Day 163.
We are quickly approaching the 100 day mark in beloved leader’s presidency. All through the campaign and at the very beginning of his presidency, he has said over and over that he will accomplish so much in the first 100 days. He even had something called his contract with America on what will be accomplished during his first 100 days. I believe there were something like 10 legislative bills he said would be passed.
Well, so far, nothing has been passed. He made a very feeble attempt at passing a replacement for the ACA, and it crashed and burned even before it could get to the floor of the House and have a vote. He hasn’t released any information on his tax reforms which he claimed would be passed by now.
He ordered a 90 day review on cybersecurity and promised we would all be very pleased with the results. No results have come forward, and no one seems to know who is even supposed to conduct this review. So, one hasn’t even started yet.
Beloved leader claims to have “done more in my first 100 days than anyone in history”. Which is a blatant lie. Now he claims that the “first 100 days” thing is a bunch of bullshit. Maybe because he hasn’t done anything yet.
About the only thing he has accomplished so far is to destroy the EPA and our environmental protections. He has made it much easier for coal companies to pollute rivers and streams but not at producing more coal. He has tried to implement his Muslim Ban but has failed at that as well since it was blocked in the courts more than once.
Yes, he did get his terrible nomination to the Supreme Court. But, as usual, the Republicans had to change and break the rules to get it done. They proved once again that “they don’t need no stinking rules”. Something trump loves to hear.
Oh, he launched some missiles at Syria after saying that the dictator could stay as far as trump was concerned. The damage was so minimal that the Syrian Air Force was carrying out air strikes against the rebels the very next day from that airfield. Maybe that is because he warned the Russians and therefore the Syrians we were coming.
And, of course, we cannot forget that his administration is under FBI investigation for possibly colluding with the Russians hacking during our elections last year. I guess that is something he is real proud of as well.
So, as we approach his first 100 day mark, we need to ask what will be his first major “victory” of his administration. Here are my choices.
First, will he start a war with North Korea? All of the signs are leaning in that direction. Only, he doesn’t seem to understand that a war with North Korea would probably include nuclear weapons. That could cause a global catastrophe. I really doubt if he fully understands that threat. I am more inclined to believe that he thinks that would be okay since the nuclear weapons would only be used on Asians anyway.
Second, will he manage to start a war with Iran. Republicans and trump have been itching for a war with Iran for a very long time. He want’s to “review” the nuclear deal with Iran even though his own State Department put in writing that Iran is complying with the accord. Since when does this country pull out of an agreement that is being followed? Does our word mean nothing anymore?
He claims that Iran isn’t complying with the “spirit” of the accord. What he really means is they aren’t complying with his “spirit” of the accord. So, he can just pull out and let Iran get the nuclear weapons this accord has prevented them from getting. Does that mean that if we pull out of the accord, are we then going to invade Iran on the premise of them wanting nuclear weapons and we are just trying to stop them? Doesn’t that sound a lot like the second Iraq War that W. got us into and trump blasted during the campaign?
Third, will he finally manage to toss 24 million people from their health care coverage. He and Republicans are going to try again to pass the Americans Without Health Care Act. Only this time, because the have allowed the so-called Freedom Caucus to name the conditions, more than 24 million people will lose their coverage.
The Freedom Caucus wants a provision that allows states to opt out of the coverage part for people with pre-existing conditions. The provision says they must have a “High-Risk Pool” for these people. But, it doesn’t say how it is to be funded. Meaning, when a state opts out, insurance companies will have license to price pre-existing conditions out of the market. So instead of just 24 million people losing their coverage, the number will most likely double.
But don’t worry, trump calls this a “wonderful bill” that will make coverage cheaper for everyone. People with pre-existing conditions, and those who will lose Medicaid coverage are not considered as part of the “everyone” trump keeps talking about. Or he believes that having no insurance is “cheaper” since you don’t have to pay premiums. So what if you get sick.
Fourth, will the administration allow those retired miners to lose their coverage and pensions as we talked about the other day? Is he going to step up to the plate and ensure they keep their retirement benefits or just throw them to the side of the road like everyone else who isn’t rich? Can we consider that a “major victory” for trump because it will save a whopping 200 million dollars per year?
Fifth, will he cause a government shutdown at the end of next week. As of midnight next Friday night, the government money will run out. If there isn’t a continuing resolution, the government will shutdown again. And, if it does shutdown it will be trump and the Republicans fault full stop.
The only thing that needs to be done is a continuing resolution that funds the government through the end of the fiscal year. That is all. But, Republicans and now trump love to throw in “poison pills” that hurt people just to say they are “standing on principle”. They simply cannot allow a continuing resolution to pass cleanly and try to get their pet projects through normal channels.
This time, trump seems to be the trigger. He wants his money to build his damn Berlin Wall. He is even threatening to stop paying the subsidies in the ACA if he doesn’t get the money. That would mean that millions of poor people, working poor people, and middle-class people would immediately lose their health care coverage because they wouldn’t be able to afford their premiums.
I mean really? Beloved leader hates Latinos so much that he is willing to let you lose your health care coverage? There are ways to fund projects, but holding hostage half of America is not the way it is supposed to be done. You simply put together a plan and a bill, take it down to Congress, and fight like hell to get what you want.
The problem with this simple legislative way the government is supposed to work is that Republicans abandoned that principle 40 years ago. Now, they simply want to hold America hostage and hold their breath until they get what they want. They think it is much easier that way. And, the only people who will be hurt by their tactics are the “little people”, not themselves.
Those are my five favorites of what would be trump’s “major victory” during his first 100 days in office. He hasn’t proposed any meaningful legislation. He hasn’t issued any Executive Orders that does anything except help pollute the planet and make the rich richer.
He has made sure that the “swamp” he promised to drain is overflowing its banks right now. Corruption and unethical behavior are running rampant in his administration. So, maybe he is right when he says that he has done more than anyone else in history. I haven’t seen so much corruption and unethical behavior surface so fast in an administration in my lifetime.
I have said before that the first 100 days thing doesn’t mean much to me. I am more interested in being shown that the person in the White House has some kind of plan and is ready with some real legislation to push the plan forward. Beloved leader doesn’t seem to have a plan, and he has no legislation to put forward.
His backers say he is “learning on the job”. I say it shows his incompetence. He has shown me only that he is interested in making the rich, like himself, richer. He is interested in destroying our planet by tearing down environmental protections that have taken decades to implement. He is interested in allowing a foreign oil company take land away from private farmers in America to build a pipeline that will produce not one drop of gasoline for our country. It is all going to be exported.
He has shown disdain for the Average American by trying to take away their Health Care Coverage and polluting their drinking water and poison the air they breath all in the name of profits for the insurance companies and the polluters.
I seriously doubt that trump will manage to accomplish even one of these five options. He doesn’t have the competence to accomplish anything and he is proving that day-by-day. Which could be a good thing for us. Because any one of the five options above would be disastrous for the American People. Especially to most of the very people who voted for him.
And, the shirts keep marching along.