Why I Take the Donald Trump Campaign Seriously, and You Should Too.

In the past few months we have begun the search for the next President of the United States of America. This year and a half process of deciding who will be given enormous amounts of power over human life in this country cannot be taken lightly. Who we decide to elect president will most likely have a wide range of impacts, from supreme court nominees, to military conflicts, to economic affairs. Each citizen has been given the right to vote, to help decide who that person should be. This right should never be taken lightly, as generations have fought so all may have and retain it.

Many have deemed the democratic nomination to be a shoo in for Hilary Clinton, most are not considering any other candidates for nomination. On the other side, 16 republicans have announced their candidacy. Of these 16 -which includes several governors with exceptional records, and several senators- Donald Trump is the current front runner for the republican nomination. Though many people have thought his whole presidential campaign is nothing more than a publicity stunt, many people are taking him seriously as a candidate. While I support his right to run, I am concerned with why people support him.

My recent experience with Trump supporters has made me question whether or not they even know where he stands on the issues, or if they are more anti-establishment, anti-Washington, and anti-political correctness. Trump is known for his brash talk with bold statements on issues such as immigration and veterans. He has attacked establishment mainstays like John McCain and Lindsay Graham in sometimes sophomoric ways leading many to call for apologies which never came.

Some people appreciate that unapologetic personality and think that kind of attitude is what we need to have in Washington leading our country. Others say the reason they support Trump because you know he'll do what he says. Many have told me it is because he has been such a successful businessman that we need someone who understands business in the white house. 

Those I have come in contact with have no idea where he sits on most issues aside from immigration. So where does Donald Trump stand on the issues?

Speaking about healthcare he said: "It is an unacceptable but accurate fact that the number of uninsured Americans has risen to 42 million. Working out detailed plans will take time. But the goal should be clear: Our people are our greatest asset. We must take care of our own. We must have universal healthcare."

On gun control: "I support the ban on assault weapons and I support a slightly longer waiting period to purchase a gun."

On tax reform: "If we want jobs in America, we need to enact my 5-part tax policy: kill the death tax; lower the tax rates on capital gains & dividends; eliminate corporate taxes in order to create more American jobs; mandate a 15% tax for outsourcing jobs and a 20% tax for importing goods, and enact the 1-5-10-15 income tax plan [four brackets with a top rate of 15%]."

Now he has many more stances on many more issues including abortion, education, etc. Sometimes he has stayed steady, sometimes he has flip flopped. If you are considering supporting him, please read up on what he has said over the years on the issues.

For those who are supporting him because they think he'll be outspoken and unapologetic in the White House, I would like to point you to our current president. No matter what has happened, he has been unapologetic: Benghazi, Fast and Furious, IRS, VA, the Middle East, etc. That is not how you heal America, that is how you divide it further. We need less divisiveness and more compromise among our nation's leaders.

For those who say that they support Trump because - as one person put it - "at least you know what you will get with him, or do you want some one like we have now who says what you wanna hear then does nothing?" My response is that no candidate will ever be perfect on doing everything he says he will do - that is the reality of the presidency.

Sometimes they realize they don't have the authority to do those things, often they realize there are reasons for that, and lastly we are electing a president with constitutionally limited powers, not a king. Even if Donald Trump is elected president, he won't, and can't do all of the things he claims he would do. Some of those things are not within the powers of the president to enact.

We can only consider what he has said in the past, because we have no true political record of how he would act to follow. I say this because, when considering his record, you have to consider: what record does Donald Trump have of accomplishing anything without having either a contractual obligation or a monetary incentive to accomplish it? As president he will have neither.

The real reason why he's getting a boost right now is more than likely a disgruntled GOP electorate. Early polls are no guarantee who will be the nominee by far. At this point four years ago Rick Santorum was leading in the polls. As the debates near, I encourage you to consider every candidate just as I will, where they stand on the issues now, and what they have accomplished in the past.

Please read what each candidate has done, what they say and think about what is best for all of America. This is not a time to rush onto a bandwagon because a candidate is bold or is popular. This is the time to contemplate the future of America and who we think will be best to lead it. 

You are still  allowed to support Donald Trump, but I ask that you consider all of the candidates as well. Read about them and where they are on the issues, what they have done with their time in the private sector and in office. Please take your duty as a citizen of this great nation seriously.

Why I'm Sick of the Word "RINO"

For some years now, the term "RINO" or Republican In Name Only has floated around among conservatives seeking to define who can and cannot be a member of the party, based on who they think should qualify.

If someone disagrees with them on immigration, welfare or taxes, suddenly they are a "RINO." If a Senator or Representative decides to compromise to get things done they are a "RINO." I'm sick and tired of hearing it. Instead of kicking people out, why not listen to their point of view for a change? Why not try to come to an understanding and take the higher ground.

As Republicans let's stop kicking people out of the party before it stops being a party. We need to stop alienating our allies before we find we have none. Ours is the party of Lincoln, of Theodore Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan. These were men who took bold steps to change what was in their worlds, that built our nation and brought opposing sides together, sometimes through conflict. Thomas Jefferson said, “Where the principle of difference [between political parties] is as substantial and as strongly pronounced as between the republicans and the monocrats of our country, I hold it as honorable to take a firm and decided part and as immoral to pursue a middle line, as between the parties of honest men and rogues, into which every country is divided.” There are times to take bold stands, and there are times to compromise. The ability to compromise does not make a man weak; it makes him stronger.

Some words of wisdom from Ronald Reagan on political compromise:
"When I began entering into the give and take of legislative bargaining in Sacramento, a lot of the most radical conservatives who had supported me during the election didn't like it.
'Compromise' was a dirty word to them and they wouldn't face the fact that we couldn't get all of what we wanted today. They wanted all or nothing and they wanted it all at once. If you don't get it all, some said, don't take anything.

I'd learned while negotiating union contracts that you seldom got everything you asked for. And I agreed with FDR, who said in 1933: 'I have no expectations of making a hit every time I come to bat. What I seek is the highest possible batting average.'

If you got seventy-five or eighty percent of what you were asking for, I say, you take it and fight for the rest later, and that's what I told these radical conservatives who never got used to it."

Our nation needs more compromise and less divisiveness. All the strength we have built in our past has come from more than two centuries of rich social capital, which was developed by our ability to come together as a people. Without this our nation will only continue to crumble, our problems will become worse, and we will struggle to prosper as a nation. Rather than focusing on what separates us we need to focus on what unites us. Both sides would do better to look at Eisenhower and Reagan and less to recent political leaders for guidance. 

Should Donald Trump Be Taken Seriously?

Image Source: Flickr

On Friday morning the Huffington Post announced it had come to a decision concerning coverage of Donald Trump's presidential campaign. It stated:

"After watching and listening to Donald Trump since he announced his candidacy for president, we have decided we won't report on Trump's campaign as part of The Huffington Post's political coverage. Instead, we will cover his campaign as part of our Entertainment section. Our reason is simple: Trump's campaign is a sideshow. We won't take the bait. If you are interested in what The Donald has to say, you'll find it next to our stories on the Kardashians and The Bachelorette."

The Huffington Post's Washington bureau chief Ryan Grim also dismissed Trump as "a clownshow" earlier this week.

Donald Trump's campaign dismissed the Huffington Post as a "glorified blog" in a statement on Friday evening."The only clown show in this scenario is the Huffington Post pretending to be a legitimate news source."

The Huffington Post announcement came as Trump has begun to rise in the polls in the Republican Nomination. Much of the first month of his campaign has been surrounded in controversy over remarks he made concerning illegal immigrants from Latin American countries.

There is major concern about the amount of press Trump is recieving as it is affecting the coverage of candidates that some see as "more serious." Pointing to his high polling numbers we need to remember that Michelle Bachmann was polling even higher than Trump is today in 2011.

Often seen as an  outsider and despised by the establishment of the Republican party, many are concerned by the impact Trump will have on other candidates. Whether it is pulling attention from more well established candidates like Perry, Huckabee, Bush, and Walker, to limiting the polling of some who are getting lower numbers because they aren't as well known such as Fiorina and Kasich.

Presidential primaries shouldn't be a place for sideshows like Trump. While he is a ratings hog, he dilutes the real conversation away from candidates with a real shot at representing the core values of the nation and the Republican Party.

Here’s the Truth About 6 of Obama’s Iran Deal Claims

COMMENTARY BY

Michaela Dodge

Months of Iranian pressure on the United States brought its fruition. Iran got a deal that legitimizes its nuclear program, rewards its defiance of international treaties and obligations and provides it with additional billions of dollars to continue its terrorist activities in the Middle East.

Here are the White House’s most egregious misinterpretations of the deal, looking at claims President Obama made during his remarks about the deal this morning.

1. “A comprehensive long-term deal with Iran that will prevent it from obtaining a nuclear weapon.”

The concluded deal does not prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon in the future. The deal imposes temporary restrictions on Iran’s illegal nuclear program.

After their expiration, Iran will have better resources to pursue more advanced nuclear technologies and potentially build a nuclear weapon faster than would be the case had sanctions remained in place.

The deal also allows Iran to obtain currently restricted materials to advance its ballistic missile program.

2. “Every pathway to a nuclear weapon is cut off.”

Iran is permitted to retain its enrichment infrastructure, including advanced centrifuges. The administration’s concession on uranium enrichment is a serious blow to a decade old principle of U.S. nonproliferation policy. The United States worked very hard in the past to prevent allies from developing indigenous uranium enrichment capability because technologies for uranium enrichment and weapons grade enrichment are the same.

Yet Iran, which developed this capability in defiance of its existing international obligations, is being rewarded for its bad behavior by lifting sanctions on its country, including sanctions concerning shipping, arms sales, transportation, banking and precious metal trade.

3. “The deal is in line with a tradition of American leadership.”

In reality, the deal undermines U.S. nonproliferation policy in the Middle East and in the world. The United States has demanded that other countries in the Middle East not pursue enrichment efforts.

While allies obliged, adversarial Iran is getting a deal that legitimizes its illegal uranium enrichment program.

Allies will demand the Iranian deal for themselves and the United States has given up any legitimacy it had in demanding otherwise. Saudi Arabia has already stated it will pursue a similar nuclear program. Others are likely to follow creating a less stable environment in already tense Middle East.

4. “America negotiated from a position of strength and principle.”

Time and again Obama conceded on key principles that would improve a chance that the United States is getting a deal beneficial to its national security interest. From a deal that stops Iran’s nuclear weapon pursuits to a deal that delays them at best (and speeds them up at worst). From a deal that allows anytime anywhere inspections given Iran’s past deception, to more restricted inspections that cannot interfere with Iran’s national security and military activities. Iran is not permitted under the Nonproliferation Treaty to pursue a nuclear program with military applications.

5. “The same options that are available to me today will be available to any U.S. president in the future.”

Obama is in a better position to negotiate Iran’s nuclear deal because of congressional and international sanctions that Obama is promising to dismantle. Any future president will have to deal with consequences of Obama’s concessions on all aspects of Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile program.

Future U.S. presidents will have to deal with Iran that has hundreds of billion dollars more resources to pursue its nuclear program, access to modern technologies, and has been able to maintain nuclear know-how and infrastructure, both nuclear and ballistic missile, to threaten U.S. interests on an unprecedented scale.

6. “Consider what happens in a world without this deal. Without this deal, there is no scenario where the world joins us in sanctioning Iran until it completely dismantles its nuclear program.”

The world has already joined the United States in sanctions. An alternative to a no-deal is to continue them. After all, sanctions are the only reason why Iran negotiated to begin with.

A continuation of sanctions is a sound alternative to a bad deal that the Obama administration has negotiated. Continuing sanctions will limit Iran’s ability to fund terrorism across the Middle East, access to advanced technologies and rare materials that will allow Iran to further improve its nuclear and ballistic missile program, and the pressure of sanctions would give the United States more time to negotiate a better deal.

Originally posted on the Daily Signal

Iran Deal Reached With World Powers Met With Mixed Reactions

This morning President Obama addressed the nation announcing that Iran and 6 nations have reached a deal to limit Iran's nuclear capabilities while lifting oil and financial sanctions. The deal comes after 20 months of negotiations signaling what President Obama hopes to be the signature diplomatic accomplishment of his presidency.

Speaker John Boehner has spoken out against the deal.“At the outset of these talks, the Obama administration said it would secure an agreement that affirmed Iran does not have a right to enrich and permanently dismantles the infrastructure of its nuclear programs." “The American people and our allies were counting on President Obama to keep his word.  Instead, the president has abandoned his own goals.  His 'deal' will hand Iran billions in sanctions relief while giving it time and space to reach a break-out threshold to produce a nuclear bomb - all without cheating." He continued, "instead of making the world less dangerous, this ‘deal’ will only embolden Iran – the world’s largest sponsor of terror – by helping stabilize and legitimize its regime."

Knowing of the possible actions by Congress against this deal the president stated simply “I will veto any legislation that prevents the successful implementation of this deal.”

Critics are suggesting that one possible reason that the administration struck this deal was to try and make an ally out of Iran. This would be a foolish expectation from a country that has made numerous threats against us and our allies, and once invaded our embassy holding captive our citizens.Many continue to be  wary of Iran, for good reason, as the government has openly supported terrorist organizations in the middle east, and has made significant threats against our ally Israel.

Some believe that the deal has little chance of being kept, and that the other parties of the deal will have little incentive to impose sanctions in the future if Iran fails to meet requirements.However, Secretary of State John Kerry believes this will stop Iran from having a nuclear bomb for more than a decade. “Iran will not produce or acquire highly enriched uranium or plutonium for at least 15 years,” he said. Measures to ensure this, he added, would “stay in place permanently.”

Watch Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech on the Iran deal:

John Oliver: Is it OK for Professional Sports Teams to Use Public Funding to Build Stadiums?

John Oliver a self declared sports fan went after major league sports teams on Last Week Tonight Sunday evening. His concerns come as several teams are currently asking for new stadiums and are threatening to move to other cities that will build new stadiums. 

His concern is imply that:“The vast majority of stadiums are made using public money,” said Oliver, citing a report from 2012 that revealed the staggering statistic that “$12 billion [was] spent on the 51 new facilities opened between 2000 and 2010.” In the last 30 years half of the stadiums in the U.S. have been built or rebuilt for major sports teams

He then noted that many of them “look like they were designed by a coked-up Willy Wonka.”

Oliver had one question for these exorbitant expenses: Why are tax dollars being used to fund stadiums? “Sports teams are wealthy businesses with wealthy owners and they still get our help,” Oliver said. “Pretending you’re poor is wrong. It wasn’t okay when Mary-Kate Olsen went through her hobo phase, and it’s not okay now!” He continued by saying: "A major review of almost 20 years of studies have shown that stadiums increase jobs, wages or tax revenues"

To prove his point about how cities have bent over backwards to keep sports teams happy, he noted that barely six days after Detroit declared bankruptcy, they got approval to spend more than $280 million in taxpayer money for a new arena for the local NHL team — even though the Red Wings owner, Mike Ilitch, is the founder of the Little Caesar’s pizza chain and worth an estimated $5.1 billion. As Oliver noted, “That’s a little hard to swallow.”

One economist was quoted saying that "rather than build a stadium you'd be better off flying a plane above a city and dumping a billion dollars on the populace and letting them spend it."

Due to the costs of these stadiums often these cities don't have the money to pay for schools and hospitals that they have desperate need of. 

Top Political Memes of the Week

It's been a wild week, check out this week's top political memes!

Confederate Flag Discussion Distracts From Major Issues Facing Our Nation

Image Source: Flickr

In case you have been hiding under a rock the last few weeks a mentally unstable young man entered a black church in South Carolina and killed 9 African-Americans. It was later discovered that Dylann Roof was a white supremacist with pictures found of him in front of the Confederate flag. Since then there has been a national debate about whether or not the confederate flag should come down from the South Carolina statehouse, which finally happened today.

Whether you see the Confederate flag as a symbol of hatred and racism, or of heritage and history, what we must realize is that this issue doesn't really affect most of us. Every day this story  has been the top of every news hour, and each day more important issues continue to be ignored. Why? Because they don't bring as much emotion to our hearts and excitement to our minds. Those in the news industry care more about the money they can make by talking about sensationalist stories rather than more pressing issues.

While the U.S. has been surrounded by news about the Confederate flag, major issues loom over the horizon. Our national debt has recently passed the $18.3 trillion mark. It is inexcusable for us to continue in a path that puts our spending on the backs of our children and grandchildren. If we were really paying attention to the news we would see the real effects of this debt on a nation as we observe Greece fall to pieces. Not to mention the increasing threat of a new financial crisis and our inability to handle it.

Not only should we be concerned about our national debt, but we should have concern for the labor market, which still faces record low labor participation rates, meaning that the fewest percentage of working age adults are currently working or seeking for work in decades. The 5.3% U3 number we hear on the news only includes part of the total number of unemployed persons, more than likely our real unemployment is at least 10%. We also fail to  realize that over 300,000 jobs that were created in the last year were in the food service industry and that wages have stagnated for years.

We are also in the midst of preparing for the campaign to elect the next president of our country. Many are getting distracted by flashy populist statements without considering fully where each individual stands on the issues. I recommend you visit the site ISideWith.com , and take their quiz to see who you side with on the issues.

During the flag debate we also saw Congress give President Obama massive amounts of leeway on trade issues by granting him Trade Promotion Authority, or Fast Track as it is also known. This version of Fast Track doesn't do nearly enough to put in place Congressional oversight over trade pacts that are in the works like the TPP and TTIP. Many have concerns over how these deals will take place, but the media has paid hardly any attention to these deals.

Even with this debate, the real issue we should be discussing is the need to reform the treatment of mental health in our nation, to help prevent tragedies like this from happening again because I can guarantee the real cause wasn't the Confederate flag.

We need to wake up as a nation and not be sucked as deeply into debates that have little real impact on the daily lives of most Americans. We cannot continue to be sucked into sensationalist stories and debates when there are more impactful issues that surround us on every side.

Independence Day 2015-Why We Are Celebrating Today

British colonies had been established on the North American continent for well over a hundred years. The French and Indian war had shortly been brought to peace just a decade earlier. For about two decades however, legislation had been passed with continued hostility toward the American colonies, without any representation. The intolerable acts drove the colonies to act. With the Boston Tea Party coupled with the battles of Lexington and Concord and Bunker Hill, the colonies had entered into pure state of rebellion. By summer it became clear that the crown was sending an expeditionary force to enforce it's will upon the colonies, and that this force would include foreign mercenaries known for their ruthlessness.

Congress had been meeting for months on the matter of independence. On June 11th it was decided that a committee to draft a resolution to declare independence should be formed. This committee was made up of John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, Robert Livingston and a young Virginian named Thomas Jefferson. It was decided that Jefferson(the only member from the southern states) would be the member to write the initial draft. After revisions by the committee and by congress as a whole, the final document was voted on and accepted on July 2nd. Final approval came two days latter on July 4th, or the day we now refer to as Independence day. I wish now to quote from that document :

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness."

With those words on that day our founders staked our claim as a nation to independence. However, it was not ours to be had by merely laying claim to it. Our independence was not easily won. Many men gave their lives for the hope of a future nation, and for the hope that with such a nation our natural rights would be ours to be had for us and for generations to come. For 238 years now we have looked back to that founding, as our assertion that there are certain rights that no government should usurp without due process of law. This declaration established our reasons for breaking allegiance to our mother country, and firmly rooted within our culture the ideas of freedom from oppression and liberty of thought action. We as Americans have held their sacrifice as sacred within our hearts and we have honored them through the past two centuries.

Independence was won eventually, but it was not until another document was also written that our nation was on placed on a firm foundation. Our constitution was enacted  to ensure that these rights and privileges would continue to be protected. It established law and justice in our country as well as ways for individual citizens to address their grievances through a representative republic.

 This document established our country on a firm foundation of law and justice that has governed us well for over 200 years. Our path as a nation has not been the easiest, we have had times of prosperity and peace, and we have had times of depression and war. Overall though, we have shown that as we work together, not always agreeing but finding ways to compromise that we can accomplish great things. I do not believe that the days of our great accomplishments are past, and I still see America as a shining beacon on a hill, standing as an example that democracy can work.

As we celebrate our nation this Independence day let us not forget those who have sacrificed all to protect our nation and our freedoms. Let us remember them and honor them for their heroic sacrifice. Let us remember our founders and their great work. And let us look to the future with hope that the future years will bring hope and prosperity to our nation once again.

We are celebrating today because we have a great nation established on freedom and justice. Many have paid with their lives so that we may live in peace. So wave a flag, sing our national anthem, grill some hot dogs and watch some fireworks, but please remember what we are celebrating.