As the old year comes to an end, people traditionally assess what has occurred during the past year and plan on how to improve in the New Year.
Let’s review: It seems our current President, has managed to try to stack the courts with conservative federal judges, which, if they are adept at applying the Constitution’s tenets, would be in line with his presidential prerogative.
However, this past week, while being questioned by Senator John Kennedy (R-La.), one of our president’s federal judicial nominees apparently admitted he had never tried a case to a verdict in a courtroom.
I guess our president couldn’t find the time to nominate an attorney for a lifetime, federal court judge position that actually had tried a case to a verdict in a courtroom.
Would you want this nominee hearing your possible federal court case while he was sitting on the bench in a lifetime appointment?
Our current president seemingly has managed to remove protections from approximately 2 million acres of national monuments’ land — land that would have been protected as a legacy of the natural world for our children and their children — land rich with Native American archeological and sacred sites.
Our environment is finite. The more of our open land that is given over to big business for drilling, fracking, etc., the less open land there will be for future generations to enjoy and to appreciate.
In addition, our current President seemingly has managed to remove regulations that would have protected numerous species and, now, seems to be considering removing oil rig regulations implemented after the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.
Eliminating rules and regulations that allow big corporations to operate at lower costs, but at potentially dangerous costs to our clean air, water, and the general environment, is tantamount to endangering our country’s children and adults, now and, endangering America’s future generations.
The needs of big business and the wealthy seem to be one of our current president’s highest priorities. One only has to look at the GOP’s alleged-tax cut bill that is presently before Congress — an alleged-tax cut bill heavily supported by the president.
It seems that, under pressure from the President to get some significant legislation passed before this Congressional session ends (legislation to which he can lay claim), GOP Senators and House of Representatives’ members are pushing for a vote on a tax cut bill that will favor the wealthy and big corporations.
It seems massive, proposed tax cuts for the wealthy and big corporations will remain in place over years, while alleged tax cuts for the middle class and the poor will diminish as time passes.
Even so, numerous middle class Americans will see an actual, increased tax liability from this GOP-sponsored tax bill, especially, residents of states in which there are high income taxes and high property taxes (e.g., New York State) because deductions for state and local taxes will be capped well below what most folks in those states are deducting currently.
But, the president will have gotten something done that will apparently benefit himself, his wealthy friends, and his wealthy supporters, albeit, seemingly at the cost of the middle class and the poor.
When Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) recently asked the Senate to recommit the tax bill to consider making it “deficit neutral,” instead of blowing-up the existing deficit with its current form, he added, “King’s Law is the faster a bill goes through this body, the worse it will be.”
The last major tax overhaul in the United States, approximately 30 years ago, was the product of over 30 hearings over the course of almost one year.
By comparison, the Trump-pushed GOP’s alleged tax-cut bill is slipshod, zero hearings with no formal input from the citizenry.
Are the GOP Representatives and GOP senators so desperate to please our current President that they would inflict this apparent, bad tax bill on the American public with such little thought and care?
Did these GOP Representatives and GOP Senators miss the Civics’ class that would have instructed them on the separation of powers. Didn’t they learn they don’t have to be beholden to any president?
As 2017 was coming to an end, we saw and heard our President endorse an accused child molester for a seat in our Congressional Senate.
It is true that people are considered innocent until proven guilty.
However, Roy Moore seemingly was removed twice from his judgeship for denying Constitutional supremacy.
Did the aforementioned fact bother the president?
I think not.
Our current president endorsed Roy Moore for a seat in the United States’ Senate when he stated in a Dec. 12, 2017 Tweet (6:09 a.m.), “Roy Moore will always vote with us. VOTE ROY MOORE”
I’m moved to quote the Bible: “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul (Bible, King James Version, Mark 8:36)?”
It sure seems our current president ascribes to the proverb, “The end justifies the means.”
Is this what Americans believe now…..that, we should throw away all sense of decency, morality, and ethics in order to reach a goal? I sure hope not.
We would hold a principal of a school to a higher standard of decency, morality, and ethics, would we not? Should we expect less of a President? I think not.
Perhaps, the President is making some positive New Year’s resolutions. One can only hope.
Kathy Rittel
East Williston
