Columnist.
Will Donald Trump be re-elected in 2020?
Expect more craziness this weekend. Earth Day is Saturday. This year's theme: Government must "do more" about climate change because "consequences of inaction are too high to risk."
Somehow, firing Tomahawk missiles at Syria suddenly changed people's opinions of President Trump. Now they call him a "serious" leader.
"Trump may have just signed a death warrant for our planet!" warns CNN host Van Jones.
It's time to have government do less.
President Trump and Paul Ryan tried to improve Obamacare. They failed.
"Devastating!" shouts Chuck Schumer. Even Republicans are unhappy. Big spending "conservative" congressman Hal Rogers calls President Donald Trump's proposed budget cuts "draconian, careless and counterproductive." But Trump's cuts are good! Why do politicians always assume that government spending helps people? It always has unintended consequences.
Has the media gotten worse? Or am I just grouchier? Every day I see things that are wrong or that so miss the point I want to scream.
Next week, Donald Trump releases his new budget. It's expected to cut spending on things like the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Good!
Donald Trump once wanted to cut military spending. Before running for president, he said Congress' automatic "sequestration" cuts didn't go far enough, that they were "a very small percentage of the cuts that should be made." Then he ran for office and said he would "make our military so big, so powerful, so strong that nobody — absolutely nobody — is going to mess with us."
Trump makes a good point: The smug lamestream media spin left but won't admit it.
"Fake News!" shouts our president, calling out CNN, The New York Times and others. I love it. Although it's not really true — not the way President Donald Trump means it. The media rarely "fake" anything. Over time, they generally get the facts correct. But the president makes a good point: The smug lamestream media spin left but won't admit it.
Republicans promised to repeal the Affordable Care Act. But now they are hesitating. I understand why.
Oh, no! I did it again. It was a foolish mistake. But I slipped. I read The New York Times. This is bad for my health, because I get so mad at the smug socialist spin, but how can I *not* read it? It's my hometown paper. My wife wakes me up with indignant questions like, "How can you say government is too big? The Times says ... "
No! The bubble burst. My fantasy died. I wasn't a big Donald Trump backer — on TV I have called him a bully, a narcissist, etc. — but his first days were thrilling!
Donald Trump's nominee for secretary of education, Betsy DeVos, probably survived the grilling she got from angry Democrats last week. When Sen. Patty Murray demanded she promise not "to privatize public schools," DeVos replied, "Not all schools are working for the students." When Sen. Bernie Sanders asked her to make "universities tuition free," DeVos replied, "I think that's a really interesting idea (but) there's nothing in life that's truly free." Those answers were fine. I suppose it's important for a nominee to be polite. But what I *wish* she'd said was: "No, Sen. Murray, I won't promise not to privatize! Didn't you notice the mess government schemes create? Many government-run schools are lousy! Private is better!"
Donald Trump will be busy Friday. He and Mike Pence have promised, Mother Jones magazine points out, that on Trump's first day in office he will repeal Obamacare, end the "war on coal," expel illegal immigrants, begin construction of a "beautiful Southern border wall," fix the Department of Veterans Affairs, come up with a plan to stop ISIS, get rid of "gun-free zones," "start taking care of our ... military," withdraw from the TPP trade agreement, cut regulations and designate China a currency manipulator.
Now that I no longer do a weekly TV show, I have more time to read my local paper. Sadly, that's The New York Times.
Two more weeks until the new administration begins! I wonder if President Donald Trump will stick to his campaign promises — like reducing immigration and slamming consumers by imposing a 35 percent tariff. Hope not. But it could have been much worse.
America's socialists — I mean, progressives — are enraged that President-elect Trump chose Betsy DeVos to be his secretary of education.
