featheroftruth-blog

[featheroftruth-blog]

What a Trump Presidency Could Bring

    Well, ladies, gentlemen, and that weird rhino thing in the back, the day is finally upon us. Some of us believe this to be the greatest thing in the world, and others, the worst possible outcome. I am speaking, of course, of the inauguration of one Donald Trump.

Trump’s presidency has many thrilled and many worried. Your opinion of him is yours alone, and I make no move to change that. I’m only here to present the facts for those who don’t know or want to know more. Hopefully this will clear up some of the controversy and misunderstandings from both sides.

Now, I honestly cannot predict what Trump will actually do while in office. Anything I write here is based off of things that he has said in the past. Basically, his known stance on things, and his advisors stances. Let’s start off with an important issue, climate change.

Climate Change

-Trump has said, and I quote, “Give me clean, beautiful and healthy air- not the same old climate change (global warming) bullshit! I am tired of hearing this nonsense.” I feel like that shows his stance on it pretty well.

-According to National Geographic, Trump wants to revoke the Clean Power Plan. This plan puts limits on greenhouse gas emissions from fossil-fuel using power plants. His reasoning for this is that it puts a limit on business.

-On his website, Trump states that he wants to protect clean air and clean water, and unleash an energy revolution

-He has also stated that he wants to continue use of fossil fuels, instead of moving on to greener energy sources, which many scientists have suggested we do.

-He also wants to pull the United States out of the Paris Agreement, an agreement in which 195 countries pledged to reduce carbon emissions.

-To put this into perspective, scientists estimate that the overall temperature of the globe will rise by 2 degrees C if we don’t clean up our act. This might not sound bad, but it would melt the ice caps, cause droughts, make coastal cities uninhabitable, etc. And that could be a best case scenario

-The United States is the second largest producer of greenhouse gases in the world  

The Economy   

The way Trump will impact the economy is difficult to predict, and is honestly giving me a headache to research about. To put it simply, it could go either way.

-There’s currently the assumption that Trump will put policies into place that businesses will benefit from. The dollar has been strengthened because of this.

-The aforementioned policies would include cutting taxes, reducing regulations, and investing in infrastructure

-The reducing regulations thing could tie into climate change  

-He has pledged to create new jobs. So that’s a thing.

Trade, Immigration, and International Relations

-He plans to begin dismantling the Trans Pacific Partnership, a trade agreement signed by twelve Pacific rim (it is notable that China is not one of them). The TPP is meant to strengthen the economic ties between the twelve, and potentially create a new single market. There was some controversy surrounding it, as people said it could intensify competition countries’ labour forces, give companies a way to sue governments, and there was the possibility of secret negotiations. There were also concerns about climate change not being covered.

-On his website, as part of his ten point plan, he claims that an impenetrable wall will be built between the US and Mexico, and that Mexico will pay for the wall. It’s worth pointing out that the Mexican president said that no, Mexico would not be paying for anything. It’s possible that the wall is meant as a metaphor, though by a lot of his wording, it seems to me that he means it literally.

-Anyone who enters the country illegally will be subject to deportation

-Sanctuary cities, cities that protect undocumented immigrants by not turning them in, will be put to an end

-Make sure that jobs are offered to Americans before immigrants, and prioritize the jobs, wages, and security of the American people

-Protect the economic well-being of immigrants living and working in the US legally

-Trump has criticized NATO quite a bit

-Who knows how relations with Russia will go at this point. On one hand, it could go very well. On the other, there’s the election debacle, and the possibility that Russia holds compromising material on Trump, which could potentially be used for blackmail.

-The possibility of a 35% tariff being put on goods made in Mexico

-The possibility of withdrawing the US from the North American Free Trade Agreement, and from the World Trade Organization.

-One China could be under negotiation, which China itself has said is non-negotiable

-Though he says he will talk and negotiate, his previous comments about China could have already done some damage and strained relations

-He wants to dismantle the Iranian nuclear accord, but also doesn’t want to specify what exactly he will do

-Dismantling that could cause some shit in the Middle East, which it honestly doesn’t need any more of right now, the situation over there is already complicated enough      

Gay Rights, Abortion Rights, and Women’s Rights

-The White House’s LGBT page was taken down after Trump was sworn in, which is making many people uneasy

-Pence is notorious for supporting conversion therapy, and opposing the repeal of the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell Act. He has also spoken out against gay marriage in the past

-Marriage equality will most likely remain in place. That was a Supreme Court ruling, and would take a hell of a lot to overturn. I can’t speak for anything else regarding gay rights though. Only time will tell.

- He has pledged to sign the First Amendment Defence Act, which “Prohibits the federal government from taking discriminatory action against a person on the basis that such person believes or acts in accordance with a religious belief or moral conviction that: (1) marriage is or should be recognized as the union of one man and one woman, or (2) sexual relations are properly reserved to such a marriage.”

-In other words, you can discriminate against someone because of your religion, and you won’t get in trouble for it

-The First Amendment Defence Act could also thin the line between church and state, which we have tried to keep separate

-Trump openly opposes abortion, but at this point in time can’t really do anything to affect it. That’s a Supreme Court decision, and while Trump will nominate a new justice to replace Antonin Scalia, they don’t tend to like overruling their own past decisions

-The Supreme Court does have the potential to change a lot, though. If Trump were to nominate two new justices, things could drastically reverse. That would be the point when the matter of abortion might be sent back to the states.

-If abortion becomes a state issue, there are 21 states likely to ban abortion almost immediately, 20 would preserve abortion rights, and 9 would be stuck in a battle of what to do

-Abortion clinics may also be shut down, even without the repeal of Roe. This is something Texas has done.

-It’s worth noting here that cutting off a woman’s way to get legal abortions doesn’t stop abortions from happening at all. In countries where abortion is illegal, women get illegal abortions instead, often in unsafe conditions. The health and safety of women should be taken into consideration here.

-Trump has also said, when asked if he thought abortion should be punished, that yes, he thinks there should be some form of punishment for the women. He did not specify what kind of punishment.

-He is very pro-life and anti-abortion, that’s something that has been made abundantly clear

-The “grab them by the pussy” remark is very well known at this point. I’ll let you draw your own conclusions from that.

-He wants to provide six weeks of paid leave to new mothers before they return back to work

-He plans to give employers an incentive to provide childcare

-He also wants to rewrite the tax code to allow working parents to deduct from their income taxes for child care, or care for the elderly

Well, it’s late, I’m tired, and there’s still a good bit more that I haven’t covered. That should be posted some time in the next few days. I intend to cover what he plans on doing to the Affordable Care Act, how his presidency could affect the current situation in the Middle East, and want to do some digging to see if he’s said anything on stem cell research. If anyone has questions, comments, or wants me to cover a specific topic in more detail, feel free to contact me.