Posted on 08/31/2015 4:27:50 AM PDT by HomerBohn
When interviewing those who work for him (or who have or have had business dealings with him) negative stories about Donald Trump are curiously lacking. After all the employees he has had and all of the business deals made, there is an unmistakable lack of criticism. In fact, long term employees call him a strong and compassionate leader and say he has far more integrity and higher moral standards than many people may think.
And while it may surprise many, he’s actually humble when it comes to his generosity and kindness. A good example is a story that tells of his limo breaking down on a deserted highway outside of New York City. A middle-aged couple stopped to help him and as a thank you he paid off their mortgage, but he didn’t brag about that. Generous people rarely talk of the charitable acts they bestow on others.
But interesting as this may be, the thing that people want to know is Donald Trump’s plan for America. It’s funny how many people say they don’t know what it is, or act as though Trump is hiding it. The information is readily available if people would just do a little homework. But as most Americans won’t do their own research, here, in no particular order, is an overview of many of Trump’s positions and plans:
1.) Trump believes that America should not intervene militarily in other country’s problems without being compensated for doing so. If America is going to risk the lives of her soldiers and incur the expense of going to war, then the nations we help must be willing to pay the tab. Using the Iraq War as an example, Trump cites the huge expense to American taxpayers (over $1.5 trillion, and possibly much more depending on what sources are used to determine the cost) in addition to the incalculable cost in human life. He suggests that Iraq should have been required to give us enough of their oil to pay for the expenses we incurred. He includes in those expenses the medical costs for our military and $5 million for each family that lost a loved one in the war and $2 million for each family of a soldier who suffered severe injury.
2.) Trump wants America to have a strong military again. He believes the single most important function of the federal government is national defense. He has said he wants to find the General Patton or General MacArthur who could lead our military back to proper strength. While he hasn’t said it directly that I know of, Trump’s attitude about America and about winning tells me he would be quick to eliminate rules of engagement that handicap our military in battle and put our soldiers as risk. Clearly Trump is a “win at all costs” kind of guy and I’m sure that would apply to our national defense and security, too.
3.) Trump wants a strong foreign policy and believes that it must include 7 core principles:
a. American interests come first. Always. No apologies.
b. Maximum firepower and military preparedness.
c. Only go to war to win.
d. Stay loyal to your friends and suspicious of your enemies.
e. Keep the technological sword razor sharp.
f.See the unseen. Prepare for threats before they materialize.
g. Respect and support our present and past warriors.
4.) Trump believes that captured terrorists should be treated as military combatants, not as criminals, which is the treatment they receive from the Obama administration.
5.) Trump makes the point that China’s manipulation of its currency has given them unfair advantage in our trade dealings with them. He says we must tax their imports to offset their currency manipulation, which will cause American companies to be competitive again, drive manufacturing back to America and create jobs here. Although he sees China as the biggest offender, he believes that America should protect itself from all foreign efforts to take our jobs and manufacturing. For example, Ford is building a plant in Mexico and Trump suggests that every part or vehicle Ford makes there be taxed 35% if they want to bring it into the U. S. This would cause companies like Ford to no longer be competitive when using their Mexican operations. They would therefore move manufacturing back to the U. S. where jobs would once again be created.
6.) Trump favors passage of NOPEC legislation (No Oil Producing and Exporting Cartels Act – NOPEC – S.394), which would allow the government to sue OPEC for violating antitrust laws. According to Trump, that would break up the cartel. He also wants to unleash our energy companies to drill domestically (sound like Sarah Palin’s drill baby, drill?) thereby increasing domestic production, creating jobs and driving domestic costs of oil and gas down while reducing dependence on foreign oil.
7.) Trump believes a secure border is critical for both security and prosperity in America. He wants to build a wall to stop illegals from entering and help put controls on immigration. (And he says he’ll get Mexico to pay for the wall, which many have scoffed at, but given his business successes I wouldn’t put it past him.) He also wants to enforce our immigration laws and provide no path to citizenship for illegals other than that which is currently included in the law.
8.) Trump wants a radical change to the tax system to not only make it better for average Americans, but also to encourage businesses to stay here and foreign businesses to move here. The resulting influx of money would do wonders for our economy. He wants to make America the place to do business. He also wants to lower the death tax and the taxes on capital gains and dividends. This would put more than $1.6 trillion back into the economy and help replace the 1.5 million jobs we’ve lost to the current tax system. He also wants to charge a 20% tax on companies which outsource jobs overseas. Those willing to move jobs back to America would not be taxed. And for citizens he has a tax plan that would allow Americans to keep more of what they earn and spark economic growth. He wants to change the personal income tax to:
a. Up to $30,000 taxed at 1%
b. From $30,000 to $100,000 taxed at 5%
c. From $100,000 to $1,000,000 taxed at 10%
d. $1,000,000 and above taxed at 15%
9.) Trump wants Obamacare repealed. He says it’s a “job-killing, health care-destroying monstrosity” that “can’t be reformed, salvaged, or fixed.” He believes in allowing real competition in the health insurance marketplace to allow competition to drive prices down. He also believes in tort reform to get rid of defensive medicine and lower costs.
10.) Trump wants spending reforms in Washington, acknowledging that America spends far more than it receives in revenue. He has said he believes that if we don’t stop increasing the national debt once it hits $24 trillion it will be impossible to save this country. Even though he says we need to cut spending, he does not want to harm those on Medicare, Medicaid, or Social Security. He believes as citizens have faithfully paid into the system, these services should remain available. The American government has an obligation to fulfill its end of the bargain and provide those benefits. Therefore, he wants to build the economy up so that we have the revenue to pay those costs without cutting the benefits to the recipients. He disagrees with Democrats who believe raising taxes is always the answer for when that is done, the economy is stifled. On the other hand, lower taxes create an environment which will help businesses grow. More workers will be hired and those new workers will also pay taxes. Together it generates more tax revenue for the government.
11.) Trump also wants reform of the welfare state, saying that America needs “a safety net, not a hammock.” He believes in a welfare-to-work program that would help reduce welfare rolls and encourage people to get back to work. And he wants a crackdown on entitlement fraud.
12.) Trump believes climate change is a hoax.
13.) He opposes Common Core.
14.) Trump is pro-life, although he allows for an exception due to rape, incest or the life of the mother.
15.) He is pro-2nd Amendment rights.
16.) Trump’s view on same-sex marriage is that marriage is between a man and a woman. He also believes that this is a states’ rights rather than federal issue.
17.) Trump supports the death penalty.
18.) Trump believes that there is a lack of common sense and innovative thinking in Washington. (Hmmm… looks like he believes in horse sense!). He says it’s about seeing the unseen and that’s the kind of thinking we need to turn this country around.
He tells a personal story to illustrate the point:
“When I opened Trump National Golf Club at Rancho Palos Verdes in Los Angeles, I was immediately told that I would need to build a new and costly ballroom. The current ballroom was gorgeous, but it only sat 200 people and we were losing business because people needed a larger space for their events. Building a new ballroom would take years to get approval and permits (since it’s on the Pacific Ocean), and cost about $5 million. I took one look at the ballroom and saw immediately what needed to be done. The problem wasn’t the size of the room, it was the size of the chairs.
They were huge, heavy, and unwieldy. We didn’t need a bigger ballroom, we needed smaller chairs! So I had them replaced with high-end, smaller chairs. I then had our people sell the old chairs and got more money for them than the cost of the new chairs. In the end, the ballroom went from seating 200 people to seating 320 people. Our visitors got the space they desired, and I spared everyone the hassle of years of construction and $5 million of expense. It’s amazing what you can accomplish with a little common sense.”
On top of saving years of construction and $5 million in expenses, Trump also was able to keep the ballroom open for business during the time it would have been closed for remodeling. This allowed him to continue making money with the space instead of losing revenue during construction.
Donald Trump’s entire life has been made up of success and winning. He’s been accused of bankruptcies, but that’s not true. He’s never filed personal bankruptcy. He’s bought companies and legally used bankruptcy laws to restructure their debt, just as businesses do all the time. But he’s never been bankrupt personally.
He’s a fighter that clearly loves America and would fight for our nation.
Earlier I quoted Trump saying, “I love America. And when you love something, you protect it passionately – fiercely, even.” We never hear that from Democrats or even from most Republicans. Donald Trump is saying things that desperately need to be said but which no other candidate has shown the fortitude to stand up and say.
Looking over this list of what he wants for America I see a very necessary set of goals that are long past due. Before we criticize someone because the media does, maybe we should seriously consider what he has to offer.
This is the frustration with you....above you say one very reasonable and intellectually honest thing - about your personal equation for supporting Trump. But then, with a win in your column you immediately devolve to false choice straw argument bullshit.
This is not a purity test so again, don't even waste my time with such drivel....the man has a long long long history of liberalism and a short short short history with a few conservative issues. Period. He's a helluva lot closer to passing a liberal purity test than he is a conservative purity test. Meanwhile, you seem to be schizo - going from the reasonable to the intellectually vacuous absurd statement by statement. Sheesh.
I am not a hard line conservative like you. I believe in strict accountability for ones actions, a strong military and fiscal responsibility. I would prefer no abortions but can see and understand abortion in the cases of rape, incest or to save mothers life.
Mostly though I believe in an “America first” attitude in all we do. By that I mean any business conducted by our government must first and foremost be of benefit to us. I have long believed we should be charging other nations for the protective umbrella of our military. Many nations have small to virtually no military because they know we will bail them out if necessary. This is a form of insurance or protection and they should pay for this.
Your opinion of Trump is just that and it is not shared by many others on the Right. To be absolutely clear I would vote for ANYONE who takes the positions regarding illegal aliens, PC, spending and in general bringing America back to her deserved and rightful place in the world.
Coach Is Right ...
My point was that some donate more out of defense, while others donate with more aggressive activist intentions. Either way, both are legal, and should be judged differently from the acceptance of donations by politicians in exchange for special treatment, which is illegal. We don’t disagree on that. My only point was that even with regards to ‘cronies’, a term which C. Edmund Wright was glibly throwing around in regards to Trump, it is not as simple as he would like people to believe.
Then we agree.
So, in lieu of the usual undocumented insult to Trump Skeptics, do you have some specifics as to why you claim that Verga is "disgusting?"
Is it that he does not blindly worship at the altar of the Trump or reflexively and unreservedly kiss Trump's rump? Or is it that he does not reduce all of the magnificent tapestry that is conservatism to knee jerk bordermania. I want the border closed too but Trump is going to have to explain himself on a much broader range of issues IN DETAIL if he wants actual conservative support either for the nomination or in November, 2016.
Thank you. At some point I just put my hands up and back away slowly, because it is bad luck to argue with crazy people.
I just finished reading Trumps book written in the 80’s , “The Art of making a Deal” and I am much more impressed with him. He is the real deal.
I, as an actual conservative, will withhold my vote from any candidate of any party for any office who is NOT conservative. Sorry about you. If that be "purist" behavior, make the most of it as a growing number of former Republicans torpedo the usual GOP-E trash. Around my house, we call that something known as "principle." Don't like it? Tooooooooo BAAAAADDDD!
Then there is nothing in common between you and conservatives to justify the abuse of the word “us.”
Sorry Caiaphas, you don't get to define "Conservative," despite your seat on the Sanhedrin.
Right now the only thing I have heard you sTrumpettes support is his border policy. That sure as hell sounds like: "concerns about what ONE man believes in just ONE AREA."
On the other hand True Conservatives such as Black Elk and myself have serious reservations about his positions in a number of areas, Specifically: 1) Trump supports Single payer health care.
2) He supported (and may still support) a 14% confiscatory wealth tax.
3) He wants to limit the 2nd amendment.
4) He will not defund planned parenthood and only recently claims to be pro life.
Which of these is a conservative platform plank? None, Not a single one!
But, but, he’s EVOLVED just as Reagan did and TRUMP SAID when asked about his previous Democrat positions words to the effect of him having no choice but to change his positions after seeing what the Dems have become.
As Reagan said, he didn’t leave the Dem Party the Dem Party left him.
Trump is not Reagan but neither is he a pussy and a racist America hater like the POS we now have.
I said I prefer Cruz but I would vote for ANY REPUBLICAN RUNNING before I would stay home.
How about you?
I support Cruz and the only way I might possibly consider supporting Trump is if Cruz is his running mate, but that is the most remote of possibilities. We are talking Gamma Quadrant remote.
If it is Trump and any other candidate I will sit it out. I help my nose and voted for the lesser of two evils the last two cycles and will not do it this time around.
And what about you if Trumpy decides to run 3rd party? Will you support him and hand the election to the Dems?
I am a Republican. I vote REPUBLICAN every time and I NEVER stay home.
An Ind cannot win at this time and I won’t elect a Dem by voting for one OR staying home.
The biggest losers we have running, Bush,Graham or Christie are VASTLY preferable to what is currently in the WH.
So When Trumpy runs 3rd party (Which is almost certain) and Bush gets the nod, which way do you go?
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Yep, that’s the bridge to the Trump Administration.
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>> “ we’re all in based on the belief he’s addressing the right problems.” <<
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Which solidly proves you haven’t the slightest idea what our problems are.
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>> “Trump is going to have to explain himself on a much broader range of issues IN DETAIL if he wants actual conservative support either for the nomination or in November, 2016.” <<
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Which he is in no way equipped to do.
He has no idea what he is talking about, but talking from the hip is so satisfying to liberals.
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