Fed
up with our past ridiculous president Obama and his uber-liberal bent, this
nation’s voters eschewed “Obama the
Sequel, featuring Hillary” for a loudmouth, TV reality personality. Donald Trump swept into WDC with a Republican
majority in the Senate and the House and a jubilant Grand Ole Party full of
itself and big ideals.
Now,
after sitting in the big chairs for nearly nine months, the Republican Party
has basically disowned Trump, engaged in schizophrenic policy behavior,
destroyed any public confidence in its ability to govern effectively, and quite
possibly thrown away a golden opportunity to make sweeping and fundamental
changes in our government. Has the door completely shut on Republican chances to
reform health care and our tax system? ... Probably not. However, there can be little doubt that when
John McCain openly indulged in excessive self-esteem, personal grandstanding, and
naked arrogance by casting his vote against the Republican health care
legislation; the Republicans lost their chance to exclusively rewrite this
country’s massively flawed health care system.
And now, on the heels of the Donald’s much discussed deal with “Chuck and Nancy”, the breech between the
Republican Party Leadership and this Republican President seems wide and
widening.
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I
have written many times before that I believe Donald Trump to be much more
liberal-at-heart than he is conservative.
Once again, I urge anyone who doubts that statement to review Trump’s
public life leading up to his quest for the Republican Presidential
nomination. And as liberal as Trump
sounded then, his family members who apparently are maintaining positions of
authority and influence in this White House, are even more liberal than he
is. Now the devil’s advocate might argue
that based on his judicial nominees and his administration appointments, Trump
has exhibited a conservative tilt. This
is true; but a closer examination might reveal a crack or two in that
theory. Trump’s corporate background and
raising gives him a natural disposition against overt government intervention
into the private sector. The last thing
a CEO wants is a federal judge telling his or her company how they should
operate. It is natural for a capitalist
to desire strict constructionists in the courts. And if you look closely at some of the Trump
administration appointments, they have pretty strong liberal leanings in many
areas. Militarily and judicially, his
selections show a conservative leaning; but is that a political call or a
personal call? I submit that it has much
less to do with politics than it has to do with his personal belief that
government should be small, non-intrusive, and predictable while the U.S.A.
should be the strongest military presence on the planet and carry a big, big
stick. It might be revealing to note that the overwhelming
majority of people leaving this Administration are rightists. Now some them may be less than desirable to begin
with, but the point is that the conservative power base in the White House is not
strengthening; it is shrinking.
We
shall see how this “Chuck and Nancy”
kabuki dance plays out, but it may well prove to be the point where the
centrist/liberal Trump came to the front and the conservative Trump mask was
dropped to the floor. For all of their supposed
political wizardry, McConnell and Ryan may have frittered away their single best
opportunity to influence America. One thing
is beyond debate; the middle point in the conservative versus liberal debate in
Congress has been shifted to the left. If Schumer and Pelosi are smart, they will
seize this opportunity to maximize their position as a minority legislative
party with a sympathetic President. It
is far from certain that they are that smart; but it will certainly be
interesting to watch it play out.
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