Trump’s first year

If you believe the mainstream media and liberal mantra, President Trump is an ineffective buffoon who has no business in the White House. The truth is far different.

Despite 91 percent continuous negative media coverage, Trump has accomplished a great deal. This tends to rub liberals the wrong way. It also rubs establishment Republicans the wrong way. For me, that is a point in Trump’s favor.

The major accomplishment is the recently passed tax cut bill. While it still leaves some problems, it is a good start. Democrats howled in protest over this bill. Why? Because, in addition to their typical response to anything the GOP does, they know that history will prove tax cuts provide a boost to the economy, making them look bad. Just look at history. Every time taxes are cut the economy booms and revenues increase.

Further, the first thing out of Democrat mouths is to ask how the cuts will be paid for. In a delicious irony, the bill eliminates deductions for state income taxes. This gores liberal Democrat high tax strongholds like New York, California and Illinois. The rest of the country has been subsidizing these states for years. Turnabout is fair play. And the best part is the Democrats don’t dare complain too loudly or they will look like hypocrites.

Oh, and since the Supreme Court determined Obamacare to be a tax, this tax bill repealed the individual mandate portion of Obamacare. That essentially guts Obamacare. I suspect that if a reform isn’t passed it will die a natural death anyway.

Here are some other things you don’t see on the news. Trump signed an executive order that requires at least two regulations be eliminated for every new one implemented. In reality, he has cut 16 regulations for every new one.

He has ordered an audit of the Pentagon. This has never been done before. Supposedly there will be 2,300 auditors looking at military spending this year. Next up, the Federal Reserve? Ron Paul has been calling for that for years.

He eliminated the restrictions on the coal industry, a mainstay of American electricity. He removed us from the Paris Climate Agreement, which looked to the U.S. as their blank check.

He also got us out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership with the statement that he would re-enter it if better terms were available. He worked to bring corporations back to the U.S. This was another key provision of the tax bill.

Trump has appointed 73 federal judges and one Supreme Court judge. He has ordered ethical standards, including a lobbying ban on any of his departing staff.

He has rolled back numerous blatantly illegal Obama actions. Most notable of these is DACA, or the Dream Act. Trump’s position is that it is up to Congress to make these laws, not the president. Likewise, when he instituted his first travel ban, he respected the rule of law enough to allow it to work its way through the Supreme Court. I can only hope that the Ninth Circuit Court District has a lot of vacancies soon.

He has started the process to build the wall. I found it interesting that there was a mass exodus of illegals after he was elected simply because they thought he would enforce existing law. He has cracked down on 300 sanctuary cities and has gone after criminal gang members, many of whom are here illegally.

He has signed several actions through VA to help veterans. Veterans are getting the respect they deserve after eight years of disdain from Obama. He abandoned proposed government regulation of the internet.

Don’t forget the XL pipeline, which is now under construction. He has also allowed drilling in parts of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. He has also gotten alphabet agencies like EPA off everyone’s back.

This is just a partial list. There is a list out there with 12 categories and 81 accomplishments in his first year. As a side benefit of his actions, the stock market is hitting record highs, unemployment is down, and consumer confidence is high as supported by this year’s Christmas spending.

Trump is a unique presidential personality. He doesn’t ignore his critics. He goes after them. That drive his opponents crazy and endears him to his supporters. For the first time in decades we have a president that gives back what the Democrats have been dishing out for years. One thing is for sure. The Democrats can gleefully dish it out but sure can’t take it.

Tom Riggins’ column appears every other Friday. He may be reached at news@lahontanvalleynews.com.