The pen is mightier than the sword in the hands of Trump

By Christopher Curran
Posted 2/1/17

Although I confess I have not been a supporter of our new President Donald J. Trump, even someone who has not had faith can appreciate a politician who actually seeks to fulfill his promises made on …

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The pen is mightier than the sword in the hands of Trump

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Although I confess I have not been a supporter of our new President Donald J. Trump, even someone who has not had faith can appreciate a politician who actually seeks to fulfill his promises made on the stump. The master of disruption has been rolling like a tank down a hill toward achieving his previously stated campaign objectives. After a little more than a week in office, by the stroke of an insistent executive pen, Trump has started to change the course of the United States of America.

Many of the initiatives incepted by Trump’s signatures are to say the least controversial in nature. Immigration policies, federally insured home mortgages, Obamacare, environmentally questionable oil industry projects, and access to abortion will all be altered dramatically by the nascent president’s actions. Whether or not one believes Trump has begun a worthy stride on the right track or the wrong turn down a road to ruin, no one can deny his strength of purpose.

Even though executive orders have significant weight in steering policy, intentions cannot come to fruition without the cooperation of the legislative branch of government. Funding must be allocated and logistical support for any directive can be complicated in its implementation. No president is an authoritative island in our democracy. As a result, the Donald will have to realize that despite his directives and dictums our coequal structure of government must be respected no matter what change to our nation he intends.

Undoubtedly, the greatest catalyst for his most ardent supporters on the campaign trail was the president’s stances on immigration. This week, Mr. Trump has directed the Department of Homeland Security to begin construction of a border wall to separate Mexico and the United States. Although Trump has long asserted that not only the wall would be built, but that our neighbors to the south would pay for it. The latter assertion is untenable. The President of Mexico Enrique Pena Nieto has cancelled a recent diplomatic meeting with the new president. The Mexican president stated unequivocally his country will not pay for the wall. In response, Trump claims that he will impose a 20% tariff on all incoming Mexican goods to even the trading playing field and to be reimbursed for the wall. This move will violate the North American Free Trade Agreement and cannot be instituted unilaterally. Either Trump does not understand trade law or is bluffing and blustering for dramatic effect to push Nieto into capitulation.

Nevertheless, it is likely that a border wall will be erected in short order. However, the American taxpayer will bear the burden economically for its raising. The estimated cost for this endeavor is 15 to 20 Billion Dollars. The conspicuously obvious question is the following. How impenetrable will the wall be? And certainly “Coyotes” (those who traffic in illegal immigrants) will find a way to circumvent the new edifice. Also and perhaps more significant, all of the US/Canada border, the Atlantic and Pacific shorelines, and the Southern border from East Texas to Florida will still be open. Thus, it is doubtful a thousand mile border wall from California to West Texas will stem any sizable number of illegal migrants at all.

Trump’s mighty pen also ordered an increase in the number of Immigrations and Customs Enforcements (ICE) Agents and he ordered the expansion of the existing policy of prioritizing the deportation of any illegal immigrants already convicted of a crime to include those who have been charged with a crime. This deportation standard can now include those driving without a license, anyone holding a fake ID card or anyone using a fake Social Security Number. This simply orders the enforcement of statutes that were already on the books by no longer having police and government agents sit on their hands when dealing with those who flaunt our laws.

Most uproarious was Donald Trump’s order regarding legal immigration into the United States. Trump suspended the US Refugee Program in total for four months. He suspended Syrian Refugees from entering the country indefinitely. He has blocked reentrance into the US by any Visa or Green Card holders in good standing from Iraq, Iran, Libya, Yemen, Somalia, and Sudan for at least three months. This amounts to a repudiation of those visitors who have complied with our rules for entering and residing here. This new policy prohibits foreign born doctors who either practice or are interns here and it bars university students who are studying in the US from reentering our country at least for the next 120 days.

Additionally, Trump ordered the total amount of refugees into the US to be reduced by one half to 50 thousand per year, including refugees from war torn non-Muslim nations. Strangely, Trump desires that preferential consideration should be given to “religious minorities” for the refugee slots for entrance still available. The criteria for what constitutes a “religious minority” is not clearly stated and will be left to immigration officials in the vetting process. On the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN), Trump stated that Christians were being persecuted in the Middle East and being decapitated and should be treated with priority. This comment was inflammatory and implied all Muslims were culpable for these atrocities.

Oppositely, our nation was founded on the basis of religious pluralism. If we exclude or accept people into our country based upon a litmus test predicated on their religious beliefs we are in violation of every precept our founding fathers based our democracy on.

Less philosophically, Trump’s pen rolled back preferred home mortgage government backed rates in the Federal Housing Administration home loan program by a quarter of an interest point. This move will result in no additional discounts in home mortgage rates. Financial experts believe Trump will seek to eventually trim if not eliminate first time owner and subsidized owner programs. This turns back the “equalization standard” that assumes the government should assist citizens in obtaining their first home.

Similarly, Trump’s executive order demands that agencies should waive grant exemptions from Obamacare (ACA) fees and regulations “to the maximum extent permitted by law”. This action is the first chipping away at the ACA which will undoubtedly lead to the inevitable repeal of the ACA by the Republican controlled legislature. Unquestionably, the ACA is in many ways a failed program which has essentially become an example of wealth redistribution. However, to repeal it without sound replacement will set adrift 20 million currently insured citizens.

Equally controversial, is the president’s executive order regarding the Keystone XL Pipeline/Trans-Canada and the Dakota Access Pipeline. After President Obama straddling the environmental/industrial fence for 7 years, Trump decisively gave the go-ahead. Green activists, along with Native American activists and imminent domain complainants are livid about this executive order. Ground water and farming soil conservationists believe they will endure thousands of miles of eco-devastation from this project. On the contrary, American Unionists are jubilant at the estimated 1-2 thousand construction jobs in the short term and the 300 to 400 permanent jobs in the long term. Time will tell whether the environment can be preserved with the built-in safeguard regulations or if decades from now we see extraordinary water and soil damage to possibly seven of our states.

Also, Trump’s pen gratified the Right to Life advocates by ordering no contributions of US support to any international family planning organizations that “either provide abortion or discuss abortion services with clients”.

English playwright Edward Lytton wrote in his famous play Richelieu “The Pen is Mightier than the Sword.” In the case of the new President, Donald Trump, this is certainly true. Admiringly, Trump is sincerely acting upon his loudly heralded promises made on the campaign trail. Distressingly, some of his orders defy the constitutional intentions of our founders. Thus, the legislative and judicial branches of our government may countermand Mr. Trump’s executive inclinations in the not too distant future. One thing is for sure Trump’s executive pen is a writing implement of disruption and will be for the next four years!

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  • Justanidiot

    the donald's mighty pen rests uneasily in his tiny hands

    Thursday, February 2, 2017 Report this