• Is Donald Trump America’s savior or a plutocratic shill?
By Christopher Petherick —
Is billionaire Republican presidential candidate Donald John Trump a man of the people worth endorsing, or is he playing a part in a carefully crafted script that seeks to keep the tens of thousands of angry grassroots Republicans, who are fed up with the way Washington has been doing business, from bolting the Grand Old Party?
Since the Republican presidential primary season kicked off earlier this year, Trump has dominated the race. In poll after poll, no other Republican contender comes close to Trump. Even former Florida Governor John Ellis “Jeb” Bush, who most people suspected was going to be crowned the 2016 Republican presidential candidate, trails Trump by a sizable margin in New Hampshire and Iowa. A survey of registered Republicans in New Hampshire taken on August 25 shows Trump in the lead at 35% in that state’s upcoming primary. His closest competition is Ohio Governor John Richard Kasich, who is polling at a paltry 11%.
To be fair, Trump’s popularity comes not just from being a sort of anti-politician in a sea of manicured, coiffed and finely polished professionals. In every speech and interview he gives, Trump affirms his independence from Washington, casting himself as a confident and successful business executive—an embodiment of the American dream—who’s not afraid to speak his mind about the terrible troubles facing this country and draw the wrath of well-funded lobbying groups.
When it comes to the planks in his platform, much like the other candidates in the Republican primary, Trump argues that the federal government is too big. He wants to kill Obamacare, is pro-life and is opposed to homosexual marriage. And when it comes to the country’s energy needs, he contends that the United States should drill for oil in the U.S. and get off of foreign crude. He’s also tough on crime and supports the death penalty.
But where he differs is a key distinction that has set him apart from the free-trading fanatics who currently dominate U.S. trade policy and has drawn the attention of the editors and reporters at this newspaper.
In several speeches over the course of the past few months, Trump has stated that the U.S. needs to “renegotiate” free trade. When he officially announced his candidacy on June 16, he said the world views American trade officials as “saps,” who give up the store to foreign countries.
Trump says if he is elected president he will immediately enact a 20% tariff on all U.S. imports at the water’s edge to protect struggling American industries.
He would ban so-called soft money—the billions of dollars in campaign funds that are handed out to politicians every year but need not be disclosed to the American people.
But where Trump has really been drawing support from Republican faithfuls has been his outspoken stance on immigration—views that have earned him the ire of liberal journalists and special interest groups around the world.
Right from the beginning Trump came out swinging on illegal immigration. In his official announcement speech, he argued for building a 2,000-mile-long, triple-layered wall on the U.S.’s southern border, and then he said he wants to send the bill for its construction to Mexico. All illegal immigrants should be peacefully rounded up and deported, he added. Finally, he said, overall immigration to the U.S. should be limited until joblessness and poverty are addressed in this country.
We’ll be watching Trump very closely in the months ahead as he continues to lay out his plan for the nation before the country’s first primary in New Hampshire on February 9, 2016. Until then, the question remains, does Trump deserve AMERICAN FREE PRESS’s endorsement? Let us hear from you on this topic.
Christopher J. Petherick is AMERICAN FREE PRESS’s executive editor.
Bravo Donald. So far so good.
Whatever way the story ends relating to modifying the 14 Amendment, the birthright citizenship edict in the U.S. Constitution and the ‘Anchor Baby’ interpretation is yet to come. The American people who want something done about the illegal alien invasion that has a huge negative financial effect on U.S. citizens and lawful residents; but not on business owners? Trump building the wall is just the first step, which will end to some degree the invaders, such as families, with children but it will not halt the single men who prepare the way for the whole family in most cases to cross the border. However, by installing MANDATORY E-VERIFY in every work place will end the access of employment to foreign labor. To make it work it must bear harsh fines, suspension of business licenses and statutory federal prison for 5 years. No exemptions for either Democrats or Republicans, for their friends and cronies.
Don’t rely on the U.S. government to ever tell the truth about illegal immigration. To believe in the numbers of foreign invaders squatting here, is nothing but folly. Their numbers I would suggest are generated from the last Census and other limited calculations. If they are saying that California on its own has population legal and illegal foreigners, which have overtaken the Caucasians, then the figures cannot be correct. Officials say as of last March Latinos will make up 39% of California’s population, edging out non-Hispanic whites at 38.8%. Nearly 25 years ago, non-Hispanic whites made up 57% of the state, while Latinos made up 26%. There is no way the numbers of Hispanics proposed are ALL here legally.
But whether you’re a natural born citizen, a naturalized citizen or a legal resident of any race, religion or creed you have nothing to fear from ICE. The leftist presses are very good at intermingling the term illegal alien with lawful resident and this is far from the truth.
This is truly an invasion and the only way to end this administration travesty is to mandate E-Verify that every U.S. employer must be held liable. Currently it’s a big mix of state laws, but no central control from the (ICE) U.S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement. Stating there are only 11.4 million illegal aliens in the U.S. doesn’t hold water; it’s just a way for both political parties to continue the charade. Republicans want as many foreigners in the country to cut wages and use cheap labor. Democrats and the radicals want a claim as many illegal aliens to use them for illegal voting; don’t say it doesn’t happen? Read under “Voter Fraud.’ Nor is it just for local elections, as it happens in the state and general elections.
IF, and I say if the Congress turned aside the money offered to them by special interests, then just perhaps the American people have a say in their future. To vote on a bill or load up votes to get a really bad bill to pass and then signed by any President is the corruption that runs like slime through Washington. Donald Trump said so and has been approached by the same lobbyists; probably a previously departed lawmaker who already knows the senators and representatives who can be bought. The buyers of political votes have always been there, but today it’s more predominant as more and more money is needed for political campaigns. It’s like a stealth jet fighter that it’s there but it’s hard to see it. Large sums of money change hands, much of it designated for the political war chest, but not all of it. To reiterate, the more corrupt politicians move thousands of dollars to private accounts.