America In Transition

The polls have closed, and our voices were heard. On Jan. 20 Donald J. Trump will be sworn in as our 45th President. Trump captured the Rust Belt states of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Wisconsin, and likely Michigan to win an electoral college victory over Democrat Hillary Clinton.
The election was a wild ride. Trump announced his candidacy June 16, 2015 at Trump Tower in New York. His rhetoric about border security and stopping illegal immigration was instantly controversial. He faced 16 challengers for the Republican nomination, many of whom had much more funding and larger campaign staffs.
I decided to back Trump a month before he actually declared for President. In my opinion, he was the only candidate who was strong enough to defeat the Bush and Clinton machines. The Bushes and Clintons are globalists who support open borders, multi-lateral trade deals that favor large corporations over small businesses, and an interventionist foreign policy.
Trump is the polar opposite of the Bushes and the Clintons. His policies all have the aim of putting America first. He wants to renegotiate our trade deals so American manufacturers have a level playing field with their foreign competitors. He plans to label China as a currency manipulator before the World Trade Organization. Trump has said that he expects foreign countries, specifically Germany, South Korea, Japan, and Saudi Arabia to provide more for their own defense and security.
The Nov. 8 election was a whirlwind. All of the polls going in to election day pointed to a Clinton victory. As the polling places started to close and the returns came in, a different picture was emerging. Clinton was favored in North Carolina, but Trump won by about three points. Then toss-up state Ohio broke for Trump. What happened next was stunning — Wisconsin, which polls had Clinton leading by seven points, was called for Trump. The electoral college majority was declared for Trump around 3 a.m. when Pennsylvania went into his column. Clinton made her concession call concurrently.
Trump’s victory speech was delivered at Trump Tower, where the campaign began. He told his supporters, “Last night, you showed the world that America will once again be a country of, for, and by the people … For far too long, we’ve heard Washington politicians give the excuse ‘it can’t be done’. I refuse to accept that!”
The aftermath of the Trump victory was tainted by rioting in urban areas across the country. Some believe many of the rioters are being paid by tax exempt advocacy groups and recruited on Craig’s List. It is disappointing how little investigative reporting is being done on this alleged criminal activity.
After a Presidential election, there’s a 10-week transition process between the President-elect and the outgoing President. Trump has already met with President Obama in the White House. He has a transition team headed up by Vice President-elect Mike Pence. The team needs identify cabinet officers, who must be confirmed by the U.S. Senate in early January, and 4,000 high-level executive branch officials.
Trump has already published his First 100 Days plan after he gets sworn in Jan. 20. Among the major agenda items are repealing the Affordable Care Act and replacing it with a free-market insurance system. The reform measure will allow consumers to purchase health insurance across state lines and end the mandate for everyone to carry insurance. Young adults will have the option of self-paying using tax-exempt Health Savings Accounts. Another key policy change is an up-front pricing policy for medical services and equipment.
The President-elect also aims to secure the southern border and deport criminal illegal aliens quickly after taking office. He plans to present his tax and regulatory reform plans to Congress and approve the Keystone Pipeline, which will transport oil from Canada to refineries in Texas and Louisiana. Trump also plans to cancel most of the Executive Orders signed by President Obama.
As a political outsider, Trump will be a different kind of President. He will likely be more accessible to the media than any of his predecessors and will likely continue using Facebook and Twitter to communicate his policy plans. This transition period will surely be interesting to watch!
Please state below the column that I am the editor-in-chief of LowcountrySource.com and that my e-mail address is John@LowcountrySource.com.