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Title: Will a Trump presidency really change anything for the better?
Source:
Personal Liberty
URL Source: http://personalliberty.com/will-a-t ... hange-anything-for-the-better/
Published: Mar 15, 2016
Author: Brandon Smith
Post Date: 2016-05-06 08:57:21 by Deckard
Keywords: None
Views: 18446
Comments: 107
I want to start this analysis by stating that I fully understand the whirlwind of public interest in Donald Trump’s campaign. However, for those that don’t get it, let me break it down for you. A considerable portion of the American population considers themselves “conservative.” More than 38 percent of U.S. citizens, according to Gallup, hold conservative political and social views. Only 24 percent of the public considers themselves “liberal.” Now, I realize that the term “conservative” means different things to different people, so I would apply a simple rule to categorize them — a conservative is easiest to identify by his or her distaste for normally liberal ideological views. Beyond that, different factions of conservatives disagree on a whole host of issues. The goal of any conservative candidate that hopes to be publicly “popular,” whether he actually intends to follow through with his promises or not, is to appear to be all things to all factions; to avoid alienating one faction to appease another. After he is elected (or, after he is placed in the oval office by the powers that be), he may abandon any care for appeasing any of his constituents. Until then, he plays the game so that Americans can maintain faith in the system for at least one moment every four years. Trump’s popularity is predicated on the fact that past Republican candidates have done little to make friends with true conservatives and have not sought alliances with the factions of conservatism that have been growing in momentum and power the past two decades. In fact, the Republican candidates presented to the citizenry in recent memory have all had characteristics more akin to liberal Democrats than conservative stalwarts. Mitt Romney, for instance, was essentially a carbon copy of Barack Obama in terms of political policy and voting record, with only slightly greasier complexion and equally mysterious religious background. Election after election, conservative Americans have been offered one RINO (Republican In Name Only) candidate after another: politicians whose rhetoric sounds principled but whose record is littered with big government policies, constitutional violations, and a disregard for the intentions of the founding fathers. You cannot call yourself a “conservative” in America unless you respect the tenets of limited government, constitutional law, and a regard for the heritage of our founding principles. U.S. conservatives have not had a candidate sharing their views for a long time. Democrats may finally be experiencing a similar disenchantment with establishment candidates considering the surprising popularity of Bernie Sanders this election. The problem is, democrats are trapped in the big government mindset and are for the most part a lost cause. Their anti-establishment candidate is a self-categorized socialist, after all. The only hope for a constitutional small government candidate and a return our founding principles in politics rests in the hands of Republicans, being that third parties are quashed before they get a chance to put their foot in the door. So, you have most if not all Democratic candidates working for bigger more powerful government which leads to increased corruption and less liberty. You also have most Republicans working for bigger and more powerful government and less liberty. And you have few, if any, candidates that represent the majority of voters seeking limited constitutional government. Those of us in the liberty movement call this the “false left/right paradigm. It is the most insidious form of social control present in our nation and it makes a mockery of the election process. That is to say, elections are now nothing more than a way for international financiers and elites to keep the masses in line by allowing them to believe (falsely) that they have a “choice” and thus power to determine the future of our country. In fact, our choice is contrived and we have no political power whatsoever. The rest of America is finally starting to become aware of the false paradigm that liberty proponents have been warning about for generations. Is it any wonder that people are becoming fed up with the system? The genius of Donald Trump as an election figure is that he has little to no political history. He does not have an extensive legislative or voting record that we can look back on and determine where he stands. His political affiliations have been all over the place with him identifying as a Democrat at one time, Republican at other times, and even independent. Most of us cannot really judge his potential based on this. Hell, I was a registered Democrat early in my life, so how can I hold it against Trump? Beyond Trump’s rather disturbing past affiliation and friendship with the Clintons, he is otherwise a blank political slate. And as a blank slate, Trump can in fact present himself as all things to all people. The other ingenious aspect of the Trump campaign is really who he is running against — Hillary Clinton, a liberal candidate even more hated than Barack Obama. A candidate with a potentially serious criminal record and a penchant for an outright communistic world view. Those of us who have been in the writing field for a long time and have dabbled in fiction know that in order to create a fantastic hero, you must first put even more work into creating a fantastic villain. The hero is nothing without the villain. The outright horror inherent in the prospect of a Hillary Clinton presidency is like adding jet fuel to the Trump campaign. Donald Trump appears to be the perfect antithesis to Hillary Clinton. He is loud and boisterous and a bit obnoxious. He trash talks and says whatever he wants to the torment of liberals. He stomps on the throats of the political correctness police and doesn’t care if they call him a racist or a sexist or a misogynist. And, Americans love it. They can’t get enough of it. Conservatives are so tired of cultural Marxism, leftist domination of media, forced immigration policies and the protection of illegal immigration, paying for social entitlement programs, etc., that they are ready to explode. They are, in fact, ready to go to war. I would even dare to say that a Clinton presidency would lead directly to guaranteed outright civil war. This is not an exaggeration. So, the real question is, is Trump a reflection of the frustration and defiance of the conservative population, or, is he a clever ruse by the establishment to co-opt and placate the conservative population before we rebel? Again, without much political background to examine, Trump is a mystery. If Trump is a legitimate anti-establishment candidate, then here are some of the actions he would have to pursue in order to prove it: I’m sure that readers can think of many other potential actions that would help to prove beyond a doubt that Donald Trump is the kind of anti-establishment firebrand he presents himself to be. If Trump does take such measures during his presidency, then he may be a president worth supporting, or even fighting for. If he pursues few or none of these measures, however, we can be relatively certain he is just another establishment puppet playing his part in the false left/right paradigm leading America toward oblivion. Whatever Trump is, his popularity does indicate a rising tide of discontent within the U.S. The insane circus atmosphere of election 2016 is no coincidence; it is a perfect representation of the overflowing tensions that permeate our culture and are leading to potential earth shattering conflict. Keep in mind that America’s economic situation was already decided back in 2008 and will only become worse as we move into the election season. Whatever tensions we see now will only multiply as financial crisis becomes more apparent to the masses. The idea that a Trump presidency will change much of anything is a rather farfetched one in my view. Trump’s popularity only suggests that people are seeking alternatives. The damage to America has for the most part already been done, and there will be no avoiding the consequences. That said, how we rebuild can still be determined. No political leader including Trump will ever be able to heal the American system or the American psyche, but the efforts of millions of independent and liberty minded Americans can. We have a long and terrible struggle ahead of us, but to look at it from an “optimistic” perspective, at least Americans are becoming sick of the status quo. That is a start. — Brandon Smith
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Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 18.
#2. To: Deckard (#0)
(Edited)
I want to ask is this a seriosu question? All politics is the art of compromise, That trump may think he can circumvent this process to his will is a serious self deception let us think for a moment Trump will build a wall at the cost of Billions of Dollars Trump will deport milions of aliens Trump will bar the entry of aliens on religious grounds Trump will unilaterally alter the relationship with allies Trump will repeal Obamacare replacing it with a one biller system Trump will unilaterally alter trade agreements Trump will bring back jobs Trump will raise trade barriers Trump will preside over the greatest decline in US prosperity in decades The fact is the US is not governed by fiat
Trump will build a wall at the cost of Billions of Dollars Trump will deport milions of aliens Trump will bar the entry of aliens on religious grounds Trump will unilaterally alter the relationship with allies Trump will repeal Obamacare replacing it with a one biller system Trump will unilaterally alter trade agreements Trump will bring back jobs Trump will raise trade barriers Trump will preside over the greatest decline in US prosperity in decades The fact is the US is not governed by fiat Now let's think deeper. It is true that the US is not governed by fiat. It is also true that the executive has a lot of discretionary power. From your list: Trump will build a wall at the cost of Billions of Dollars - legislation already exists under which Trump can START to build the wall, and he can direct the building of various pieces of it right now as Corps of Engineers projects and Border Patrol projects. Once the wall STARTS going up, everything starts to change. It will be popular, and the President can always direct that aspects of the DoD, INS, Border Patrol and Corps of Engineer projects be at the Border. If the President wants to, he can get it moving, and keep it moving. Congress would have to complicated contortions to prevent it, and would find the politics of that formidable. Trump will deport millions of aliens - the President has the FULL power to do this, without Congress. In fact, Congress has no power to STOP him unless it changes the immigration laws (which it is too divided to do). Law enforcement is an Executive function, and the Justice Department, the INS, the Border Patrol, the FBI and the Attorney General all work for the President. He can direct particular, focused enforcement of immigration law. He can order that administrative holds on deportation be stopped and that deportations be undertaken "fast and furious". So yes, the President CAN do this without consultation, by fiat: he's the chief law enforcement officer, and he has the power to choose which laws to emphasize, and to focus on enforcement of some. Trump will. 3. Trump will bar the entry of aliens on religious grounds - He can do it on national security grounds with an executive order, and he will. This might give the Supreme Court the opportunity to overturn Korematsu...but a 4-4 court will leave Trump's decision standing, and with his nominee, it will be a 5-4 court. 4> Trump will unilaterally alter the relationship with allies. Foreign policy is the province of the President. The President cannot order troops to war without Congressional approval, but he CAN withdraw troops from combat, and from continents and bases, without Congressional approval. In fact, Congress has absolutely no power to order any troop movements under any situation. The Commander in Chief has sole command authority over the maneuvers of the US military. Congress can keep paying for bases in a country if it wants to, but the President can order all of the troops home, and Congress has no power, at all, to issue military orders. Fact is, foreign policy is conducted by the President. The Senate's role is to ratify treaties. How the President conducts foreign relations is solely the province of the President, and the President can make Executive Agreements with foreign countries that are not subject to ratification by Congress. The executive power over foreign policy is nearly plenary. Congress attempted to block Reagan from seeking the overthrow of the Sandinistas - an aggressive act - and failed. Reagan could have been impeached over that, perhaps. But Carter decided to hand back the Panama Canal, and no power in America exists that could overturn the President's final decision to NOT renegotiate a treaty. The President ALONE has the power to negotiate treaties. His negotiation authority 5. Trump will repeal Obamacare replacing it with a one biller system. Trump never said that he wanted to do this. He has said that single-payer would have been the best system, but that we missed the window to do that. He will leave Obamacare in place, in the sense of universal insurance, but he will aim at cost reduction, starting with jawboning the states into bringing down the regulatory borders to interstate health insurance sales. Make a competitive market, and prices will come down. 6. Trump will unilaterally alter trade agreements. As President, he controls foreign policy. He cannot change the words of treaties. But he CAN suspend their application, for reasons of national interest. And when it comes to foreign policy, "National Interest" is what the President decides is the national interest. Foreign affairs under the American Constitution are not done by committee: they are directed by the President. 7. Trump will bring back jobs. Certainly by deporting Mexicans, jobs will open for Americans. If he restricts trade from China, through executive action on "dumping" and "currency manipulation" grounds, jobs will open for Americans...and there will be some offset in jobs lost from export trade. Net-net, it's not clear how that will shake out. 8. Trump will raise trade barriers. The President has the authority to do this by Executive Order. 9. Trump will preside over the greatest decline in US prosperity in decades. Perhaps. The world is on the cusp of a meltdown. 10. The fact is the US is not governed by fiat. True, but foreign policy and military movements are.
What in fact you are saying is it is. Undoubtedly there are laws that haven't been enforced and getting the resources to enforce them is where Congress comes in, it must vote the funds, Yes a wall can be built but the funds have to come from somewhere, popular or not, it will require a majority. The president just cannot just divert large parts of the budget for his purposes, it requires appropriations and some of the policies are new policies. What are the logistics of deporting large numbers of people, the logistics of identifying them and rounding them up? You can't just push them over the border into Mexico
Exectuive agencies have discretion as to how they spend their internal budgets. There are so many agencies, and so many reasons to build a piece here, a piece there. The money can be found, at the cost of other things, even if Congress won't directly appropriate the money. Reagan found the money to bring down the Sandinistas, despite Congress having outlawed it.
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Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/LatestWill a Trump presidency really change anything for the better?
#12. To: paraclete (#2)
let us think for a moment
#13. To: Vicomte13 (#12)
(Edited)
US is not governed by fiat.
#18. To: paraclete (#13)
Yes a wall can be built but the funds have to come from somewhere,
Replies to Comment # 18.
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