[ethanjames]

honestly everything hes done from the transgender army ban to how he treated the shooting situation its ****ing stupid

[Withano]

Not really. Thought he was a dangerous idiot, still think he's a dangerous idiot. Only difference between then and now is that it's easier to ignore him.

[Oliver_W]

Originally Posted by Twosugars

what do you think?

I don't know where your opinions come from. I think he's done good and bad things, but nothing to make me think HE'S AMAZING or HE'S TERRIBLE.

[Twosugars]

Originally Posted by Oliver_W

I don't know where your opinions come from. I think he's done good and bad things, but nothing to make me think HE'S AMAZING or HE'S TERRIBLE.

what good things?

[Crimson Dynamo]

Originally Posted by Twosugars

what good things?

read the article

[bots]

Originally Posted by Twosugars

what good things?

He has already implemented several things that he said he would during his campaign, so in that respect he has been true to his word. People may not agree with his actions, but it was the basis for him being elected.

[Tom4784]

He's an utter **** and easily the worst president that the US has ever had and will likely ever have.

[Maru]

As a person, not much of my opinion has not changed... he's still a malignant narcissistic toddlerman... and he is fairly consistently behaving on Twitter using that school of thought.

Tax Cuts:

I'm pleasantly surprised in some ways, especially later into the year when things started finally getting passed. The tax cuts were the right call... our corporate tax rate was way too high as it were and some of the highest in the world. It doesn't make for creating jobs locally and that's what we badly need in many states in the US.

There still needs to be another tax bill though... especially to address the tax loopholes and make the code leaner than it is atm. I was a fan of the new tax bracket system they were going to, it was much simpler and seemed to work better for those in lower brackets... but unfortunately that got canned near the end in order for it to get put through.

Our standard deductions will be double next year. I'm on border where I would need to itemize, but with the deduction increases will push that off for a little while longer.

Net Neutrality:

As for net neutrality rules being pulled, I'm 50/50. There were still practices before that the rules technically should've prevented, but the FCC said "oh this is innovative!"... so as long as they have the say in the end if something is outside their purview, then it might as well be deregulated... I don't think that that means companies will start charging stupid rates for broadband/cable...if anything, they will be begging us for business as many are now cord cutters, buying their own modems, etc to cut fees (since more tech savvy populace)... and I call cancellations once a year to renegotiate my fees, so I never really get screwed anyway.

The cellular industry is not regulated like fiber, and because of increased competition and the FCC preventing stupid mergers (like Deutsche merging T-mo and AT&T, etc), we've seen some pretty major wins in the past several years in terms of pricing and it has been very beneficial for the customer. So I think that breaking up monopolies certainly helps... but I actually think that red tape tends to hold back innovation and expansion... that's the issue with fiber. The US is just too big... and so only certain companies really have a strong foothold (like Comcrap)

Foreign Policy:

This is where his behavior on social media has the most negative effect. There were times we thought we'd get bombed... but you know... maybe some aggressive language is not a bad thing, if it forces other countries to not be too comfortable leaning on us for their own welfare. He did make some good choices for foreign policy... for example, Nikki Haley. A great choice and she's done a wonderful job as our UN ambassador.

His Family Business:

My biggest issue is he has not done enough to distance himself from his private business. He hasn't divested, so I believe he's still receiving a portion of his income from the Trump brand... though his kids are running it and supposedly they "don't talk about it"... his various trips to Florida, Mar a Lago has depleted the secret service budget and it's caused serious headaches for people running businesses locally. I also don't think it's right that he's hosting foreign dignitaries at these properties... and supposedly they are also staying in his hotels when in town. It's a huge breach in public trust imo and also a major conflict of interest...

Overall:

He's better than I expected in some ways, worse in others. Still a lot left to be desired... he's still saying stupid cr*p but I think for the most part, I've gotten used to it.

Many people thought he would be more of a centrist after the election, as people thought he was still a Democrat at heart. I'm actually surprised how conservative some of his policies are... and some of it is not actually a bad thing.

Ask me again in another year... This presidency is a bit of a roller coaster ride. Especially with foreign policy.

[Mystic Mock]

Originally Posted by LeatherTrumpet

what makes a good politician?

A good Politician doesn't come up with nearly a whole manifesto of policies that their own party won't let them enact for numerous reasons.

A good politician aswell should be popular on the International scene so that foreign countries will have your back during deals etc, Trump has failed on this as even May appears to be struggling to get along with him and they're both on the same wing spectrum from two nations that normally get along quite well with each other internationally.

A good politician also wouldn't be spending more time on Social Media than actually bothering to help run the country.

[The Slim Reaper]

Originally Posted by Maru

As a person, not much of my opinion has not changed... he's still a malignant narcissistic toddlerman... and he is fairly consistently behaving on Twitter using that school of thought.

Tax Cuts:

I'm pleasantly surprised in some ways, especially later into the year when things started finally getting passed. The tax cuts were the right call... our corporate tax rate was way too high as it were and some of the highest in the world. It doesn't make for creating jobs locally and that's what we badly need in many states in the US.

There still needs to be another tax bill though... especially to address the tax loopholes and make the code leaner than it is atm. I was a fan of the new tax bracket system they were going to, it was much simpler and seemed to work better for those in lower brackets... but unfortunately that got canned near the end in order for it to get put through.

Our standard deductions will be double next year. I'm on border where I would need to itemize, but with the deduction increases will push that off for a little while longer.

Net Neutrality:

As for net neutrality rules being pulled, I'm 50/50. There were still practices before that the rules technically should've prevented, but the FCC said "oh this is innovative!"... so as long as they have the say in the end if something is outside their purview, then it might as well be deregulated... I don't think that that means companies will start charging stupid rates for broadband/cable...if anything, they will be begging us for business as many are now cord cutters, buying their own modems, etc to cut fees (since more tech savvy populace)... and I call cancellations once a year to renegotiate my fees, so I never really get screwed anyway.

The cellular industry is not regulated like fiber, and because of increased competition and the FCC preventing stupid mergers (like Deutsche merging T-mo and AT&T, etc), we've seen some pretty major wins in the past several years in terms of pricing and it has been very beneficial for the customer. So I think that breaking up monopolies certainly helps... but I actually think that red tape tends to hold back innovation and expansion... that's the issue with fiber. The US is just too big... and so only certain companies really have a strong foothold (like Comcrap)

Foreign Policy:

This is where his behavior on social media has the most negative effect. There were times we thought we'd get bombed... but you know... maybe some aggressive language is not a bad thing, if it forces other countries to not be too comfortable leaning on us for their own welfare. He did make some good choices for foreign policy... for example, Nikki Haley. A great choice and she's done a wonderful job as our UN ambassador.

His Family Business:

My biggest issue is he has not done enough to distance himself from his private business. He hasn't divested, so I believe he's still receiving a portion of his income from the Trump brand... though his kids are running it and supposedly they "don't talk about it"... his various trips to Florida, Mar a Lago has depleted the secret service budget and it's caused serious headaches for people running businesses locally. I also don't think it's right that he's hosting foreign dignitaries at these properties... and supposedly they are also staying in his hotels when in town. It's a huge breach in public trust imo and also a major conflict of interest...

Overall:

He's better than I expected in some ways, worse in others. Still a lot left to be desired... he's still saying stupid cr*p but I think for the most part, I've gotten used to it.

Many people thought he would be more of a centrist after the election, as people thought he was still a Democrat at heart. I'm actually surprised how conservative some of his policies are... and some of it is not actually a bad thing.

Ask me again in another year... This presidency is a bit of a roller coaster ride. Especially with foreign policy.

The tax cuts have only hurt the country. You don't really cut taxes when there is low unemployment (thanks Obama) because it messes with the interest rates; tax cuts should be done as a stimulus. Nevermind the fact they are a massive redistribution of wealth to the top with the people who actually pay small businesses for services (the poor/middle class) seeing virtually nothing in comparison.

Although you bought the republican lie that the US was paying way too much in corporate tax, they are sitting on trillions of dollars of cash that they were already doing nothing with, and the loopholes (which trump promised to close; spoiler alert: he didn't) already in place meant that the actual rate was nowhere near the percentage being quoted, with many of the biggest corporations paying virtually zero.

This was a tax bill purely for the wealthy donors who'd threatened republicans with no more money unless they passed it.

Throw in things like the estate tax (that will only save rich people money) and you're blind if you can't see what this was really about.

Trickle down economics doesn't work - the recent experiment in Kansas proves this, as did the W tax cuts. You build an economy from the floor up, because giving the people at the bottom more money means they will spend that money on food or goods which boost the local economy and raises tax income. that money at the top means they will just buy more share options which does nothing for anyone other than the person that increases their own personal wealth.

[montblanc]

horrible man

[Mitchell]

I mean I’m glad it’s not Pence

[Maru]

Originally Posted by The Slim Reaper

The tax cuts have only hurt the country. You don't really cut taxes when there is low unemployment (thanks Obama) because it messes with the interest rates; tax cuts should be done as a stimulus. Nevermind the fact they are a massive redistribution of wealth to the top with the people who actually pay small businesses for services (the poor/middle class) seeing virtually nothing in comparison.

The tax cuts haven't been in effect long enough for us to judge the outcome, so it's only an opinion at this point.

It is because small businesses that provide jokes and invest in the economy. It is my opinion this creates jobs... not high taxes and chasing companies out of the states and countries with high taxes.

I lived in a blue state with just about total control and blue state politics for 7-8 years (Maryland). There were almost no small businesses where the population was concentrated. It was easily 10 to 1, chains to small business. So even things like fixing your car were astronomically expensive due to lack of competition. Food choices were also more limited because of the heavy prominence of national chains. The income gap was a blight. With most of the wealth concentrated at the top.

As a result, rent was astronomical, taxes were higher. We don't pay income tax in TX, but we did in MD. The sales tax is also about the same as TX, which makes no sense with the deficits in that state. Corruption and control by associations, etc, was also higher. The cost of living was crap and eating healthier was near impossible. A simple clinic was difficult (of which there were few) for us to find where we weren't nickle and dimed (I was uninsured for 10 years, so paid out of pocket for services though I was sick through school). The laws were also stricter and the govt had a lot more control over what they could do with your property and land. For example, we lived at a family friend's rental who while we were living there, had a huge chunk of their driveway taken away to the point after it was done after we left, they lost all their tree cover (it was trees in the front) and a high density road very close to the door... so much noisier... in this Texas this is almost unheard of as own our land, and supposedly this is not exactly the case there... which was quite shocking to me. Oh, and to add to that, homes were 250-500K if you wanted to not live in a high crime area... no thanks.

Sure, it was a comfortable place to live for the rich and wealthy, but I knew too many people (including ourselves) including ourselves who struggled. Now keep in mind through this period I a major Obama supporter, so I bought into these talking points... my point is, I lived through democratic policies on a daily basis. We also watched as the people in Baltimore struggled to survive, a massively corrupt system where when you drive in, there were billboards at the time telling everyone to just "believe"... because it was not a picnic. The murder rate was high and people struggled massively. Rather than end up there homeless or living in a slum due to the ballooning rent, I moved back home where a decent job market existed (another problem with that state) and I could maybe reasonably settle down in the next 5-10 years and have kids.

Long story short, I have my own business, we're comfortably off, and our bills are incredibly manageable. We own our own home. Our mortgage is sub $1K/mo, which includes property taxes, (which is also school taxes) and mortgage insurance. And we live in a decent area that where we had already had 10-15% added to the value of our home. We have a decent amount of income left over at the end of the day to pay the bills and then put away. Needless to say, we went from struggling and myself eating food that made me literally sick on a daily basis, to not only better access to medical care, but also a wonderful state pension that will serve us well when we retire. But yes, Republicans evil... Democrats great.

It's also nice to be able to walk outside and just walk to neighbors and talk to them and them no rush you off due to fear. That I never understood. I was always very social and it felt like you had to get through a barrier to talk to people there. My husband also had the police called on him for pulling his guns out of his vehicle (cased) for literally walking from the car to his front door after going to the range. No other reason. Neighbors that weren't adjacent to each other rarely talked to each other. I couldn't even tell you what color most of my other neighbors were. Nobody went outside. I walked home from the bus-line everyday and I thought that was weird (and actually really sad). And obviously nobody gave a sh*t about Baltimore or DC as that they "why bother". How is that a better culture?

Although you bought the republican lie that the US was paying way too much in corporate tax, they are sitting on trillions of dollars of cash that they were already doing nothing with, and the loopholes (which trump promised to close; spoiler alert: he didn't) already in place meant that the actual rate was nowhere near the percentage being quoted, with many of the biggest corporations paying virtually zero.

I agree, the loopholes need to be closed. I had said that in my post. Now mind, they tried to get these things put into the first bill, and a lot of these things had to be stripped in order for it to get through. The same thing happened with Obamacare... it had cost cutting regulations in the package, which had to be pulled and instead of pulling out the bill, the Democrats slammed it through. Hence the monstrocity of "universal health care" that we had that never was... because the bill they got passed was crap.

This was a tax bill purely for the wealthy donors who'd threatened republicans with no more money unless they passed it.

Ok. Believe that if you want. It doesn't matter to me either way.

Throw in things like the estate tax (that will only save rich people money) and you're blind if you can't see what this was really about.

Again, things that should've went through but had to be taken out... it's worked like this for the past 10-15 years either party in control. Both passing bills that don't go far enough to work as intended thanks to filibuster. That's why we need to stop passing these big giant bills and start to pass smaller changes... that's the way the system was designed.

Trickle down economics doesn't work - the recent experiment in Kansas proves this, as did the W tax cuts. You build an economy from the floor up, because giving the people at the bottom more money means they will spend that money on food or goods which boost the local economy and raises tax income. that money at the top means they will just buy more share options which does nothing for anyone other than the person that increases their own personal wealth.

Trickle down economics is not really actually an economic term, it's a talking point. Do some research on supply side economics.

I've been doing a lot of my own research since the election, which is why I've come to different conclusions, as well some that is experience based and things I could see more objectively after being Democrat after having grown up in a red state. I've benefited from Republican politics, so I don't see evil Republicans as you do. We came back with pretty much nothing and had to rely on family for a place to stay. Houston is one of the few places with a Republican foothold still left... most of the other cities in the US are struggling with massive homelessness, high cost of living, massive corruption, police brutality, etc and high crime rates... all cities supported by Democrat policies. So say the Republicans are actually a terrible choice for me... why would voting Democrat be an even better option for me? I'm only voting what makes sense in my case.

I don't buy into the rhetoric of either party is evil and heinous... but I do think that Republican policies work better, especially since it's not using emotional reasoning and I can make the case for their policies using my own experiences and doing my investigations... my husband works in an agency that is Democrat establishment, so we've seen the good and bad from that end. I know some folk who politically active in the Republican campaigns and so I hear their reasoning (some I don't all agree with)... so I've seen both sides of it of the story and made up my mind.

Granted, I understand why you may feel the way you do. I don't have to agree with your vision of how politics works. This is of course because this is an opinion thread... and thus, I stand by my opinion of things. Nobody should feel inclined to agree if it's not their way of seeing things. So let's just leave it at that....