HIS OWN WORST ENEMY

I think it’s going to be impossible for President Trump to win a second Presidential term. He may run, but it would more than likely result in another democrat winning the White House. President Trump never understood, didn’t care, or chose to ignore, why so many potential voters were turned off by his thoughtless tweets and comments. For almost four years, he has been his own worst enemy with unnecessary public criticism of anyone that he disagreed with. His comments about John McCain probably cost him Arizona. He failed miserably to follow President Reagan’s advice to “Speak no ill of fellow Republicans”. He should not have criticized professional athletes who chose not to stand for the National Anthem before their games. Instead, he wasted an opportunity to call them in, understand their issues, get their recommendations, and work with them to make real change to overcome the problems of racism. His unnecessary criticism allowed his opponents to accuse him of racism, and mobilize an anti-Trump Black vote.

Trump’s speech on January 6th, which urged his supporters to march to the Capital and peacefully, and patriotically make their voices heard, actually led to riots, looting, and death. This was the worst decision he has made as President. It was the final straw. He has now lost at least half of his supporters. Even before the assault on the Capital, he was inciting his peaceful supporters with false hope that their vocal opposition might overturn the election, still insisting that he won by a landslide, and that the election was stolen. He thoughtlessly assailed his loyal supporters in the Senate by warning them that their reelection would be in jeopardy if they didn’t vote to overturn the election of Joe Biden. Unbelievably, Donald Trump even demonized his loyal Vice President, Mike Pence, who was constitutionally bound to preside over the congressional vote to accept the election results. Trump has been blinded by the election results, and has proved that he is oblivious to the fact that loyalty is a two way street. Not surprisingly, several members of his Administration have resigned due to his actions that led to the riots.

He had already compounded his mistakes before the riots. After agreeing to a much delayed bipartisan Covid relief package, he sabotaged his own Administration, and his supporters in Congress by demanding that the stimulus relief package be increased from $600 to $2,000 per person. Plus, he threatened to veto the pork-filled budget unless it included legislation to eliminate liability protection for social media companies. The democrats couldn’t wait to use this against him in the Georgia senate runoff elections. He confused potential Georgia voters by focusing on election irregularities in Georgia and other states, claiming that the election was stolen, and that the Georgia Governor and Secretary of State should resign. Republicans needed every vote in Georgia, and Trump’s failure to focus solely on the importance of the runoff elections surely cost both of Georgia’s senate seats.

During the 2020 presidential campaign, he did a great job rallying his core supporters, but missed every opportunity to expand his base. He did not focus on the concerns of suburban women, and others that liked his policies, but hated his narcisstic personality. Trump made a disasterous reelection blunder when he chose not to prepare for his first debate with Joe Biden. He made no effort to expose Joe Biden’s false claims, and hidden policies. His first debate performance failed to show potential supporters that he was an informed, and competent leader, with policies for the benefit of all Americans. Instead, he kept interrupting Biden, and wound up with an image of a bully, and a blowhard.

He wasted another opportunity to improve his image during the regular press conferences on the Corona Virus. He monopolized the conferences and droned on and on, reading from a script when he should have made a brief statement and let his team provide the details. This mistake allowed Joe Biden, and Biden’s news media allies to falsely claim that Trump had botched the government’s response to the pandemic. Trump should have given all credit to his team, instead of making every action about him.

Who knows what the compound impact of four years of constant democratic resistance, lies, false claims, twisted interpretations, deception and negative rhetoric have had on Trump’s behavior? The Russian collusion hoax, the phony Impeachments, the overwhelming criticism of the mainstream media, and the evil activities of the “Deep State” were all meant to destroy him. This onslaught would have broken almost anyone, yet not Donald Trump,… in spite of his sensitivity to criticism. Surely, this obnoxious negative environment influenced his natural reaction to lash out, and attack. It also must have influenced his frustration when he did not get credit for the good he has done.

And he has done much good… In spite of overwhelming opposition, he deserves credit for exposing the socialist insanity of class warfare…demonizing the rich, overtaxing and punitively regulating corporations, and recklessly obliterating the American Dream. First, Trump showed what would happen if taxes were lowered, punitive regulations were removed, and government policy changed from being the enemy of business to being a partner with business. The economy soared, and jobs became so plentiful that there were not enough workers to fill them. Trump reformed the judicial branch by nominating judges who would support the Constitution, and not try to legislate from the bench. His addition of three new, highly capable Supreme Court Justices was historic. He greatly strengthened the military with additional funding and replenishment of resources. He changed the rules of engagement that allowed troops on the ground to operate without micromanagement from ignorant politicians. As a result, the ISIS “Caliphate” was totally destroyed, and his new policy led to the elimination of key radical muslim leaders that were responsible for thousands of American deaths. Trump’s energy policies led to America becoming the largest producer of oil and gas in the world, which resulted in lower energy costs for all Americans. These policies had the impact of a massive, across-the-board tax cut, and increased the ability of American businesses to compete in a global economy. Trump was responsible for a uniquely new approach to Middle East peace. He totally revived the Middle East Peace process by convincing Arab countries to make peace with Israel in a united effort to counter the influence of Iran. Anyone but Donald Trump would have won the Nobel Peace Prize for this seemingly impossible breakthrough. Perhaps Trump’s greatest accomplishment was to introduce a revolutionary concept of “Warp Speed” to overcome the Covid 19 pandemic. He formed a strategic partnership between government and private industry to rapidly develop vaccines and treatments to combat the Covid Virus. His out-of-the-box approach resulted in new treatments for the virus in addition to several successful vaccines. Donald Trump’s unrelenting focus on the virus has also set in motion the opportunity to develop new pharmaceutical solutions to hundreds of diseases. Many new drugs will now be developed without the risk, cost and bureaucratic delays that have been the norm for decades.

The departure of Donald Trump leaves unfinished business that will not be swept under the rug just because America will have a democrat/socialist government. Unfinished business includes the exposure and the elimination of the Socialist threat to American freedom. The degree of hatred for Donald Trump is unprecedented and is spreading to members of his Administration, and on to his supporters. The socialists intend to destroy anyone associated with Trump. The attempt to impeach without any due process, coupled with silencing all conservative speech is just the beginning. Trial lawyers are going to be busy. The Courts are going to be busy. Liability law will be reformed and refined.

The call for reconciliation and unity is absolutely necessary, but cannot happen without a full accounting of the greatest political crime in more than a century…The Russian collusion hoax that attempted to overthrow Trump’s presidency with knowingly false information…This monstrous lie went on for years, and there are many who should be held accountable. The enablers of this crime included corrupt politicians, rogue government employees, biased news media, biased social media companies, biased university professors, complacent corporate leaders, biased public employee unions, and many others that comprise the “DEEP STATE”. There also has to be a full investigation of the political, and constitutional damage to the election process that was caused by uncontrolled, and unverifiable mail-in ballots.

Trump’s best opportunity to repair his reputation will be to choose not to run again. He could become a constant critic of democratic/socialist policies by comparing their big government results with actual results achieved during Trump’s presidency. The most meaningful comparisons will include: Job creation; Wage increases; Economic prosperity; Middle East Peace; Military strength; China policy; and Green Energy policy. Of course there will be a comparison of Biden’s response to the Pandemic, and Biden’s success in promoting economic recovery. The results will probably be so significant that the media will not be able to keep them hidden. Trump should then devote his total support to elect talented republican politicians who will commit to continuing, and expanding successful Trump policies in future elections.

Years from now, historians will treat the Donald Trump presidency much kinder than the current emotional hysteria that is now in vogue. History will mark his four year term as the beginning of a return to the Founder’s dream of a truly free country that cannot exist without competent, focused, leaders of limited government.

FREE and FAIR ELECTIONS

I have always voted in person on election day, but this year I voted early. The process for voting was the same as it has always been: I was required to show my identification to an election official, who compared my photo ID with the registration records. After determining that I was eligible to vote, I was allowed to operate an official voting machine, which provided a ballot to complete, plus an opportunity to check my ballot for accuracy before recording my vote.

I have confidence in the election process that I was subjected to because I was identified as the person registered and eligible to vote, and the machine recorded the date that I voted. 

I have zero confidence in a mail-in voting process that doesn’t check to see if a voter is alive, or dead, or is living at the address on file, or if the voter is eligible to request an absentee ballot. I have zero confidence in a process that doesn’t require an ID. I have zero confidence in a process that does not have a way to verify that a ballot was received on time.

Mail-in voting requirements, and rules for the 2020 Presidential election were totally inadequate in many ways: Election officials were overwhelmed by the massive volumes of mail-in ballots. Voting procedures were changed at the last minute by judges, and unelected state and local officials instead of by the state legislatures, as the Constitution requires. Observation limitations in swing states presented many opportunities for fraud: “Observers” were not allowed to observe receipt of ballots, opening of ballots, review of ballots, and processing of ballots. This limitation made it impossible for observers to check signatures, dates, and comparison to registration records. The failure to closely observe effectively covered up and destroyed evidence of voter fraud.

To ensure a free and fair election, and prevent suppression of legal votes, future mail-in voting procedures will require major change. At a minimum, the mail-in voting process should require enhanced identification to determine eligibility to vote, and compliance with any other state legislature instructions. Therefore:

Voter registration records must be purged every year to eliminate voters who are not eligible to vote: eliminate those who have died, or moved, or have not voted for years, or are felons who have lost their eligibility… Limit mail-in voting to the absentee ballot process whereby a ballot will not be issued unless requested, and checked for up to date registration… End election day registration and establish a reasonable time period prior to election day for new voters to be properly registered… Require photo ID for voter registration…and again with all mail-in ballots. .. Outlaw vote harvesting… Allow early voting, and early processing to determine vote results on election day… Observation rules must be changed for mail-in ballots: Representatives of both major parties must review receipt of every envelope, opening of every envelope, review of every ballot, and machine processing of every ballot… Lastly, every mail-in ballot issued for an absentee request must have a tracking system to determine if a ballot was received by the requester, to determine if the ballot was completed, and mailed on time, and received by the election office, and if not, using the tracking system to determine it’s location.

POLITICAL WARFARE

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The Purpose of Government

Based on five weeks of protests, obstruction, smears, and jeers, it is obvious that the Democrats have no intention of working with the new administration…EVER. The democrats have no plan to improve the economy, fight terrorism, provide a quality education to inner city children, make government efficient, or anything else. They are using every tool, including government workers and the mainstream media, to prevent Trump from succeeding. Instead of developing policies to solve America’s problems, Democrats have chosen to foment fear and anger to further divide the country. They are missing an incredible opportunity to unite the country behind policies that would actually improve the lives of every American.

In spite of this massive effort to fight his every move, I think that Donald Trump will succeed in substantially improving the economy.  Significant across-the-board tax reduction, reform of punitive and costly regulations, and increasing the supply of cheap energy will combine to bring economic prosperity.   However, the country will never achieve it’s potential until the poisonous Socialist movement is exposed and defeated. Socialism is the enemy of freedom, and will never work as government policy.  Imagine the good that proponents of Socialism could do if they put their time, effort, and money behind privately funded projects. They could easily do this in a free country.  It’s called charity.  But the dirty little secret is that the Socialists want power, and they plot to get it by promising something for nothing to a vulnerable society.  Something for nothing is an intoxicating incentive to vote for Socialists.

In addition to restoring economic prosperity, revitalizing military capability, and exposing the threat of Socialism, the Trump Administration can truly make “America Great Again” if it succeeds in solving one critical problem:

– Bureaucratic Bloat and Inefficiency-

The Preamble to the Constitution of the United States provides a summary of the federal government’s basic missions: ” Establish Justice; Insure Domestic Tranquility; Provide for the Common Defense; Promote [not provide] the General Welfare; and Secure the Blessings of Liberty to Ourselves and our Posterity.”

Sadly, over decades of political ineptitude and neglect, the federal government has expanded into areas far beyond what government should be doing. The government is now involved in so many nonessential activities, that valuable resources are wasted and government functions are now impossible to manage. Therefore, a host of nonessential agencies and activities must be eliminated. Eliminating the nonessential will provide more than enough funding for the many essential functions of government.  But that is not enough.  Every essential agency of government must operate with efficiency. This cannot be done without a change in government employment rules and regulations. Civil Service rules need to be revised to allow termination of non-productive employees. Revision of these rules should also include an ability to reward productive employees … for cost savings, efficiency improvements, and prevention of government waste that they identify and eliminate. Government employment regulations must outlaw, or marginalize, federal public employee unions, by guaranteeing a “Right to Work” for all federal workers, refusing to collect union dues for federal employees, and ending negotiation with a public employee bargaining unit that is covered by Civil Service Rules.