Can Trump Send the Military to Guard the US Border?

Donald Trump’s dream of a Fascist dictatorship. Shut down the media, stop freedom of the press, make the congress a rubber stamp body, end the judiciary, and president for life.

Can the president deploy troops to the southern border of the United States to stop illegal immigrants from entering? The answer is NO!

The military can be deployed for ‘support’ services, which mostly would mean various kinds of surveillance or possibly building things. But if soldiers see people trying to get across the border they have to report that to Border Patrol because only Border Patrol can try to stop them.

The reason is because the Posse Comitatus Act makes two things clear. 1) Soldiers and other military personnel can’t enforce US laws within the United States and 2) They can’t detain or search people or do most of the things that usually go along with police authority in the United States. There are other things they can’t do. But those are the key ones relevant to the border. Congress would have to pass a law specifically authorizing the military to act as border guards.

In 2006 6,000 national guard troops were sent to the border to assist the border patrol with non-enforcement duties. Those actions included surveillance, communications, intelligence, analysis, and administration.

The law should not be changed. If it is it would be the first step towards a Gestapo. The definition of Gestapo was the German Secret Police during Nazi rule. Gestapo were Secret military police that would come and take away people who opposed the Nazis.

I believe this is part of Trump’s plan.

America’s Economy is Booming

Now that Donald Trump has been president for over a year he gets the credit for what happens to the United States economy. Good or bad he will be blamed or honored.

As it stands today that makes his presidency a success. Despite a recent decline the stock market has reached new highs, car sales are high, and job growth has gone from quite good to very good. Tax cuts have put more money in everyone’s pocket.

313,000 jobs were created in the month of February 2018. This is not fake news. This is a report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics that was released today.

Trump’s primary reason for giving him your vote was that he would bring back jobs. He appears to be on track to fulfill that campaign promise.

Democrats may believe they have a chance of winning control of the House of Representatives in November but that has to be based on Trump’s personal behavior, his continued support of the NRA, and his support of White nationalist groups. While those are upsetting issues, “It’s the economy, stupid” coined by Bill Clinton strategist James Carville still is the primary issue. It still holds true today.

The Democratic Party has not been the friend of labor. They talked a good game as the United States was overwhelmed with low cost imports that drove out car manufacturing to garment manufacturing to electronics manufacturing. Your iPhone is made in China and Bangladesh and China probably made most of the clothes you wear.

If the GOP holds both houses of Congress in this fall’s election be prepared for even more changes to American life.

Killing in America

I am tired of listening to the talk show guest congressman and senators who are calling for stronger protection for students in the wake of repeated mass shootings. None of these elected representatives that I have heard are willing to confront the fact that the killing is not just in schools. It is happening in malls, churches, and entertainment venues. Most of the killers were not 18, 19 or 20 years old. They were adults aged 25 to 64 years old and many with no prior criminal history.

The best example is the killing of 58 people at a concert in Las Vegas. Stephen Craig Paddock was an American mass murderer responsible for the 2017 Las Vegas shooting, during which he fired into a crowd of approximately 22,000 concertgoers attending a country music festival on the Las Vegas Strip. He was a graduate from California State University, Northridge (CSUN). He was 64 years old when he conducted the attack. He had no criminal record.

Killer in San Bernardino was 28 years old and his wife was 29.

Killer in Orlando night club shooting was 29.

Sutherland Springs, Texas at the First Baptist Church killing was committed by a gunman clad in all black, with a ballistic vest strapped to his chest and a military-style rifle in his hands. The killing was done on a Sunday morning. Of the 26 fatalities, 23 people were found dead inside the church, two were found outside, and one died later at a hospital. The killer was 26 years old. He did have a criminal past but was still able to obtain a weapon.

So while killings at schools is an utterly horrible thing there have been many other killings at many other places.

The answer is a prohibition placed on the ownership of assault weapons. I do not care whether they are identified as automatic or semi-automatic. These weapons are meant for killing people.

When do the words “never again” apply? Why are we tied to an amendment to the constitution that was written in 1789?

Unintended Consequences

The lower income tax rates passed into law this past December seemed like a wonderful idea. Who can object to bonuses and higher take home pay?

The U.S. stock market indexes fell sharply today (Friday, February 2, 2018) as investors digested a stronger-than-expected jobs report that stoked inflation fears. “The details of this jobs report, especially the numbers behind the wage growth suggest that companies are competing for workers and the shortage of skilled workers is pushing up wages. The trend in inflation is ticking higher and the big question is whether the incoming Fed, which is more hawkish, will allow the economy run hotter in the short term or tighten aggressively,” said Quincy Krosby, chief market strategist, at Prudential Financial.

Investopedia: A government or economy often defines full employment as any rate of unemployment below a defined number. If, for example, a country sets full employment at a 5% unemployment rate, any level of unemployment below 5% is considered acceptable. Full employment, once attained, often results in an inflationary period. The inflation is a result of workers having more disposable income, which would drive prices upward.

The short term benefit of lower income tax rates are obvious. It results in a bigger paycheck for almost all workers. However, with America’s unemployment rate at 4.1% for the past four months and below 5% since November 2016 the shortage of workers along with lower corporate taxes could easily result in a horrible surge in inflation.

Many of us saw the consequences of high inflation. In 1974 and again 1979 to 1981 we experienced inflation as high as 14.7% in a single month. We spent using a credit card knowing that the repayment would be in cheap dollars. Buying a home meant paying an inflated interest rate on the mortgage. We refinanced when the rate fell.

I have read nothing about economist’s concerns of higher inflation. The Federal Reserve Board did not raise rates at last Wednesday’s meeting. They left its benchmark interest rate unchanged in a range of 1.25 percent to 1.5 percent, a relatively low level that the Fed said would help support continued job growth and stronger inflation.

Wow! Is the Fed correct or are stock market investors correct? When you are working you can demand a pay raise to compensate for inflation but if you are retired inflation can destroy your retirement plans. Roaring inflation will also destroy the party in power in Washington.

A Dream of Absolute Power

Donald Trump is taking the steps necessary to destroy the American democracy. His objective is a government similar to Turkey, Russia, and other nations ruled by despots.

Trump has attacked the most treasured parts of this country.
1. The court system
2. The press and freedom of speech
3. Libel laws
4. The electoral system
5. The Congress

The courts:
Trump has made a series of tweets and public statements attacking the deciding judges personally, questioning the authority of federal courts to review his orders, suggesting the court is biased, and suggesting that the judges and court system would be to blame for future terrorist attacks.

February 4, 2017 Trump tweet: The opinion of this so-called judge, which essentially takes law enforcement away from our country, is ridiculous and will be overturned!

In response to U.S. District Court Judge Gonzalo O. Curiel’s orders in a class action lawsuit against Trump University, then-presidential candidate Trump made a number of statements attacking Judge Curiel as biased because of his “Mexican heritage” and appointment by a Democratic president.

Trump tweet: I should have easily won the Trump University case on summary judgement but have a judge, Gonzalo Curiel, who is totally biased against me.

The Press, freedom of speech and Libel laws:
Senator John McCain (Republican senator from Arizona, writing in the Washington Post
wrote the 45th president’s assault on American media provides cover for oppressive global regimes to “follow suit.”
“He [Trump] has threatened to continue his attempt to discredit the free press by bestowing ‘fake news awards’ upon reporters and news outlets whose coverage he disagrees with,” McCain writes. “Whether Trump knows it or not, these efforts are being closely watched by foreign leaders who are already using his words as cover as they silence and shutter one of the key pillars of democracy.”

John McCain continued, “For decades, dissidents and human rights advocates have relied on independent investigations into government corruption to further their fight for freedom. But constant cries of ‘fake news’ undercut this type of reporting and strip activists of one of their most powerful tools of dissent.”

Reported by ABC News on January 10, 2018: Pres. Donald J. Trump says he plans to “take a strong look” at libel laws: “You can’t say things that are knowingly false, knowingly false, and be able to smile as money pours into your bank account.”

Perhaps Mr. Trump has not read the constitution. The first amendment guarantees a Free Press. That means the press has the right to publish articles or books that criticize the president and anyone else. The book “Fire and Fury” tells stories of people who think Trump is child-like. Trump wants to stop those kinds of stories about him.

The electoral system:
From nytimes.com
Trump Disbands Commission on Voter Fraud
JAN. 3, 2018
WASHINGTON — President Trump on Wednesday abruptly shut down a White House commission he had charged with investigating voter fraud, ending a brief quest for evidence of election theft that generated lawsuits, outrage and some scholarly testimony, but no real evidence that American elections are corrupt.

On Thursday, Mr. Trump called for requiring voter identification in a pair of Twitter posts because the voting system “is rigged.” “Push hard for Voter Identification!” Mr. Trump wrote.

Mr. Trump did not acknowledge the commission’s inability to find evidence of fraud, but cast the closing as a result of continuing legal challenges.

The question of voter fraud and rigged elections is not and has not been an issue ever. Dictators don’t like honest elections. Trump’s dream is to pre-determine the outcome of all elections. His recent motivation is the fact that he won the electoral college vote but lost the popular vote. Vladimir Putin ( president of Russia) and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (president of Turkey) are the two government leaders that Trump admires because they have shut down any opposition to their re-election by putting them in jail.

The Congress:
America’s system of government demands compromise. When there is no compromise poor legislation is passed and government shutdowns can occur.

Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is pushing back against President Donald Trump’s calls to end Senate filibusters.

When filibusters of legislation are underway, it takes 60 votes in the 100-member Senate to halt them.
Republicans now control the chamber 51-49. But strong Democratic opposition and some defecting GOP senators have kept Republicans from getting the votes needed to end the shutdown — now in its second day.

McConnell has long defended the filibuster. He says Republicans will welcome it whenever they are returned to the Senate minority.
As the Senate began a rare Sunday session, the Kentucky Republican said: “I support that right from an institutional point of view.” But he also said, “The question is, when do you use it?”

Trump has made repeated calls this year to end that rule, and did it again Sunday in a tweet.

It is my contention that Donald Trump is working at destroying the American democracy that was created in 1789. I believe he dreams of being a president who has absolute power as many presidents of other nations retain. Everyone should be on guard against Trump’s objective. It was German complacency that gave Hitler absolute power. Marches and demonstrations, like the women’s marches, are the antidote to the Trump dream.

Destruction of the American Democracy

The first amendment to the United States Constitution.
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

The American democracy depends on a free press. Donald Trump continuously attacks the press. His favorite words are “fake news” whenever the press reports something that puts him in a bad light.

His admiration for Vladimir Putin (President of Russia), Saddam Hussein (deceased dictator of Iraq), Moammar Gaddafi (deceased dictator of Libya), Xi Jinping (president of China), and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (President of Turkey) to name just a few tells us what kind of presidency Trump wants in the United States. All of these government leaders have one thing in common. They have or had no opposition. There is no press to report on their misbehavior. That is Trump’s dream.

The National Review, a conservative publication, posted the following on its website
Our First Amendment freedoms give us the right to think what we like and say what we please. And if we the people are to govern ourselves, we must have these rights, even if they are misused by a minority.

The ACLU says we must defend free speech even when we disagree with the speaker. That organization did defend the KKK when it wanted to march through Skokie Illinois, a predominantly Jewish suburb of Chicago.

There was no free press in Nazi Germany. There is no free press in China, Russia and Turkey today. Donald Trump’s war on the press is the first steps to end our democracy. CNN’s “This is an Apple” campaign is an effort to tell all viewers that they will defend their right to report the facts. Everyone should be applauding their efforts.

We must all join hands to defend freedom of the press or soon there will be no free press. The day there is no free press a dictator will be on the rise.

The Never Ending Hike to the United States National Debt

Now that the Republicans have control of both houses of Congress and the presidency they have forgotten their “no new debt” crusade. It was just six years ago that Grover Norquist transformed a single issue – preventing tax hikes – into one of the key platforms of the Republican Party. Norquist’s biggest coup was getting more than 270 members of Congress, and nearly all of the 2012 Republican presidential primary candidates, to sign a pledge promising never to vote to raise taxes. Norquist may be happy that there will be a reduction in taxes but the price will be a new higher national debt.

President Barack Obama’s oversight of the deficit was leaving “America’s future in the balance,” the Republican National Committee said in 2011. A year later, Senator Mitch McConnell said the federal debt was “the nation’s most serious long-term problem.” The debt was “killing our economy.”

How can today’s GOP vote for a new tax law that will raise the national debt over the coming decade? The answer is they are more interested in helping the rich get richer. The proof is the rise of the stock market since Donald Trump’s election.

Look at the history of our national debt since 1981.

Ronald Reagan, a member of the Republican Party, took office as the 40th President of the United States on January 20, 1981. After serving two terms the national debt had grown from just short of $998 billion to over $2.6 trillion. That was after his promise that the debt would shrink due to his plan that would encourage more spending that would more than make up for lower taxes.

George Herbert Walker Bush was left to explain the giant tax cuts passed into law under Reagan. Remember his “No new taxes” campaign? He did raised taxes and the debt continued to soar. It was almost $4.4 trillion when Bush left office in just four years. HIs loss for a second term was the result of raising income taxes and a recession.

During the Clinton presidency of eight years the debt had grown to over $5.7 trillion. That was a relatively small expansion of the national debt.

Between 2001 and 2008 the debt climbed from $5.7 trillion to $10 trillion. Those were the years of the George W. Bush administration. That was after a tax cut and the cost of war in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Obama did even worse than his predecessor leaving office with a $20.5 trillion debt. For eight years, Republicans warned the American public that we were hurtling toward certain fiscal doom. In 2012 Senator Mitch McConnell said the federal debt was “the nation’s most serious long-term problem.” John Boehner, when he was the House speaker, in 2013: The debt was “killing our economy.”

There is nothing in the current plan to cut taxes that will change the trend of more national debt. The party out of power seems to always cry over the growing debt. Republicans have a history of opposing any thing that will increase the debt as long as they are not in the majority.