Recent reports have indicated that Donald Trump’s three major priorities after he assumes the presidency will be to address the issues of immigration, healthcare and job creation. So if he is actually serious, about pursuing that objective, and this guy changes like the wind, then he very likely will face a great impediment blocking the way forward.
What impediment? It’s called the Republican Party which has not had the least inclination to do anything about these issues in the past; and, in fact, it and its leadership have been obstructing every effort in this Congress to do anything constructive in these very important areas of importance. And they have mastered the art of using the filibuster as their primary tool of obstruction.
Combine the word Republican with each of the words immigration, healthcare and jobs and what do we get – oxymorons of the highest order, words that can’t be fitted together no matter what one does.
If Trump believes he can enter the White House and the GOP will simply march to the orders he issues then he better think again. After all, we must remember that the GOP is a large group of control freaks that couldn’t reach common ground with anyone on any issue; it’s their way, which generally leads to nowhere, or no way at all.
Now, Trump is known to be very stubborn and headstrong so it’s only a matter of time before we see these two unbending forces racing toward a head-on collision.
If Trump doesn’t “play ball” the GOP could easily do what it did to Mr. Obama and use every tactic in its arsenal to hold up his agenda until he does. But, then again, Republicans better think twice about doing that because Trump has an ace in the hole to combat any such threat.
If he proposed positive, rational ways to advance these priorities to solve some of this country’s most pressing problems, and the Republicans decided to block them, he would have the Democrats and a very sizable majority of the American people behind him; and if the Republicans continued to pursue their tactics of obstruction they could very well be assuring their future demise.
In the face of such possible obstruction is he going to follow through with an agenda of bringing real change to America as he promised the millions of supporters who elected him? Or will he, at some point, cave into the power of the Republicans who now control all of Congress?
Most of these Trump supporters as well as many other Americans are deeply frustrated and angry and are thirsting for real change. If he doesn’t deliver the goods and follow through on his promises then he will be in deep trouble and they will likely erupt in a massive national rage. He campaigned against the Washington Establishment and he better not even think about becoming a part of it.
What he is going to go through as he assumes the presidency is a living example of what is called a “catch 22”, i.e., a situation from which there is no escape because of mutually conflicting or dependent conditions.
Given this condition, it is highly likely that we are going to see more of the same governmental gridlock and dysfunctionality that has been the case for years.
Yes, this country desperately needs to see the creation of millions of new jobs; it needs to overhaul the health care system and something of substance must be done about our failed immigration system. Our country also has many other critically important needing attention; our deteriorating infrastructure, the need to reduce our great dependence on fossil fuels and the development of alternative energy sources, the student loan dilemma, our lifeless economy and numerous others.
So if Trump bows down to the GOP that list will be ripped up and here’s all the current programs and legislation that will almost certainly come under attack, with many being eliminated: we could well see:
Repeal of Obamacare
Privatization of Social Security
The Consumer Protection Agency dismantled
Dodd-Frank banking regulations repealed
A host of other banking and corporate rules and regulations scrapped
Roe vs. Wade reversed
The EPA, the Dept. of Education and a host of other government functions eliminated
The food stamp program severely reduced or even eliminated
Millions of illegal immigrants, including children born in this country, deported
Muslims living in fear
Our democracy, already on life support and bleeding profusely, would be no more. The rich and powerful Americans and Corporate America will control everything in this country and society. And we will find that we will be living in a full—blown oligarchy.
It looks like Trump is already compromising on his promise to break the control that the Establishment has on Washington. One of the first actions was to name Reince Preibus, the former Republican National Committee Chairman and the leader of the GOP Establishment, as his Chief of Staff; what could be more telling than that?
And watch who he selects for his cabinet heads. Those selections will tell his supporters everything they need to know about what his administration will be about. Should he place more members of the Establishment in these important positions then we might see rioting in the streets across America. It won’t be long until we see the real Trump emerge.
Watching all of this unfold is going to be very stressful, very frightening, and extremely dangerous. Americans have never before seen anything quite like this election and outcome. No matter who prevails in this struggle for power, whether it’s Trump or the GOP, or whether they band together, it’s not difficult to predict that we are entering one of darkest times in this nation’s history, with actions and events taking place that most Americans can’t even begin to imagine.
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