The election has ended, polls are closed, and Donald J. Trump is America’s 47th president. As the incoming presidential nominee, he’s already established Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Secretary of Health and Human Services, along with Susie Wiles as Chief of Staff, and Tom Homan as Director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, to name a few. Trump isn’t even in office yet, and he’s already
made a plan for government reformation. What does his candidacy mean for Americans, and how do his selections for administrative positions coincide with this? And how, exactly, do we benefit from his policies?
Border Security
One of many big promises made by Trump is tight border security. PBS (Public Broadcasting Service) calls it “the biggest deportation operation this country’s ever seen.” The main problems with illegal immigration are drug trafficking and spiked crime rates. Pew research provides that illegal residents have risen from 2019, and so have property crimes. Tom Homan, Trump’s elect for border security, has expressed his zeal for keeping America for Americans. Homan, dubbed “Border Czar,” will not reinstate the “zero tolerance” policy, instead conducting targeted arrests in areas of known illegal concentration. “I don’t think that [the zero tolerance policy] should happen, it’s a bit excessive especially to the people who are already here.” said Jessica Peterson (9). While this creates difficulty for those seeking sanctuary in America, there is a net positive outcome. Taxpayer dollars allocated for funding their food and shelter would lower or even be eradicated. This currency could be redirected towards American affairs, including a multitude of afflictions like homelessness or rebuilding infrastructure. Border security should be enforced, with easier access to citizenship and an easier immigration process. These two policies should be stringent in order to serve both Americans and those searching to become Americans.
American Health
RFK Jr. received 0.5% of the vote this year, despite his withdrawal from the election. Shortly after expressing his support for Trump, the incoming president tasked the wildly popular RFK Jr. with “making America healthy again.” What exactly does this mean? Well, illness, including terminal illness, is on the rise. In 2023, there was a reported 2 million cancer cases, many involving younger people, Yale Medicine reports. The Washington Post reports cancer has significantly spiked after the COVID-19 vaccine, one man stating four people he knew including himself found out they had blood cancer, something considered to be an anomaly and unusual. RFK Jr. has expressed his severe skepticism in the scientific community, stating current research “has huge deficits in it.”(Politico) RFK Jr. pushing for rigorous research and Trump’s fervent support to “let him run wild,” will secure confidence in the drugs and vaccines available to the public, and a crackdown on supposedly scarce diseases appearing in every other person.
If you visit any grocery store, you’ll see a simple box of cookies has at least 20-25 different ingredients. For example, Target’s white frosted cookies have a whopping 48 ingredients. (Target.com) I mean seriously, how hard is it to make frosted cookies? It’s peculiar that the EU (European Union) has far stricter regulations on the same foods available to Americans, raising some serious questions. Why do we need so many things layered in the food we eat? Sure, cookies in general should be taken in moderation since it’s sugar regardless, but that’s just where it starts… A salad, which you would think is just lettuce and some other veggies, has hard-to-pronounce-extrin or what’s-that-propyl.
Building an Economy
Trump is calling for a complete government reformation. Is it about time that we change things? He’s starting with reversing almost all of Biden’s policies, including his economic “strategies,” which turned out to be detrimental for America’s wealth. The fact of the matter is millions of families suffered from the inflation brought about by the Biden-Harris term. It was up by 20.1% during the first 45 months of their term, compared to 7.1% during the Trump-Pence term. Biden struggled with a 4.1% unemployment, while Trump saw a 3.5%. Oddly enough, Biden also had a get-outta-jail-free card since after the Pandemic labor was required, meaning jobs were easier to fill. Stock market returns: Biden 12.6%, Trump 16.3%. And the numbers keep going. Gas went up due to Biden’s unchecked spending in international wars, like the provision of arms to Ukraine. And after all, boycotting Russia meant the cessation of oil from the third largest producer of oil in the world.
Even if Biden averaged a slightly better average GDP at 1.9% compared to Trump’s 1.4%, that simply isn’t enough. (Forbes provides all this data.) And all the other categories throw him out the arena anyways. If Trump did it once, he could potentially do it again.
Trump’s economic area of interest is eliminating excessive taxes and lowering others. A majority of his remarks are concerning income tax, everyone’s favorite imposition that was ratified in 1913. Fun fact: World War I started the year after. Curious that an initiative meant to “strengthen” our country sees us walking into war shortly after.
Objectively speaking, the middle-class pays the most income tax for their respective tax bracket, since a majority of earning individuals fall in the middle-class. This means they are the quintessential taxpayers, and make this country run. Trump is cognizant of this statistic, and has made several statements about abolishing income tax and relieving millions of citizens, including the back-bone of America, the middle-class.
Among these three policies, I’m most excited for the health reformation initiative. Everything we consume including medication should have assurances and statistics proving that we’re healthy, and can expect long lives to spend with our families. Nonetheless, all three policies are essential, backed up with cogent points. Will Trump keep his word and Make America Great Again, or will we continue down a treacherous path? Is George Orwell’s 1984 becoming a reality? Are we on the precipice of this dystopian future? In a few months, we’ll find out.
