Black ink is clarifying information; Blue ink is used for some of Trump’s positions as Noonan understands them; Red ink are my comments.
THIS IS AN INTERESTING ARTICLE ON TRUMP.
NOT EXACTLY WHAT YOU ARE HEARING IN THE PRESS
Whatever your position,
Peggy Noonan is a soberly sound and well respected journalist:
Peggy Noonan wrote about Trump this weekend in her Wall Street Journal
Trump - Things You Might Not Know About Him
Trump, hopefully, is waking some of the RINOs up. The criticisms of Trump are amazingly missing something. They are lacking in negative stories from those who work for him or have had business dealings with him. After all the employees he's had and all the business deals he's made there is a void of criticism. In fact, long term employees call him a strong and merciful leader and say he is far more righteous and of high integrity than 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 and good people rarely talk of charity they bestow on others. But as much as all this is interesting, the real thing that people want to know is what Donald Trump's plan is for America. It's funny how so many people say they don't know what it is, or they act like Trump is hiding it. The information is readily available if people would just do a little homework. But, since most Americans won't.
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 our soldiers and incur the expense of going to war, then the nations we help must be willing to pay for our help. Using the Iraq War as an example, he cites the huge monetary 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 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 soldiers who received severe injuries.
This should make sense to most people. I certainly support him.
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 that could lead our military buildup back to the strength it needs to be. While he hasn't said it directly that I know of, Trump's attitude about America and about winning tells me he'd most likely be quick to eliminate rules of engagement that handicap our military in battle. 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
Providing for the national defense is right up there in the Preamble to the Constitution. I don’t think he really meant MacArthur or Patton; Marshall was the one who put the Army of the U.S. on war footing in WWII. The Rules of Engagement have been a serious limiting feature since Korea. If troops are to be in danger, then let them fight. It is a long standing axiom: you can’t make an omelette with breaking eggs.
3.) Trump wants a strong foreign policy and believes that it must include 7 core principles American interests come first. Always. No apologies. Maximum firepower and military preparedness. Only go to war to win. Stay loyal to your friends and suspicious of your enemies. Keep the technological sword razor sharp. See the unseen. Prepare for threats before they materialize. Respect and support our present and past warriors.
If Ike, JFK, and LBJ followed the premise of “American interests come first,” we might not have fought in Viet Nam. Yes, we followed a policy of containing Communism following WWII and, to a large extent we were fully successful. It was when we resorted to arms that our success ratio diminishes. As for the other six, absolutely.
4.) Trump believes that terrorists who are captured should be treated as military combatants, not as criminals like the Obama administration treats them.
This is tricky. Since we are not officially “at war,” it’s hard to call those captured on the battlefields combatants. In truth, they are lawless individuals that are not covered by the Geneva Conventions. The most expedient method of dealing with them is immediate execution. That, however, would be too revolting to too many Americans so simply holding them until their return to the area where captured would be of no consequence. In no event can they be termed criminals for bearing arms in a foreign nation is in no way prohibited by the laws of the USA.
5.) Trump makes the point that China's manipulation of their 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 and 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 in Mexico be taxed 35% if they want to bring it into the U. S., which would cause companies like Ford to no longer be competitive using their Mexican operations and move manufacturing back to the U.S., once again creating jobs here.
Foreign trade is not an area where I have a lot of knowledge. The proposed penalty for Ford certainly sounds good to me.
6.) Trump wants 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 (sounds 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.
Forbidding US companies from drilling for oil in the USA and territorial waters has never made any sense to me. Suing OPEC is appealing but international lawsuits get buried in arcane arguments so the ordinary citizen is left only to take the words of those “who know better.” One thing about the drilling, because the price of oil is so low (and seems to be going lower), fracking is probably too expensive now.
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 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.
The current path to citizenship now is very tortured with huge delays built in. Without reference to illegals now in the USA, I believe that path needs massaging. Certainly, we must put a screeching halt on illegal immigration and, if Trump can get Mexico to pay for a wall, more power to him. Moving on to the illegals already in the USA, this is a huge problem. Anybody who is here illegally has broken our laws. No amount of good behavior permits any amount of bad behavior. Think of the Catholic teaching on sin. Except for one sin mentioned in the New Testament, every sin can be forgiven, but a person must seek forgiveness and then pay the penalty of a penance. So we’re talking about a penance for illegals. Anybody who has been convicted of a felony while here illegally must serve the time and then be deported, after which they can get in the immigration line. For those who have lived in the USA in harmony with our laws, I would offer two alternatives: (I) they could leave and then seek re-admission under the ordinary application for immigration; or (2) they could post a monetary bond and have their case examined individually to determine if they would be admitted under immigration status, if they would have been accepted for immigration, then we refund the bond and let them get on the path to citizenship, and if they would not have been eligible if they did apply properly they are deported. Mercy must be the measuring rod for those here illegally for more than 2 years without getting into trouble but mercy cannot be imparted unless it is requested and the individual must be shown to be in the best interests of the USA.
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 to our nation 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 rebuild the 1.5 million jobs we've lost to the current tax system. He also wants to charge companies who out source jobs overseas a 20% tax, but for those willing to move jobs back to America they 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: Up to $30,000 taxed at 1%. From $30,000 to $100,000 taxed at 5%. From $100,000 to $1,000,000 taxed at 10%. $1,000,000 and above taxed at 15%.
Clearly, this has to be scored to see if it is revenue neutral. I’m assuming that in the new personal rates, he is eliminating all deductions, including charity.
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.
Given that Obamacare is clearly a failure except for a few, this is almost a given. Everyone will acknowledge that we have learned much from this experiment. In a new administration, either repeal and build anew or, in a misguided effort to maintain Obama’s legacy, tinker with the current law and end up with something even worse. Re-habbing a shaky structure only will work when the underlying structure is sound.
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.
I’ve read that 24 trillion limit figure in other writings. I’m going to presume those that speak know that about which they are speaking. The problem is that if we attempt to strengthen the military and increase our efforts regarding illegal immigration, where will that money be found? Clearly, something has to give. With nearly half the population living off the other half in one way or another, reducing public assistance programs would undoubtedly lead to unrest or even worse. It will take a brave President, with steel in the backbone, to take on this battle.
11.) Even though he says we need to cut spending, he does not want to harm those on Medicare, Medicaid, or Social Security. He believes that the citizens have faithfully paid in to the system to have these services available and that 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 think raising taxes is the answer and says that when you do that you stifle the economy. On the other hand, when you lower taxes and create an environment to help businesses they will grow, hire more workers, and those new workers will be paying taxes that become more tax revenue for the government.
This falls under the category of apple pie, motherhood and the flag. The last sentence is endlessly postulated by Conservatives but no one has ever tried to it. I believe that even if Mr Trump were to win the election and have governing majorities in both house of Congress, such a plan would be a hard sell. Many in Congress would try to hedge their bets, and that would be the downfall of such a plan. Still, considering #10 above, we may not have a choice. We may have to adopt a radical solution, including going all-in on his tax plan. Btw, Social Security is NOT an entitlement and not even FDR when he proposed it would say it is. If the citizen and employers did not pay in to it, then it would be taken right from the national treasury and would be correctly termed an entitlement. As it is, it is a mutual sharing of the money paid in.
12.) 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 the welfare roles and encourage people to get back to work. And he wants a crackdown on entitlement fraud.
The plan is desirable from every angle. Yet, again, the issue is: does the Congress have the moral fortitude to do it. I think number-crunchers can easily make the case the waste and fraud makes up a huge sum. It is peculiar that in any of the Federal Departments that are involved in any welfare program when a fraud section begins to bear fruit, the workers suddenly are needed elsewhere.
13.) Trump believes climate change is a hoax.
As the campaign on the matter of climate change is now constituted, we just can’t accurately measure the amount of climate change that is occurring is natural and what is unreasonable human consumption. Emotions are too high. Only a foolish person would say that the remedies already enacted or which are proposed would suggest there would be no societal impact. Shuttering entire industries when it is not the unified will of the people promotes distrust, pain and poverty. Mr. Obama has failed miserably in presenting his case to the American people. Instead of leading, he lectures; and adds to angst by blaming others for not listening to him. In truth, it is in the history of our planet that climate changes, sometimes radically but usually the changes are subtle. Obama has failed to make the American people his partners in addressing the issue. For the time being, climate change is an open sore. In time, perhaps a warmer person may be able to get us thinking with some unity to act for the common good.
14.) Trump opposes Common Core.
So do I. In fact, if I had anything to do with it, I’d abolish the Department of Education in its entirety and I’d take school lunches out of the Department of Agriculture, and I’d take any Federal involvement in education away from the Federal Government. Federal mandates (that is, rules but no funding) have totally flummoxed the education system in our country. True, there was a time when Federal involvement was necessary because of some blockheads. What we failed to realize at that time, and still do, is that blockheads exist in the Federal Government as well as in the 50 States. The closer the regulators are to the things being regulated (in this case the whole subject of education), the more responsive they will be to local tax payers.
15.) Trump is pro-life, although he allows for an exception due to rape, incest, or the life of the mother.
This is more apple pie, motherhood and the flag business. Who is given the power to make the decision to abort in any of these three cases? It has to be the mother, alone, and if she is unable to make the decision, then it doesn’t get made. Over the years, I’ve become very jaundiced about our legal system when the quality of advocacy rests on the thickness of one’s wallet. There are some places where lawyers are not wanted such as inside the womb..Certainly, I’m pro-life, but I deny to myself or to anyone else permission to make judgements that are reserved to God alone.
16.) Trump is pro 2nd Amendment rights.
I would consider it more radical on his part if he simply said he believed in all the rights listed in the Bill of Rights, the first 10 amendments to the Constitution.
17.) Trump's view on same-sex marriage is that marriage is between a man and a woman, but he also believes that this is a states rights issue, not a federal issue.
Agreed.
18.) Trump supports the death penalty. Trump believes that there is a lack of common sense, innovative thinking in Washington (Hmm... 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 his saving years of construction and $5 million in expenses, he also was able to keep the ballroom open for business during the time it would have been under remodeling, which allowed him to continue to make money on the space instead of losing that revenue during construction time.
Nice story, and to the point. Washington is to blame for many things but then too much has been side-stepped by the States. If he gets elected, he’ll be able to begin to nibble around the edges of the Federal bureaucracy but the States have to act too.
19. 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.
Suggesting Trump is less than moral because he has obeyed the laws as written displays the empty-headed thinking of some of his opponents in the other party. It’s like saying if one finds a $20 dollar bill in the gutter, one should not pick it up. Nonsense.
20. 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 no other candidate has shown the fortitude to stand up and say them. Looking over this list of what he wants for America I see a very necessary set of goals that are long past due.
I’ve repeated this adage several times but it surely applies here: 2% of the people think; 3% of the people think they think; the rest are waiting for a slogan. Mr. Trump is in the 2%. He is a problem for the establishment of both parties, the media, academia, and others in leadership because they fear that he will actually do what he says he will do; AND, he owes nobody any favors.
Before we criticize someone because the media does, maybe we should seriously consider what he has to offer, as it is important to know what each of our candidates to replace a President who has ruined us globally, and who has put us on a path to disaster! This is not an appeal to vote for Trump, only to give some depth of comparison.
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