Ken Larsen's web site - Donald Trump is bad for the U.S.
[This was written prior to the 2016 election.]
Donald Trump exhibits the polar opposite of balanced thinking. He offers no specifics on how he's going to solve complex problems. He keeps saying he'll solve this and that without giving any specifics, and gullible voters follow him hook, line and sinker. They're being duped.
From his RNC nomination acceptance speech:
(4:27) Donald Trump says he will end the crime, violence, and terrorism that afflicts the streets of America, but he doesn't say how. He just says "Beginning on January 20, 2017, safety will be restored." and "I will restore law and order to our country. Believe me." [Ken: This will take strong gun regulation, but Trump proudly boasts his support for the NRA which is anti-gun regulation.]
(12:25) He says he will fix the trade deficit, but he doesn't say how.
(12:57) He says he will fix our national debt ($ 19 trillion and growing), but he doesn't say how. [Ken: The only way to cut the deficit is to make huge cuts in defense, social security, and Medicare, and then impose high marginal tax rates for the wealthy.]
(13:14) He says he will fix our infrastructure problems (roads and airports), but doesn't say how. [Ken: This will require massive spending.]
(13:19) He says he will fix the food stamp issue, but he doesn't say how. He says that 43 million Americans are on food stamps.
(13:25) He lambasts decisions that were by Obama and Hillary Clinton for Iran, Iraq, Libya, and Syria, but he doesn't explain how he would have handled them better nor does he offer a plan for going forward. He neglects the fact that all of those crises began with the Bush administrations deciding to invade Iraq.
(18:50) He says he will put America first, but he doesn't say how.
(20:52) He says that he will add millions in new jobs and trillions in new wealth, but he doesn't say how.
(23:10) He says our trade deals are unfair, but he doesn't give an alternative plan.
(21:10) He correctly criticizes politicians for being puppets of special interests and their lobbying, but he doesn't offer a plan to fix that.
(26:20) He attacks Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama over and over again, but he offers no plan for doing better.
(31:40) He says that the Obama administration has failed America's inner cities, and that he is the "law and order candidate". He says "It's failed them on education, it's failed them on jobs, and it's failed them on crime."
(36:06) He says "We're going to defeat the barbarians of ISIS, and we're going to defeat them fast.", but he doesn't say how ... other than working with Israel and other allies to figure out how to deal with the problem.
(37:18) He says he's going to stop massacres like the Orlando incident where 49 members of the LBGTQ community were killed, but he doesn't say how.
(39:15) "We must abandon the failed policy of nation building and regime change that Hillary Clinton pushed in Iraq, Libya, Egypt, and Syria." He says that we must focus on stamping out Islamic terrorism, and "We're going to do it now, and we're going to do it fast. This includes working with Israel."
(41:00) He said that NATO is obsolete, because "It does not properly cover terror", and "Many of the member countries were not paying their fair share. As usual, the U.S. has been picking up the cost."
(42:20) Trump proposes to keep Islamic people out of the U.S. until proper vetting mechanisms could be put in place. That I agree with.
(44:23) He says he will have an immigration system that works for the American people, but he offers no details. He just says, "We can solve this problem so quickly."
(47:57) He says, "We will build a great border wall to stop illegal immigration."
(53:25) He says he will "convert our bad trade agreements into great trade agreements". He says he will bring back jobs to America, but he doesn't explain how.
(54:40) He says he won't permit companies to export jobs to other countries anymore. That will surely raise the price of goods, because we buy so much from China.
(57:25) He says he will renegotiate NAFTA.
He says, "Our country will begin building and making things again.", but he doesn't say how and at what cost.
(58:10) He says he will reduce taxes by a massive amount, but he doesn't explain how ... what programs will be slashed. [Ken: This will raise our debt unless a progressive tax is introduced.]
(58:30) He says he will simplify taxes for everyone. I interpret that to mean a flat rate tax against all income levels. That will impose a huge financial burden on low income people and make the wealthy even wealthier.
(59:10) He says he will reduce regulation ... deeming it to be a job killer. He said he will lift the restrictions on American energy. He said, "Our steel workers and miners are going back to work, again."
(1:01:00) He says he "will rescue kids from failing schools by helping their parents send them to a safe school of their choice".
(1:01:44) He says he will repeal and replace Obamacare. "You will be able to choose your own doctor, again."
(1:02:08) "We will fix TSA at the airports which is a total disaster."
(1:02:34) "We will work with all of our students who are drowning in debt." [Ken: This will cost a bundle.]
(1:02:55) "We will completely rebuild our depleted military." [Ken: This will cost a bundle.]
(1:03:12) "The countries that we are protecting at a massive cost to us will be asked to pay their fair share." [Ken: What about Israel? We give them $ 3.5 billion every year, but they're the bully in the Mideast. I advocate removing that support.]
(1:03:31) "We will take care of our great veterans." [Ken: This will be costly. "Thanks" to the warmongering of the Bush administrations, we have out-of-control veteran health costs.]
(1:07:50) He claims that an amendment introduced by Lyndon Johnson takes away the tax exempt status of churches if they advocate for political change. [Ken: That same law should be directed at the NRA.] Trump says he will work to repeal that law.
Believe this snake oil salesman if you wish, but I don't.
Here is the web page that lists Trump's positions: https://www.donaldjtrump.com/positions
Donald Trump is a demagogue who has never held public office. A demagogue is "A person who appeals to the emotions and prejudices of people especially in order to gain political power." Example of another demagogue: Joseph McCarthy
April 26, 2017: Trump lowers the tax rate for the highest tax bracket from 39.6% to 35.0%. As I've said all along, Republicans are all about increasing the wealth of millionaires. They don't care about people on the bottom of the economic ladder.