Our Sad News Media

 

Our Sad News Media

 If it were not for the old Aussie’s Fox News and the New York and Connecticut brahmin’s National Review, (and few other conservative/libertarian outlets), that report actual news, we would never know what’s really happening in our country.

 The left-wing propaganda-laden mainstream media, either does mot report what’s happening, or distorts it, so as to be unrecognizable.  Recent examples are withholding and obfuscating news concerning Hunter Biden’s incriminating laptop, and the withholding news of vaccine success to affect the 2020 election, and the scant mention of the current border situation where additional undocumented aliens under Biden, will approach 2 million in 2021, and who are inundating Del Rio, Texas with 10-12,000 people each day.

 ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, NYT, WaPo, only report news that is favorable to the Biden cabal, just as they only carried news detrimental to President Trump, when he was in office.  Just do a spot check and compare their coverage to that of Fox, National Review, the Wall street Journal and the NY Post any given day to see how deep the propaganda of the left omits or distorts the news.

 Biden’s catastrophic retreat and surrender in Afghanistan?  Maybe it was there on page 24 for a day or so, - Then , poof! – replaced with some Biden human interest story.

 This is a sad pass for our vaunted “free press”, and is not at all acknowledged by the left-wing media, who give themselves Pulitzer prizes for discredited news about President Trump’s collusion with Russia.  If called on their dishonesty, there are cries of “right-winger” and “insurrectionist”, or worse.  The leftist media are so engrossed in their own dishonest propaganda, that they don’t even know how missing or twisted or dishonest is the news they feed like pablum to the masses.

  As I say, if it were not for a few genuine news outlets that are not part of the propaganda filled mainstream media, we would never know what’s really going on in the world.

 Ray Gruszecki

September 20, 2021

ONLY GOD KNOWS....

 

ONLY GOD KNOWS....

Author unknown

"Men, like nations, think they're eternal. What man in his 20s or 30s doesn't believe, at least subconsciously, that he'll live forever In the springtime of youth, an endless summer beckons. As you pass 70, it's harder to hide from reality.

Nations also have seasons: Imagine a Roman of the 2nd century contemplating an empire that stretched from Britain to the Near East, thinking: This will endure forever.. Forever was about 500 years, give or take.

France was pivotal in the 17th and 18th centuries; now the land of Charles Martel is on its way to becoming part of the Muslim ummah.

In the 19th and early 20th centuries, the sun never set on the British empire; now Albion exists in a perpetual twilight. Its 95-year-old sovereign is a fitting symbol for a nation in terminal decline.

In the 1980s, Japan seemed poised to buy the world. Business schools taught Japanese management techniques. Today, its birth rate is so low and its population aging so rapidly that an industry has sprung up to remove the remains of elderly Japanese who die alone.

I was born in 1942, almost at the midpoint of the 20th century - the American century. America's prestige and influence were never greater. Thanks to the 'Greatest Generation,' we won a World War fought throughout most of Europe, Asia and the Pacific. We reduced Germany to rubble and put the rising sun to bed. It set the stage for almost half a century of unprecedented prosperity.

We stopped the spread of communism in Europe and Asia, and fought international terrorism. We rebuilt our enemies and lavished foreign aid on much of the world. We built skyscrapers and rockets to the moon. We conquered Polio and now COVID. We explored the mysteries of the Universe and the wonders of DNA.. the blueprint of life.

But where is the glory that once was Rome? America has moved from a relatively free economy to socialism - which has worked so well NOWHERE in the world.

We've gone from a republican government guided by a constitution to a regime of revolving elites. We have less freedom with each passing year, becoming more and more dependent upon a gov't which can never provide for us. Like a signpost to the coming reign of terror, the cancel culture is everywhere. We've traded the American Revolution for the Cultural Revolution.

The pathetic creature in the White House is an empty vessel filled by his handlers. At the G-7 Summit, 'Dr. Jill' had to lead him like a child. In 1961, when we were young and vigorous, our leader was too. Now a feeble nation is technically led by the oldest man to ever serve in the presidency.

We can't defend our borders, our history (including monuments to past greatness) or our streets. Our cities have become anarchist playgrounds. We are a nation of dependents, mendicants, and misplaced charity. Homeless veterans camp in the streets while illegal aliens are put up in hotels.

The president of the United States can't even quote the beginning of the Declaration of Independence ('You know - The Thing') correctly. Ivy League graduates routinely fail history tests that 5th graders could pass a generation ago. Crime rates soar and we blame the 2nd. Amendment and slash police budgets.

Our culture is certifiably insane. Men who think they're women. People who fight racism by seeking to convince members of one race that they're inherently evil, and others that they are perpetual victims. A psychiatrist lecturing at Yale said she fantasizes about 'unloading a revolver into the head of any white person.'

We slaughter the unborn in the name of freedom, while our birth rate dips lower year by year. Our national debt is so high that we can no longer even pretend that we will repay it one day. It's a $28-trillion monument to our improvidence and refusal to confront reality. Our 'entertainment' is sadistic, nihilistic and as enduring as a candy bar wrapper thrown in the trash. Our music is noise that spans the spectrum from annoying to repulsive.

Patriotism is called insurrection, treason celebrated, and perversion sanctified. A man in blue gets less respect than a man in a dress. We're asking soldiers to fight for a nation our leaders no longer believe in.

How meekly most of us submitted to Fauci-ism (the regime of face masks, lockdowns and hand sanitizers) shows the impending death of the American spirit.

How do nations slip from greatness to obscurity?

Fighting endless wars they can't or won't win • Accumulating massive debt far beyond their ability to repay • Refusing to guard their borders, allowing the nation to be inundated by an alien horde. Surrendering control of their cities to mob rule Allowing indoctrination of the young. Moving from a republican form of government to an oligarchy. Losing national identity. Indulging indolence. Abandoning faith and family - the bulwarks of social order.

In America, every one of these symptoms is pronounced, indicating an advanced stage of the disease.

Even if the cause seems hopeless, do we not have an obligation to those who sacrificed so much to give us what we had? I'm surrounded by ghosts urging me on: the Union soldiers who held Cemetery Ridge at Gettysburg, the battered bastards of Bastogne, those who served in the cold hell of Korea, the guys who went to the jungles of Southeast Asia and came home to be reviled or neglected.

This is the nation that took in my immigrant grandparents, whose uniform my father and most of my uncles wore in the Second World War. I don't want to imagine a world without America, even though it becomes increasingly likely.

During Britain's darkest hour, when its professional army was trapped at Dunkirk and a German invasion seemed imminent, Churchill reminded his countrymen, 'Nations that go down fighting rise again, and those that surrender tamely are finished.'

The same might be said of causes. If we let America slip through our fingers, if we lose without a fight, what will posterity say of us?

While the prognosis is far from good, only God knows if America's day in the sun is over."

A Look at President Trump vs. Marxist Biden

 

A Look at President Trump vs. Marxist Biden

 Unfortunately, much of the American public, fed continuous misinformation by the lying mainstream media, thought that President Trump was either a Russian agent, or mentally deranged and on the verge of plunging the country into a catastrophic nuclear war.  This was the perception wrought by the left, and burnished by the biased media. To be honest, this was exacerbated by Trump’s own angry responses to the unwarranted and continued persecution of a duly elected president.

 The 2020 “election” of Joe Biden is reminiscent of the most corrupt of banana republics, with not only unconstitutional finagling of swing state election rules, but also blatant anecdotal manipulation of ballots.  And all of this “swept under the rug” by the Marxists that have co-opted our government.  “Look at this shiny object instead”, they say, calling the demonstrations at the capitol on January 6, an “insurrection”, while military leaders committed treason by bypassing the chain of command and warning China about a “deranged” commander in chief.

 President Trump’s input into running this country, for all of his personal foibles, was that of a corporate executive striving for the best possible outcomes for his country.  Some worked, and some did not and were changed, but he was always striving for a better result.

 Does anyone remember, (particularly you Biden voters), living in a country where free enterprise and our federalist system prevailed, rather than a oligarchic, Marxist emerging dictatorship? Remember a stable southern border?  How about zero inflation? Or law and order in our cities?  Or a record pre-Covid economy, and a fast recovering economy after the Covid shutdowns?  Or the nine-month warp speed development of life saving vaccines? 

 Or how about the following long list of President Trump’s accomplishments half way through his term.  Unfortunately, the Covid pandemic, Marxist movements fomenting anarchy after George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis and a massive Marxist inspired, media and big tech election campaign of lies and withheld news against him, ostensibly led to the incompetent and senile Biden being “elected”, out of his basement.

 Contrast what President Trump, the most persecuted president in American history accomplished in two years, to Biden’s puerile attempts at the presidency, which has plunged the country into an ever-worsening Marxist dystopia, with everything that Biden touches turning to crap.

 

 The Biden Stains

 Bumbling Grandpa Joe and his amateurish administration are a stain on our country in more ways than one, by fouling up nearly everything that they touch.

 They are a stain on the integrity of our country, by effectively erasing our southern border, and allowing entry of illegal aliens, infected with Covid, and trafficking drugs, including fentanyl, and children and sex slaves, into the country.

 They are a stain on our democrat-run, crime ridden, cities, by having encouraged defunding the police, and “catch and release”, instead of prosecution for crimes.

 They are a stain on our liberty and freedom by their oligarchic rush toward a one-party, totalitarian government. 

 They are a stain on our educational system, by trying to inculcate our youth with Marxist principles and the racism implicit in “critical race theory” and “wokeness”. 

 They are a stain on our society by their promotion of political correctness, “wokeness” and cancel culture.

 The Biden crime family, and particularly Hunter Biden, glossed over by the biased media and big tech, are a stain on our one-sided system of justice.

 The biggest stain on our foreign policy is Biden’s precipitous withdrawal, in disgrace from Afghanistan, leaving the recently educated girls and women of that country to the predations of the repressive sixth century Taliban.

 Another stain is on our energy industry, which was independent of foreign oil before Biden, with Biden now begging OPEC to increase production and lower prices, after shutting down pipelines and exploration in the U.S.

 Then there is the stain of inflation caused by the profligate socialist spending of upwards of $6 trillion by the Biden Marxist government will haunt our country into the foreseeable future.

 Whether some of these stains can be mitigated by voting the Marxists out in 2022 is debatable.  Once in power, even by very slim margins, unscrupulous Marxist democrat operators have shown that they can affect a presidential election by flipping republican states like Georgia, and manipulating other swing states.  These Marxist operatives are Machiavellian and ruthless in their quest for totalitarian power.

  

Contrast President Trump

Written in October, 2018 by Paul Bedard, Washington Columnist

 “As Trump nears the two-year mark of his historic election and conducts political rallies around the country, during which he talks up his wins in hopes it will energize Republican voters, the administration has counted up 289 accomplishments in 18 categories, capped by the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.

 They include 173 major wins, such as adding more than 4 million jobs, and another 116 smaller victories, some with outsize importance, such as the 83 percent one-year increase in arrests of MS-13 gang members.

 “Trump’s successes in reducing the cost of taxes and regulations, rebuilding our military, avoiding wars of choice and changing the courts rival those of all previous Republican presidents,” said Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform.

 For example, while the Year One list bragged about the administration’s efforts to rewrite the much-maligned NAFTA trade deal with Canada and Mexico, the Year Two list said: “Negotiated an historic U.S.-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement to replace NAFTA.”

 And shockingly the NAFTA achievement is presented as a sidebar to the larger achievement that reads, “President Trump is negotiating and renegotiating better trade deals, achieving free, fair, and reciprocal trade for the United States.” Under that umbrella are eight trade deals cut with Japan, South Korea, Europe and China.

 “President Trump is a truly unique leader in American history. He’s a kid from Queens who became an international business leader and made billions by getting things when no one said he could,” said Trump’s 2016 campaign pollster John McLaughlin.

 “They told him he couldn’t be president and beat the establishment and he did. For two years the establishment is telling him he can’t do things in Washington and he’s succeeding in spite of them. He never retreats. He doesn’t back up. He’s relentless. He just wins,” he added.

 Comparing the two years shows that the latest has an expanded group of economic achievements while the pro-life category was folded into the health care section.

 Along the way, there have been some disappointments, such as failing to replace Obamacare, fund a big infrastructure plan, and build the border wall.

 But the White House believes that despite a lack of media coverage of his accomplishments, supporters know about them and will head to the voting polls to help the GOP maintain control of the House and keep the president on what CNN dubbed a “winning streak.”

 In the Washington Post Friday, former Bush speechwriter and columnist Marc Thiessen agreed and said that Trump has proven to be successful at keeping his campaign promises. He wrote, “The fact is, in his first two years, Trump has compiled a remarkable record of presidential promise-keeping.”

 The list:

Economic Growth

4.2 percent growth in the second quarter of 2018.

For the first time in more than a decade, growth is projected to exceed 3 percent over the calendar year.

 

Jobs

4 million new jobs have been created since the election, and more than 3.5 million since Trump took office.

More Americans are employed now than ever before in our history.

Jobless claims at lowest level in nearly five decades.

The economy has achieved the longest positive job-growth streak on record.

Job openings are at an all-time high and outnumber job seekers for the first time on record.

Unemployment claims at 50 year low

African-American, Hispanic, and Asian-American unemployment rates have all recently reached record lows.

African-American unemployment hit a record low of 5.9 percent in May 2018.

Hispanic unemployment at 4.5 percent.

Asian-American unemployment at record low of 2 percent.

Women’s unemployment recently at lowest rate in nearly 65 years.

Female unemployment dropped to 3.6 percent in May 2018, the lowest since October 1953.

Youth unemployment recently reached its lowest level in more than 50 years.

July 2018’s youth unemployment rate of 9.2 percent was the lowest since July 1966.

Veterans’ unemployment recently hit its lowest level in nearly two decades.

July 2018’s veterans’ unemployment rate of 3.0 percent matched the lowest rate since May 2001.

Unemployment rate for Americans without a high school diploma recently reached a record low.

Rate for disabled Americans recently hit a record low.

Blue-collar jobs recently grew at the fastest rate in more than three decades.

Poll found that 85 percent of blue-collar workers believe their lives are headed “in the right direction.”

68 percent reported receiving a pay increase in the past year.

Last year, job satisfaction among American workers hit its highest level since 2005.

Nearly two-thirds of Americans rate now as a good time to find a quality job.

Optimism about the availability of good jobs has grown by 25 percent.

Added more than 400,000 manufacturing jobs since the election.

Manufacturing employment is growing at its fastest pace in more than two decades.

100,000 new jobs supporting the production & transport of oil & natural gas.

 

American Income

Median household income rose to $61,372 in 2017, a post-recession high.

Wages up in August by their fastest rate since June 2009.

Paychecks rose by 3.3 percent between 2016 and 2017, the most in a decade.

Council of Economic Advisers found that real wage compensation has grown by 1.4 percent over the past year.

Some 3.9 million Americans off food stamps since the election.

Median income for Hispanic-Americans rose by 3.7 percent and surpassed $50,000 for the first time ever in history.

Home-ownership among Hispanics is at the highest rate in nearly a decade.

Poverty rates for African-Americans and Hispanic-Americans have reached their lowest levels ever recorded.

 

American Optimism

Small business optimism has hit historic highs.

NFIB’s small business optimism index broke a 35 year-old record in August.

SurveyMonkey/CNBC’s small business confidence survey for Q3 of 2018 matched its all-time high.

Manufacturers are more confident than ever.

95 percent of U.S. manufacturers are optimistic about the future, the highest ever.

Consumer confidence is at an 18-year high.

12 percent of Americans rate the economy as the most significant problem facing our country, the lowest level on record.

Confidence in the economy is near a two-decade high, with 51 percent rating the economy as good or excellent.

 

American Business

Investment is flooding back into the United States due to the tax cuts.

Over $450 billion dollars has already poured back into the U.S., including more than $300 billion in the first quarter of 2018.

Retail sales have surged. Commerce Department figures from August show that retail sales increased 0.5 percent in July 2018, an increase of 6.4 percent from July 2017.

ISM’s index of manufacturing scored its highest reading in 14 years.

Worker productivity is the highest it has been in more than three years.

Steel and aluminum producers are re-opening.

Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500, and NASDAQ have all notched record highs.

Dow hit record highs 70 times in 2017 alone, the most ever recorded in one year.

 

Deregulation

Achieved massive deregulation at a rapid pace, completing 22 deregulatory actions to every one regulatory action during his first year in office.

Signed legislation to roll back costly and harmful provisions of Dodd-Frank, providing relief to credit unions, and community and regional banks.

Federal agencies achieved more than $8 billion in lifetime net regulatory cost savings.

Rolled back Obama’s burdensome Waters of the U.S. rule.

Used the Congressional Review Act to repeal regulations more times than in history.

 

Tax Cuts

Biggest tax cuts and reforms in American history by signing the Tax Cuts and Jobs act into law

Provided more than $5.5 trillion in gross tax cuts, nearly 60 percent of which will go to families.

Increased the exemption for the death tax to help save Family Farms & Small Business.

Nearly doubled the standard deduction for individuals and families.

Enabled vast majority of American families will be able to file their taxes on a single page by claiming the standard deduction.

Doubled the child tax credit to help lessen the financial burden of raising a family.

Lowered America’s corporate tax rate from the highest in the developed world to allow American businesses to compete and win.

Small businesses can now deduct 20 percent of their business income.

Cut dozens of special interest tax breaks and closed loopholes for the wealthy.

9 in 10 American workers are expected see an increase in their paychecks thanks to the tax cuts, according to the Treasury Department.

More than 6 million of American workers have received wage increases, bonuses, and increased benefits thanks to tax cuts.

Over 100 utility companies have lowered electric, gas, or water rates thanks to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

Ernst & Young found 89 percent of companies planned to increase worker compensation thanks to the Trump tax cuts.

Established opportunity zones to spur investment in left behind communities.

 

Worker Development

Established a National Council for the American Worker to develop a national strategy for training and retraining America’s workers for high-demand industries.

Employers have signed Trump’s “Pledge to America’s Workers,” committing to train or retrain more than 4.2 million workers and students.

Signed the first Perkins CTE reauthorization since 2006, authorizing more than $1 billion for states each year to fund vocational and career education programs.

Executive order expanding apprenticeship opportunities for students and workers.

 

Domestic Infrastructure

Proposed infrastructure plan would utilize $200 billion in Federal funds to spur at least $1.5 trillion in infrastructure investment across the country.

Executive order expediting environmental reviews and approvals for high priority infrastructure projects.

Federal agencies have signed the One Federal Decision Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) streamlining the federal permitting process for infrastructure projects.

Rural prosperity task force and signed an executive order to help expand broadband access in rural areas.

 

Health Care

Signed an executive order to help minimize the financial burden felt by American households Signed legislation to improve the National Suicide Hotline.

Signed the most comprehensive childhood cancer legislation ever into law, which will advance childhood cancer research and improve treatments.

Signed Right-to-Try legislation, expanding health care options for terminally ill patients.

Enacted changes to the Medicare 340B program, saving seniors an estimated $320 million on drugs in 2018 alone.

FDA set a new record for generic drug approvals in 2017, saving consumers nearly $9 billion.

Released a blueprint to drive down drug prices for American patients, leading multiple major drug companies to announce they will freeze or reverse price increases.

Expanded short-term, limited-duration health plans.

Let more employers to form Association Health Plans, enabling more small businesses to join together and affordably provide health insurance to their employees.

Cut Obamacare’s burdensome individual mandate penalty.

Signed legislation repealing Obamacare’s Independent Payment Advisory Board, also known as the “death panels.”

USDA invested more than $1 billion in rural health care in 2017, improving access to health care for 2.5 million people in rural communities across 41 states

Proposed Title X rule to help ensure taxpayers do not fund the abortion industry in violation of the law.

Reinstated and expanded the Mexico City Policy to keep foreign aid from supporting the global abortion industry.

HHS formed a new division over protecting the rights of conscience and religious freedom.

Overturned Obama administration’s midnight regulation prohibiting states from defunding certain abortion facilities.

Signed executive order to help ensure that religious organizations are not forced to choose between violating their religious beliefs by complying with Obamacare’s contraceptive mandate or shutting their doors.

 

Combating Opioids

Chaired meeting the 73rd General Session of the United Nations discussing the worldwide drug problem with international leaders.

Initiative to Stop Opioid Abuse and Reduce Drug Supply and Demand, introducing new measures to keep dangerous drugs out of our communities.

$6 billion in new funding to fight the opioid epidemic.

DEA conducted a surge in April 2018 that arrested 28 medical professions and revoked 147 registrations for prescribing too many opioids.

Brought the “Prescribed to Death” memorial to President’s Park near the White House, helping raise awareness about the human toll of the opioid crisis.

Helped reduce high-dose opioid prescriptions by 16 percent in 2017.

Opioid Summit on the administration-wide efforts to combat the opioid crisis.

Launched a national public awareness campaign about the dangers of opioid addiction.

Created a Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis which recommended a number of pathways to tackle the opioid crisis.

Led two National Prescription Drug Take Back Days in 2017 and 2018, collecting a record number of expired and unneeded prescription drugs each time.

$485 million targeted grants in FY 2017 to help areas hit hardest by the opioid crisis.

Signed INTERDICT Act, strengthening efforts to detect and intercept synthetic opioids before they reach our communities.

DOJ secured its first-ever indictments against Chinese fentanyl manufacturers.

Joint Criminal Opioid Darknet Enforcement (J-CODE) team, aimed at disrupting online illicit opioid sales.

Declared the opioid crisis a Nationwide Public Health Emergency in October 2017.

 

Law and Order

More U.S. Circuit Court judges confirmed in the first year in office than ever.

Confirmed more than two dozen U. S. Circuit Court judges.

Followed through on the promise to nominate judges to the Supreme Court who will adhere to the Constitution

Nominated and confirmed Justice Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.

Signed an executive order directing the Attorney General to develop a strategy to more effectively prosecute people who commit crimes against law enforcement officers.

Launched an evaluation of grant programs to make sure they prioritize the protection and safety of law enforcement officers.

Established a task force to reduce crime and restore public safety in communities across Signed an executive order to focus more federal resources on dismantling transnational criminal organizations such as drug cartels.

Signed an executive order to focus more federal resources on dismantling transnational criminal organizations such as drug cartels.

Violent crime decreased in 2017 according to FBI statistics.

$137 million in grants through the COPS Hiring Program to preserve jobs, increase community policing capacities, and support crime prevention efforts.

Enhanced and updated the Project Safe Neighborhoods to help reduce violent crime.

Signed legislation making it easier to target websites that enable sex trafficking and strengthened penalties for people who promote or facilitate prostitution.

Created an interagency task force working around the clock to prosecute traffickers, protect victims, and prevent human trafficking.

Conducted Operation Cross Country XI to combat human trafficking, rescuing 84 children and arresting 120 human traffickers.

Encouraged federal prosecutors to use the death penalty when possible in the fight against the trafficking of deadly drugs.

New rule effectively banning bump stock sales in the United States.

 

Border Security and Immigration

Secured $1.6 billion for border wall construction in the March 2018 omnibus bill.

Construction of a 14-mile section of border wall began near San Diego.

Worked to protect American communities from the threat posed by the vile MS-13 gang.

ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations division arrested 796 MS-13 members and associates in FY 2017, an 83 percent increase from the prior year.

Justice worked with partners in Central America to secure criminal charges against more than 4,000 MS-13 members.

Border Patrol agents arrested 228 illegal aliens affiliated with MS-13 in FY 2017.

Fighting to stop the scourge of illegal drugs at our border.

ICE HSI seized more than 980,000 pounds of narcotics in FY 2017, including 2,370 pounds of fentanyl and 6,967 pounds of heroin.

ICE HSI dedicated nearly 630,000 investigative hours towards halting the illegal import of fentanyl.

ICE HSI made 11,691 narcotics-related arrests in FY 2017.

Stop Opioid Abuse and Reduce Drug Supply and Demand introduced new measures to keep dangerous drugs out the United States.

Signed the INTERDICT Act into law, enhancing efforts to detect and intercept synthetic opioids.

DOJ secured its first-ever indictments against Chinese fentanyl manufacturers.

DOJ launched their Joint Criminal Opioid Darknet Enforcement (J-CODE) team, aimed at disrupting online illicit opioid sales.

Released an immigration framework that includes the resources required to secure our borders and close legal loopholes, and repeatedly called on Congress to fix our broken immigration laws.

Authorized the deployment of the National Guard to help secure the border.

Enhanced vetting of individuals entering the U.S. from countries that don’t meet security standards, helping to ensure individuals who pose a threat to our country are identified before they enter.

These procedures were upheld in a June 2018 Supreme Court hearing.

ICE removed over 226,000 illegal aliens from the United States in 2017.

ICE rescued or identified over 500 human trafficking victims and over 900 child exploitation victims in 2017 alone.

In 2017, ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) arrested more than 127,000 aliens with criminal convictions or charges, responsible for

Over 76,000 with dangerous drug offenses.

More than 48,000 with assault offenses.

More than 11,000 with weapons offenses.

More than 5,000 with sexual assault offenses.

More than 2,000 with kidnapping offenses.

Over 1,800 with homicide offenses.

Created the Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement (VOICE) Office in order to support the victims and families affected by illegal alien crime.

More than doubled the number of counties participating in the 287(g) program, which allows jails to detain criminal aliens until they are transferred to ICE custody.

 

Trade

Negotiating and renegotiating better trade deals, achieving free, fair, and reciprocal trade for the United States.

Agreed to work with the European Union towards zero tariffs, zero non-tariff barriers, and zero subsides.

Deal with the European Union to increase U.S. energy exports to Europe.

Litigated multiple WTO disputes targeting unfair trade practices and upholding our right to enact fair trade laws.

Finalized a revised trade agreement with South Korea, which includes provisions to increase American automobile exports.

Negotiated an historic U.S.-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement to replace NAFTA.

Agreement to begin trade negotiations for a U.S.-Japan trade agreement.

Secured $250 billion in new trade and investment deals in China and $12 billion in Vietnam.

Established a Trade and Investment Working Group with the United Kingdom, laying the groundwork for post-Brexit trade.

Enacted steel and aluminum tariffs to protect our vital steel and aluminum producers and strengthen our national security.

Conducted 82 anti-dumping and countervailing duty investigations in 2017 alone.

Confronting China’s unfair trade practices after years of Washington looking the other way.

25 percent tariff on $50 billion of goods imported from China and later imposed an additional 10% tariff on $200 billion of Chinese goods.

Conducted an investigation into Chinese forced technology transfers, unfair licensing practices, and intellectual property theft.

Imposed safeguard tariffs to protect domestic washing machines and solar products manufacturers hurt by China’s trade policies

Withdrew from the job-killing Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).

Secured access to new markets for America’s farmers.

Recent deal with Mexico included new improvements enabling food and agriculture to trade more fairly.

Recent agreement with the E.U. will reduce barriers and increase trade of American soybeans to Europe.

Won a WTO dispute regarding Indonesia’s unfair restriction of U.S. agricultural exports.

Defended American Tuna fisherman and packagers before the WTO

Opened up Argentina to American pork experts for the first time in a quarter-century

American beef exports have returned to china for the first time in more than a decade

OK’d up to $12 billion in aid for farmers affected by unfair trade retaliation.

 

Energy

Presidential Memorandum to clear roadblocks to construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline.

Presidential Memorandum declaring that the Dakota Access Pipeline serves the national interest and initiating the process to complete construction.

Opened up the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge to energy exploration.

Coal exports up over 60 percent in 2017.

Rolled back the “stream protection rule” to prevent it from harming America’s coal industry.

Cancelled Obama’s anti-coal Clean Power Plan and proposed the Affordable Clean Energy Rule as a replacement.

Withdrew from the job-killing Paris climate agreement, which would have cost the U.S. nearly $3 trillion and led to 6.5 million fewer industrial sector jobs by 2040.

U.S. oil production has achieved its highest level in American history

United States is now the largest crude oil producer in the world.

U.S. has become a net natural gas exporter for the first time in six decades.

Action to expedite the identification and extraction of critical minerals that are vital to the nation’s security and economic prosperity.

Took action to reform National Ambient Air Quality Standards, benefitting American manufacturers.

Rescinded Obama’s hydraulic fracturing rule, which was expected to cost the industry $32 million per year.

Proposed an expansion of offshore drilling as part of an all-of-the above energy strategy

Held a lease sale for offshore oil and gas leases in the Gulf of Mexico in August 2018.

Got EU to increase its imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the United States.

Issued permits for the New Burgos Pipeline that will cross the U.S.-Mexico border.

 

Foreign Policy

Moved the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.

Withdrew from Iran deal and immediately began the process of re-imposing sanctions that had been lifted or waived.

Treasury has issued sanctions targeting Iranian activities and entities, including the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force

Since enacting sanctions, Iran’s crude exports have fallen off, the value of Iran’s currency has plummeted, and international companies have pulled out of the country.

All nuclear-related sanctions will be back in full force by early November 2018.

Historic summit with North Korean President Kim Jong-Un, bringing beginnings of peace and denuclearization to the Korean Peninsula.

The two leaders have exchanged letters and high-level officials from both sides have met resulting in tremendous progress.

North Korea has halted nuclear and missile tests.

Negotiated the return of the remains of missing-in-action soldiers from the Korean War.

Imposed strong sanctions on Venezuelan dictator Nicholas Maduro and his inner circle.

Executive order preventing those in the U.S. from carrying out certain transactions with the Venezuelan regime, including prohibiting the purchase of the regime’s debt.

Responded to the use of chemical weapons by the Syrian regime.

Rolled out sanctions targeting individuals and entities tied to Syria’s chemical weapons program.

Directed strikes in April 2017 against a Syrian airfield used in a chemical weapons attack on innocent civilians.

Joined allies in launching airstrikes in April 2018 against targets associated with Syria’s chemical weapons use.

New Cuba policy that enhanced compliance with U.S. law and held the Cuban regime accountable for political oppression and human rights abuses.

Treasury and State are working to channel economic activity away from the Cuban regime, particularly the military.

Changed the rules of engagement, empowering commanders to take the fight to ISIS.

ISIS has lost virtually all of its territory, more than half of which has been lost under Trump.

ISIS’ self-proclaimed capital city, Raqqah, was liberated in October 2017.

All Iraqi territory had been liberated from ISIS.

More than a dozen American hostages have been freed from captivity all of the world.

Action to combat Russia’s malign activities, including their efforts to undermine the sanctity of United States elections.

Expelled dozens of Russian intelligence officers from the United States and ordered the closure of the Russian consulate in Seattle, WA.

Banned the use of Kaspersky Labs software on government computers, due to the company’s ties to Russian intelligence.

Imposed sanctions against five Russian entities and three individuals for enabling Russia’s military and intelligence units to increase Russia’s offensive cyber capabilities.

Sanctions against seven Russian oligarchs, and 12 companies they own or control, who profit from Russia’s destabilizing activities.

Sanctioned 100 targets in response to Russia’s occupation of Crimea and aggression in Eastern Ukraine.

Enhanced support for Ukraine’s Armed Forces to help Ukraine better defend itself.

Helped win U.S. bid for the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

Helped win U.S.-Mexico-Canada’s united bid for 2026 World Cup.

 

Defense

Executive order keeping the detention facilities at U.S. Naval Station Guantanamo Bay open.

$700 billion in military funding for FY 2018 and $716 billion for FY 2019.

Largest military pay raise in nearly a decade.

Ordered a Nuclear Posture Review to ensure America’s nuclear forces are up to date and serve as a credible deterrent.

Released America’s first fully articulated cyber strategy in 15 years.

New strategy on national biodefense, which better prepares the nation to defend against biological threats.

Administration has announced that it will use whatever means necessary to protect American citizens and servicemen from unjust prosecution by the International Criminal Court.

Released an America first National Security Strategy.

Put in motion the launch of a Space Force as a new branch of the military and relaunched the National Space Council.

Encouraged North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allies to increase defense spending to their agree-upon levels.

In 2017 alone, there was an increase of more than 4.8 percent in defense spending amongst NATO allies.

Every member state has increased defense spending.

Eight NATO allies will reach the 2 percent benchmark by the end of 2018 and 15 allies are on trade to do so by 2024.

NATO allies spent over $42 billion dollars more on defense since 2016.

Executive order to help military spouses find employment as their families deploy domestically and abroad.

 

Veterans affairs

Signed the VA Accountability Act and expanded VA telehealth services, walk-in-clinics, and same-day urgent primary and mental health care.

Delivered more appeals decisions – 81,000 – to veterans in a single year than ever before.

Strengthened protections for individuals who come forward and identify programs occurring within the VA.

Signed legislation that provided $86.5 billion in funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), the largest dollar amount in history for the VA.

VA MISSION Act, enacting sweeping reform to the VA system that:

Consolidated and strengthened VA community care programs.

Funding for the Veterans Choice program.

Expanded eligibility for the Family Caregivers Program.

Gave veterans more access to walk-in care.

Strengthened the VA’s ability to recruit and retain quality healthcare professionals.

Enabled the VA to modernize its assets and infrastructure.

Signed the VA Choice and Quality Employment Act in 2017, which authorized $2.1 billion in addition funds for the Veterans Choice Program.

Worked to shift veterans’ electronic medical records to the same system used by the Department of Defense, a decades old priority.

Issued an executive order requiring the Secretaries of Defense, Homeland Security, and Veterans Affairs to submit a joint plan to provide veterans access to access to mental health treatment as they transition to civilian life.

Increased transparency and accountability at the VA by launching an online “Access and Quality Tool,” providing veterans with access to wait time and quality of care data.

Signed legislation to modernize the claims and appeal process at the VA.

Harry W. Colmery Veterans Educational Assistance Act, providing enhanced educational benefits to veterans, service members, and their family members.

Lifted a 15-year limit on veterans’ access to their educational benefits.

Created a White House VA Hotline to help veterans and principally staffed it with veterans and direct family members of veterans.

VA employees are being held accountable for poor performance, with more than 4,000 VA employees removed, demoted, and suspended so far.

Signed the Veterans Treatment Court Improvement Act, increasing the number of VA employees that can assist justice-involved veterans.”

  

Ray Gruszecki

September 19, 2021