[Amazing] 25 Things We Can Expect From Donald J Trump’s Presidency
We can all say we survived the 2016 US Presidential Election, but that excitement was short lived. It seems the panic, fear mongering, rioting, and name calling was just beginning. Let’s all take a deep breath. Don’t panic, don’t reduce yourself to name calling and threatening those who oppose you politically – on either side. That’s how civil wars start, literally. Instead, let’s look at what we can realistically expect to happen within the next four years, sans name calling or violence. Here are 25 Things We Can Expect From Donald J Trump’s Presidency.
Feature Image: Gage Skidmore via Flickr
The Keystone Pipeline
Source: http://ift.tt/2ivMWUI
This was one of the major things that Obama was supposed to approve as a bi-partisan compromise, sort of an olive branch. In the last four years, there’s been less and less bi-partisan compromise, and now that he and the majority of democrats are out, it would be pretty shocking if this didn’t happen in some way, despite the current protests.
Changes to Obamacare
Source: http://ift.tt/2ivMWUI
Mainly this would be a repeal of the individual mandate portion of Obamacare and some progress towards freeing up the market so that health insurance companies can sell over state lines. More competition means a better product and lower prices, and forcing someone to buy something or pay a fine is, still, downright un-American. The pre-existing condition portions, and the portions that allow adults to stay on their parents policy until 26 will stay.
Congressional term limits
Source: http://ift.tt/2ivMWUI
Why this hasn’t happened yet is kind of confusing and shocking, as most members of both parties agree that it needs to happen. Hopefully, it will free up the process some to let fresh blood – business owners, former blue collar workers, scientists, etc – into congress that don’t have to be rich to even run a chance of being elected. But for now, we’ll all settle for a breaking up of limits on the good ol’ boys club.
Trump's salary
Source: http://fortune.com/
We can expect Trump to not take a presidential salary, or more specifically, to take $1 per year instead of the traditional $400,000.00. This isn’t unprecedented though; John F Kennedy and J Edgar Hoover didn’t take the Presidential Salary either.
A new SCOTUS nominee
Source: http://ift.tt/1LG6QUD Image Source: commons.wikimedia.org (public domain)
A new SCOTUS nominee will likely get put through as there’s also a Republican controlled Senate and Congress; however, this may not be as simple as some are assuming.
More late night jokes and cheap shots at the president
Source: http://www.cnn.com
Let’s just be honest, whatever side of political divide you fall on, Obama is just a cool dude. He’s charming, affable, and knows how to take or make a joke. Trump is slightly less charming and affable. While many people do find Trump relatable, many others think he’s literally Hitler, and we know what kind of treatment George W got from late night TV, so we’re just expecting it. And it’s okay.
Changes to the Democratic party
Source: http://ift.tt/uppWS3
The Democratic party will have to change, probably starting with it’s leadership. Just as the Republican party had to sit back and take a long hard look at things like their thoughts on gay marriage, etc, the Democrats are going to have to sit back and take a look at how and why they lost because the same plan that lost this time isn’t going to magically work in four years. Trump didn’t just win the presidency; Republicans won the House, the Senate, and the majority of Governor elections. This election was far less of a Trump “win” than it was a steep Democrat “loss” across the board. Millions of Americans all over everywhere that voted Democrat previously, voted for a chance at anything else all down the ballot.
Changes in Funding for Planned Parenthood
Source: http://ift.tt/2ivMWUI
Due to the changes in government along with the fact that nearly half of Americans are fundamentally opposed to abortion in cases where the mother and fetus are both healthy, we can expect some changes in how Planned Parenthood is funded, mainly through a cut of federal funding. This doesn’t, however, mean that Planned Parenthood will be going away.
TPP & NAFTA
Source: http://ift.tt/2ivMWUI
We can expect there to be no Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) and a renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Canada and Mexico have both already come forward to discuss renegotiation.
A better relationship with Russia
Source: http://ift.tt/2ivMWUI
For those following the no-fly zone in Syria saga, and Hillary’s comments about taking military action against Russian hackers, Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin said some very encouraging things about Russia’s relationship with the US, namely that Russia looks forward to restoring relations between our two nations. While the media has been pushing a narrative that Trump has Russian ties, there’s been no proof – either in wikileaks, or during an FBI probe into the issue – that found any ties between Trump and Russia.
If you’re enjoying this list, take a look at 25 Things The President of the US Can’t Actually Do.
Possibly a second SCOTUS Nominee
Source: http://www.newsweek.com, Image Source: simple.wikipedia.org (public domain)
Ruth Bader Ginsburg is in her 80’s, and while she’s healthy, she’s still well past retirement age, and it wouldn’t take much to make someone her age unhealthy, so it’s possible in the next 4 years that she’ll pass away or retire, and a second SCOTUS nominee will need to be appointed. She had the option and was of the age to retire when Obama was in his first two years with a Democratic majority, which would have allowed him to place a new liberal Justice in. Some Democrats even asked her to retire. This would have kept the court balanced and secured a liberal seat for the next several decades, but she personally chose not to. If she dies or has to step down, particularly if it’s within the next 18-24 months, expect two more Constitutional Conservative Supreme Court Justices.
A crackdown on lobbyists
Source: http://ift.tt/paqgmd Image Source: http://ift.tt/yzWgML
This is going to be probably one of the most difficult ones because Lobbyists represent big corporations and have big pockets, and some congressmen make more from them than they do from their congressional salary, but any progress in that direction would be good. Already Trump is requiring anyone working for his administration to sign an agreement preventing them from being a lobbyist for five years after they leave.
Gay marriage will remain legal
Source: http://thehill.com/
The only way that such a thing could be overturned is if a citizen brings a case before SCOTUS to argue that gay marriage is not protected under the constitution or a constitutional amendment (and 2/3 of the states aren’t going to agree to that). It’s not going to happen. No one is going to round up transgenders and put them in camps or take away someone’s right to marry whom they choose. Congress cannot roll back the SCOTUS ruling on same sex marriage. Anyone who tells you otherwise is trying to make you afraid so they can manipulate you; shame on them.
Hiring freeze for public jobs
Source: http://ift.tt/2ivMWUI
Trump promises a hiring freeze on the majority of public jobs, so no new IRS hiring for a bit until the fat is trimmed. At some point, it is realistic to expect some form of hiring freeze or dissolving of superfluous federal jobs. The Government has a trick of “creating jobs” when the economy stinks by creating or expanding another three letter agency – like the TSA- and saying, “Look at all the jobs this administration has created!” An economy is made stronger by more jobs in the private sector, not the public.
Probably, realistically, no more deportations than Obama
Source: http://abcnews.go.com/ Image Source: commons.wikimedia.org (public domain)
Oft referred to by immigration groups as “the deporter in chief,” Obama has deported more people than any other president: 2.5 million between 2009 and 2015. While Trump promises to be tough on immigration, it would be very difficult from a logistical standpoint to be “tougher” than that. What we might expect is quicker deportations for criminals, though.
Better vetting for refugees from Muslim nations
Source: http://www.cbc.ca/ & http://ift.tt/sgJcEZ
Realistically, we can probably expect a system more like Canada’s – only Women, Children, and Families. Unaccompanied men seeking asylum are not allowed into Canada. The US currently allows single men of combat age in. We can’t really be sure what form this will take, but lining up with what Canada is doing is a realistic first step.
Some version of a wall between Mexico & the US
Rape statistic source: http://ift.tt/hFWySe Wall Source: simple.wikipedia.org (public domain)
This will probably be somewhere between a 15 ft block wall and a chain link fence with beefed up security. Despite (social) media hype, no one ever said that everyone that comes from Mexico illegally is a rapist; however, many of the women who do cross are raped by nefarious persons claiming they can help them get across the border, and according to some statistics, that number is disturbingly high, as much as 80%. Just to clarify, that’s the “Mexicans are rapists” comment everyone talks about. Poorly worded to begin with, taken wildly out of context beyond that. While it’s cringe worthy to the extreme, it’s not a cause to panic or scream racist. It’s likely that a more secure border would improve relations between the US and Mexico.
Middle Class Tax Relief
Source: http://ift.tt/2ivMWUI
This is something that Trump promised and generally is something Republicans can all agree on, so it shouldn’t be a huge problem getting some kind of tax reform for the middle class passed. A lot of people work really hard to claw their way up into middle class, only to find themselves taxed almost back out of it again, and very few people mention this when discussing income inequality. Bush had serious tax cuts on the books for two parent families with children, and those have all but disappeared in the last 8 years.
More "protests" or riots
Source: http://www.cnn.com/
We are a deeply divided nation. It’s absolutely every American’s free speech right to PEACEABLY protest. Setting things on fire, jumping people, and blocking roads or freeways are not examples of “peaceably.” Some are saying that Trump will employ Martial Law if there’s another round of BLM riots. That honestly remains to be seen, but unless the unrest dies down soon, something major will probably happen.
Tariffs for companies sending jobs overseas
Source: http://ift.tt/2ivMWUI
Establishing tariffs for companies that lay off American workers, move factories overseas, and then import products back to the US. This is something that Hillary and Trump agreed on, though they had different ways of going about it. Trump’s plan is tariffs; Hillary’s plan was an exit tax. Either way, this should be something that a bi-partisan agreement can be reached on, since both sides agree that manufacturing jobs leaving the US is a huge problem for the economy.
Some sort of school voucher program and an end to common core
Source: http://ift.tt/2ivMWUI
While the Federal Government can’t force school guidelines on any state, they do hold the purse strings to Federal Funding, and that’s now based on common core and standardized testing performance. Trump believes that parents should be allowed to put their tax dollars towards the education they feel is best for their children, even if that isn’t private schooling, and that common core is “a disaster.” While some people may be freaking out about this, what it really boils down to is putting the power and choice of a child’s education back into the hands of the parents instead of the school board.
An overturn of some executive orders
Source: http://ift.tt/2ivMWUI Image Source: commons.wikimedia.org (public domain)
Not sure which ones, but one of the few things a new president can do on day one is overturn the executive orders of the previous president that they don’t like.
More funding for the Veteran's Administration
Source: http://www.nytimes.com, http://ift.tt/2ivMWUI
Twenty-two veterans commit suicide every day, and trying to get an appointment for anything – including mental health, or physical therapy, or you know, a prosthetic to replace the limb you lost – takes forever, and once a Veteran gets an appointment, they could possibly wait hours for a simple prescription refill. Whatever one’s personal feelings on war and how the US uses it’s armed forces, to send these men and women off, have them come home damaged, and then treat them this way is just shameful, and something has to change. President Elect Trump is the first major presidential candidate to seriously speak to this matter in the last several elections, so now that he’s elected, we should be able to do something for our veterans.
H-1b visas will be revisited.
Source: http://www.nytimes.com Image Source : http://ift.tt/1Cy2clR
If you have family that works in IT, these might be of some concern for you. The H-1b visa is a work visa that allows a company to import labor from overseas for “specialty occupations.” What often happens is that young men come to the US, undercut American workers salaries, and often send a large portion of their salary home to their home country, so that’s less jobs for American workers AND money leaving our economy. Disney recently did this to about 250 their IT staff and made their current staff train their replacements after they knew they were getting laid off. It’s hard for US workers to compete with people who are willing to come and work for so much less, when American workers don’t have a different economy they’re returning to in a few years. Trump has mentioned this several times on the campaign trail, so it’s likely that he will attempt to modify the program, which will mean more US jobs and more US money staying in the US economy.
If you liked this list, be sure to check out 25 Things The President of the United States CAN Actually Do.
Mainstream Media and polling will have to change.
Source: http://www.nytimes.com/ Image Source: commons.wikimedia.org (public domain)
Nearly every poll was insanely far off. Worse, the media was shown over and over again via wikileaks and other sources to have been working WITH Hillary’s campaign, even so far as to give debate questions ahead of time, effectively becoming propaganda machines instead of non-biased news sources. Mainstream media did it’s part to divide our nation via fear mongering and name calling. This is a huge problem, and hopefully with the amount of egg on their faces after the election, things will change for the better and journalistic integrity will be restored to major news outlets. If they don’t take it upon themselves to tell the truth, it’s possible the Trump Administration will step in.
Photos: 25. shannonpatrick17 via Flickr, 24. Nancy Pelosi via Flickr, 23. Bjoertvedt/wikipedia commons, 22. Pictures of Money via Flickr, 20. Ryan Olsen via Flickr, 19. Gage Skimore via Flickr, 18. Lorie Shaull via wikimedia commons, 17. AFGE via Flickr, 16. MariaJoner via wikimedia commons, 13. Ted Eytan via Flickr , 12. Kathryn Decker via Flickr, 10. DFID (UK Department for International Development) via Flickr, 8. 401(k) 2012 via Flickr, 7. Fibonacci Blue via Flickr, 6. Gnovick via wikimedia commons, 5. ajari via Flickr, 3. Billy Hathorn via wikimedia commons, 2. Denis Adriana Macias & Jrobertiko via wikimedia commons,
