Between 1997 and 2014, more than 5 million U.S. jobs were lost to other nations. We imported 763 billion more dollars worth of goods than we exported last year. There are more than 11.1 million illegal immigrants in our country who take low-skilled jobs away from Americans, can receive benefits without paying taxes and are exploited by employers. Donald Trump has consistently proposed policies that would put America and its citizens first in all its trade, as evidenced by his political interviews from the 1980s to today.
Trump is the one candidate who takes seriously that without enforced borders, there is no country, and without a country, there are no laws to protect liberty. Most criticism of his economic policy only looks at his tax proposal, ignoring GDP growth. But with his deregulation of domestic trade, economic growth would practically offset all his tax cuts, bringing in nearly 2.4 trillion dollars of revenue, decreasing the deficit-to-GDP ratio. Contrast that with Clinton’s plan that would lower GDP by 2.6 percent. Also, Trump’s childcare plan is powered by tax breaks and existing unemployment insurance, helping families without increasing taxes.
It is a shame much of this election season has been fogged with distracting attacks on character. I do not excuse Trump’s personal behavior, but in 1992 86 percent of people didn’t think Bill Clinton’s adulterous affairs affected his presidential credentials, and I agree with them — so why the double standard for Trump? Moreover, all the accusations are only hearsay at this point — it used to be that someone was innocent until proven guilty.
The difference with Hillary is that her immorality has had a public and not just personal effect, being nepotistic, compromising national security and earning voters’ distrust by flipping on many key issues.
For all the jokes about Putin and Trump, what is overlooked is that Putin would see Trump as an equal instead of a pawn in negotiations as he has perceived Obama and Clinton — one of the reasons their joint “reset with Russia” has failed. Additionally, at least 3,000 moderate U.S.-backed Syrian rebels have defected to the IS or al Qaida’s Syrian outpost, and Trump’s plan to double down on the IS and not waste time supporting untrustworthy rebels will speedily restore sound government to Syria.
A voter’s duty is to assess a candidate’s proposals and how well he would execute them, not get hung up on personality. I hope in this election we can all see the forest from the trees.