administration.  

 In 1993, Garland joined the Clinton administration as deputy assistant attorney general in the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. Subsequently, he did an outstanding job supervising the Oklahoma City bombing prosecutions, the UNABOM prosecution, and the Atlanta Olympics bombing investigation.  President Bill Clinton nominated Garland to the D.C. Circuit Court in 1997, and the Senate confirmed him by a 76-23 vote.  The 23 no votes were cast by Republicans who were opposed to an eleventh seat on the D.C. Circuit.   They included Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, who at the time said,  "I have nothing against the nominee.  Mr. Garland seems well qualified, and would probably make a good judge--in some other court." 

Judge Garland is generally viewed as "essentially the model, neutral judge" in his time on the D.C. Circuit.  He has twice been a finalist for open Supreme Court seats, earning praise from Republicans and Democrats.  The law has been a lifelong commitment for Garland, who emotionally described his nomination as "the greatest honor in my life, other than Lynn agreeing to marry me 28 years ago." 

In selecting Judge Garland, the president fulfilled his constitutional duty: "he shall nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint ... judges of the Supreme Court." The Constitution does not say a president cannot nominate a justice if he has less than a year left in his or her presidency.  Nor does it say that the Senate must consider the president's nominee.  However, a recent Washington Post/ABC News poll showed that 63 percent of Americans believe that the Senate should hold hearings on the president's nominee. 

Shortly following the death of conservative Justice Antonin Scalia Senate, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell abruptly declared, "this vacancy should not be filled until we have a new president.”  In an unprecedented move, McConnell said the Senate would not consider a nominee.  In a letter published in USA Today Wednesday, McConnell wrote,  "As Vice President Biden said when he was Senate Judiciary Committee chairman, 'Once the political season is under way, and it is, action on a Supreme Court nomination must be put off until after the election campaign is over.'” 

Then Senator Joe Biden's remarks were delivered on the Senate floor in June of 1992, after several fierce Supreme Court fights.  Biden also said he would support a future President George Bush nominee.  Last month, Biden released a statement that read, “Some critics say that one excerpt of my speech is evidence that I oppose filling a Supreme Court vacancy in an election year...This is not an accurate description of my views on the subject.”

Nonetheless, the president, a constitutional lawyer, spent one month reviewing candidates prior to his announcement Wednesday.   "At a time when our politics are so polarized," the president said Wednesday, "this is precisely the time we should play it straight."  Republican Senator Orrin Hatch, who has been a supporter of Garland, may have been pleasantly surprised with the president's announcement.  Last week Hatch told Newsmax, "(Obama) could easily name Merrick Garland, who is a fine man."  He then added,  "He probably won’t do that because this appointment is about the election. So I’m pretty sure he’ll name someone the [liberal Democratic base] wants."   Hatch is among a handful of Republican Senators who say they will extend Garland the courtesy of a meeting.  

Because Scalia was such a powerful conservative voice in this nation, Republicans are determined to block Obama from filling the position.  Of course, since Obama's first day in office in 2009, Senator McConnell and Congressional Republicans have done all they can to block the president's agenda.  They have exacerbated the divisions within this country, and regularly played on people's worst fears instead of their hopes and dreams.  They have demonized and often disrespected President Obama.  They have consistently put their political party ahead of their country.   Their tactics have led to the emergence of Donald Trump. In fact, if Garland is not confirmed, the appointment could be filled by President Trump or President Hillary Clinton.

In accepting the president's nomination, a grateful Judge Garland said, "A life of public service is as much a gift to the person who serves as it is to those who he is serving."  He concluded, "there can be no higher public service than serving as a member of the United States Supreme Court."  That may be true, but he may never have a chance to do so.