by Norman Halls, contributor
These last two years has been unbelievable with Trump administration. When anyone in the administration speaks, it’s hard to tell if it is true! Max Boot, Washington Post wrote, “So much has happened that it’s hard to keep it all straight. Every week, the Trump administration produces more news than previous administrations did in an entire year. It’s not all bad: We haven’t seen a new war or a recession. Conservatives can be happy about judges and tax cuts. But at what cost?” Trump and his Cabinet have given so many causes for fear and outrage. Trump and his Republican allies blame Obama, Hillary Clinton, Bush, Jeff Sessions and the FBI because the administration leadership has no inkling of how to run a government.
Trump has interfered with Justice and Intelligence Departments. Reportedly, Trump asked Coats and Pompeo to kill the FBI’s investigation. This is uncharacteristic of a President to make such a demand. Why did Trump want the investigation stopped?
The White House gave a report on the accomplishments of and the promises made by the President. You must realize that what Trump has said is a carry-over from the last administration, i.e. Economic Growth, Jobs, and Income. Some of the accomplishments listed are: Tax Cuts-for who?, Health Care- questionable, Law and Order, judges that benefits him, Border Security and Immigration – what happens to 3000 children without their parents, Veterans Affairs- Trump has his friends advising the VA without a Director, and Foreign Policy- many countries do not want to talk with the United States.
Just recently, Trump said “I’m not going to cut Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid.” His 2020 Budget would reduce Medicare by $845 billion, and $1.5 trillion from Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act (Obama Care) eliminated. For Social Security, Trump proposes to have high earners stop contributing to Social Security on all wages above $132,900 per year.
The United States is damaged by cybersecurity vulnerabilities. Artificial Intelligence has been lacking the necessary training funds to compete worldwide. The government priorities do not include any new funding for AI research. China has several advantages when it comes to the artificial intelligence field, but chief among them is Chinese companies’ access to troves of data. “China has done a fantastic job of moving its economy to cashless and when you can pay with everything with your phone, you amass a huge amount of data,” author and columnist Thomas Friedman told CNBC. “When you can get these giant data sets, and then apply artificial intelligence to them,” he said. “You’re going to see better and better and more deep insight patterns than anyone else and I think it’ll be a great advantage for China.” On top of that, China doesn’t have the same restrictive privacy laws as many other countries, making it easier for companies to collect data. Its government buys technologies to capture unprecedented amounts of information on its citizens.
The United States of America is no longer the world’s leading power. It was for a long time, for almost the entire course of the twentieth century. Gordon Adams, American University wrote, ”From pulling out of treaties to denigrating allies to starting trade wars, the impulsive actions of President Donald Trump are upending the international order that has been in place since the end of World War II. But even before Trump’s belligerent foreign policy positions, America had been gradually losing its dominant role in world affairs. A power shift among the nations of the world began at the end of the Cold War and has been accelerating this century. It is not as simple as saying “America is in decline,” since America remains a powerful country. But American global power has been eroding for some time, as I argue in the Foreign Policy Association’s “Great Decisions 2018” volume. The power of other countries has grown, giving them both the ability and the desire to effect global affairs independently of U.S. desires.”
Donald J. Trump praised his business judgement and management skills, but he has no interest in science, social science or data, he doesn’t read, can’t stand having someone explaining some facts. Trump frequently touts being able to make deals as one of his greatest management strengths. “Trump’s personality is certainly extreme by any standard, and particularly rare for a president; many people who encounter the man—in negotiations or in interviews or on a debate stage or watching that debate on television—seem to find him flummoxing.” Dan McAdams Atlantic
“It’s much worse than I expected,” said Jeffrey Pfeffer, professor of organizational behavior at Stanford University and the author of “Power: Why Some People Have It and Others Don’t.” Gov. John Kasich told “The View” that Trump’s rhetoric is a “terrible strategy for our country” Kasich also said, “I think a lot of people have said ‘Enough of this. I don’t want to live my life in anger.’ People don’t want to live there,” Kasich said. “What I do know is… our leaders are letting us down.”
Trump’s promotion of the so-called birther movement and a number of conspiracy theories falsely asserted Obama was ineligible to be President. Birtherism is the lowest levels of racial resentment. Trump has a long history of racist controversies going back to 1973 – violating the Fair Housing Act. In his speech at Lehigh University accused countries of “stripping the United States of economic dignity.” In the Casinos, Trump had minorities removed from the casino floor and an accountant counting his money. It continues over the years when he referred to Haiti and Africa counties with expletive.
“There is a boy-who-cried-wolf danger. Trump’s tweet threatening North Korea with “fire and fury” is the most obvious example of Trump ramping up the fear, only to have it dissipate.” Matt Lewis at The Daily, Trump is a showman. He performs the “Art of Deception.” “President Trump is also wavering in his story telling, creating the deception. He creates the biggest crowds, the best health care plan, the biggest and most beautiful wall, all the jobs you could want, and so many wins you will get tired of winning. And if anyone can’t see that then they are either unfit or just plain stupid.” Wrote Jeff Johnson Daily News
President Donald Trump said in an interview that aired Sunday, February 3, 2019 that he doesn’t always have to agree with his intelligence officials’ assessments of international threats. “I am going to trust the intelligence that I’m putting there, but I will say this: My intelligence people, if they said, in fact, that Iran is a wonderful kindergarten, I disagree with them 100 percent.” “Just one third of voters in 2016 viewed Trump as neither honest nor trustworthy – – but he won anyway. One of the biggest problems he has is that he “is such a hard-core liar.” Wrote Matt Yglesias, Vox News
