By: Editorial Board
Our discussion last week of the Nov. 8 presidential
election centered on our lament that the focus of the campaign had shifted from
a comparison of the candidates’ positions on critical issues to a fixation on a
seemingly endless series of personal “gotcha” moments.
So, as a matter of underscoring our chagrin, we basically
urged readers to make their voting decisions based on issues rather than
personal foibles – perhaps some serious ones – and did not specify our choice.
This, even though our preference for Mr. Trump was plainly manifest in what we
had to say.
However, developments since then have impelled us to
cross the line and endorse Mr. Trump outright. On Friday, the Federal Bureau of
Investigation announced it was reopening its criminal investigation, closed
this past summer, of Hillary Clinton’s possibly illegal mishandling of national
security material. The decision was said by the director of the FBI to be based
on the discovery of some 650,000 e-mails on a computer belonging to the husband
of a senior Hillary Clinton aide and characterized by the director as including
some that “appear to be pertinent” to the earlier closed investigation.
It is inconceivable to us that the investigation would
have been reopened so close to the election absent the discovery of evidence of
serious wrongdoing.
And so we urge readers to come out on November 8 and vote
for Donald Trump for president of the United States. He represents America’s
best hope for reversing the calamitous course on which elected officials from
both the Republican and Democratic parties have led us. Israel, the Supreme
Court, immigration, health care, the economy, gender rights, and national
defense – issues we have addressed many times in earlier editorials – are just
some of the areas in which he will bring back common sense and sanity.
Donald Trump is the better choice.
28 Things Donald Trump Promises to Do as President
“On November
Eighth, Americans will be voting for this 100-day plan to restore prosperity to
our country, secure our communities, and honesty to our government,” Trump
says. “This is my pledge to you and if we follow these steps we will once more
have a government of, by and for the people and importantly we will make
America great again. Believe me.”
Here is the list of the “Contract with the American
Voter” policies detailed by Trump:
- Propose
a Constitutional Amendment to impose term limits on all members of
Congress
- Institute
a hiring freeze on all federal employees to reduce federal workforce through
attrition (exempting military, public safety, and public health)
- Require
for every new federal regulation, two existing regulations must be
eliminated.
- Institute
a five year-ban on White House and Congressional officials becoming
lobbyists after they leave government service
- Create
a lifetime ban on White House officials lobbying on behalf of a foreign
government.
- Institute
a complete ban on foreign lobbyists raising money for American elections.
- Announce
intention to renegotiate NAFTA or withdraw from the deal under Article
2205.
- Announce
withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
- Direct
Secretary of the Treasury to label China a currency manipulator.
- Direct
the Secretary of Commerce and U.S. Trade Representative to identify all
foreign trading abuses that unfairly impact American workers and direct
them to use every tool under American and international law to end those
abuses immediately.
- Lift
the restrictions on the production of $50 trillion dollars’ worth of
job-producing American energy reserves, including shale, oil, natural gas
and clean coal.
- Lift
the Obama-Clinton roadblocks and allow vital energy infrastructure
projects, like the Keystone Pipeline, to move forward.
- Cancel
billions in payments to U.N. climate change programs and use the money to
fix America’s water and environmental infrastructure.
- Cancel
every unconstitutional executive action, memorandum and order issued by
President Obama.
- Begin
the process of selecting a replacement for Justice Scalia from one of the
20 judges on my list, who will uphold and defend the Constitution of the
United States.
- Cancel
all federal funding to Sanctuary Cities.
- Begin
removing the more than 2 million criminal illegal immigrants from the
country and cancel visas to foreign countries that won’t take them back.
- Suspend
immigration from terror-prone regions where vetting cannot safely occur.
All vetting of people coming into our country will be considered extreme
vetting.
- Work
with Congress on a Middle Class Tax Relief And Simplification Act. An
economic plan designed to grow the economy 4% per year and create at least
25 million new jobs through massive tax reduction and simplification, in
combination with trade reform, regulatory relief, and lifting the
restrictions on American energy. The largest tax reductions are for the
middle class. A middle-class family with 2 children will get a 35% tax
cut. The current number of brackets will be reduced from 7 to 3, and tax
forms will likewise be greatly simplified. The business rate will be
lowered from 35 to 15 percent, and the trillions of dollars of American
corporate money overseas can now be brought back at a 10 percent rate.
- Work
with Congress on a End The Offshoring Act. Establish tariffs to discourage
companies from laying off their workers in order to relocate in other
countries and ship their products back to the U.S. tax-free.
- Work
with Congress on a American Energy & Infrastructure Act. Leverage
public-private partnerships, and private investments through tax
incentives, to spur $1 trillion in infrastructure investment over 10
years. It is revenue neutral.
- Work
with Congress on a School Choice And Education Opportunity Act. Redirect
education dollars to gives parents the right to send their kid to the
public, private, charter, magnet, religious or home school of their
choice. Ends common core, brings education supervision to local
communities. It expands vocational and technical education, and make 2 and
4-year college more affordable.
- Work
with Congress on a Repeal and Replace Obamacare Act. Fully repeal Obamacare
and replaces it with Health Savings Accounts, the ability to purchase
health insurance across state lines, and lets states manage Medicaid
funds. Reforms will also include cutting the red tape at the FDA: there
are over 4,000 drugs awaiting approval, and we especially want to speed
the approval of life-saving medications.
- Work
with Congress on a Affordable Childcare and Eldercare Act. Allow Americans
to deduct childcare and elder care from their taxes, incentivizes
employers to provide on-side childcare services, and creates tax-free
Dependent Care Savings Accounts for both young and elderly dependents,
with matching contributions for low-income families.
- Work
with Congress on an End Illegal Immigration Act. Fully-fund the
construction of a wall on our southern border with the full understanding
that the country Mexico will be reimbursing the United States for the full
cost of such wall; establishes a 2-year mandatory minimum federal prison
sentence for illegally re-entering the U.S. after a previous deportation,
and a 5-year mandatory minimum for illegally re-entering for those with
felony convictions, multiple misdemeanor convictions or two or more prior
deportations; also reforms visa rules to enhance penalties for overstaying
and to ensure open jobs are offered to American workers first.
- Work
with Congress on a Restoring Community Safety Act. Reduce surging crime,
drugs and violence by creating a Task Force On Violent Crime and
increasing funding for programs that train and assist local police; increases
resources for federal law enforcement agencies and federal prosecutors to
dismantle criminal gangs and put violent offenders behind bars.
- Work
with Congress on a Restoring National Security Act. Rebuild our military
by eliminating the defense sequester and expanding military investment;
provides Veterans with the ability to receive public VA treatment or
attend the private doctor of their choice; protects our vital
infrastructure from cyber-attack; establishes new screening procedures for
immigration to ensure those who are admitted to our country support our
people and our values
- Work with Congress on a Clean up Corruption in Washington Act. Enact new ethics reforms to Drain the Swamp and reduce the corrupting influence of special interests on our politics.
