Saturday, November 12, 2016

No Roger, Cuba Still Matters to Cuban Americans

Consider this analysis from the New York Post:

Obama’s ‘legacy’ drive lost Florida for Clinton


The evidence is mounting that President Obama’s overzealous defense of his “opening Cuba” gambit cost Hillary Clinton the state of Florida. That misstep could end up wiping out most of the president’s carefully curated “legacy” achievements.
For the president and his young Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes, the establishment of diplomatic relations with one of the world’s last communist dictatorships became something they weirdly defended from any criticism. Even the smallest amendment that watered down coddling the Castros drew fulminating threats of vetoes from the White House.
Then in late October, President Obama went for broke and decided to stick a bigger needle in his opponents’ eye.
He lifted limits on the import of cigars and rum, and then ordered our ambassador to the United Nations to abstain from a vote condemning the US economic embargo on Cuba.
That UN directive was especially galling. President Obama was, in fact, venting his frustration with Congress for not lifting the embargo upon his command — which Congress has the right to refuse to do — by letting the world body mock US law unopposed.
The Cuban-American community in Miami was irritated enough to give a second look to Donald Trump, who quickly reacted by shifting from his earlier tepid support for Obama’s Cuba policy to a promise that he would end relations unless Raul Castro began democratic reforms.
Obama and Clinton gamble on the mis-conception that a new generation of Cuban-Americans who were born in the United States would not feel deep ties to Cuba or care all that much about the Castro regime.

They were wrong, it matter very much to them and Obama's gambit with the Castro government was the Bay of Pigs betrayal all over again.

By opening relations with Cuba, Obama handed Florida to Trump. 

Thursday, November 10, 2016

The Coming Trump Administration

Now that we have had time to adjust to the fact of a Trump victory, it’s time to look forward to the coming Trump presidency and try to analyze what a Trump administration will mean.  We will look at the following areas in no particular order. 

1. Court Nominees

Job one is the nomination to fill Antonin Scalia seat on the supreme court. Look for a conservative that is more Kennedy than Scalia. That is sure for disappoint some rabid conservatives but Trump’s instincts are far more moderate than conservative.

Looking down the road, Ginsburg’s and Beyer’s seat will probably also open up during a Trump presidency.  Trump will have an opportunity to shape the court for the next generation.

Of equal importance are nominees to the various inferior courts in the federal system.  There are hundreds of vacancies to fill so Trump should keep the Senate fairly busy for the next few years filling these posts. 

2. The Repeal and Replacement of Obamacare 

It goes without saying that President Obama’s signature achievement will not last the first year of the Trump administration. It is one of the worst, most unpopular pieces of legislation ever devised by the Democrats.  

What form the replacement will take is harder to say. The one thing in Obamacare that would be kept is coverage for pre-existing conditions. However, that coverage must involve shared risk polls and/or other fiscally sound techniques to implement. 

Other features are the ability to sell health insurance across state lines, major medical coverage only for younger, healthier, single adults and other free-market reforms that will reduce the cost of insurance while maintaining quality healthcare. 

3. No big, magnificent wall on the southern border but stricter enforcement of immigration laws, more strict vetting of immigrants and a larger budget to support both. 

Suffice to say the encouragement to illegally immigrate to the United States ends with the Trump administration.  While it is doubtful Trump will engage in mass deportations, it is a certainty that illegal immigrants will never become citizens or be allowed to vote.  Nor will sanctuary cities be tolerated under a Trump administration. 

And yes, the term illegal immigrant will be use because illegal immigrants enter the country in violation of the law. 

4. Free Trade and Globalism is on Hold  

It goes without saying that TPP is dead and other free trade pacts will be under review. The primary priority with this is to return high paying jobs back the US.

5. Tax policies.

Will go hand in a hand with trade policies to encourage companies to bring capital and jobs back to the United States. 

6. Climate Change

Say sayonara to the odious climate change policies and treaties pushed by the liberals. Look for federal lands to be opened to energy exploration and pipeline projects to go forward.  

7. Domestic Social Policy

You will see a rollback of the most odious Title IX interpretations by the Obama administration. 

8. Infrastructure Spending

Trump likes to build things. See a large increase in infrastructure spending. 

9. Military Spending

Look for an increase in the military budget. 

10. VA Administration Reform

Finally, someone who will really reform the VA Administration.  Look for a privatize insurance plan to cover most veterans’ health needs while the current VA hospital system concentrates are war and trauma related specifies. 

11. Entitlement spending will not be touched, deficits explode.

Trump has repeatedly said that he will not touch social security Medicare and other entitlements. Without addressing these spending issues the deficit will explode.  

12.  End to the Regulation Regime

Trump will take his pen and his phone to roll back every regulation Obama put into effect.  

13. What will happen to Hillary Clinton?


You can’t keep calling her crooked Hillary for 18 months and then not doing anything about it. Since the whole process would stink of politics, look for Trump to appoint an independent counsel.