Trump's "Connect" with Americans

Donald Trump, leading the GOP field with 25% to the 12% of his nearest rival in the latest Fox News poll, has now released the details of his immigration plan. It gives answers to voter frustration about immigration. He begins with three rock-solid principles, the first of which is a direct quote from Ronald Reagan : (1) A nation without borders is not a nation. There must be a wall across the southern border. (2) A nation without laws is not a nation. Laws passed in accordance with our Constitutional system of government must be enforced. (3) A nation that does not serve its own citizens is not a nation. Any immigration plan must improve jobs, wages and security for all Americans. Trump's plan is proof of the anger Americans feel about the present "governed vs government" crisis that is so deep that these self-evident principles need to be spelled out and are seen as controversial among Democrat leaders and analysts, and the mainstream media, and even some Republicans. ~~~~~ Trump was interviewed on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday, covering key 2016 campaign issues. Critics say that while Trump has been good with snappy one-liners that attack both Republicans and Democrats, he has yet to speak with any depth. His immigration plan was step 1 in answering that criticism. His Meet the Press interview was step 2. On the topic of Iran, Trump told Meet the Press that President Obama did "a lousy job" of negotiating the agreement to control Teheran’s nuclear program, including agreeing to a lifting of sanctions. But unlike other GOP presidential candidates, Trump said he isn't sure he would rescind the agreement as one of his first acts as President. Instead, he said, “I’m good at looking at contracts” and might aggressively “police” the agreement to close the loopholes and assure Iran keeps its end of the bargain in scaling back its nuclear capabilities. On ISIS, Trump said he would "pound" the jihadist terrorist group in Syria and Iraq and strip them of their financial resources by taking back control of Iraq oil fields captured by ISIS. He said he would then use some of the new oil money to assist the “Wounded Warriors” and the families of US veterans of the Iraq War. “ISIS is taking over a lot of the oil and certain areas of Iraq....And I said you take away their wealth, that you go and knock the hell out of the oil, take back the oil...which we should have done in the first place.” On Social Security, Trump said he would favor reform of Social Security to assure its long-term financial footing, but “without the cuts.” Concerning Planned Parenthood, Trump said he is disgusted by the highly controversial videos showing Planned Parenthood officials blithely discussing the sale of fetal tissue and body parts. He said he would cut off funding for PP if it continues to perform abortions. But he said he would “have to think about” whether the issue should precipitate another partial government shutdown, as Senator Ted Cruz and other Republican lawmakers are demanding. He described himself as “pro-life” although he said abortions are justified in cases of rape, incest and threats to the life of the mother. Trump also said he would consider the abortion positions of possible Supreme Court nominees. For his foreign policy analysis and insights, Trump said he watches experts on television - like most other Americans. “I watch the shows,” he said. When asked to name some of the experts he actually talks to, Trump mentioned two : John Bolton, the former US Ambassador to the United Nations under President George W. Bush and retired Army Colonel Jack Jacobs. He said Bolton is a “tough cookie and knows what he’s talking about,” while Jacobs “is a good guy.” Then came immigration, the issue that started the Trump charge and continues to support it. Trump reiterated his hard line in dealing with the 11 million illegal immigrants in the US, saying that he is prepared to support deporting entire families back to their countries of origin, where they can apply for re-entry. He also promised again to build a wall along the US-Mexican border to keep illegal immigrants out of America. He said he would immediately rescind President Obama’s controversial executive orders allowing five million young immigrants and their families to remain in the US without fear of deportation. ~~~~~ Trump came down on the side of Americans on the issues that President Obama has supported in defiance of Americans. For six years, Obama has forced unpopular policies on Americans. He has used lies and misdeeds by unaccountable bureaucrats whom his Attorney General sheltered from the law. His policies have produced six years of zero and weak growth with no real wage improvement, while higher taxes and the cost of Obamacare have increased middle class America's unavoidable expenses. Beginning in Cairo in 2009, Obama has favored America's enemies while abandoning her allies and friends. ~~~~~ The result? The years of the Obama presidency have divided America. Middle class Americans feel marginalized, while Obama champions the problems of gays and transgenders in the military, the marriage of same-gender couples, his perceptions about the shortcomings of US community police forces, and his attention to imprisoned African-Americans. And, while focusing on these unpopular issues, Obama has treated the American majority as if they were his students -- lecturing them and telling them they are accountable for the country’s problems. Obama has suggested that white Christian Americans are racist -- indifferent to the problems of African-Americans and Hispanics. He has told Americans they are unreasonably hostile to Moslems. He has blamed 21st century Americans for the excesses of the Crusades. He has told them that “racism is in our DNA.” ~~~~~ A recent poll shows that 63% of Americans think race relations are worse than a year ago, while 34% think they're better. When Obama took office in 2009, 53% thought race relations were better and 37% thought they were worse. That's a huge change brought about by Obama policies and remarks. America's attitudes about immigration have moved to the right in step with Obama’s insistence that his movement to the left is correct. Last fall, after Obama announced his executive orders granting protection against deportation, a CNN/ORC poll showed 43% of the country “angry” or “displeased” with his proposal, and only 31% “pleased” or “enthusiastic,” while 56% disagreed with Obama using an executive action to change US immigration policy and only 41% favored such a use of executive orders. ~~~~~ Is it any wonder that a new Rasmussen poll shows that 61% of likely voters think the government is not moving in the right direction, while only 29% think it is. At the beginning of Obama’s presidency, the poll was nearly 50-50. The dissatisfaction is about immigration and foreign policy, but also about Common Core, America's infrastructure, the weakened military, unsustainable entitlements programs, a 76,000-page tax code, regulations that halt business growth and jobs, massive cybersecurity breaches and many other issues, including Obama's perceived trashing of the Constitution. ~~~~~ Voters are fed up with their elected leaders, and Donald Trump has responded to that. Republican voters are especially disappointed because in response to Obama’s despised agenda, they elected a GOP Congress, only to see the despised policies continue. Republicans have attacked Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker John Boehner for not standing up to Obama. But the GOP does not have a veto proof majority that would stop Obama's legislation such as Obamacare in its tracks. And, so many of Obama’s policies are implemented by executive action that Congress can only attack through withholding budgets. For these reasons, Trump's plainspeak and non-politician approach to America's problems resonate deeply. ~~~~~ Dear readers, it is far too early to know if Donald Trump's charismatic hold on American voters will last until November 2016. His use of Ronald Reagan's slogan -- “Make America Great Again” -- reminds America that its last great leader was also a Washington outsider who turned America around. Trump makes his points in sweeping patriotic soundbites. He has not yet asked "Are you better off than you were four years ago?" but like Reagan, Trump already knows the answer. America is so much worse off after eight years of Obama that it may take the cold shower wake-up that only Donald Trump can deliver. And, Americans' instincts tell them that the brilliant business mogul has plans ready to kick-start America. That is their great hope and it is Donald Trump's great advantage.