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Senate Republicans have released their healthcare bill, the “Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017.” The GOP planned a vote on Thursday, but they have delayed it until after the Independence Day holiday, because it lacks the votes needed to pass.
Shortly following the news President Donald Trump invited all Senate Republicans to The White House to discuss healthcare legislation and begin negotiation of policy provisions in the bill.
Just came from WH. @realDonaldTrump is open to making bill better. Is Senate leadership?
The Senate plan repeals all ObamaCare taxes in the “most expeditious manner possible,” preserves pre-existing conditions and implements enhanced health savings accounts. It removes the individual and employer mandate. Both the House-passed bill and the Senate proposal would maintain the ability for young people to remain on their parents’ insurances until age 26.
Like the House-passed bill, the Senate maintains that states will have the power to determine coverage of so-called essential benefits based on residents’ needs. The MacArthur Amendment to the House American Health Care Act seeks to allow states to waive certain ObamaCare requirements to “achieve state goals of lower premiums, stable insurance markets, increased enrollment and improved choice of insurance plans.” The Senate dropped the House provision in the AHCA to allow insurers in waiver states to charge more for those with pre-existing conditions.
The Senate bill also focuses on stabilizing the insurance markets that have been in disarray under ObamaCare by spending $15 billion in 2018 and less spending in subsequent years to wean off the Affordable Health Care Act.
The Senate bill would shrink Medicaid slower than the House passed, phasing out the Medicaid expansion by January 1, 2024. The House proposed immediately prohibiting new states from receiving an enhanced federal share for expanding Medicaid and, for states that have already adopted Medicaid expansion, would phase out the federal share by 2020. Under the Senate bill, Medicaid block grants to states to grow more slowly after 2025 than under House bill.
Tax credits exist under both plans. The Senate proposes to base tax credits on age and income whereas the House bill bases tax credits on age only.
Planned Parenthood would be defunded – a big win for conservatives.
The first page of the Senate’s “Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017” has been published on the Senate Budget site.
The first page of the bill has been published online for the American people. It is expected that the full text will be published after senators are briefed on the details.
The next step will be committee meetings and hearings and a negotiation between the two chambers of Congress that could see some amendments to woo some Democrats and conservative members of the Republican Party.
There are some wonky policy rules that allow for a simple majority in the Senate to pass the bill because it will be done through the budget reconciliation process. However, it has been difficult for Republicans to come to a consensus on a healthcare plan.
Sen. Dean Heller (R-NV)
Sen. Dean Heller (R-NV) is the fifth and latest Republican to oppose the Senate bill. Heller is the only GOP senator up for re-election in 2018 who represents a state Hillary Clinton won in the 2016 presidential election.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI), Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) have also come out against the “Better Care” plan in its current form.
Without a Democrat vote, Republicans can only afford to lose 2 votes in the Senate. Vice President Mike Pence can break a tie.
First group of senators to oppose the Senate “Better Care” bill in its current form. From left to right: Rand Paul, Mike Lee, Ted Cruz and Ron Johnson.
Sen. Paul, a physician, has been outspoken about his disagreements with a moderate health care repeal and replace plan. The former Republican presidential candidate calls it “ObamaCare Lite,” claiming it will not substantially lower healthcare costs for middle class Americans.
On Fox News last Thursday, Sen. Paul said the GOP is may be providing “more subsidies than ObamaCare.”
.@RandPaul: "It sounds like ObamaCare to me. It doesn't even sound like ObamaCare-lite. In some areas it may even be ObamaCare-Plus." pic.twitter.com/QvWPwvs5fQ
Democrats are unwilling to work with the GOP to repeal former-President Barack Obama’s signature piece of legislation.
The House passed an amended version of the AHCA on May 4 with a 217-213 vote. President Trump said last Wednesday night at a “Make America Great Again Rally” in Cedar Rapids, Iowa that he told the GOP to add “heart” to the bill.
President Trump was engaged in deliberations that led up to the passage of the AHCA, making phone calls to legislators and negotiating between moderate and conservative Republicans. Mr. Trump hosted a celebratory event for House Republicans at the White House Rose Garden just following the AHCA’s passage.
The Chief Executive is involved directly with Senate Republicans to get a bill passed by next week. That’s a fast turnaround in the higher chamber of Congress.
Estimated premium hikes for 2018 were announced Wednesday – the deadline for insurance companies to decide on participation in ObamaCare. After 2017 increases in premiums and deductibles across the country, including skyrocketing costs of 116 percent in Arizona, premiums will jump double-digits next year. Maryland will see premiums rise 52 percent. Virginia and New York residents will see 2018 ObamaCare premiums growing over 40 percent (multiple insurance company double-digit percentage increases in New York). Other states are proposing over 30 percent increases in individual ObamaCare premiums.
With little to no competition in the healthcare marketplace, 41 percent of counties in the U.S. will have just one insurer option on the marketplace. Some small states only have one or no insurance options.
Principal Deputy White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee-Sanders would not address the specific items in the new Senate bill as it stands, telling reporters at Thursday’s press briefing, “I think [President Trump] wants to bring the stakeholders to the table, have those conversations and we’ll get back to you as we go through that process, but I think right now we’re in a negotiation process.”
President Trump hopes to sign a repeal and replace healthcare bill into law before Congress goes on August recess and then move on to the first major tax reform in 31 years featuring tax cuts for individuals and corporations to stimulate economic growth.
Featured Image: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell courtesy of the Associated Press.
House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA) is in critical condition after being shot in the hip while practicing baseball early Wednesday morning in Alexandria, VA for the next day’s Congressional charity game that is played annually at Nationals Park in the nation’s capital.
MedStar Washington Hospital Center tweeted about Scalise’s updated condition at 2:29 PM ET. Initial reports were that the Louisiana representative was stable.
Rep. Scalise was critically injured and remains in critical condition. The other patient is in good condition.
Scalise, 51, underwent surgery after being rushed to the hospital. Two police officers and a Congressional aide were also shot. The other victims are reportedly in good condition in local hospitals.
The shooter was identified as 66-year-old James T. Hodgkinson, of Belleville, Illinois. President Donald J. Trump addressed the nation, saying Hodgkinson is dead.
The heroes, the U.S. Capitol Police, took the gunman down and prevented casualties.
“We have to have unity in this country. We are the United States of America. We are great,” Davis said. “We have to bind together as Americans, not as Republicans and Democrats.”
Rep. Ron DeSantis, (R-FL), told Fox News as he walked to his car, a man asked him if it was Republicans or Democrats on the baseball field. About 3 minutes later, at about 7:15 AM, the shooting began, DeSantis said. The shooting reportedly lasted about 10 minutes with Congressmen and Congresswomen and staffers taking cover in the first base dugout.
Rep. Brad Wenstrup (R-OH) told Fox News he “felt like I was in Iraq, but without my weapon.”
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky) described, in excruciating detail, his perspective of the harrowing experience on “The Fox News Specialists,” after calling into “Fox & Friends” as the situation unfolded.
Hodgkinson’s Facebook profile’s background photo is a portrait of Sanders and the profile picture states, “Democratic Socialism explained in 3 words: ‘We The People.'”
Alexandria shooter James T. Hodgkinson wrote in March “It’s time to destroy Trump & Co.” (Courtesy: Facebook)
In one Facebook post, Hodgkinson called Trump a “traitor” and wrote “It’s time to destroy Trump & Co.”
Hodgkinson, who was once arrested for battery, subscribed to a Facebook group called “Terminate the Republican Party,” writing incendiary, vitriolic posts about Republicans.
Partisan Death Threats
Multiple members of Congress say they have received threatening emails and calls on Wednesday including an email to Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-NY) that stated “one down, 216 to go” – a clear reference to the Republican members of Congress who were targeted Wednesday morning.
“Did you NOT expect this?” continued the email sent to the office of Rep. Tenney. “When you take away ordinary peoples very lives in order to pay off the wealthiest among us, your own lives are forfeit. Certainly, your souls and mortality were lost long before.”
Rep. Tenney’s office reported the email to Capitol Police.
Congressmen and Congresswomen from both sides of the political aisle have said they have received death threats.
Politically-Charged Drivel in the Wake of this Incident is Wrong
Longtime Clinton aide and Democratic strategist Virginia Governor Terry McAullife exploited the assassination attempt to push his gun control agenda.
“There are too many guns on the street. We lose 93 million Americans a day to gun violence. I’ve long talked about this; background checks, shutting down gun-show loopholes. That’s not for today’s discussion, but it’s not just about politicians, we worry about this every day for all of our citizens,” said McAullife.
Some liberals have been taking to Twitter in the aftermath calling for stricter gun laws. Illionois, where the shooter is from, has the strictest gun laws in the country and its City of Chicago is home to the most gang-related violence in the U.S.
Virginia: No background checks No licensing No registration No permit req’d for concealed carry of long guns Open carry long guns & handguns
Within moments of the shooting, unhinged liberal activists who claim to be tolerant celebrated the attack on Twitter with some labeling Rep. Scalise as a racist member of the Ku Klux Klan and inappropriately using the opportunity to attack the GOP’s healthcare plan.
So Rep. Steve Scalise, who once spoke at a white supremacist event sponsored by David Duke (google it) was SHOT today in Alexandria.
Other left-wing extremists described the shooting as an act of “karma” because of Rep. Scalise’s support for the National Rifle Association, saying, “The GOP deserves everything it has coming their way.”
I would feel bad for Scalise if he wasn’t a white supremacist. Karma is a bitch and the GOP deserves everything it has coming their way.
— PualBearersGhost (@Carichampionsoc) June 14, 2017
Another individual described the event as “karma for the gun loving right.”
An act of senseless violence, seemingly politically motivated, is inexcusable and sends a strong message to the nation that people need to cool their emotions and keep policy debates civil.
When liberal politicians make appalling claims that people will “die” if ObamaCare is repealed in favor of the GOP healthcare plan, people take notice.
Griffin, who teaches Media Arts and Animation at the Art Institute of Washington, just outside of the nation’s capital, lambasted Republican efforts to repeal Obamacare on May, posting on Facebook his suggestion to shoot Republican House members.
Last month a professor called for the public assassination of the GOP house
Griffin used inflammatory language in another post referring to the GOP.
“Republicans are a f***ing joke and their voting block runs the gamit [sic] from monstrous to ignorant,” Griffin wrote.
Griffin apologized after her posts were reported in online media publications.
Our society should not accept the promotion of violence against anyone, including people with whom we strongly disagree.
Let’s be clear and blunt: This is the shooter’s fault, not the gun’s fault. He sought out GOP Congress members and Capitol Police, according to eyewitnesses.
Two Capitol Police officers, Krystal Griner and David Bailey – the first responders – were Scalise’s security detail; if the House Majority Whip was not present, this situation could have been a massacre in an open baseball field. The armed security detail saved lives.
The FBI is investigating the incident to determine if it was an act of terror and the defined motives of the shooter.
Let’s stand together as a nation on this Flag Day and seek better political discourse following this horrific incident. No political disagreement is worth anyone’s life. That is why vicious, incendiary “jokes” about assassinating President Trump, “blowing up the White House” (Madonna), threats against people for their political beliefs, Republicans being shunned and silenced on college campuses, and similar hostilities that have ramped-up after the election are heinous and should be investigated by the Secret Service and Homeland Security so it doesn’t inspire people to execute such acts.
“We may have our differences, but we do well, in times like these, to remember that everyone who serves in our nation’s capital is here because, above all, they love our country,” remarked President Trump.
God Bless Rep. Scalise and his family, all the victims, our law enforcement officers who save lives every day and the United States of America.
President Donald J. Trump has vowed to “drain the swamp,” but the swamp is fighting back against the Washington outsider.
Establishment politicians and the media are calling for President Trump’s head after unnamed sources in a Washington Post story claim the Commander-In-Chief gave classified information to the Russian ambassador at The White House last week.
National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster defended the Trump Administration Tuesday after a Washington Post story, citing unnamed sources alleges Trump gave classified information to Russia. (Associated Press Photo)
National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster gave an on-camera briefing at The White House today, saying, “The premise of that article is false.” McMaster repeated that President Trump’s interactions with the Russian ambassador last week in the Oval Office were “wholly appropriate” in the topics and information discussed.
President Trump tweeted this morning that he wants Russia to “step up their fight against ISIS and terrorism.”
McMaster and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson informed the media Monday that “sources and methods” for defeating the Islamic State were not revealed to Russia.
As President I wanted to share with Russia (at an openly scheduled W.H. meeting) which I have the absolute right to do, facts pertaining….
Let’s be clear: The President has the absolute right to declassify intelligence. He may declassify any intelligence he wants, according to the Chief Executive’s Constitutional authority. In fact, it is common practice for presidents to share classified information with foreign leaders when it may assist in a foreign policy goal.
Therefore, President Trump cannot be impeached, if the story turns out to be true; Mr. Trump also cannot be impeached for firing the FBI director, as he has the unfettered Constitutional authority to do so, much to the dismay of his critics.
Israel was the source of intelligence that Trump allegedly gave to Russia last week, according to The New York Times. The Associated Press reported Tuesday morning that a European official claims that if the Washington Post report is accurate, they may not feel comfortable sharing valuable national security intelligence that saves American lives with President Trump.
The Commander-In-Chief will embark on his first Middle East on Friday where he will meet with Muslim leaders, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Pope Francis at The Vatican.
What is alarming here is that, according to the Washington Post, unelected Washington bureaucrats including White House officials and intelligence officials leaked classified information to the press – a felony of the Espionage Act. Leaking out of Washington, D.C. is nothing new, but it is a serious offense and it causes severe damage to our national security and key diplomatic relationships.
I have been asking Director Comey & others, from the beginning of my administration, to find the LEAKERS in the intelligence community…..
In February, the Washington Post relied on an unnamed source, potentially from the intelligence community, who said President Trump had a combative phone call with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. Both Trump and Turnbull denied having a contentious phone call through statements, and recently, in person when the two met in New York City to commemorate the 75th anniversary of an important World War II naval battle.
The larger point is that conversations between a U.S. President and foreign leaders are highly sensitive and should never be illegally leaked to the press, no matter the substance or optics, which the media latches on to frame Washington gossip scenarios. Few people in the White House and the intelligence community have access to Oval Office meetings.
Instead of telling both sides of the story and letting the American people make up their minds, the media has been rushing to put out unbalanced information, without context, in an effort to destroy President Trump and give voice to the critics who have been calling for impeachment since before the inauguration.
Ex-FBI Director James Comey says “no reasonable prosecutor” would pursue charges against Hillary Clinton despite laying out a case of illegalities and saying the former Secretary of State was “extremely careless” in handling top secret, special access program classified materials. (Associated Press Photo)
Some are comparing this unverified incident to Hillary Clinton’s illegal use of a private email server, but that is misleading. Mrs. Clinton has never been the President of the United States who is the only person who can declassify intelligence on his own. As former-FBI Director James Comey revealed on July 5, 2016, the ex-Secretary of State broke the law by using the server for classified information with foreign actors “likely” to have gotten hold of American secrets, and deleting 33,000 emails. Clinton also gave U.S. Department of State access to foreign human rights violators.
While President Trump’s ambitious policy platform includes “eradicating ISIS” and working with any country that will join the U.S. in defeating the radical ideology that is a global threat, politicians, pundits and journalists are quick to run with flashy “scandalous” stories without the full scope or understanding of a story. In this era of instant gratification, it is more important than ever to take a step back and critically pick apart every angle of the story, which is not happening.
There are many in Washington, and in the media, who do not believe Mr. Trump is worthy of the Office of the President have been running wild trying to play “gotcha” games to undermine President Trump, which is having an adverse effect of separating the elitists and regular Americans who care about their money, their healthcare and their safety.
Instead, Washington Post “journalists” literally applauded the unbalanced report because it broke their newspaper’s record for total reads that was previously held by the NBC-leaked “Access Hollywood” video tape that revealed off-camera remarks by Mr. Trump in 2005. The leaked tape was intended to bring down Trump’s run for the White House, days before the second presidential debate in October. The Post’s Glenn Kessler tweeted Monday: “Applause in the newsroom as the Russia-leak scoop breaks the Hollywood Access record for most readers per minute.”
Applause in the newsroom as the Russia-leak scoop breaks the Hollywood Access record for most readers per minute
Frankly, there is too much noise and too many unsourced allegations for Americans to digest.
Tuesday evening, The New York Times published a story, citing a February memo written by Comey that said President Trump asked the former FBI director to end an investigation into former-National Security Advisor Michael Flynn. The New York Times reporters did not read the memo for themselves; they quoted people who allegedly saw the memo. NBC News, in reporting on The New York Times story, wrote their reporters did not read the memo, either. The standards of journalism dramatically changed when journalists felt it was their duty to prevent Trump from winning the presidency, instead of just reporting facts and policy positions without editorial.
The unverified story has been denied by The White House in a statement.
“While the president has repeatedly expressed his view that General Flynn is a decent man who served and protected our country, the president has never asked Mr. Comey or anyone else to end any investigation, including any investigation involving General Flynn. The president has the utmost respect for our law enforcement agencies, and all investigations. This is not a truthful or accurate portrayal of the conversation between the president and Mr. Comey.” – White House Statement on The New York Times story “Comey Memo Says Trump Asked Him to End Flynn Investigation”
Comey has refused to speak with Congressional intelligence oversight committees in private. Under oath, the former FBI director has refused to answer questions in which answers would reveal classified information to the public.
Democrats like Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) are calling for Trump’s impeachment based on unverified stories, claiming the President obstructed justice. Trump’s critics have been calling for his impeachment since before the January 20 inauguration.
Meanwhile, former-President Obama made numerous public comments claiming Mrs. Clinton did not commit a crime. Obama also publicly denied the Internal Revenue Service illegally targeted conservative groups that applied for tax-exempt status during the 2012 election. Public documents and statements by former-Exempt Organizations Unit Director of the IRS Lois Lerner contradict Obama’s comments on the IRS scandal. Republicans believed Obama obstructed justice in both situations.
Former-Director of National Intelligence James Clapper has said under oath, “There is no evidence of collusion between Trump and Russia.”
The ongoing, lengthy investigation is being played out in the public instead of in private by FBI investigators. The crimes we know of are apparently not being investigated: illegal leaking to the media, illegally leaking unmasked names in intelligence reports and Mrs. Clinton’s crimes that have publicly been announced.
The time is overdue to support the President and return credibility to the intelligence agencies and the rule of law without politicizing everything out of Washington because it fits an ideological agenda of “resistance” and bringing down a duly elected President. Without ever giving Mr. Trump a chance, he has been held to a different, unreachable standard than any politician in American history. If Trump committed a crime, he’d be impeached by now.
Journalists and news organizations need to check their biases and agendas at the door and fairly and truthfully interpret the law and the Administration’s policies while citing reputable, named sources.
Unnamed sources should be the exception, not the norm. Illegal activities such as leaking should not be glorified in the mainstream media and should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
Featured Image Courtesy of the Russian Foreign Ministry via Getty Images. President Trump met with Sergey Lavrov, minister of foreign affairs of Russia, and Sergey Kislyak, Russian ambassador to the U.S. on May 10.
President Donald J. Trump’s 100th day in The White House came on Saturday, April 29. While highly scrutinized in a politically divided time in American history, facing much Democratic “resistance,” President Trump has energized his base, fulfilling many campaign promises, although, no major legislation has been passed through Congress.
Mr. Trump has demonstrated a stark contrast to the past 8 years under 44th President Barack Obama in terms of both domestic and foreign policy. The 45th President has committed to an “America First” agenda to restore blue collar American jobs in the manufacturing sector that have left from the rust belt, renegotiate trade policies to benefit the American worker, cut job-killing regulations and enforce immigration laws, deporting thousands of criminal illegal aliens.
Beginning in the first hours of his presidency, Mr. Trump began cutting regulations imposed by the Obama Administration. President Trump’s philosophy, rooted in traditional conservative ideology, is to pull back on restraints on businesses, especially small businesses, that would allow them to dedicate more time to create outputs and hire more workers.
Under Trump’s pro-business policies, for every new regulation created, two regulations must be repealed.
The former business mogul also signed a House Joint Resolution to help the coal industry recover after strenuous Environmental Protection Agency regulations were imposed. Eight thousand mining jobs were created in February.
About 49,000 manufacturing jobs have been created since new year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, with 12,392,000 U.S. manufacturing employees in the labor force. That is the greatest number of people employed in manufacturing in the United States since January 2009, the month that former-President Obama was inaugurated, when there were 12,561,000 people employed in manufacturing.
Donald Trump in May 2016, as the presumptive GOP nominee. (Associated Press Photo)
In February 2009, manufacturing employment dropped to 12,380,000, a number it did not exceed until February of this year, when it reached 12,381,000.
Construction jobs have also increased in the Trump Administration with 58,000 brick and mortar jobs created in February and another 6,000 in March.
At the same time, according to BLS, the number of people employed in government increased by 9,000 in March, climbing from 22,309,000 in February to 22,318,000.
Since December 2016, the U.S. has gained 49,000 manufacturing jobs and 19,000 government jobs.
In an effort to reduce the Washington bureaucratic machine, President Trump signed an executive order to place a hiring freeze on federal workers, excluding the military and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
The Chief Executive also placed a 5-year lobbying ban on government employees and a lifetime ban for members of a presidential administration to lobby on behalf of a foreign government.
President Trump signed off on the construction of the Dakota Access and Keystone XL pipelines with the provision to use American-made piping while moving towards energy independence from nations like Saudi Arabia that sponsors terrorism and lives under the oppressive Sharia Law.
In recent weeks, Mr. Trump took steps to undo the Dodd-Frank financial regulations that have slowed bank loans and put pressure on the financial industry at the expense of small financial brokers.
The President with the encouragement of First Daughter Ivanka Trump launched a council for the advancement of women entrepreneurs and has continued to meet with American business tycoons to encourage private sector initiatives to promote women leadership in the workforce.
Since President Trump’s inauguration on January 20, the stock market has grown 12 percent with the Consumer Confidence Index at the highest mark since December 2000. The stock market incline has slowed since House Speaker Paul Ryan, at the direction of the Chief Executive, pulled the American Health Care Act from a House vote on March 24.
Big League Jobs
Since Mr. Trump was elected on November 8, 2016, a number of American companies have made major job announcements to create and save American jobs from leaving the U.S., many after personal pleadings by phone or in meetings with the incoming President. Roughly $110.2 billion in U.S. investments has been pledged with approximately 1,883,830 U.S. jobs being created that can be credited to President Trump’s pro-growth, pro-business policies.
Carrier: Keeping 1,100 American jobs instead of sending to Mexico
2. SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son: Investing $50 billion to create 50,000 American jobs
3. Sprint: Bringing back 5,000 jobs to the U.S. that were sent overseas
4. OneWeb (new company): Creating 3,000 jobs in the U.S. (associated with Son’s guarantee)
5. Ford: Cancels $1.6 billion plant in Mexico, saving 3,500 American jobs. Creating new innovative center as an expansion of its Flat Rock, MI plant by investing $700 million in the U.S. and creating 700 American jobs
6. Qualcomm and Apple will invest in SoftBank’s new technology fund, SoftBank Vision Fund that is being used to create 50,000 American jobs.
7. Fiat Chrysler announces it would spend $1 billion on U.S. manufacturing, including modernizing plants in Michigan and Ohio, adding 2,000 new American jobs.
8. Toyota will spend $10 billion in U.S. capital investments and will expand its U.S. plants over the next five years.
9. Alibaba Chief Executive Jack Ma met with Trump to discuss the creation of 1 million American jobs, specifically focusing on small business growth.
10. Amazon will create 100,000 jobs in the first year and a half of the Trump Presidency.
11. Wal-Mart will create 10,000 jobs in the U.S. this year.
12. General Motors will invest $1 billion in its U.S. factories this year, moving some parts of production from Mexico to the United States that was previously handled by a supplier.
13. Toyota will add 400 American jobs to build more SUVs at an Indiana assembly plant.
14. Amgen will add 1,600 jobs.
15. Intel will invest $7 billion in innovation in an Arizona factory, creating 3,000 specialist positions and 10,000 support jobs.
16. Delta announces it will hire 25,000 jobs over the next 5 years.
17. Lockheed Martin will create 1,800 new jobs.
18. Exxon Mobil will invest $20 billion to create 35,000 temporary construction jobs and 12,000 high-wage permanent jobs.
19. Charter Communications will invest $25 billion in broadband infrastructure over the next four years to create 20,000 high-paying, highly beneficial American jobs.
20. Ford will invest $1.2 billion in Michigan, securing 3,700 American jobs and creating 130 jobs.
21. Toyota will invest $1.3 billion to revamp its Kentucky factory, saving 8,200 American jobs.
President Trump visited Wisconsin to sign the Buy American, Hire American executive order on April 18 (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)
On day 89 of Trump’s presidency, the first businessman to occupy the Oval Office visited Wisconsin, where he was the first Republican since Ronald Reagan’s re-election to win over the Democrat Party nominee. President Trump announced an executive order, “Buy American, Hire American,” a campaign pledge to mandate American companies use American products and higher American workers before high-skilled foreign workers.
The order targets the H1-B visa program, which permits American companies to employ foreign workers in IT, engineering, mathematics and science industries. Mr. Trump, fulfilling a campaign promise, seeks to end the H1-B lottery system and replace it with a merit-bases system enforcing that foreign workers, hired by U.S. companies, are highly skilled with Americans given priority for jobs.
Since 2009, 95 million Americans left the labor force, the lowest labor participation rate since the 1970s. Thirteen million more Americans are on food stamps with about 43 million Americans living in poverty at the conclusion of the Obama Administration-era.
Peace Through Strength
President Trump plans to seek what he’s calling a “historic” $54 billion increase in defense spending, while pursuing cuts elsewhere in the federal government, as part of his upcoming budget plan. The military has been under a “sequestration,” under the Budget Control Act of 2011, with spending cuts and regulations imposed on the U.S. Armed Forces.
President Trump calls for the largest defense spending budget on March 2 on the deck of the USS Gerald R. Ford in Newport News, Virginia — a brand new carrier that is expected to be commissioned this summer. (Associated Press Photo)
President Trump seeks to rebuild the military and the dilapidated military equipment to promote “peace through strength,” an ode to former-President Reagan who had the idea of beefing up the military to discourage other nations from waging war on the U.S.
Across the Armed Forces, the U.S. military equipment has been overused and in many cases part of our fleets and jets have been docked and grounded indefinitely.
Out of 276 F/A-18 Hornet strike fighters in the Marine Corps inventory, only about 30% are ready to fly, according to statistics provided by the Corps. Similarly, only 42 of 147 heavy-lift CH-53E Super Stallion helicopters are airworthy.
U.S. military spending has dropped from $691 billion in 2010 to $560 billion in 2015. The cuts came just as the planes were returning from 15 years of war, suffering from overuse and extreme wear and tear. Many highly trained mechanics in the aviation depots left for jobs in the private sector.
Marine Corps F/A-18 Hornets are supposed to have a shelf life of 6,000 hours, but they are being refurbished to extend the life to 8,000. There is talk that some aircraft might be pushed to 10,000 hours while the Marine Corps waits for the 5th-generation Joint Strike Fighter, which is slated to replace the F-18, but has been plagued by cost overruns.
President Trump has vowed to invest in American ingenuity to strengthen our military in a time of increased terror threats from radical Islamic terror groups. In terms of the budget, the Commander-In-Chief has been personally negotiating for lower prices of the F-35 fighter jets as well as Air Force One, the presidential plane.
Eradicating ISIS from the Face of the Earth
Within weeks of President Trump’s inauguration, he ordered his Defense team including Defense Secretary Gen. James Mattis, and his National Security Council to draw up a plan for defeating the Islamic State that has inspired all-too-frequent terrorist attacks in our country while persecuting and beheading Christians, Jews and journalists overseas and using videos as recruitment propaganda.
Under the guide of the Islamic faith, ISIS militants seek to destroy freedom and the American way of life.
On April 13, the U.S. dropped the “Mother of All Bombs,” a 21,000-pound GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast on Islamic State fighters in an area that has been an ISIS stronghold since 2015. According to Afghan officials, the largest non-nuclear bomb with a 1-mile killing radius killed 94 Islamic State militants. While literally destroying ISIS in the region, it sent a message to our adversaries like North Korea that the U.S., under President Trump, will stand-up for American values and will not sit idly by as murderous regimes and extremists murder innocent people.
Shift in Foreign Policy
After campaigning on the idea that America shouldn’t be interfering in other countries’ conflicts, like the Syrian civil war, President Trump had an apparent change of heart after Syrian Dictator Bashar al-Assad launched a chemical weapons attack on his own civilians on April 4.
President Trump announced the Syrian airstrike on March 4 at Mar-A-Lago in Florida. (YouTube/White House)
“My attitude toward Syria and Assad has changed,” said President Trump at a press conference at The White House Rose Garden alongside King Abdullah II of Jordan. Mr. Trump has spent time on the phone or has met with over 30 foreign leaders, making defeating radical Islamic terror a focal point of all foreign policy meetings.
Trump said, as the leader of the free world, it is imperative for him to remain “flexible” to changing world events.
About 63 hours after Syria heinously attacked its own people, President Trump ordered 59 Tomahawk missiles to be launched, in unison, on an airstrike on the Shayrat airfield in Western Syria, signaling that America will not be isolationists as Assad and his ally in Russia promote and attempt to conceal a vicious attack on civilians.
Chemical weapons have been used in Syria approximately 10 times since 2013, with the Syrian regime responsible for at least half of the attacks.
Former Secretary of State John Kerry and former-President Obama, himself, claimed “100 percent” of chemical weapons were removed from Syria. Since 2013, there have been 10 chemical weapons attacks on Syrian civilians with the Syrian government responsible for at least half of the heinous attacks. Obama infamously drew an unenforced “red line” that would be the Syrian government using chemical weapons.
Helping Our Heroes
On day 89, President Trump signed the “Veterans Choice Program Extension and Improvement Act,” an extension, allowing our U.S. veterans to receive private sector health care, paid by the government.
This will resolve the problematic and outrageous wait times and bureaucracy at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs with too many veterans committing suicide while waiting on line. The suicide rate among veterans has surged 35 percent since 2001, driven in part by sharp increases among those who have served since 2001, according to the largest study of such suicides. Of particular concern is the suicide rate among women, which has increased 85 percent in that time.
The veterans choice program was enacted amid the 2014 wait-time scandal. As a result, veterans can seek private health care if they live within 40 miles from a VA site. 1.5 million veterans have made 7 million appointments.
President Trump has promised to reduce the alarming veterans statistics, as an estimated 39,471 veterans are homeless on a given night, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Mr. Trump vowed to allow vets to seek private health care anywhere in the country for full coverage by the federal government.
Last week, Mr. Trump ordered the opening of a new accountability office of the VA, providing whistleblower protection for Veterans Affairs employees who sound the alarm on inefficiencies and poor treatment of U.S. veterans.
Law and Order
President Trump made immigration a core issue of his campaign for president, proposing a physical wall on the southern border to include increased Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers, video surveillance, face recognition and other technological deterrents and border control measures.
The Trump Administration is receiving hundreds of proposals from American construction companies that are applying to build the wall.
The Trump Administration is hiring of 5,000 border patrol agents and 10,000 ICE officers. Plus, Attorney General Jeff Sessions has announced the addition of 125 immigration judges to be able to process and arraign criminal illegal aliens with due process, ending the “catch-and-release” and sanctuary city policies that have enabled the harboring of criminal illegal aliens in minority communities. Sessions has also repeatedly threatened to withdraw funding from cities and states that do not enforce federal immigration law.
Since President Trump’s inauguration, the Department of Justice has published weekly reports of illegal immigrant crime, including detainer requests and deportations that have occurred. The reports reveal that MS-13 gang members from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico and other countries, who economically thrive on the sale of opioids across the border, have been detained and deported. Murderers, rapists, drug dealers and other violent criminals with convictions have also been targeted, detained and deported from the U.S., as the President created a task force to reduce crime.
President Trump signed an executive order to target drug cartels while there is a violent drug epidemic in the country. Attorney General Sessions has ordered U.S. attorneys to prosecute criminal illegal aliens and drug cartel members to the fullest extent of the law.
In a shift of rhetoric and a signed order, law enforcement officers are being supported and protected. Some states have even followed with “Blue Lives Matter” legislation, increasing penalties for assaulting police officers that has become a cornerstone of the violent anti-Trump and anti-police riots that have swept the nation. The past administration embraced the radical “Black Lives Matter” movement, even protesters to The White House.
President Trump signed two travel suspension orders from radical Islamic terror riddled nations – Yemen, Somalia, Syria, Sudan, Iran and Iraq. Iraq was left off the revised order that was a “watered down version” of the first executive order, according to Trump at a post-inauguration rally in Melbourne, FL. Both have been tied up in the courts as activist judges instituted holds based on Trump’s campaign comment about a “Muslim ban.” These orders, though, did not include the most populous Muslim nation, Indonesia, or other Muslim-majority nations. These six countries fail to communicate about traveler to the U.S. and have been recent hotbeds of terror.
Other Successes
The November 8 exit polls revealed that the Supreme Court vacancy, left by Justice Antonin Scalia when he passed away last February, was a top issue. Of the nearly 700 counties that voted for Obama twice, one-third states flipped to support Trump. The Republican also won 194 of the 207 counties that voted for Obama either in 2008 or 2012.
Justice Neil Gorsuch is sworn in as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States at The White House Rose Garden (Associated Press Photo)
On April 10, Justice Neil Gorsuch was sworn in as the 113th Associate Justice on the Supreme Court of the United States with his first day on the Court 8 days later.
Gorsuch is a respected judge who has ruled on a number of religious liberty cases, but not abortion. He is seen as a moderate conservative justice who has ruled under the common Constitutional, originalist philosophy. Justice Gorsuch, 49, is the youngest sitting justice and the youngest to be confirmed since Clarence Thomas at 1991 at the age of 43.
President Trump has also signed executive orders to reduce business and ObamaCare regulations while cutting burdensome EPA regulations on businesses and reducing government bureaucracy.
Mr. Trump is also working across party lines, trying to engage with Democrats where appropriate. Trump has met with Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD) and pharmaceutical company CEOs in an effort to lower prescription drug prices.
Mr. Trump is meeting with inner-city leaders, working to implement school choice policies, allowing families to decide where to send their student children to receive an education. The President continues to meet with Congressional Black Caucus members and African American leaders to clean up inner cities after a year of record gang violence and inner-city crime.
Chicago saw 163 murders in 2016 with 786 shooting incidents in the Windy City. The sanctuary city has already seen numbers inch towards the 2016 levels in the fourth month of the 2017 calendar.
A show of patriotism, President Trump signed an order investing in NASA’s space exploration programs.
Challenges and Arguable Shortcomings
Failure to send the American Health Care Act to a House vote was embarrassing for Republicans who have campaigned on “repeal and replace” of ObamaCare for over 7 years. The GOP and President Trump set an artificial deadline to get a 3-pronged approach repeal and replacement plan through legislation, but conservative members of the Freedom Caucus were not in unison with moderate Republicans who seem to be more generous on benefits that would not reduce premiums and deductibles enough to be a major change from Obama’s signature legislation.
At first, President Trump suggested that he would move on to tax reform as the first piece of Congressional legislation to tackle, but the Affordable Health Care Act contains taxes that would ideally be cut before true tax reform can be addressed.
The MacArthur Amendment to the American Health Care Act (“The Neil A. Carousso Show”)
The MacArthur Amendment, proposed last Wednesday, to the American Health Care Act maintains many provisions in the original bill, but it would allow states to request waivers of pre-existing conditions, known as community rating. The amended ObamaCare replacement bill allows states to opt-out of the essential health benefits while protecting people with “continuous coverage.” States may waive a 30 percent surcharge in a bill for people who have a gap in coverage. The House Freedom Caucus, the conservative wing of the Republican Party that refused to endorse the AHCA, because it would not lower premium and deductible costs by large enough margins, has endorsed the MacArthur Amendment.
President Trump’s tax reform proposal (“The Neil A. Carousso Show”)
There has not been comprehensive tax reform since former-President Reagan’s 1986 tax cuts. Mr. Trump has proposed simplifying the 4 million-word tax code, reducing personal tax brackets to 3 and cutting taxes across-the-board. Trump also aims to reduce the corporate tax rate to 15 percent from 35 percent, the highest among developed nations, and offer incentives for companies to repatriate trillions of dollars stored and invested overseas to invest and create jobs in the U.S. The White House has also proposed a doubling to the standard deductions for middle class individuals and families and elimination of tax deductions except mortgage interest and charitable contributions. The Trump Administration is also seeking to end the estate tax, also known as the “death tax,” repeal the alternative minimum tax and ObamaCare taxes.
Congress, which was only in session 8 days in April, has set an August timetable to have healthcare and/or tax reform passed, but that is looking unlikely at this time, a blow to the ambitious Trump Agenda that requires a fast-moving legislative branch to match Mr. Trump’s unrivaled work ethic.
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Moving forward, President Trump has about 1,360 days remaining in his first term. While many steps have been made to create change in Washington and implement his ambitious agenda, it will be incumbent upon the Chief Executive to pass legislation through Congress. The President will be ultimately judged on economic results for the market and American workers, keeping the country safe from terror, defeating our enemies, including radical Islam and criminal illegal aliens, and respectably leading the United States in terms of its standing in the world, energy independence, prosperity and peace.
Featured Image Courtesy of Reuters photographer Carlos Barria.
Volunteers for Adopt-A-Battalion gather weekly at the Knights of Columbus in Massapequa Park, NY to arrange care packages for U.S. military members who are currently serving in Afghanistan and elsewhere.
Col. Timothy M. Parker is the Commanding Officer of the Weapons Training Battalion at the U.S. Marines Training Command in Quantico, VA. Parker served as the inspiration for Adopt-A-Battalion for which his brother is the vice president. (Photo: United States Marine Corps)
It was founded in 2004 after now-Col. Timothy Parker wrote home to his parents for basic necessities such as clean underwear when he was serving his first tour in Iraq. Parker’s cohorts asked for similar packages and the Parker family began shipping goods to individual U.S. soldiers who share with their battalions.
Adopt-A-Battalion has shipped over 40 tons of goods, directly to service men and women over 13 years. Last year, it sent 1,972 boxes to troops stationed overseas. Their goal is to surpass 2,000 boxes in 2017.
One can donate goods, money or one’s time to Adopt-A-Battalion. Log on to AdoptABattalion.com to learn more about how this grassroots, community organization directly makes a difference by helping those who serve to protect our freedom, American values and our nation’s sovereignty.
Featured Image: Adopt-A-Battalion President and U.S. Navy Vietnam Veteran Richard Olson poses next to the care packages that volunteers prepared on Saturday, April 22. The goods will be shipped to U.S. military members serving in Afghanistan.
