By Allan Wall, August 25, 2020
The 2020 U.S. presidential election pits Republican incumbent Donald Trump against Democratic candidate Joe Biden. Election Day is less than three months away.
Here at US Incorporated we aren’t allowed to endorse candidates, but we sure can examine what they are proposing and comment on the issues.
On August 23rd, the Trump Campaign released a document entitled TRUMP CAMPAIGN ANNOUNCES PRESIDENT TRUMP’S 2ND TERM AGENDA: FIGHTING FOR YOU!
The document contains 50 distinct “core priorities for a second term,” organized into ten broad categories.
The ten categories are as follows: Jobs, Eradicate COVID-19, End our Reliance on China, Healthcare, Education, Drain the Swamp, Defend our Police, End Illegal Immigration and Protect American Workers, Innovate for the Future, and America First Foreign Policy.
The “End our Reliance on China” doesn’t seem like a plank that recent GOP politicians would have supported, because, for decades, Republicans were gung-ho on doing business with China. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but it’s the way we do business with China. Trump has emphasized the importance of trade policies putting America first, and it seems as though that should be a winning platform.
The “Defend our Police” category puts the Trump campaign squarely on the opposite side of the rioters destroying the downtowns of our great cities and of those calling to defund the police. If Trump can convince swing voters that he is on the side of the law and order, it seems that would help him.
Note, too, that almost all the big cities with the riots are governed by Democrats, and that’s certainly worth considering.
The America First Foreign Policy category includes the priority to “Stop Endless Wars and Bring Our Troops Home.” At this point in American history, that’s what we need to do, especially in the Middle East.
Another priority in that category is to “Maintain and Expand America’s Unrivaled Military Strength” and, of course, I think we ought to maintain American military strength. But it would also be prudent to really sit down and decide what America’s foreign interests are. Some people are still stuck in the Cold War which ended decades ago, but the world has changed, and we shouldn’t attempt to be the world’s policeman or the world’s nation-builder.
Also, the U.S. military has of late become too politically correct. It’s not the function of the military to promote radical social agendas. The function of the military is to defend the nation.
The category entitled “End Illegal Immigration and Protect American Workers” includes six distinct priorities.
They are:
1. “Block Illegal Immigrants from Becoming Eligible for Taxpayer-Funded Welfare, Healthcare, and Free College Tuition.” The more you reward illegal immigration, the more you get of it. It’s common sense.
2. “Mandatory Deportation for Non-Citizen Gang Members.” Note that “non-citizen” can include legal immigrants who are gang members. It seems totally logical to deport all non-citizen gang members. After all, don’t we have enough criminals without importing more of them?
3. “Dismantle Human Trafficking Networks.” Human trafficking is a sick business, but it flourishes when we don’t have a strict immigration policy. So yes, these networks should be dismantled, but getting stricter in general also helps fight this problem in particular.
4. “End Sanctuary Cities to Restore our Neighborhoods and Protect our Families.” By “sanctuary cities” it refers to cities that protect illegal aliens from detention. Just imagine if a city government decided it wasn’t going to abide by other types of federal law. Why should immigration law be any different?
5. “Prohibit American Companies from Replacing United States Citizens with Lower-Cost Foreign Workers.” There are ways that companies can do this legally, while American STEM graduates, for example, can’t get jobs in their fields. It seems quite logical to end these programs.
6. “Require New Immigrants to Be Able to Support Themselves Financially.” This refers to the public charge rule, forms of which have been in use in this country since colonial times. Why import more welfare recipients?
There you have it, the Trump Priorities for the second term (if he can win it).
Allan Wall was a member of the Texas Army National Guard.
