Pragmatism gives Trump chance to bring prosperity
Pragmatism gives Trump chance to bring prosperity
On Jan. 20, I watched the inauguration of President Trump in its entirety. I was touched to witness the resiliency and beauty of our democracy in action. The smooth transfer of power, the respect and even a touch of affection between President Obama, the outgoing president, and his family, and his successor, President-elect Donald Trump and his family. It was a moving experience for me, and no doubt, for millions of my fellow citizens, because this happens only in the United States of America.
After he took the oath of office, the new president started his inaugural address. Near him sat four former U.S. presidents: Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and his immediate predecessor, Obama, not to mention Hillary Clinton, whom he defeated after a most unorthodox campaign. But instead of acknowledging their accomplishments, he went on a tirade about the “carnage” that had befallen America, as though those presidents watched the country deteriorate and play their fiddles while Rome burned.
And, he, Trump, was here as the Messiah, sent from God, to save the country. I felt angry and sad, because the facts spoke otherwise.
But after reflection, I realized that our newly elected president was not a politician. He never held a political office and talked about things as he saw them, or interpreted them based on his nonpolitical experience. Political correctness was not in his vocabulary. In a way, it is a breath of fresh air. His campaign slogan, and in his inaugural address, he repeated how he would make America “great again.” It would have been better for him to say that he would make America “greater” because America is already great.
I agree with him in making America come first, and admired him when he said that other leaders should also make their countries come first. It brought out the businessman in him. He is telling other nations to let us all look after what is the best for our countries, and work deals that will make us all come out winners at the end. This is admirable.
Now Donald John Trump is our president. He is pragmatic, a billionaire, who is not beholden to any one – not even to his own political party. Lobbyists do not own him. Big corporations do not own him.
It is a golden opportunity for him to make America greater and more prosperous.
Dr. Rashid Abdu, Canfield
Let Trump be Trump; get rid of the attorneys
During his campaign, Donald Trump promised to drain the swamp, but now, knee deep in the muck, he seems to be taking advice from the rats and snakes living there. Specifically, I am referring to the lawyers, that odious class of self-absorbed people advising him on how to deal with a rogue judiciary now imperiling our nation.
This most recent judicial overreach by these black-robed lawyers acting as “so-called” judges is an effort to steal more presidential power – namely his authority over national security and foreign policy granted to him by statute and the Constitution. Unfortunately, rather than relying on what got him elected – on Trump being Trump – he has taken the advice of lawyers, a band of co-conspirators interested mainly in their own aggrandizement, men and women so arthritic in their thought processes that they can no longer reason or recognize the truth. Their sole purpose being to garner more power for themselves while heaping excrement upon the masses.
This modern overreach of power by the judiciary began in 1973 when it legalized the killing of preborn children, thereby mocking God and defiling the sacredness of motherhood and femininity, making women accomplices in murder and turning their wombs into torture chambers and tombs. From that point on, the judiciary became am unelected rogue entity, unchecked by any method or means known to man, rendering all of us subjects and victims of their immorality and their sordid liberal whims.
Trump may be destined to live in the swamp for the next four to eight years, but he does not have to tolerate it. He should reclaim his presidential authority in these areas by bringing to heel the courts, ignoring them when they overstep their boundaries. In other words, Trump needs to stop listening to the lawyers and start being Trump again.
Joseph K. Waltenbaugh, New Castle, Pa.
DeVos’ confirmation is a foreboding sign for the US
After weeks of pleading and protest from various concerned factions of the U.S. electorate, Betsy DeVos has been confirmed as this nation’s education secretary. As the focal point in the first tie in U.S. Senatorial history to be decided by the vice president.
DeVos has seen no shortage of ire for her apparent lack of knowledge concerning the complex position she has begun to undertake. With a nationwide education crisis on the rise, the effects of which are well felt in Mahoning Valley schools, it’s far from easy to formulate a convincing argument for her abysmal record.
As a vocal advocate for charter schools and private school voucher programs, DeVos’ past ventures bear an ominous air for the future of Youngstown City Schools and similar school districts nationwide.
The potential for her reforms to undermine an already underfunded public school system is not a threat that should be overlooked. This is especially true when the proposed alternatives face significantly less oversight by government regulatory committees, allowing for a substandard curriculum without adequate accountability.
The Trump Cabinet, which seemingly has become a vehicle for the fiscal gain of the most financially comfortable members of American society, has quickly begun offering up the public’s well-being as a sacrifice for dividends from which the general public will never profit.
DeVos’ for-profit ideology and ignorance of the workings of public school systems such as Youngstown City Schools is nothing but a detriment to our area’s educational system.
If our children are the future of our great nation, then characters like DeVos are most assuredly the obstacles that stymie the future’s progress so that money may continue flowing to their own pockets.
Trevor C. Mastran, Boardman
Don’t let the GOP destroy Consumer Finance board
I was pleased to read Orson Aguilar’s article from Jan. 24, which emphasized the necessity of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. As he explains, the CFPB was created in 2011 to avoid another financial meltdown by protecting American consumers from being defrauded by big banks and Wall Street. Nearly $12 billion have since been returned to 29 million consumers.
A great example of the work the CFPB does is its recent lawsuit against Navient, the largest provider of both federal and private student loans in the nation. Navient cheated numerous students into paying much more than they had to for their loans.
Being a student myself, I was astonished to hear about this distressing scandal. As Youngstown State continues to excel in enrollment and academics, students here are not exempt from being cheated by student loan agencies. It is the CFPB’s actions like the Naviant lawsuit that ensure fair loan payments to all American students.
Unfortunately, the new Congress is currently threatening the CFPB. Without it, over half of credit-card holders and student loan lenders will yet again be subject to fraud, and the U.S. economy vulnerable to another major crisis. It is important to raise awareness of the positive impact the CFPB has on our community.
We need the CFPB to remain active as a consumer watchdog, and to do this we need our elected officials in Ohio to fight back against any attacks on the CFPB.
Samantha Blasko, Youngstown