By Stephen Macaulay
How many people who plan on voting for Trump have actually taken the time to go to his official website — www.donaldjtrump.com — and have looked at his presidential platform?
Probably not many. Because he doesn’t offer much in the way of anything but empty bluster or problems that actually exist.
For those who are interested in so-called “kitchen-table” issues, the planks of that platform are pretty flimsy. And if we want to build a stronger America, substantive plans are needed.
So, to review, here are the 20 points of his platform.
1. Seal the border and stop the migrant invasion.
One might think that when he was president and had a Republican Congress he would have gotten that wall built and paid for by Mexico, that there wouldn’t have simply been a reduced number of illegals crossing the border when he was in office, but that he would have sealed it. None of that happened.
2. Carry out the largest deportation operation in American history.
This is a red-meat item. . .until people realize that their family members, friends or neighbors are mistakenly caught up in this operation.
3. End inflation, and make America affordable again.
Sounds good, but there is nothing to substantiate how he would make that happen. Arguably the reason inflation is as high as it is is a hangover from the COVID crisis which, as you may not recall, he didn’t handle very well.
4. Make America the dominant energy producer in the world, by far!
Perhaps someone needs to tell him the U.S. currently is “the dominant energy producer in the world, by far!” As of August 2024 the U.S. produces 21.91 million barrels of oil per day. Saudi Arabia is number two, back at 11.13 million. Looks fairly dominant.
5. Stop outsourcing and turn the United States into a manufacturing superpower.
According to the National Association of Manufacturers, certainly no booster of the Democrats, as of September 2024,“Manufacturing employment fell slightly in September, losing 7,000 employees from August but remaining above pre-pandemic levels. Job growth in the sector has slowed in the past year, yet remains well above pre-pandemic levels with 12,917,000 manufacturing employees in September. The sector averaged 12,648,000 employees pre-pandemic (2017–2019).” So arguably, the U.S. is a greater manufacturing superpower now than when Trump was in office.
6. Large tax cuts for workers, and no tax on tips!
Notice there is no detail of how big those cuts will be for workers. And going back to the previous item, in Q4 2017, pre-pandemic and when Trump was in office, there were 153.9 million people employed in the U.S. In September 2024 there were 161.86 million people employed. MAGA? And as for the “no tax on tips” — sounds good, but wouldn’t a higher minimum wage work more efficiently?
7. Defend our Constitution, our Bill of Rights, and our fundamental freedoms, including freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and the right to keep and bear arms
From whom? Isn’t he the guy who is suing CBS and who is threatening his political opponents? And Harris has said that she owns a Glock, so who is threatening gun rights? And since when has there been an issue related to freedom of religion? Maybe he’s concerned with the Bibles he’s hawking.
8. Prevent World War III, restore peace in Europe and in the Middle East, and build a great iron dome missile defense shield over our entire country -- all made in America
Is WW III something anyone has been concerned with. . .until he started making it seem like it is imminent? And it seems fairly clear that his answer to the fighting in Europe is surrendering to Putin. And as for the Middle East, there seems to be no plan. No surprise there.
9. End the weaponization of government against the American people.
Is this a problem for the American people, or just the many people in his sphere who have been found guilty of manifold malfeasances?
10. Stop the migrant crime epidemic, demolish the foreign drug cartels, crush gang violence, and lock up violent offenders.
“Using the FBI data, the violent crime rate fell 49% between 1993 and 2022, with large decreases in the rates of robbery (-74%), aggravated assault (-39%) and murder/nonnegligent manslaughter (-34%).”—Pew Research Center. Here’s the thing: He can claim there is a problem, then “solve it.”
11. Rebuild our cities, including Washington DC, making them safe, clean, and beautiful again. Remember when Trump was going to transform Atlantic City? How did that work out?
12. Strengthen and modernize our military, making it, without question, the strongest and most powerful in the world.
For a man who denigrates the men and women who have given their lives in service to their country, this is rich.
13. Keep the US dollar as the world's reserve currency.
If he follows through on his isolationist plans, forget about that.
14. Fight for and protect Social Security and Medicare with no cuts, including no changes to the retirement age.
Remember his tax cuts for the workers? Where will the funding for these programs come from? Mexico?
15. Cancel the electric vehicle mandate and cut costly and burdensome regulations.
First, there is no “electric vehicle mandate.” Second, remember the e. coli issue that recently broke out at McDonalds due to some contaminated produce? Bet some of the things that the provider of the produce ignored were considered to be “burdensome.” Just think if these regulations were gone.
16. Cut federal funding for any school pushing critical race theory, radical gender ideology, and other inappropriate racial, sexual, or political content on our children.
Who decides what is “inappropriate racial, sexual, or political content”? Somehow his sensitivity to race, women and political opponents makes him a dubious arbiter.
17. Keep men out of women's sports.
This is one of 20 things that the want-to-be president is concerned with?
18. Deport pro-Hamas radicals and make our college campuses safe and patriotic again.
Didn’t he say something about freedom of speech in point seven?
19. Secure our elections, including same day voting, voter identification, paper ballots, and proof of citizenship
Does this mean that there should be only same-day voting? If so, why has he been promoting early voting? While there certainly should be vetting of voters, this is a non-problem that he is vigorously ginning up so he can blame something else if he loses.
20. Unite our country by bringing it to new and record levels of success.
Laudable. But where is anything in his list that will actually do that?
The presidential election shouldn’t be treated like a popularity contest.
Trump may be more popular than Harris, but the presidency isn’t about throwing stuff at the wall and hoping it sticks or making things up on the fly or gutting our freedoms while claiming the actions make us freer.
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TUESDAY 11/5/24