This section is very long, I spent the most time looking up resources and information on the sections that were most interesting or important to me when it comes to this election. Anything in bold inside each section is my words.
Part 4: Government Reform
1. Making Government Work for the People
a. pledge to make government work for the people
b. return more power to the states
2. Balancing the Budget
a. Democrats increased national debt, crippled economic growth and job creation, and drove up govt costs while driving down revenues
b. want a constitutional requirement for a balanced budget
i. Balanced Budget Amendment should be ratified
ii. cap that limits spending to the “appropriate historical average percentage of our nation’s GDP”
c. prioritize thrift over extravagance
i. So from what I’ve found, Trump has not be able to balance the budget or make a dent in debt, in fact, our national debt was increasing under Trump, even BEFORE COVID. This is disappointing for sure. The national debt is a huge problem that I think we need to reckon with and I’m sad that Trump hasn’t made progress there. (Even pre-COVID).
iii. https://www.thebalance.com/trump-plans-to-reduce-national-debt-4114401
3. Preserving Medicare and Medicaid
a. modernize Medicare, empower participants and put it on secure financial footing
b. Obamacare made things worse, cut Medicare funding
c. Proposed reforms
i. no changes for anyone 55 or older
ii. Give others option of traditional Medicare or transition to a premium-support model designed to strengthen patient choice, promote cost-saving competition among providers and better guard against fraud
iii. Guarantee to every enrollee an income-adjusted contribution toward a plan of their choice, with catastrophic protection
iv. set a more realistic age for eligibility in light of today’s longer life span
d. will not allow doctors to keep opting out of Medicare and Medicaid
e. Propose block granting Medicaid
i. this would also help states develop different systems to address mental health issues
ii. respect states decisions to exclude abortion providers from Medicaid
f. Here are some articles talking about what Trump has done with Medicare and Medicaid, and some explaining what block grant programs are and why some people don’t think they are a good idea.
g. https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/things-trumps-budget-plan-medicare-medicaid/story?id=68913201
h. https://www.cbpp.org/research/health/trump-administrations-harmful-changes-to-medicaid
j. https://khn.org/news/5-things-to-know-about-trumps-medicaid-block-grant-plan/
4. Saving Social Security
a. Want to preserve this system of retirement security
b. oppose tax increases and believe in the power of markets to create wealth and help secure the future of Social Security
i. I found this interesting fact check on things Trump has said about social security and what is actually happening/ is likely to happen. It’s not looking so great, honestly. https://apnews.com/1ef23f018730d2dd82545515878bf118
ii. Here’s another one that talks a bit more about what the plans are. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2020/08/15/fact-check-donald-trump-hasnt-said-he-terminate-social-security/3343439001/
5. Protecting Internet Freedom
a. Obama ordered the FCC to impose bad rules – he threw the internet to the wolves
b. Fight to stop the turnover of the information Freedom Highway to regulators and tyrants.
c. government should not regulate the internet
d. the power of the internet is its independence
i. Trump Administration did repeal Obama’s net neutrality rules. I vaguely remember a bunch of stuff on Facebook about net neutrality back in 2016, but didn’t remember much. Here are a few articles talking about what has happened. Again, there is a divide in people who believe what the Trump administration has done is good vs those who disagree. That’s politics for ya.
ii. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/article/fcc-officially-repeals-obama-era-net-neutrality-rules/
iii. This article discusses why the repeal was a good thing and how things have improved since. https://www.realclearpolicy.com/articles/2019/02/18/net_neutrality_is_gone_did_you_even_notice_111056.html
iv. Another one talking about how he believes there are still things we should watch out for https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2019/06/25/reflecting-on-one-year-without-net-neutrality/#989b28e4edc8
6. Immigration and the Rule of Law
a. “Our party is the natural home for those who come in search of freedom and justice.”
i. Is it though? I included this direct quote because it literally made me laugh out loud. Yes, the party that is actively working to make it much harder for people to obtain that freedom and justice. Immigration is a big issue for me this election cycle. Read on to learn more.
b. Immigration system must protect American working families and their wages, for citizens and legal immigrants alike.
c. legal immigrants who are not yet citizens who are serving in armed forces or as first responders are true patriots and we are grateful to them.
d. we should embrace all legal newcomers and help them gain full citizenship
e. encourage the preservation of heritage tongues
f. support English as the nation’s official language
g. our immigration policy must serve the national interest of the US
i. jobs of American workers must be protected over the claims of foreign nationals seeking the same jobs
h. condemn illegal immigration and oppose any form of amnesty for illegal immigrants
i. Here’s where I’m at. I wish illegal immigration wasn’t happening. But are we asking WHY it still does? Guess what? It’s CRAZY HARD to immigrate here legally. https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/research/why-don%E2%80%99t-they-just-get-line
ii. So actually, legal immigration is not an option for the VAST majority of people who want to come here. We do have an asylum program, where people who are experiencing severe difficulty in their home country can come here, but the current administration has been methodically shrinking the number of refugees we allow in each year, and it’s just not ok with me. (Beside the fact that it’s also incredibly difficult to gain asylum too). https://www.rescue.org/article/how-trump-administration-eliminating-asylum-us
iii. The Remain in Mexico Policy that the Trump Administration enacted is truly awful, and have led some asylum officers to quit rather than carry out the policy.
1. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/20/opinion/trump-asylum-remain-mexico-policy.html
iv. I’m not even going to get into the fiasco of separating children from their parents, keeping kids in cages, the sexual abuse that is happening in these processing centers…it’s all terrible. And before you cry that these cages were used during Obama too, you’re right, here’s a fact check on that. That doesn’t make it right and IT NEEDS TO STOP. https://apnews.com/2663c84832a13cdd7a8233becfc7a5f3
i. executive amnesties of 2012 and 2014 are a violation of federal law
i. must be rescinded
j. “In a time of terrorism, drug cartels, human trafficking, and criminal gangs, the presence of millions of unidentified individuals in this country poses grave risks to the safety and sovereignty of the United States”
i. This article asserts that the wall is not actually doing much of anything to keep drugs out of the US https://www.npr.org/2019/02/20/696192725/will-president-trumps-border-wall-keep-drugs-out-of-the-u-s
ii. This really seems like fearmongering to me. In order to drum up American support for a wall, we need to make sure everyone believes that it’s going to keep all the horrible people out. That’s not actually what is going on here. https://apnews.com/56d7094f0b554925abbd3d81f8ca74c8
iii. illegal immigrants are not, as a group, more likely to commit crime/be more dangerous than native born people. https://www.factcheck.org/2018/06/is-illegal-immigration-linked-to-more-or-less-crime/
iv. Another source that shows the research that has gone into this…illegals are not inherently more dangerous. https://www.cato.org/blog/illegal-immigrants-crime-assessing-evidence
k. securing borders is a HIGH priority
i. we need to build a wall across the entire southern border
ii. See above links for reasons why this wall is not the magical silver bullet everyone seems to think it is.
l. insist on workplace enforcement of verification systems so more jobs are available to legal workers
i. use the E-verify program, make it mandatory nationwide
ii. endorse SAVE program (Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements) to make sure public funds are not given to illegals
m. demand tough penalties for identity theft, document fraud, and human trafficking
i. I think this part is really interesting. The Trump administration has put a lot of focus on human trafficking, but I think a lot of people still hear those words and think of children and girls being kidnapped and dragged into other states or countries to be locked in dark basements and sold for sex. The definition of human trafficking is actually much larger than that. In fact, MOST human trafficking is actually labor trafficking. It can also look like someone paying another person to take them across the border and then that person not fulfilling their end of the bargain, leaving them somewhere dangerous, or taking their identification. Here’s a nice Q&A about trafficking. https://www.aclu.org/other/human-trafficking-modern-enslavement-immigrant-women-united-states
ii. Here’s another myth-busting post about trafficking https://justiceforimmigrants.org/what-we-are-working-on/anti-trafficking/what-is-human-trafficking/
iii. If you’ve seen that post saying human trafficking arrests under Trump has skyrocketed, here’s a fact check on that. https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2020/aug/12/viral-image/graph-showing-rising-human-trafficking-arrests-und/
iv. An article on how the Trump administration says they want to end trafficking but simultaneously has enacted policies that have made it harder for victims of trafficking to get help. https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/06/20/trumps-human-trafficking-record-is-fake-news/
n. DHS must use its authority to keep dangerous aliens off our streets and to expedite expulsion of criminal aliens
i. gang membership should be a deportable offense
ii. support a mandatory minimum sentence of 5 years for any illegal alien who illegally re-enters our nation after already having been deported
iii. I felt like this whole section was a bit silly. There’s nothing inherently dangerous about being a foreigner. We can say, let’s protect our country and make sure that criminals are held accountable, without acting like all the dangerous criminals are illegal aliens.
o. sanctuary cities violate federal law and “endanger their own citizens”
i. should not be eligible for federal funding
ii. True story, I voted for Tucson to be a sanctuary city. It didn’t go through, but I feel like we should be looking out for people who are desperate.
p. reform guest worker programs to eliminate fraud, improve efficiency, and ensure they serve the national interest
i. we should not continue offering lawful permanent residence to more than one million foreign nationals each year because we have high unemployment rates
q. support the right of states to enact laws deterring illegal aliens from residing within their states
r. Asylum should be limited to cases of political, ethnic, or religious persecution
i. refugees who cannot be carefully vetted cannot be admitted to the country, especially those whose homelands have been the breeding grounds for terrorism.
ii. It’s already insanely difficult to get asylum, and we regularly deny it to people who are desperate and are terrified to return home. https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/research/asylum-united-states
iii. Due to COVID, we’re currently denying asylum to everyone. https://immigrationforum.org/article/fact-sheet-u-s-asylum-process/
iv. I don’t feel like we should deny asylum to people just because they are from a country that “breeds terrorism.” The whole point of people trying to get out is cuz they want to get away from the terrorists too! Of course we should vet carefully, but not to the extent that we are just saying, oh sorry, we can’t help you, there are terrorists in your country, good luck! Refugees are not terrorists. https://www.unhcr.org/cy/wp-content/uploads/sites/41/2015/12/JointStatementUNHCR-Ombudswoman_Dec2015.pdf
v. Info about the US and Refugee admittance https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/10/07/key-facts-about-refugees-to-the-u-s/
vi. Refugees have not been shown to be a risk https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2017/01/trump-immigration-ban-terrorism/514361/
7. Reforming the Treaty System
a. restore treaty system specified by the Constitution
i. President negotiates agreements, submits them to the Senate, with ratification requiring 2/3 vote
b. all international executive agreements and political arrangements entered into by Obama must be deemed null and void
c. we will withdraw from any agreements and arrangements that are not negotiated as treaties and approved by the Senate
8. Internal Revenue Service
a. the agency is toxic
i. employs known tax delinquents, rehires workers previously fired for misconduct, spends user fees without congressional oversight
ii. harasses conservative, pro-life and libertarian organizations with repeated audits and denying tax exempt status
1. They apologized for doing this. It did happen. https://www.npr.org/2017/10/27/560308997/irs-apologizes-for-aggressive-scrutiny-of-conservative-groups
iii. commissioner should be impeached because he has lied, hidden evidence, and stonewalled investigations
1. Some quick info on this. https://www.cnn.com/2014/07/18/politics/irs-scandal-fast-facts/index.html
b. the IRS is constitutionally prohibited from policing or censoring the speech of America’s religious leaders
c. support repeal of the Johnson Amendment
i. here’s what the Johnson Amendment is https://www.npr.org/2017/02/03/513187940/the-johnson-amendment-in-five-questions-and-answers
ii. Trump says he’s repealed it but he really hasn’t. https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2017/jul/18/donald-trump/trump-claims-he-got-rid-johnson-amendment-true/
d. make the federal tax code so simple and easy to understand that the IRS can be abolished
i. Trump did reform the IRS https://www.accountingtoday.com/news/trump-signs-irs-reform-bill-into-law
9. Audit the Pentagon
a. No major part of the Dept of Defense has ever passed an audit
i. The Pentagon has now been audited twice. Here’s what they found. https://www.defensenews.com/pentagon/2019/11/16/the-pentagon-completed-its-second-audit-what-did-it-find/
10. Improving the Federal Workforce
a. Federal employees should not be required to join unions
b. union representatives should not be allowed to engage in union-related activities while on the public’s time
c. call for reduction of government responsibilities
i. public relations budgets are too high
ii. the federal govt spends too much of the people’s money telling the people what they should do.
11. Advancing Term Limits
a. Term limits for members of congress
12. Regulation: the Quiet Tyranny
a. regulators in the economy are exploiting everyone
b. want to make regulations minimally intrusive, confined to their legal mandate, and respectful towards the creation of new and small businesses
c. require approval by both houses of Congress for any rule or regulation that would impose significant costs on the American people
d. Congress should consider a regulatory budget that would cap the costs federal agencies could impose on the economy in a given year
13. Crony Capitalism and Corporate Welfare
a. government uses taxpayer funding and resources to give special advantages to private companies
b. Solyndra debacle
14. Honoring our Relationship with American Indians
a. social and economic problems that plague Indian country have grown worse over the last several decades
b. respect tribal governments as the voice of their communities, encourage federal, state, and local governments to heed those voices in developing programs and partnerships to improve the quality of life for American Indians.
c. economic self-sufficiency is the answer to the problems of Indians
i. tribal communities, not Washington, are best suited to figure out the solution to systemic problems that create poverty and disenfranchisement.
d. Democrats have persistently undermined tribal sovereignty in order to provide advantage to union bosses in the tribal workplace.
e. each tribe has the right of consultation before any new regulatory policy is implemented on tribal land
f. work to expand local autonomy where tribal governments seek it
g. Help American Indians to be more self-sufficient and take care of themselves without the federal government interfering
h. inadequate resources and neglect have allowed criminal activities to plague Indian country
i. legal system in tribal communities must help protect everyone.
i. Support efforts to preserve culture and language of native tribes
i. Seems there’s been some frustrations with how the Trump administration is working with Native American Tribes https://www.politico.com/news/2020/07/03/trump-mount-rushmore-347982
ii. https://www.indianz.com/News/2020/05/06/a-slap-in-the-face-for-indian-country-tr.asp
iii. Some Tribal leaders do like him though. https://www.indianz.com/News/2019/11/27/tribal-leaders-share-statements-about-wh.asp
15. Americans in the Territories
a. Guam, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa, U.S Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico
i. these territories are the outermost line of defense and the gateway to America
ii. we welcome their participation in all aspects of the political process
iii. All unreasonable impediments to their prosperity should be removed, including unreasonable US customs practices.
b. We should develop a commonwealth and territories advisory committee
i. also appoint a Special Assistant to the President responsible for day-to-day interaction with the territories and commonwealths
16. The Territory of Puerto Rico
a. Support admitting them as a state
17. Preserving the District of Columbia
a. D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program (opposed by Democrats)
b. enforce the spirit of the Home Rule Act, assuring minority representation on the City Council
i. council is trying to take over from Congress power of funding for the district.
c. city officials have been denying applications for gun ownership and we want to enact legislation that would allow Washingtonians to own and carry firearms.
d. Statehood for the district can only come by a constitutional amendment, and we don’t support it.
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