"Remember - in 2018 the door knockers will be out in full force. Asking for you to vote for their guy (or gal). When they recite the campaign promises of the candidate, don't hesitate to ask the tough questions."
I remember the last campaign just like it was last year. Wait! It was last year! Many were excited by what I call the "Big 4" promises. They would be 1) Repeal and replace ObamaCare, 2) Tax reform, 3) BUILD THE DAMN WALL! and 4) Improving our infrastructure. I thought that since the President's term is now over 20% over, let's see how we are doing.
Before I get started, I just want to remind everyone the President, no matter how powerful and/or influential, is nothing more than a cheerleader. Despite the fact that Obama at times tried to rule like a king or emperor, the President is neither. It is Congress who needs to draft the laws and appropriate the money.
Repeal and replace ObamaCare - For many on the Right, just talking about this subject is like brushing a sore tooth. For some reason, known only to a few, this healthcare fix ended up being somewhere between the "way too hard" and impossible. Will this come up again in the GFY 2018 legislative year? Why? Nothing has changed. People will continue to suffer under Obama's signature program. For right now, this campaign promise remains a festering wound.
Tax reform - I will give this one somewhere between a "D" and a "D-". Why? Where is the reform? Where is the reduced tax code? Where are the tax cuts for everyone? Maybe it was a definitional issue. "Reform" to many on the Right meant a flat tax or fair tax. Eliminate the IRS. Fire John Koskinen. Throw Lois Lerner in jail. What we got was a tinkered with status quo. Yes, the reduction in the corporate rate was a good thing. But the deficit hawks must have flown south for the winter when the CBO scored it high on debt. I was asked again yesterday if the new bill (which is not yet fully cooked) will help or hurt me. My answer still remains - no clue.
BUILD THE DAMN WALL! - Hello? Wall? Where are you? I know, I know - some progress (albeit minor) has been made. There is a down payment in the new un-passed budget. Big whoop. The estimated budget to build the wall remains at $21B - mere chump change in Washington speak. If Congress was cleaver, they could have found the money and real stuff would have been happening by now. How important is building this wall? Kate Steinle important. Enough said.
Improving our infrastructure - Zzzzzz. Excuse me - I fell asleep on this one. Of all the campaign promises, this is the one where there was some spark from the other side. The Democrats loved it? Of course, some asked that age old question - "Where is the money coming from?" Never answered. This weekend we had a 12" water main give way under 694. It is a mess of historic proportions and will take a long time to fix. But old or ancient water mains are only part of our infrastructure problems. Roads, bridges, ports, pipelines, and of course, my most favorite - our fragile electrical grid. This entire initiative is sleeping more soundly right now than Rip Van Winkle.
Remember - in 2018 the door knockers will be out in full force. Asking for you to vote for their guy (or gal). When they recite the campaign promises of the candidate, don't hesitate to ask the tough questions. It is one thing to promise a chicken in every pot, it is quite another to find even a pot, much less some kind of a bird to cook it in.
If only states could run a deficit like the Feds do, we could work on the infrastructure, but most projects require massive federal funding to prevent state and local taxes from skyrocketing. Our kids/grandkids are going to be dramatically inconvenienced by the problems identified, but not faced/funded.
ReplyDeleteAnd unfortunately, some will probably die!
Dave
Do you think 1.4 trillion could have fixed a few things?
DeleteMasaa‘ al-khayr
ReplyDeleteThe Supreme Court granted 45’s request to fully enforce his revised order banning travel to the United States by residents of six mostly Muslim countries.
Now that 45 has succeeded in keeping them out, he will move on to kicking them out.
3.45 million Muslims living in the US can now fear the next step, deportation.
I feel safer already.
as-salaam ‘alaykum
The 45 administration is considering a set of proposals developed by Blackwater founder Erik Prince and a retired CIA officer — with assistance from Oliver North, a key figure in the Iran-Contra scandal — to provide CIA Director Mike Pompeo and the White House with a global, private spy network that would circumvent official U.S. intelligence agencies.
ReplyDelete“The sources say the plans have been pitched to the White House as a means of countering ‘deep state’ enemies in the intelligence community seeking to undermine 45’s presidency.”
Said one former intelligence official: “Pompeo can’t trust the CIA bureaucracy, so we need to create this thing that reports just directly to him,”
This would be equivalent to the "stazi" of East Germany.
What next?