1. Propose a Constitutional Amendment to impose term limits on all members of Congress.
This is one of those "feel good ideas" that has zero chance of actually ever happening, and might not be a good idea anyway. As Brinstar mentioned, this will INCREASE lobbyist influence, not decrease it. The Senate especially benefits from people being there for several terms, because it takes a while to learn all the ins and outs of the role. Besides, if you REALLY want to create greater turnover in the house, do like California did and take the congressional districting out of the hands of politicians, so we don't have the kind of extreme gerrymandering that has happened all over the country, to basically ensure incumbents get re-elected. Let a panel of private citizens (made up of equal numbers of Democrats, Republicans, and Independents, like CA) work out the districting so it is done in a non-partisan fashion. That will immediately create much more turnover among representatives, and force them to be much more responsive to the interests of ALL the residents in their district, not just hyper-partisans. Besides, if you really think that 2/3 of Congress will vote to voluntarily limit their own term limits, I have a rather large and bright orange bridge just north of San Francisco I'd like to sell you.
2. Institute a hiring freeze on all federal employees to reduce federal workforce through attrition (exempting military, public safety, and public health)
This is also idiotic. People hired to government jobs don't just sit around picking their ass and launching snot rockets at the doors of their office, they actually do real work. Much of it important work. You want to get new drugs approved faster, you really think that not letting the FDA hire new employees is going to help that? What happens if several janitors at a federal building all retire or move to new jobs at the same time? Let the building and its bathrooms get filthy because of a silly rule like this? Twaddle.
3. Require for every new federal regulation, two existing regulations must be eliminated.
This may be the stupidest one yet. You know the rule about restaurant employees having to wash their hands after they take a dump? That's a regulation. How about we do away with that one, then? Requiring meat producers to not sell mad-cow disease tainted meat for feed is a regulation. How about we dump that one? Yes, some regulations can seem silly, but the vast majority are of vital importance, and the idea you'd have to eliminate useful regulations just because something new has come up that needs to be regulated is monumentally idiotic.
4. Institute a five year-ban on White House and Congressional officials becoming lobbyists after they leave government service.
This one I wouldn't be opposed to, generally, so long as individual rights are taken into account, and there aren't idiocies hidden in the fine print. Besides, given who he's appointed to his transition team, it's obvious Trump doesn't care about lobbyists, given that he's been appointing industry lobbyists to oversee those industries. Duke Energy lobbyist being put in charge of the EPA. Verizon lobbyist for head of the FCC. Yeah, he's *SO* anti-lobbyist....
5. Create a lifetime ban on White House officials lobbying on behalf of a foreign government.
What, you mean like Paul Manafort, who if the media hadn't reported on his ties to the Soviet-backed puppet government of Ukraine, would now be a White House official that had lobbied on behalf of a foreign government? Yeah, obviously this is a HUGE concern for Trump. Right. Pull the other one.
6. Institute a complete ban on foreign lobbyists raising money for American elections.
I believe there already is such a ban. Foreigners already aren't allowed to donate to campaigns. Due to Citizen's United, though, and the dark money nature of SuperPac's, they have a backdoor way of doing so. The Democrats have spoken out against such dark money in politics, and want to reverse Citizen's United. The GOP has said a whole lot of nothing. Oh, and then there's this item, where people on Trump's team colluded to launder a $1m donation from a fake "rich Chinese investor":
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/10 ... r-fundrai/ Again, such a HUGE concern of Trump's... not.
7. Announce intention to renegotiate NAFTA or withdraw from the deal under Article 2205.
You realize there's a lot of benefit we get from NAFTA too, right? Last figures I saw showed that more jobs had been created by NAFTA than were lost, they just weren't the same jobs in the same industries. Sure, renegotiating it is fine, but trying to do it to specifically advantage the US isn't going to go anywhere, and unilaterally pulling out could severely damage the economy.
8. Announce withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
This is effectively dead already. Which I'm fine with, specifically because of the anti-environmental language written in there.
9. Direct Secretary of the Treasury to label China a currency manipulator.
And this will have what effect, exactly? I mean besides damaging US-China relations, where a trade war with China could cost us trillions? (yes, that's with a T)
10. Direct the Secretary of Commerce and U.S. Trade Representative to identify all foreign trading abuses that unfairly impact American workers and direct them to use every tool under American and international law to end those abuses immediately.
"End Abuses" Sounds great on paper, but there's no substance here. WHAT abuses? And what are we going to do about them?
11. Lift the restrictions on the production of $50 trillion dollars’ worth of job-producing American energy reserves, including shale, oil, natural gas and clean coal.
Absolutely not. Not to mention, you DO realize there's a glut on the oil market, so even if more areas WERE opened up to oil drilling, that oil companies wouldn't do it because it's not economically viable at the moment, given the price of oil per barrel? You also realize that this country is in the middle of a huge energy production boom already, especially natural gas? Doesn't seem to ME like there are massive "restrictions" on fossil fuel production that are crippling this nation somehow.
12. Lift the Obama-Clinton roadblocks and allow vital energy infrastructure projects, like the Keystone Pipeline, to move forward.
You do remember how I explained to you how the Keystone pipeline wouldn't do anything to reduce gas prices here in the US, and would actually increase them through much of the northern midwest where that oil is currently sold? The sole thing that the Keystone Pipeline will do is let a CANADIAN oil company have quicker access to sell their oil internationally, by the pipeline to a port city in the south. Also, there are less than 100 jobs involved in the pipeline going forward once it's actually built. Sure, construction would employ more people, but those people would be far better employed rebuilding roads, bridges, and highways instead. Also, the Diluted Bitumen that would go through the pipeline is incredibly corrosive, incredibly toxic, and incredibly hard to clean up. See this about a diluted bitumen spill in Michigan in 2010, that took FOUR YEARS to mostly clean up enough to actually re-open the river, and it did permanent ecological damage.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalamazoo_River_oil_spill13. Cancel billions in payments to U.N. climate change programs and use the money to fix America’s water and environmental infrastructure.
Translation: Fuck our grandkids, for greater profits to oil companies now. Even the military considers climate change to be one of THEIR biggest concerns going forwards. Climate change is THE big global problem every nation on earth needs to tackle. Like Brinstar mentioned, we subsidize oil companies, some of the richest companies in the world, with far more billions per year than we give to the UN. Why not stop THAT money and use it for this, if he's actually interested in doing it?
14. Cancel every unconstitutional executive action, memorandum and order issued by President Obama.
If they were unconstitutional, they would have been challenged in court and ruled as such. Like what happened with one of his immigration orders. The courts haven't ruled anything else unconstitutional, ergo, it isn't. So, this is a empty talking point with no actual relevance.
15. Begin the process of selecting a replacement for Justice Scalia from one of the 20 judges on my list, who will uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States.
If you think for 1 second that the Democrats are going to let another Scalia get appointed, after the travesty the GOP has pulled over the last year since he died, you've gone completely loony. A moderate might get through, but a hard-right Bork/Clarence Thomas/Scalia type? Not a chance. Filibuster all day erry day. The GOP made its bed on this issue, now it gets to see what it feels like.
16. Cancel all federal funding to Sanctuary Cities.
Idiot soundbite attended to appeal to low-information voters. Besides, if he tries this, that will be a HUGE backer of the currently gaining steam #CalExit movement. Besides, what happened to the supposed GOP love for "States Rights"?
17. Begin removing the more than 2 million criminal illegal immigrants from the country and cancel visas to foreign countries that won’t take them back.
Yeah, and how exactly are you going to deport 2 million people without trampling on people's civil rights? How many actual citizens will get deported by mistake? How many kids that were brought here as infants and have never known any other country, and are in no way responsible for what their parents did are you prepared to send to a country they have no memory of, and may not even speak the language of? What do you do with US citizens (because they were born here) that are maybe 4 or 5 years old, but who's parents were here illegally? You can't deport citizens, and you can't leave a toddler without his parents. Oh, and birthright citizenship is part of the Constitution, so you can't ignore it, or is it suddenly ok to ignore parts of the constitution YOU don't like? Besides, doing something like this would cause even greater disconnect between communities and their police as well.
18. Suspend immigration from terror-prone regions where vetting cannot safely occur. All vetting of people coming into our country will be considered extreme vetting.
Um, you are aware that refugees from Syria, etc, have to undergo more than 2 years of vetting before they come here? And that there has never once been a terroristic incident perpetrated by a refugee that came to the US? More meaningless sound bites designed to appeal to low-information voters.
19. Work with Congress on a Middle Class Tax Relief And Simplification Act. An economic plan designed to grow the economy 4% per year and create at least 25 million new jobs through massive tax reduction and simplification, in combination with trade reform, regulatory relief, and lifting the restrictions on American energy. The largest tax reductions are for the middle class. A middle-class family with 2 children will get a 35% tax cut. The current number of brackets will be reduced from 7 to 3, and tax forms will likewise be greatly simplified. The business rate will be lowered from 35 to 15 percent, and the trillions of dollars of American corporate money overseas can now be brought back at a 10 percent rate.
You realize they've tried this in Kansas for a number of years, right? It's been a disastrous failure. Same sort of claimed "economic growth" results that would offset the revenue lost in taxes, and it never actually happens. As a result the state is in shambles, they've had to massively cut funding for education, and on top of that they have a much weaker economy and higher levels of unemployment compared to surrounding states. This system DOES NOT WORK. See also the economic predictions of what the Trump tax plan would do to the deficit: increase it by multiple trillions within a decade. BRILLIANT IDEA!
20. Work with Congress on a End The Offshoring Act Establishes tariffs to discourage companies from laying off their workers in order to relocate in other countries and ship their products back to the U.S. tax-free.
Hey! One that isn't complete crap right from the start! However, tariffs are very chancy things. It was a tariff that triggered the true plunge into the Great Depression back in the 1930s.
21. Work with Congress on a American Energy & Infrastructure Act Leverages public-private partnerships, and private investments through tax incentives, to spur $1 trillion in infrastructure investment over 10 years. It is revenue neutral.
You're going to have to prove that whole "revenue neutral" part. But again, Democrats have been calling for greater infrastructure spending for a long time now. Constantly stonewalled by the GOP congress, which doesn't exactly strike me with Nostradamus-like certainty that they'll some how vote for it NOW.
22. Work with Congress on a School Choice And Education Opportunity ActRedirects education dollars to gives parents the right to send their kid to the public, private, charter, magnet, religious or home school of their choice. Ends common core, brings education supervision to local communities. It expands vocational and technical education, and make 2 and 4-year college more affordable.
Making college and technical/vocational education more affordable is a great idea. You might recall it being a centerpiece of Bernie's campaign. But the first part: absolutely not. Charter schools are just a dodge for rich people to send their kids to private school without having to pay as much. Improve PUBLIC schools, rather than splinter the system into splinters. Also, national control is necessary, to keep states from including items in their curricula that are entirely untrue. (see: textbooks claiming that humans and dinosaurs were around at the same time, downplaying slavery, etc.)
23. Work with Congress on a Repeal and Replace Obamacare Act Fully repeals Obamacare and replaces it with Health Savings Accounts, the ability to purchase health insurance across state lines, and lets states manage Medicaid funds. Reforms will also include cutting the red tape at the FDA: there are over 4,000 drugs awaiting approval, and we especially want to speed the approval of life-saving medications.
As for "cutting the red tape at the FDA", I have one word to say about that: Thalidomide. Look it up. Also, there are no federal restrictions whatsoever on purchasing insurance across state lines. None. Totally legal already. STATES don't allow it, since each state has their own standard for what insurance companies must offer, etc, and a state allowing its residents to buy out of state insurance would be allowing people to bypass state law with regards to health insurance. Also, how are people who are working at minimum wage and barely living paycheck to paycheck supposed to put together a "health savings account" sufficient to get them treatment if they get cancer, say? You want to cut healthcare costs, give EVERYONE coverage, so that people seek treatment at the first signs of something being wrong, rather than waiting until they're rushed to an emergency room, which can cost upwards of 10x as much. Oh, and I'm sure there'd be SO many grateful parents if you took away their ability to keep their kids on the parents' insurance policy until they're 26, or if you allowed insurance companies to exclude people due to pre-existing conditions again.
24. Work with Congress on a Affordable Childcare and Eldercare Act. Allows Americans to deduct childcare and elder care from their taxes, incentivizes employers to provide on-side childcare services, and creates tax-free Dependent Care Savings Accounts for both young and elderly dependents, with matching contributions for low-income families.
This might be a good idea, though I reserve judgement until I see actual details.
25. Work with Congress on an End Illegal Immigration ActFully-funds the construction of a wall on our southern border with the full understanding that the country Mexico will be reimbursing the United States for the full cost of such wall; establishes a 2-year mandatory minimum federal prison sentence for illegally re-entering the U.S. after a previous deportation, and a 5-year mandatory minimum for illegally re-entering for those with felony convictions, multiple misdemeanor convictions or two or more prior deportations; also reforms visa rules to enhance penalties for overstaying and to ensure open jobs are offered to American workers first.
The wall is the all time grand king of moronic ideas. I suggest you look up the issues with places in Texas, etc. that already HAVE a wall. Terrain is often very rugged, there's the Rio Grande to worry about, plus how many people's property would have to be seized by eminent domain for there to actually be land to put the bloody thing? And no, Mexico is not paying it. Anyone who believes that should have their head examined.
26. Work with Congress on a Restoring Community Safety Act.Reduces surging crime, drugs and violence by creating a Task Force On Violent Crime and increasing funding for programs that train and assist local police; increases resources for federal law enforcement agencies and federal prosecutors to dismantle criminal gangs and put violent offenders behind bars.
Crime isn't surging. Media reports of crime are surging. Actual crime isn't. Just about everywhere in the US the numbers show a steady decline in violent crime for the last 15+ years. This is a manufactured issue that has no basis whatsoever in reality.
27. Work with Congress on a Restoring National Security Act. Rebuilds our military by eliminating the defense sequester and expanding military investment; provides Veterans with the ability to receive public VA treatment or attend the private doctor of their choice; protects our vital infrastructure from cyber-attack; establishes new screening procedures for immigration to ensure those who are admitted to our country support our people and our values.
Funny, I don't remember a values or religion test mentioned in the Constitution when it comes to who can become a citizen. We already spend more on defense than something like the #2-9 nations COMBINED. We do NOT need more military spending. We need SMARTER military spending, like not spending > $1Trillion on a fighter design that can't even dogfight as well as a 1970's era F16, for example.
28. Work with Congress on a Clean up Corruption in Washington Act. Enacts new ethics reforms to Drain the Swamp and reduce the corrupting influence of special interests on our politics.
Funny, if he really wanted to "drain the swamp", why has he been naming nothing but Washington insiders and industry lobbyists to his transition team and as potential Cabinet members? Yeah, this is obviously a HUGE priority of his. Not.