Progressive Democrats Are Far Too Leftist for Americans, Who Prefer Trump's Common Sense Center-Right Policies

Hqppy Valentine's Day, everyone -- may love of family and friends make this day very special for you. • • • In all the furor over President Trump's EO on immigration, we can easily lose sight of the fact that Trump and the GOP-controlled Congress are undoing President Obama’s actions because Obama and his Progressive-Democrats were moving far to the left of America's political policy preferences. • • • AMERICA IS A CENTER-RIGHT NATION. On Tuesday, the widely recognized pollster Douglas Schoen wrote an analysis for Fox News that concludes that for many liberals and Progressives, the weeks since Donald Trump’s inauguration have been filled with soul-searching and even confusion about their place in American politics, largely because the Democrat far-left has reacted to Trump’s "pragmatic" center-right actions by moving even more to the far-left -- mobilizing protesting activists that Schoen calls “The Resistance” -- led by anti-Trump activists, protestors, and Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. However, says Schoen : "America itself remains a fundamentally center-right nation. A fundamental belief in national sovereignty and individual responsibility, married to cautious skepticism of government and deeply held moral convictions, continues to govern how most Americans think about politics." Schoen cites proof for his assertion in the Democrat losses under Obama : "net losses of 11 Senate seats, 62 House seats, and 10 governorships since 2010, as well as nearly 1000 state legislative seats." • While the Democrat Party moves even farther to the Left, believing that such mobilization is the only way they can win back their governing majority in Washington, Schoen thinks this "mobilization" is pushing the party away from the American public, which fundamentally is center-right. The move leftward is based on the priorities and agenda of the East and West Coast Democrat base. As Schoen points out : "fully one third of sitting Democratic congressional leaders hail from New York, California, and Massachusetts." But, recent public polling confirms that Democrat dogmas and liberal litmus tests are way too far to the left of American voters, who remain center-right on issues ranging from immigration to tax policy to abortion. • Here are pollster Schoen's survey proofs : (1) A January 2017 Politico-Harvard Poll found that 57% of the general public believes that unauthorized immigrants currently in the United States are a serious problem, echoing a key Trump concern. And, 50% of Americans support banning future immigration from regions with active terrorist groups, as Trump has attempted to do with his recent controversial executive order. (2) The Politico-Harvard poll also found that when it comes to tax policy, 63% of Americans believe that lowering corporate taxes would be effective at bringing jobs and business back to the United States, and 53% believe that proposed Republican cuts in federal income taxes, which Democrats have pledged to resist, will benefit them personally. (3) A January 2017 Knights of Columbus/Marist Poll shows the unambiguous center-right cultural and moral character of the electorate -- 74% of Americans, including 77% of women, support limiting abortion to at least the first trimester, and 59% of the American public, including 59% of women, believe abortion is morally wrong. • Yet, notes Schoen, Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards was a featured speaker at the 2016 Democratic National Convention. Abortion also represents a key policy area where liberal efforts to organize mass protests like the numerous “women’s marches” on January 21 "may actually do more to divide women and drive voters to the Republican Party, rather than unite people around any particular cause." Schoen's advice to the Democrat Party is to move toward the center, not farther to the left : "Looking forward, Republicans are poised to leverage the Democrats’ failure to perceive the political character of the nation, and make considerable gains in the 2018 midterm elections. In fact, of the 33 Senate seats up for election in 2018, Democrats must defend 23 seats, whereas Republicans only need to defend 8 seats. The remaining two Senators up for re-election are Independents Bernie Sanders and Angus King, who caucus with the Democratic Party. Democratic incumbents in states that Trump won in 2016, like Senators Joe Donnelly of Indiana, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Claire McCaskill of Missouri, and Jon Tester of Montana, are at the highest risks of losing their seats....if these Trump-state Democrats fail to find opportunities to cooperate with Trump, or at least position themselves as centrists congruent with their constituents’ beliefs, they will lose to a more canny Republican candidate in the general election and increase the likelihood that Trump gains a filibuster-proof Senate." • • • TRUMP REPRESENTS THE AMERICAN CENTER-RIGHT. While the Progressive-Democrats and the more moderate-left wing of the Democrat Party fight over its future, Trump is forging a Republican "red wall,"solidifying America’s status as a center-right nation. • • • THE TRUMP ENERGY POLICY. One of the best examples of this is President Trump's energy and related climate change policy, a developing major shift that affects the world. In the three short weeks since Trump’s inauguration, the President has issued memos to approve the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines, both of which were blocked by Obama, who said he was acting in part because of his concerns about how they would contribute to climate change. Trump has also used another executive order to limit regulations, while the House has passed four measures under the Congressional Review Act to unwind Obama-era rules on energy. Two of those measures have also passed the Senate. • Energy has emerged as an area in which Trump and congressional Republicans agree, and their actions have proven to energy companies and climate change activists that Trump and the GOP Congress are serious about implementing a big change in how the United States deals with policy questions related to global warming. Senator Steve Daines of Montana, in a statement that represents the American center-right, says : "I think we’re off to a great start.” Daines, a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee who consistently complained that Obama tried to stop the development of coal, oil and natural gas due to climate change concerns, added : “The shift is moving toward a commonsense energy policy. President Obama’s energy policies did not make sense. President Trump is putting forward a commonsense, all-of-the-above plan which will encourage more made-in-America energy.” • On the Progressive Democrat side, Senator Brian Schatz, a Hawaii Democrat and outspoken climate change activist, said Trump and his allies have been “every bit as bad as people had feared. You can’t make this stuff up. It sounds like it’s out of a bad movie about politics.” Schatz, leaning far to the left to exaggerate the effect of the new policy actions, noted that two of the measures passed by Congress eliminate requirements that energy companies disclose the payments they make to foreign governments for energy production and repeal a rule meant to protect streams from coal mining waste. • Obama made fighting climate change a second-term priority. He used unilateral executive actions, such as his Clean Power Plan rules limiting carbon dioxide emissions from power plants and imposing limits on methane emissions from oil and natural gas drilling, that pushed coal-producing states like West Virginia and Kentucky firmly into the Trump camp. Obama also helped negotiate the Paris climate agreement, in which nearly 200 nations agreed to limit their greenhouse gas emissions, and he blocked federal permits that the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines needed. • During his campaign, Trump promised to reverse many of these Obama policies. He has chosen pro-fossil fuel officials to lead key agencies -- former Exxon Mobil Corp. CEO Rex Tillerson for Secretary of State, Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt for Environmental Protection Agency Administrator, former Texas Governor Rick Perry for Energy Secretary, and Representative Ryan Zinke for Interior Secretary. House Republicans are preparing to overhaul how the EPA uses science as part of the effort to roll back what they see as unjustifiable regulations. Tom Pyle, president of the conservative-leaning Institute for Energy Research, and who was a member of Trump's transition team at the Energy Department, said Trump is likely to implement even more campaign promises soon : “The key will be getting an energy and environment team in place, and that includes the White House. And once the Senate Democrats get through their process of getting over the fact that they lost and letting these guys get in place and begin to implement the President’s agenda, there’s going to be much more activity.” • But, the leftist conservationist Sierra Club's climate program director says the Club is preparing for more action from Trump : “Trump and the GOP Congress have made it crystal clear that clean air, clean water and public health are public enemy No. 1 in America so long as they control our federal government. Trump and the GOP have many more terrible plans in store for our environment and public health safeguards, but the good news is that states, cities, and companies across the country are moving ahead toward an economy powered by clean energy regardless.” [Note that, despite the Sierra Club misinformation, Trump has consistently included clean energy as part of his policy statements.] • • • THE FUTURE OF ENERGY UNDER PRESIDENT TRUMP. What the far-left Prog-Dems refuse to acknowledge is that President Trump is turning America into a global energy leader. After Obama-created declines in US energy output, worsened by a sustained slump in oil prices, the US oil and gas industry is now staging a comeback. While the leftist climate change elites attack Trump’s “America First” energy plan, an objective look shows that not only is the policy a boon for the industry and in sync with the American center-right majority, it will actually help Washington build stronger bridges with other countries. The Keystone XL pipeline was enthusiastically welcomed in Canada, where Obama’s energy policies and rejection of the Keystone XL pipeline, had badly damaged bilateral relations. Even Liberal Canadian PM Trudeau has expressed strong support of Trump’s decision, which he says will provide jobs and a much-needed economic boost for Canadians. • But let’s not forget that Trump's “America First” policy will also deliver a blow to China, which will be shut out of the US energy market. During the last 15 years, Chinese companies were allowed to invest $7.4 billion in Texas, most of which was spent in the oil and gas industry. One Chinese investment firm spent $1.3 billion on Texan oil fields in 2015 alone. Thanks to Trump, the Chinese push to penetrate the American oil industry and compromise US energy security will no longer be that easy, as Trump has taken a hard line against China’s encroachment. Add to this Trump's threat of hitting the Chinese with a 45% import tariff and speaking out on Beijing’s currency manipulation, and China’s US energy plans will be greatly reduced before more damage is done. With the Saudis reaching out to the US, Washington has very little to lose from a potential shift in Chinese investment. • • • DEAR READERS, it's true that President Trump is redrawing the global energy market, and as energy prices recover and the administration rolls out its fossil-fuel-friendly packages, the momentum will be positive and far-reaching. For the US, as well as for much of the world, this will be a huge positive. • But, as with most of Donald Trump's programs to improve the lives of Americans and others around the world, it is lost in a media blitz meant to belittle him and destroy his center-right programs either with fake news or silence. Here, for example, is the Trump White House Energy Policy. You have probably never heard of it, but it is posted on the White House website, along with a lot of other news that show how positive President Trump's goals are. Note at the end of Trump's Emergy Policy, that the environment is not forgotten but placed in its rightful position as a high but not totally overriding priority. • "An America First Energy Plan. Energy is an essential part of American life and a staple of the world economy. The Trump administration is committed to energy policies that lower costs for hardworking Americans and maximize the use of American resources, freeing us from dependence on foreign oil. For too long, we’ve been held back by burdensome regulations on our energy industry. President Trump is committed to eliminating harmful and unnecessary policies such as the Climate Action Plan and the Waters of the US rule. Lifting these restrictions will greatly help American workers, increasing wages by more than $30 billion over the next 7 years. Sound energy policy begins with the recognition that we have vast untapped domestic energy reserves right here in America. The Trump Administration will embrace the shale oil and gas revolution to bring jobs and prosperity to millions of Americans. We must take advantage of the estimated $50 trillion in untapped shale, oil, and natural gas reserves, especially those on federal lands that the American people own. We will use the revenues from energy production to rebuild our roads, schools, bridges and public infrastructure. Less expensive energy will be a big boost to American agriculture, as well. The Trump Administration is also committed to clean coal technology, and to reviving America’s coal industry, which has been hurting for too long. In addition to being good for our economy, boosting domestic energy production is in America’s national security interest. President Trump is committed to achieving energy independence from the OPEC cartel and any nations hostile to our interests. At the same time, we will work with our Gulf allies to develop a positive energy relationship as part of our anti-terrorism strategy. Lastly, our need for energy must go hand-in-hand with responsible stewardship of the environment. Protecting clean air and clean water, conserving our natural habitats, and preserving our natural reserves and resources will remain a high priority. President Trump will refocus the EPA on its essential mission of protecting our air and water. A brighter future depends on energy policies that stimulate our economy, ensure our security, and protect our health. Under the Trump Administration’s energy policies, that future can become a reality." • There is nothing "radical" or "extremist" of "dangerious" about the Trump Energy Policy. It is the straightforward center-right policy that has guided America's energy industry for the past 100 years. And, Democrats cannot win back power by moving to the far left, resisting Trump at every move, and taking to the streets, especially on an issue so critically important for US industrial growth, jobs, and self-sufficiency as energy. To put it simply, the Democrat Party is on life support and there is a quiet, but ruthless internal war being fought over its future. But, Trump and the GOP have seized the future -- it is in the center-right where American "common sense" reigns.