The Trump Chronicles, Volume 65: Your First Hundred Days Used To Matter to You

The first 100 days of any President’s term mark the first milestone is his term; this tradition first gained notoriety in Franklin D. Roosevelt’s first term, beginning in 1933.

Other than being a round number, the number 100 is fairly arbitrary, a point President Trump has tried to distance himself from, calling it “ridiculous.” But at the same time you can see on the White House website that he’s bragging about all his accomplishments in his first 100 days.

People like me who continue to pay attention and attempt to keep him accountable point to a speech he made last year on October 22, 2016 in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. History buffs like me revere Gettysburg as a turning point in the Civil War, and for the Gettysburg Address delivered by President Lincoln on November 19th of that year.

On that hallowed ground candidate Trump outlined his plans for his first day in office. You can read the speech here but let me highlight his promises:

  • proposing a Constitutional Amendment to impose term limits on all members of Congress
  • directing a hiring freeze on all federal employees to reduce federal workforce through attrition (exempting military, public safety, and public health)
  • directing a requirement that for every new federal regulation, two existing regulations must be eliminated
  • directing a 5 year-ban on White House and Congressional officials becoming lobbyists after they leave government service
  • directing a lifetime ban on White House officials lobbying on behalf of a foreign government
  • proposing a complete ban on foreign lobbyists raising money for American elections.
  • announcing the intention to renegotiate NAFTA or withdraw from the deal under Article 2205
  • announcing our withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership
  • directing the Secretary of the Treasury to label China a currency manipulator
  • directing the Secretary of Commerce and U.S. Trade Representative to identify all foreign trading abuses that unfairly impact American workers and direct them to use every tool under American and international law to end those abuses immediately
  • lifting the restrictions on the production of $50 trillion dollars’ worth of job-producing American energy reserves, including shale, oil, natural gas and clean coal
  • lifting the Obama-Clinton roadblocks and allow vital energy infrastructure projects, like the Keystone Pipeline, to move forward
  • cancelling billions in payments to U.N. climate change programs and use the money to fix America’s water and environmental infrastructure
  • cancelling every unconstitutional executive action, memorandum and order issued by President Obama
  • beginning the process of selecting a replacement for Justice Scalia from one of the 20 judges on my list, who will uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States
  • cancelling all federal funding to Sanctuary Cities
  • removing the more than 2 million criminal illegal immigrants from the country and cancel visas to foreign countries that won’t take them back
  • suspending immigration from terror-prone regions where vetting cannot safely occur. All vetting of people coming into our country will be considered extreme vetting.

In the next paragraph he outlined what he would do in his first 100 days:

1. Middle Class Tax Relief And Simplification Act. An economic plan designed to grow the economy 4% per year and create at least 25 million new jobs through massive tax reduction and simplification, in combination with trade reform, regulatory relief, and lifting the restrictions on American energy. The largest tax reductions are for the middle class. A middle-class family with 2 children will get a 35% tax cut. The current number of brackets will be reduced from 7 to 3, and tax forms will likewise be greatly simplified. The business rate will be lowered from 35 to 15 percent, and the trillions of dollars of American corporate money overseas can now be brought back at a 10 percent rate.

2. End The Offshoring Act Establishes tariffs to discourage companies from laying off their workers in order to relocate in other countries and ship their products back to the U.S. tax-free.

3. American Energy & Infrastructure Act. Leverages public-private partnerships, and private investments through tax incentives, to spur $1 trillion in infrastructure investment over 10 years. It is revenue neutral.

4. School Choice And Education Opportunity Act. Redirects education dollars to gives parents the right to send their kid to the public, private, charter, magnet, religious or home school of their choice. Ends common core, brings education supervision to local communities. It expands vocational and technical education, and make 2 and 4-year college more affordable.

5. Repeal and Replace Obamacare Act. Fully repeals Obamacare and replaces it with Health Savings Accounts, the ability to purchase health insurance across state lines, and lets states manage Medicaid funds. Reforms will also include cutting the red tape at the FDA: there are over 4,000 drugs awaiting approval, and we especially want to speed the approval of life-saving medications.

6. Affordable Childcare and Eldercare Act. Allows Americans to deduct childcare and elder care from their taxes, incentivizes employers to provide on-site childcare services, and creates tax-free Dependent Care Savings Accounts for both young and elderly dependents, with matching contributions for low-income families.

7. End Illegal Immigration Act Fully-funds the construction of a wall on our southern border with the full understanding that the country Mexico will be reimbursing the United States for the full cost of such wall; establishes a 2-year mandatory minimum federal prison sentence for illegally re-entering the U.S. after a previous deportation, and a 5-year mandatory minimum for illegally re-entering for those with felony convictions, multiple misdemeanor convictions or two or more prior deportations; also reforms visa rules to enhance penalties for overstaying and to ensure open jobs are offered to American workers first.

8. Restoring Community Safety Act. Reduces surging crime, drugs and violence by creating a Task Force On Violent Crime and increasing funding for programs that train and assist local police; increases resources for federal law enforcement agencies and federal prosecutors to dismantle criminal gangs and put violent offenders behind bars.

9. Restoring National Security Act. Rebuilds our military by eliminating the defense sequester and expanding military investment; provides Veterans with the ability to receive public VA treatment or attend the private doctor of their choice; protects our vital infrastructure from cyber-attack; establishes new screening procedures for immigration to ensure those who are admitted to our country support our people and our values

10. Clean up Corruption in Washington Act. Enacts new ethics reforms to Drain the Swamp and reduce the corrupting influence of special interests on our politics.

It’s little wonder he’s not sure how he feels about the 100 days.

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