President Trump had a good, but not great first year in office. With the major victory of comprehensive tax reform fresh in American minds, many have forgotten the missteps and fumbles of his first hundred days regarding perhaps the most debated policy issue of recent elections — healthcare reform.
The 23 legislative days wasted early in concert with a Congressional GOP that was too eager to enable the still ongoing Mueller investigation has led to much of the same in terms of health insurance choices for consumers as we enter a critical point, when the Democratic National Party is readying the season's anti-Trump/GOP attacks in advance of November.
In the early months of the administration, I often opined that a major error out of the gate was the appointment of former GOP Chairman Reince Priebus as White House Chief of Staff. Many of the establishment elements that the Trump victory was supposed to neutralize had been given a prominent seat at the “Big Kids” table between Priebus and former White House Communications Director Sean Spicer.
As we currently stand, issues like infrastructure, military spending, immigration reform, entitlement reform, in addition to healthcare, remain on the table with a minimal amount of time to score points with GOP voters considering the difficulty in achieving more than one major victory in 2017.
President Trump needs to understand that many of the opposing elements that existed at the highest levels of government are still firmly in place. We have not had a complete turnover in terms of personnel and seemingly every decision made by the Executive Branch has come under severe scrutiny, from the president’s travel ban to his decisions regarding the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) to America’s position on the Paris Climate Accords.
The president missed a major opportunity in not assigning a prominent official advisory position to Trump Campaign surrogate and former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich. With little time to check off some major platform boxes before this fall’s midterms, the need exists for someone with the experience to steer the White House’s considerable influence on Capitol Hill.
Trump finds himself in the position of a president with very few governmental allies outside his immediate circle. One president Trump could study in possibly developing an alternative strategy is his predecessor President Barack Obama.
Barack Obama, as misguided and radical as he was, kept a laser like and unyielding commitment to attacking natural rights and growing government’s influence in our life at a pace previously unseen in American history. He led and influenced policy that looked as if it could have been easily dictated from the Oval Office.
Trump has at times seemed content to attempt to curry popular opinion for ideas, that while being the product of a Republican legislature, are not in line with many of the more conservative ideas he exposed on the campaign trail.
Trump can carry the momentum of late last year if he sends the message that he is not opposed to refusing to enact legislation that falls short of the American people’s expectations of him. Legislation that pacifies both the conservative freedom caucus and fulfills the platform outlined in the 2016 Republican National Convention should start to roll out to the president immediately or Trump should be amenable to sending a hard message to Congress. With a lack of consensus and bipartisanship being the order of the day, Trump can ultimately exercise more power than both chambers would prefer. Through the SOTU address Trump is yet to veto any bills that have advanced to his desk. Obama vetoed a total of 12.
Julio Rivera is an entrepreneur, small business consultant and political activist. He contributes to RightWingNews.com and NewsNinja2012.com, and had previously covered boxing and baseball for the now defunct "The Urban News" in his native Paterson, N.J. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.
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