The First 100 days

Today marks the first 100 days of the 2nd Trump administration. You can read about the highlights all over the place, so I’m going to give you what I see as missteps and other errors from the administration.

Let’s start with what others are calling an accomplishment: Executive orders. In the first 100 days Trump has signed 141 EO’s. That is the largest number of executive orders by a long shot. The next closest President was FDR with 99 in his first term.

Why are EO’s bad? Simple, they are not legislation and are not binding in the way a law would be. They are also liable to be repealed by the next administration. Governing by EO is a bad way to run things. I realize that at least some of this falls on the shoulders of Congress. However, it is up to Trump to get them working towards his goals.

Here is another thing that others are calling an accomplishment; deportations. So far, the Admin has deported upwards of 113,000 illegals. That number is far lower than several previous administration numbers. Part of the difference is that Obama changed the way deportations are counted to include immediate expulsions as a deportation. That said, Trumps daily numbers are considerably lower than those under Clinton, both Bushes, and Reagan.

Part of the reason for the low numbers has to do with the way the deportations have been carried out. Given the obvious lawfare tactics that everyone knew were going to be used, everyone involved in deportations should have made sure that every last ‘I’ was dotted and every ‘T’ was crossed.

Instead, we have illegals shipped off to countries they were not to be shipped to. This gave the resistance the ammo they needed to continue effecting lawfare. Had they bothered to read the deportation order they would have known there was an active withholding order.

Don’t get me wrong, everyone who is here in the US illegally needs to go, it just needs to be done the right way. Right now, it is not and that fact is – and will continue to – gumming up the works.

Here’s another that some are calling a win; the trade war. And don’t start with the no, it isn’t, because that’s exactly what it is. Especially with regards to our third largest trading partner and the world’s 2nd largest economy, China.

The tariff rollout was and continues to be a shambolic mess. There is little or no strategic planning that I can see regarding the tariffs. They have been slapped willy-nilly on every-and-anyone that has a trade surplus with the US. They are increased, decreased or suspended on the whim of the President.

If you don’t believe me, just go back a couple of weeks. Trump himself said he was suspending the tariff rollout because people – meaning Wall Street – were getting a bit yippy. And yes, that is a direct quote.

All the turmoil that has been created around the tarrif/trade issue is going to have a cost come midterms, and we’re not going to like it.

Before anyone starts with the you are a never Trumper nonsense, I voted for him. I support a lot more of his agenda than I don’t. Hell, I voted for him because of the policies I mentioned above. What I didn’t vote for was the crap way they’ve been implemented.

If it’s worth doing something, it’s worth doing right. And at this moment, he’s just not doing some of the things right. I see that as a problem.