President Trump’s Going It Alone

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The Republican establishment is almost gone from the White House but there are some Democrats who aren’t going anywhere. The agenda moving forward won’t be a strictly Republican one necessarily. Tell us what you think the reshaping of the party will look like.

Obamacare is likely dead. Republicans don’t seem able to get the job done in any way, shape or form. Perhaps more Republicans are needed in the Senate but will Americans vote for them again? The Republicans do have a card to play – the Democrat Party is continuing to move closer to the hard-left.

What has always been of concern is some of Trump’s support for universal healthcare. He tweeted to let Obamacare die after the “Skinny Bill” went down, but will we end up with single-payer as a result?

The White House staff is undergoing dramatic changes and that means policy changes.

If Reince Priebus was a leaker, he deserves to be gone, but no evidence has been presented to prove he is. Also gone are Deputy Chief Katie Walsh and press secretary Michael Short. They were both accused of leaking. Got News claims an anti-Trump consultant said Walsh and Priebus exchanged emails on how to get rid of Trump. We haven’t seen any evidence however. Walsh, Short and Priebus are establishment Republicans.

There are many unfilled positions, which means Obama’s embeds remain in place.

Out of about 500 positions to be filled, there have been 146 nominations and 50 appointed. While Democrats are relentlessly dragging out the process of appointments, that’s not the biggest problem. The bigger issue is there are no nominees for the rest of the positions. Some complain that Trump wants people who will be loyal to him and there aren’t enough people to fill his requirements.

Who’s left and what will policy look like?

President Trump has threatened to fire lifelong Republican Jeff Sessions, primarily over his recusal on the Russian matter. Trump sees it as disloyalty but agency heads should remain independent.

One must wonder why John Koskinen remains at the IRS while Sessions is threatened. Not everyone likes what Sessions is doing but why is Koskinen not the first to be tossed.

Nikki Haley, a Republican, is doing a good job in the U.N.

Stephen Miller, a national policy adviser, is still in the White House writing speeches. He is a conservative and is a close associate of Steve Bannon’s. The left hates him, hates both of them actually.

Deputy National Security Advisor KT McFarland is gone as is the last General Flynn appointee, a man of great renown, Lt.Col. Derek Harvey. He called radical Islam what it is and supported Israel. Communications Director Mike Dubke was pushed out in May and was said to be ineffective. They were all Republicans.

H.R. McMaster is an establishment Republican. Rex Tillerson is liberal-leaning on a number of issues from healthcare to borders to Israel. The rumors were coming out fast and furiously that Tillerson was thinking of leaving but he’s back from vacation. He says he’s not going anywhere. Their policies are similar to the Bush’s on a number of fronts. They are determining foreign policy.

Dina Powell is at the National Security Council with H.R. McMaster. She is an establishment Republican who says she is conservative. Some believe she is a leaker though there is no evidence unless one judges her by some of her friendships, like the one she is alleged to have with Valerie Jarrett. Powell is nice to everyone, however. Both right and left like her.

We have John Kelly who was great in DHS but he has no experience for his new job replacing Reince Priebus. However, he’s talented and brilliant. Most importantly, the President trusts him.

There are the Democrat family members Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump who switched parties to vote for Donald Trump. Ivanka is pushing for a Federal taxpayer-supported child care program and tax-supported maternity leave. Trump has a lovely family but they were all Democrats until the 2016 election.

Gary Cohn is a Democrat as is Steve Mnuchin. Mnuchin appears to be doing a good job, not sure about Cohn.

Steve Bannon, a Republican outsider who is opposed to illegal immigration and massive influxes of refugees has some non-Republican beliefs. He is promoting a 44% increase in taxes on the rich, a Progressive cause. The rich already pay 39% and have to also pay state, local, and real estate taxes.

Bannon wants an infrastructure project paid for by Federal taxpayers. The nation needs an infrastructure project but a trillion dollars has already been wasted by the Federal government and we have little to show for it. It’s not hopeful. For example, Mayor de Blasio and Governor Cuomo in New York waste billions on welfare and payoffs to their constituents but don’t want to fix the infrastructure with NY dollars. Now they are begging the Federal government for billions and will probably get it. We are deeply in debt here in leftist New York.

Anthony Scaramucci and his wife were mostly Democratic donors. His wife of three years and the mother of his two children is divorcing him because of his “blind ambition” and she hates Trump.

Scaramucci aka Mooch says he likes to use colorful language. He falsely accused people of leaking his financial disclosures this past week, doesn’t like Reince Priebus and accused him of leaking. Mooch doesn’t like Bannon either. Mooch said his cursing and attacks on Priebus and Bannon in a NY Mag article were off the record but that is in question. At one point during the interview with NY Mag writer Ryan Lizza, he told him that he wanted something off the record and it was kept out of the article. On the other hand, the article wasn’t intended to make Mooch look good.

Kellyanne Conway and Sarah Huckabee Sanders are not establishment but they are Republicans. They stand loyally at the President’s side.

President Trump was a Democrat himself until about 2012 and it wouldn’t be hard to envision him adopting a more Democratic agenda.

Whatever people may think of Reince Priebus, he was keeping the establishment together and somewhat on point. Maybe not in the case of John McCain but he’s uncontrollable.

The President might be going it alone at this point.

Before you read these tweets by John Harwood, keep in mind that he was giving tips to Hillary’s campaign and gloated over egging Trump on during the debates. That doesn’t mean these tweets are wrong, but he is an anti-Trumper. Anti-Trumpers and Never-Trumpers have only themselves to blame for not being believed – they lied and connived, unfortunately.

As far as this next one is concerned, Trump’s right, they look like fools, but it doesn’t appear to be the way to win them over.


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Greg
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Greg
6 years ago

So much has happened over these Obamacare years that I had forgotten all about this Congressional “scandal”. Trump shouldn’t suggest it rather just DO it. Since I don’t have insurance they should, at least, pay Their Fair Share.

Zigmont
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Zigmont
6 years ago

From Zero Hedge…………………The president on Saturday threatened to end key payments to Obamacare insurance companies if a repeal and replace bill is not passed. “After seven years of ‘talking’ Repeal & Replace, the people of our great country are still being forced to live with imploding ObamaCare!” Trump tweeted, followed by: “If a new HealthCare Bill is not approved quickly, BAILOUTS for Insurance Companies and BAILOUTS for Members of Congress will end very soon!.”…………………….From Market Ticker…………..I remind you that John McCain does not have to live with the results of Obamacare. He never did. Nor did anyone else in the House or Senate, because despite a provision being inserted into the original Bill that forced Congress to live under Obamacare’s rules President Obama directed OPM to illegally subsidize members’ insurance and their staff. He had no legal authority to do that but he did it anyway……………Please do it Trump, I want to see these people pay unreal prices for their insurance!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Greg
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Greg
6 years ago

Where to begin. Well, first of all I’m not so certain the Republicans actually believe what they sell. As an opposition Party, there is the desire to oppose. Actually it’s the same with Democrats. That’s why, over the decades, you will see roles reversed.

I would conjecture Trump’s opposition to Obamacare is solely because of economics. It’s structurally defective economically. Trump’s testimony in Congress reflected his economic thinking and perceptions.

In one respect we had already achieved Universal ‘Health Care’ before Obamacare. It just wasn’t Universal ‘Insurance’ and THIS is how it was sold. It was sold to mitigate the ‘burden’ of the Uninsured as that burdened the entire System. It wasn’t so in the early 80’s. I had taken a serious fall and was barely able to crawl back into the house to make the call. Upon entering the hospital I had to fill out the Insurance paperwork Before anything was done.

I had read that Trump had no intention of replacing ALL the positions from the previous Administration, as he believed there are more than necessary to complete the tasks at hand. There are far far too many jobs in Government that are nothing more than jobs program for friends.

I Can maybe understand where Bannon is coming from. I can understand someone’ frustration when a Warren Buffet pays less tax then one in the lower middle class. Republicans make a huge mistake when attempting to justify it as not being earned income but invested income. That doesn’t go down well. His ‘earnings’ may not be as defined in the classical sense but some say it Should be defined as such. It was either Larry Kudlow or someone of his stature that makes this point.

Many times tax law changes, supposedly for the better, can do more harm to the lower middle class than benefit. In the 80’s a person could use many deductions that are no longer available. Even without a mortgage I could itemize to lower the tax burden. That all changed with “tax simplification”. Similar issues are once again in play. Because the mortgage is no longer sufficient for itemizing and the burden of the Obamafine I pay a greater percentage than Buffett.

There is one principle many in Republican circles espouse that is a direct slap in the face to many. It is a theory that was once described as “social Darwinism” which is basically survival of the fittest, economically. Before Trump decided to run I began to notice many Republican talkers would castigate people if they weren’t successful. Many would say if they could do it so can anyone else, but they came from successful families. What is left out in the equation is the clear fact there are some in society that just don’t have the skill set that propels someone to success. It is also why many of them remain poor. The social Darwinism comes into play when low-skilled manufacturing was outsourced to low-wage countries. These people became destitute and what followed was crime and drug use. This was exemplified by the writer who made an all out attack on the people, From his “ivory tower”. There was an article about the author of “Hillbilly Elegy” who describes how the elite think of different classes. As I recall the author is a Harvard lawyer who grew up in extreme poverty and can relate to those poverty stricken.