Promises Made, Promises Kept

Promises Made, Promises Kept
The View from the Middle

One of the big debates across the country today is about whether President Trump is a genius or a crazy man. Actually, I could defend either side of this argument as there is ample evidence either way. He is, on the genius side, a very successful business man who has amassed a multi-billion dollar fortune by anyone’s measure. He also orchestrated, arguably, the most amazing political upset in American history in his only run for political office. He spent half the money Hillary did and yet captured almost 80 more electoral college votes than she. And, in the short three year period since his election, his policies have delivered record unemployment, a thriving economy and relative peace in the world, especially as measured by US military casualties.

On the other hand, Trump can be erratic (some would say this is actually one of his strengths), he can be rude or crude (take your pick) and can even get in the way of his own successes. He certainly in not politically correct and has decided to do his own dirty work instead of farming it out like Bill Clinton famously did with James Carville and as Barack Obama did with an army of attack dogs. Some say this is crazy while his avid followers suggest it is part of his genius. I guess we’ll all find out in 2020 who’s theory is correct.

But there is one thing that sets this President apart from almost every politician and virtually every President in my lifetime. He actually keeps his promises. Remember what Donald Trump ran on. He said he was going to lower taxes, and he did for every American business and 80% of individuals. The only people who did not experience a tax break are those who live in high tax states who aren’t able to deduct those high state taxes from their gross incomes, the SALT (state and local taxes) provision.

Candidate Trump promised to reduce regulations, and he has done so. He had a stated goal of eliminating two regulations for every one that was added, and he has smashed that goal. In the first two years of his Presidency he has eliminated 124 regulations while adding only 17, a seven to one ratio. This deregulation has saved the country tens of billions of dollars no matter who’s estimate you accept.

He also ran on building a wall between the US and Mexico, and despite tantrum-style resistance from Democrats, he has managed to build over 100 miles of that wall since 2017. Much of that wall has replaced old, ineffective and dilapidated existing walls, but that was also part of the plan from the beginning. A wall by itself is not the answer to controlling illegal immigration, but I believe it is an important component. And finally he made a list of potential Supreme Court Justices he might appoint, and he has stuck to that list. You may disagree with some these policies or his Supreme Court picks, but any thinking person (this does not include the lame-stream media) would have to admit that Trump is delivering on his promises.

He has also kept his promises on the foreign policy front. First, he moved the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. This was promise made by at least two previous Presidents (Bush and Obama) and resulted in none of the violence promised by his opponents. Trump promised to get out of NAFTA and to strike a new deal with our two largest trading partners, Mexico and Canada, and he is well on his way in delivering the USMCA despite the childish foot-dragging by Nancy Pelosi. He has also crafted a new deal with Japan and will soon strike a new deal with Great Britain.

Trump has also made good on his threats (another version of promises) against our adversaries. He told President Assad of Syria that he would take action if Assad used chemical weapons on his own people, a violation of the Geneva Convention of 1929 and the CWC (Chemical Weapons Convention) of 1993. Unlike President Obama, who erased his red line when Assad employed chemical weapons in 2013, Trump sent 59 cruise missiles into Syria when Assad did the same thing in 2017. This apparently got Assad’s attention, since he has not repeated that mistake.

President Trump has also made promises to Iran. During the campaign, he promised to get out of the Iran Nuclear Deal, which he did almost immediately after he was elected, a move I totally support. He also made a promise to retaliate if Iran killed Americans. Then, on December 27th of 2019, an American contractor, Nawres Hamid, was killed in an attack by an Iranian backed militia in Iraq. President Trump did not go back on his word. A week later he had our military take out the conductor of Iran’s murdering, terrorist proxy forces, Qassim Soleimani. Promises made, Promises kept!

Right now, it appears that Iran has gotten the message and is standing down and I hope our actions will lead to a changed Iranian attitude. No more “death to America” and “death to Israel” as we give them $150 billion and another $1.7 billion in cash. I hope that Iran decides to join the family of nations and starts to make decisions that are in the best interest of their people, but only time will tell. I believe, however, that appeasement of evil did not work prior to World War II and appeasement of evil will not work today. Difficult decisions must be made and only a united America can make the world a safer place. I would not encourage any politician to take the side of a nation that is the world’s largest sponsor of terror or a monster like Soleimani over the United States.