Today is the big day! The Honorable Donald Trump (and yes, that is the official title of the president-elect) will be inaugurated as the 45th president of the United States of America. It has been a long and troubling road to the White House for Mr. Trump, and the citizens of America (in fact, the whole world) have seen one of the most divisive and highly charged election campaigns in history.
But now it is time to put that behind us and look to the future at what successes we are likely to see under President Donald J. Trump.
10. Clean Up The Media
Photo credit: slate.com
The 2016 election process exposed many problems in the US media. Thanks to the First Amendment, the United States has a long history of free press, and it is perfectly legal and fair for media organizations to pick sides and root for a particular candidate. But what happens when the entire media claims, on the one hand, to be unbiased and unpolitical, while on the other hand, they collude with and actively work (and in some cases, receive favors and money) to help one candidate win the election?
CNN was caught leaking debate questions to Hillary Clinton, while outlets like The New York Times published fallacious articles about Trump sexually abusing women which, not surprisingly, vanished the day that Mr. Trump was elected.
And WikiLeaks further exposed a very long list of media representatives who were directly working with the Clinton campaign or the Democratic Party to publish news they had either written or vetted. We won’t even mention the ridiculous lengths that some pop culture websites, such as Huffington Post and Buzzfeed, went to in order to influence the election.
Now that Mr. Trump is to be president, those same news outlets have begun a campaign accusing anyone who opposes them of being “fake news,” a ruse which came back to bite them recently. Mr. Trump, by taking to Twitter and vocally calling out the mainstream media in their errors and bias, will ultimately bring about a change for the better in terms of honest and fair reporting.
In fact, representatives of the failing media issued a press release just this week stating: “We credit you with highlighting serious and widespread distrust in the media across the political spectrum. Your campaign tapped into that, and it was a bracing wake-up call for us. We have to regain that trust.” This can only be a plus for everyone.
9. Create New (Old) Jobs
Tariffs are not usually a part of the Republican platform. But when job creation becomes such a high-profile issue, it can’t be ignored. Mr. Trump had the advantage of being an outsider, so he was able to step up and campaign for protectionist policies. This caused much ire among many of the Republican old guard like Senator John McCain who then took his vengeance by leaking false documents to the media.
In reality, tariffs already exist against non–Free Trade partners. As much as some wish to deny it, they are used against the US by many trading partners who are not charged tariffs on goods entering the US.
Mr. Trump’s plan involves what he calls “fair trade” as opposed to “free trade.” The idea is that tariffs will be imposed against nations that are either imposing tariffs against the US or using internal rules and regulations to undercut US competition from their own markets.
The country most likely to be effected financially is China, while the country most likely to benefit is the US. The imposition of these tariffs will compel companies that wish to trade in the US to open up shop there. This has the potential to create massive numbers of jobs.
Most of those jobs will be new jobs, but most will be jobs in old industries that fled the US as a result of former President Clinton’s NAFTA bill. Ultimately, companies will chase the profits and it will soon be cheaper to produce cars, iPhones, and other products in the US directly rather than produce them offshore and import them with high tariffs.
8. End Political Correctness
Political correctness is an act of terrorism against communication. In the words of the great George Carlin: “Political correctness is America’s newest form of intolerance, and it is especially pernicious because it comes disguised as tolerance.” I strongly recommend you watch the video clip above before continuing to read.
In a nutshell, political correctness is the rebranding of things deemed “bad” with terms that claim to remove the negative connotations. Ultimately, however, it causes people to fear their own thoughts and words in case they say something that is now considered “wrong.”
Even worse, the newest “rules” of political correctness end up being used against people who lived before those rules existed or who made public statements using those words when society deemed them innocuous. This has given much ammunition to those of a certain political persuasion who can shut down any intelligent or logical debate by merely screaming “racism,” “homophobia,” or “Islamophobia” - the latter two words, of course, being nonsensical as “phobia” means fear, not hatred.
This was never more obvious than during the election when the mainstream media and those opposing Mr. Trump sought out any recordings or evidence of the political right or Trump supporters using such words as “nigger,” “cripple,” “retard,” etc. On many occasions, people on both sides of the political spectrum waited with bated breath for the leaking of audio showing their political opponent uttering “the N-word!”
The other knock-on effect of this bizarre linguistic destruction is the banning of such classic books as The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and To Kill a Mockingbird and the retitling of famous classic novels such as Ten Little Niggers by Agatha Christie. How quickly we forget the adage that those who forget history are doomed to repeat it. If we ban books that discuss things we don’t like, how many generations will it take to forget they ever happened?
7. Modernize Presidential Communication
Photo credit: twitter.com
Not so long ago (1933–1944 to be exact), Franklin D. Roosevelt was lauded for his “fireside chats” in which he took to the radio to communicate directly to the American people. In much the same way, we now see Mr. Trump using Twitter to the same end. This has caused a great deal of angst among members of the dying mass media who are clinging to any last vestige of influence they once had. And it is perhaps in part for this reason that they have so bitterly attacked the president-elect at every turn.
What sane person could possibly dislike the idea of the president of the United States talking directly (in more ways than one!) to the people? It wasn’t so long ago that claims of being “the most transparent administration” were met with praise and adulation in the same media now decrying Mr. Trump. In an indirect way, the Obama administration has also been extremely transparent, thanks to WikiLeaks, Chelsea Manning, and Edward Snowden.
A further arrow in Mr. Trump’s communications bow is his recent declaration that he will be allowing members of the so-called alternative media (blogs, websites, amateur journalists) to join the legacy media in White House press briefings.
6. Improve The Entertainment Industry
After a decade of politically correct, social-justice-promoting movies spewing from the bowels of a Hollywood in deep crisis, profits are dropping as eyeballs seek entertainment off the big screen.
Not a week goes by without entertainment workers releasing another YouTube hit piece on the president-elect and his supporters. Gone are the days of actors and actresses entertaining the people; now they seem to think their job is to educate and influence. These extremely wealthy individuals work in an industry once considered among the lowest of the low. We are now, effectively, being told whom to vote for and what to think by people who, until recently, were considered equal to prostitutes.
But we can’t lay all the blame at the feet of those on the bottom rung of the entertainment industry. The big money behind the movies as well as the directors, the producers, and the scriptwriters all have a part to play.
When these moguls wake up and realize that their audience is abandoning them, they will have to bite their lips and start thinking about their future.
The good news is that now a giant wrench has been thrown into the works of society, causing a great shock. Like the famed phoenix, some fresh and exciting ideas will likely be born. We will no longer have to endure the likes of a re-release of Ghostbusters, whose only claim to fame (aside from having the most disliked trailer in YouTube history) is a blatant misandristic bent.
5. Space Exploration
President John F. Kennedy sent man to the Moon, and all the thanks he got was to be shot by Ted Cruz’s father! Mr. Trump has stated that he will reopen the National Space Council, a group tasked with sitting between all the various space-related agencies (including commercial organizations) to help determine policy. It was disbanded under Mr. Clinton, and while Obama promised to restore it, it has remained defunct ever since.
Mr. Trump intends to reopen the council with Vice President Mike Pence at its head. All manner of talk has arisen over whether this could mean that NASA, in conjunction with the likes of SpaceX, will set their sights on a Mars landing or further deep space ventures. The next four or eight years could prove to be incredibly exciting for those of us with a love and fascination for the great unknown of outer space.
And let us not forget that Mr. Trump will have access to the Roswell documents and Area 51. Who knows what may come of that!
By the way, I was just kidding about Ted Cruz’s dad...maybe...
4. The Environment
Photo credit: aol.com
Mr. Trump repeatedly stated during his campaign: “It used to be cars were made in Flint, and you couldn’t drink the water in Mexico. Now cars are made in Mexico, and you can’t drink the water in Flint.”
Much anxiety has been caused by the Trump administration’s reticence to embrace climate change extremism, but all is not lost for those who do adhere to environmentalism. While it is true that Mr. Trump doesn’t wish to continue funding international environmental organizations, he does want to divert those funds back to the US to fix problems like Flint’s water.
There is something to be said for cleaning up your own backyard first, and that is the approach we should expect to see over the next few years. When countries like China can indiscriminately emit pollution with no regard for the rest of the world, why should it fall upon the shoulders of countries like the United Kingdom and the United States to compensate?
Furthermore, through the use of tariffs against foreign industry, manufacturing will return to the US, which has far stricter environmental guidelines than countries in the Orient. This will, in itself, bring about a significant reduction in global pollution.
Chicken Little can live to fight another day!
3. Education
Photo credit: heartland.org
With a promise to end Common Core and bring about parental choice in schools, Mr. Trump is threatening to end the system which has led to the US ranking 35th out of 64 nations for mathematics and producing college students who need crayons and puppy dogs to cope with the grief of discovering that there are no participation trophies for backing the loser in an election.
Common Core is a set of standards that aims to teach children the things they need to know to meet a common requirement for further education and employment. The system was first developed in 2009 under President Obama and was finally implemented in 2010. Since then, three states have voluntarily dropped the standards and Mr. Trump is vowing to abolish them entirely.
Whether or not the replacement for Common Core will correct the dismal record of the US education system over the last six years remains to be seen. What is certain, however, is that in the end the blame for a child’s success will be laid at the feet of his parents because it will be their choice on how and where to educate their child.
2. Tax Reform
Tax reform seems to come up in every election, but not since Mr. Reagan has such a grand range of tax cuts been proposed. Under the new scheme, which will reduce the total tax brackets from seven to three (12 percent, 25 percent, and 33 percent) and increase the standard deductions, the majority of Americans will save money. A small number of the lowest-income earners will see their tax rate rise by 2 percentage points from 10 percent to 12 percent.
The corporate tax rate will also drop to 15 percent, making it one of the most competitive in the world. The knock-on effect of this will be to promote the return of US companies operating abroad for tax gains.
This means more business bringing more jobs and more money in each worker’s pocket, which means more money being spent. In turn, this could help reverse the decline in the overall economy.
Changes to the tax system can take a while to notice, so this won’t be an immediate and obvious fix. But it could have great benefits in the longer term.
1. Infrastructure
I must be honest and say that I am not at all a fan of Mr. Trump’s very flamboyant home decor. But having recently stayed at a Trump Hotel while in New York on business, I am glad to say that it doesn’t extend past his marbled domicile.
A frequent issue that arose during the election was the deplorable state of US airports and infrastructure in general. I can certainly vouch for that! Over the next few years, both the Republicans and the Democrats have agreed that they will support any bills that pump funds into sorting this out once and for all. Here’s hoping that in a short amount of time, travel across the US will once again be a pleasant and appealing thing.
Let us end with the words of Mr. Trump in what could well be his most historic speech:
“We will rebuild our roads, bridges, tunnels, highways, airports, schools and hospitals.
American cars will travel the roads, American planes will soar the skies, and American ships will patrol the seas.
American steel will send new skyscrapers into the clouds.
American hands will rebuild this nation - and American energy, harvested from American sources, will power this nation. American workers will be hired to do the job.
We will put new American metal into the spine of this country.
Jobs will return, incomes will rise, and new factories will come rushing back to our shores.
We will make America wealthy again.
We will make America strong again.
And we will make America great again.”
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