You can find my list of 2016 Presidential Candidates here, which I've saved as a page instead of just a post. You can easily get to the list using the link up near the top.
Donald Trump
Donald Trump is a bit of an interesting case, a successful businessman who lacks the traditional skills usually associated with successful politicians, he has enjoyed a great deal of support from Republican voters in poll after poll. He speaks bluntly and isn't slow to insult people, which infuriates many, but many outspoken conservative pundits are defending him. So, let me give you the short version of my opinion, then I'll go into details.
Before I do, however, let me emphasize that this is the opinion I hold of Donald Trump as a Presidential Candidate in 2016. It is based upon what I know of his past and present, and judged against my own preference for a truly small-government candidate who believes in individual freedom and liberty. And where a candidate's utterances on the campaign trail conflict with what he/she has said in previous years, I tend to believe the non-campaigning beliefs are closer to the truth.
Donald Trump is a man who shouldn't be running on the Republican ticket. He self-identifies as a Democrat, and continues to espouse many big-government ideas during his campaign. He has supported gun control, for example, profited from eminent domain abuse, and still advocates big-government solutions that ignore Constitutional limits on government power. It is my opinion, which I will support in the detail section, that Trump is a big government liberal who believes he can fool Republicans into voting for him as a conservative Republican. I also believe he will govern closer to Obama than most Republicans would be comfortable with.
Rating: NO WAY!!!
Not too long ago, Trump self-identified as a Democrat, and gave his reasons for doing so.
As an example of a Presidential candidate he'd be willing to support, he chose Hillary Clinton:
So, we have a person who says he is a Democrat and could vote for Hillary Clinton for President... that doesn't sound like the conservative icon he is presenting himself as on the campaign trail.
On the campaign trail, Trump loudly and repeatedly supports the second amendment.
However, that wasn't always the case, as he has in the past supported assault weapons bans.
He's also on record saying that he'd prefer that nobody had a gun, if it were possible.
So forgive me if I'm less than inclined to believe his current "elect-me" rhetoric on gun rights.
He also has a lousy past with eminent domain, and on this issue his opinion hasn't changed. Eminent Domain is the government practice of taking property away from someone who doesn't want to sell it, and either using it for a "legitimate public purpose" or giving/selling it to someone else who will use it in a way that promises more tax revenue for government. in 2005, the Supreme Court ruled that "more tax revenue" was a valid public purpose, and while the rest of the conservative world howled in protest, Trump defended the decision.
Keep in mind that Trump didn't just say the SCOTUS ruling was good law, but that allowing this practice was a good thing:
Hardly a conservative value. And even today on the campaign trail, Trump is defending the general idea of eminent domain, as well as his own past history with it.
These aren't the only issues Trump has changed from holding a liberal position on, just in time for his 2016 Presidential run as a conservative Republican. Trump has changed from "totally pro-choice" to "pro-life" and from supporting a single-payer health system to strongly opposing one. He opposes cuts to entitlement programs, once supported “a one-time 14.25 percent tax on individuals and trusts with a net worth over $10 million" and strongly opposes free trade.
Trump doesn't seem to understand the concept of Constitutional limits to government power. In recent days, since the Paris terrorist attacks, he has come out in support of measures that, at the very least, violate the first amendment, such as shutting down mosques.
He's also indicated he's open to doing things such as warrantless searches of Muslims, registering Muslims in the US in a database and/or making them wear a special mark indicating their faith.
So much for the first amendment and the protection of religion. Note also the willingness to toss the fourth amendment and its requirement for a warrant before searches can be conducted. He also ignores the 5th amendment in his enthusiastic support of eminent domain use and abuse.
He also ignores the 14th amendment in his unbridled zeal to attack illegal immigrants, always a popular issue for conservatives.
So, what we have is a man who used to be a left-wing Democrat but now claims to be a very conservative Republican, who ignores or is ignorant of the Constitution and the limits it places upon government powers, and who even now still retains some of his liberal positions, though he doesn't talk much about them if he can help it.
I firmly believe that Trump will govern in a manner closer to Obama than anything I could support, and that the result would be a larger, more intrusive government, less individual freedom, more spending and greater debt, higher taxes, and new programs and actions that totally ignore Constitutional protections under the guise of "security."
Conclusion: I would never vote for Donald Trump for President of the United States.
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Donald Trump
Donald Trump is a bit of an interesting case, a successful businessman who lacks the traditional skills usually associated with successful politicians, he has enjoyed a great deal of support from Republican voters in poll after poll. He speaks bluntly and isn't slow to insult people, which infuriates many, but many outspoken conservative pundits are defending him. So, let me give you the short version of my opinion, then I'll go into details.
Before I do, however, let me emphasize that this is the opinion I hold of Donald Trump as a Presidential Candidate in 2016. It is based upon what I know of his past and present, and judged against my own preference for a truly small-government candidate who believes in individual freedom and liberty. And where a candidate's utterances on the campaign trail conflict with what he/she has said in previous years, I tend to believe the non-campaigning beliefs are closer to the truth.
Donald Trump is a man who shouldn't be running on the Republican ticket. He self-identifies as a Democrat, and continues to espouse many big-government ideas during his campaign. He has supported gun control, for example, profited from eminent domain abuse, and still advocates big-government solutions that ignore Constitutional limits on government power. It is my opinion, which I will support in the detail section, that Trump is a big government liberal who believes he can fool Republicans into voting for him as a conservative Republican. I also believe he will govern closer to Obama than most Republicans would be comfortable with.
Rating: NO WAY!!!
Not too long ago, Trump self-identified as a Democrat, and gave his reasons for doing so.
"In many cases, I probably identify more as Democrat," Trump told CNN's Wolf Blitzer in a 2004 interview. "It just seems that the economy does better under the Democrats than the Republicans. Now, it shouldn't be that way. But if you go back, I mean it just seems that the economy does better under the Democrats. ...But certainly we had some very good economies under Democrats, as well as Republicans. But we've had some pretty bad disaster under the Republicans."
As an example of a Presidential candidate he'd be willing to support, he chose Hillary Clinton:
"Hillary's always surrounded herself with very good people. I think Hillary would do a good job."
So, we have a person who says he is a Democrat and could vote for Hillary Clinton for President... that doesn't sound like the conservative icon he is presenting himself as on the campaign trail.
On the campaign trail, Trump loudly and repeatedly supports the second amendment.
The Second Amendment to our Constitution is clear. The right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed upon. Period. Gun and magazine bans are a total failure. That’s been proven every time it’s been tried. Opponents of gun rights try to come up with scary sounding phrases like “assault weapons”, “military-style weapons” and “high capacity magazines” to confuse people. What they’re really talking about are popular semi-automatic rifles and standard magazines that are owned by tens of millions of Americans. Law-abiding people should be allowed to own the firearm of their choice. The government has no business dictating what types of firearms good, honest people are allowed to own.
However, that wasn't always the case, as he has in the past supported assault weapons bans.
"I generally oppose gun control, but I support the ban on assault weapons."
He's also on record saying that he'd prefer that nobody had a gun, if it were possible.
"Look, there’s nothing I like better than nobody has them, but that’s not going to happen, Larry. So, as long as that’s not going to happen, I say you have to be allowed to have a gun."
So forgive me if I'm less than inclined to believe his current "elect-me" rhetoric on gun rights.
He also has a lousy past with eminent domain, and on this issue his opinion hasn't changed. Eminent Domain is the government practice of taking property away from someone who doesn't want to sell it, and either using it for a "legitimate public purpose" or giving/selling it to someone else who will use it in a way that promises more tax revenue for government. in 2005, the Supreme Court ruled that "more tax revenue" was a valid public purpose, and while the rest of the conservative world howled in protest, Trump defended the decision.
“I happen to agree with it 100%. if you have a person living in an area that’s not even necessarily a good area, and … government wants to build a tremendous economic development, where a lot of people are going to be put to work and … create thousands upon thousands of jobs and beautification and lots of other things, I think it happens to be good.”
Keep in mind that Trump didn't just say the SCOTUS ruling was good law, but that allowing this practice was a good thing:
“Trump did not merely claim that the Kelo v. New London decision was legally correct; he argued that it was ‘good’ to give government the power to forcibly displace homeowners and small businesses and transfer their property to influential developers on the theory that doing so might promote ‘economic development.’”
Hardly a conservative value. And even today on the campaign trail, Trump is defending the general idea of eminent domain, as well as his own past history with it.
Donald Trump sees a simple reason why so many conservatives disagree with him on eminent domain, the controversial power by which the government seizes private land for development projects: They just don’t understand the issue as well as he does. “I fully understand the conservative approach, but I don’t think it was explained to most conservatives,” Trump said in an interview with Fox News’s Bret Baier that aired yesterday. “Nobody knows this better than I do, because I’ve built a lot of buildings in Manhattan and you’ll have twelve sites and you’ll get eleven and you’ll have the one holdout, and you end up building around them. I know it better than anybody.”
These aren't the only issues Trump has changed from holding a liberal position on, just in time for his 2016 Presidential run as a conservative Republican. Trump has changed from "totally pro-choice" to "pro-life" and from supporting a single-payer health system to strongly opposing one. He opposes cuts to entitlement programs, once supported “a one-time 14.25 percent tax on individuals and trusts with a net worth over $10 million" and strongly opposes free trade.
Trump doesn't seem to understand the concept of Constitutional limits to government power. In recent days, since the Paris terrorist attacks, he has come out in support of measures that, at the very least, violate the first amendment, such as shutting down mosques.
The United States will have "absolutely no choice" but to close down some mosques where "some bad things are happening," Donald Trump said in a recent interview, explaining his rationale for doing so.
"Nobody wants to say this and nobody wants to shut down religious institutions or anything, but you know, you understand it. A lot of people understand it. We’re going to have no choice," the Republican presidential said in an interview from Trump Tower on Fox News' "Hannity" on Tuesday night.
He's also indicated he's open to doing things such as warrantless searches of Muslims, registering Muslims in the US in a database and/or making them wear a special mark indicating their faith.
“Certain things will be done that we never thought would happen in this country in terms of information and learning about the enemy,” he added. “We’re going to have to do things that were frankly unthinkable a year ago.”
Trump would not rule out warrantless searches in his plans for increased surveillance of the nation’s Muslims, Yahoo reported Thursday.
He also remained open toward registering U.S. Muslims in a database or giving them special identification identifying their faith, the news outlet added.
So much for the first amendment and the protection of religion. Note also the willingness to toss the fourth amendment and its requirement for a warrant before searches can be conducted. He also ignores the 5th amendment in his enthusiastic support of eminent domain use and abuse.
The Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution forbids the government from taking private property unless the taking is "for public use." That concept has traditionally been understood to apply only to a very narrow category of undeniable public projects, such as the building of roads or bridges.
But Trump believes the government should get to wield far more power than that. Trump believes it should count as a legitimate public use to build a limousine parking lot (for Trump) or "to build a factory that's going to have 5,000 jobs."
He also ignores the 14th amendment in his unbridled zeal to attack illegal immigrants, always a popular issue for conservatives.
Several months later, that same Republican Congress passed the legislation that became the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which, among other things, declared, "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside." Upon ratification in 1868, the 14th Amendment's Citizenship Clause enshrined the principle of birthright citizenship in the text of the Constitution.
Today, birthright citizenship is again under fire, only this time the attacks are coming primarily from the party that first put the guarantee into place. In mid-August, GOP presidential frontrunner Donald Trump vowed in an immigration-policy white paper to "end birthright citizenship," which he claimed was the "biggest magnet for illegal immigration."
"I don't think they have American citizenship," Trump told Fox News host Bill O'Reilly, in reference to the U.S.-born children of undocumented immigrants. "It's not going to hold up in court, it's going to have to be tested."
But if the courts follow the Constitution, Trump's test will surely fail. That's because the text and history of the 14th Amendment are clear: If a child is born on U.S. soil, and that child's parents don't happen to be diplomats, foreign ministers, or invading foreign troops, then that child is a U.S. citizen by virtue of birth.
So, what we have is a man who used to be a left-wing Democrat but now claims to be a very conservative Republican, who ignores or is ignorant of the Constitution and the limits it places upon government powers, and who even now still retains some of his liberal positions, though he doesn't talk much about them if he can help it.
I firmly believe that Trump will govern in a manner closer to Obama than anything I could support, and that the result would be a larger, more intrusive government, less individual freedom, more spending and greater debt, higher taxes, and new programs and actions that totally ignore Constitutional protections under the guise of "security."
Conclusion: I would never vote for Donald Trump for President of the United States.