Checking out his policies.
https://www.donaldjtrump.com/policies. This might seem harsher than I intend. If I went through Hillary's policies I'd probably have a lot of criticisms also.
Things I like:Making infrastructure a priority. Seems like a better use of money than bombing people.
Wtihdrawing from TPP.
Modifying existing trade agreements. But only if he can do it in way that doesn't cause more harm than good.
I'm liking everything I see under child care. I think they're positive changes.
Making mental health a priority.
Veterans Affairs. I'd like to see some more concrete ideas but it's good to make this a priority. We have an obligation morally and practically to make these people whole.
I like in general he seems to want to not get us involved in things like Iraq.
Things I don't like:His approach to cybersecurity. It doesn't appear here but during the primaries he stated many times his intention to allow the government to allow the government to censor websites for the purposes of security. And intends to dismantle net neutrality. This suggests to me that Trump doesn't understand the first amendment, it's history and the consequences of failing to defend it.
Trump's tax plan. This appears to be a reiteration of supply side economics, a policy we've been pursuing for the last 30 years which seems to benefit the upper class and no one else. If Trump were really interested in helping the middle class, he'd institute a policy of demand side economics.
National Defense. From the looks of his policy it appears that Trump may believe we're still fighting World War 2. I believe in a strong military. There's a lot of value to having a military so strong that our military supremacy is indisputable. But this is far beyond what's necessary. As it stands the largest airforce in the world is the U.S. Airforce. The second largest airforce in the world is the U.S. navy. The Nimitz class carrier is at least twice as large as any other carrier and it is nigh invulnerable with enough firepower to turn just about any nation into a glass parking lot. We have 10 of these.
Crime. I'm not specifically against what he's saying here but the problem is it seems to be based on the assumption that crime is out of control and on the rise. The data clearly shows that this is the safest time in American history. So I'm worried about Trump spending resources unnecessarily or infringing on civil liberties for what is basically the boogie man.
Energy. I'm seeing an intention to really double down on fossil fuels here. There is no mention of alternative energy so I'm assuming those industries will not be supported. This is very disappointing. All of the nations giving us trouble are heavily dependent on petroleum exports. What I would have liked to have seem post 9-11 is instead of spending 2T on endless wars, I'd have done a serious push for alternative energy. This country is far and away the biggest consumer of petroleum on the planet. If we took that away from them, that's a level of control far greater than an army. Burning coal might work for now but other countries aren't so short sighted. We're going to get left behind in an important industry.
Healthcare. Whatever problems there might be with Obamacare it is at least
something. What I'm seeing on Trump's website is a lot of nothing. There's no plan here. I'm guessing we're going back to declaring bankruptcy and losing your house if you break a leg? I'm hoping he comes up with something soon because he's definitely capable of repealing Obamacare.
Education. I'm not sure what to think of this one. I'm seeing a lot of talk of "school choice" which is usually a code word for making the government pay for teaching creationism to kids. But maybe I'm wrong on that.
Immigration. This is the one where Trump gets called a racist for the most. I wouldn't go that far. It's silly to suggest that its racist for a country to control it's borders. The problem is, like his idea of crime, this isn't rooted in reality. Net immigration has been negative for the past 5 years.
http://www.pewhispanic.org/2015/11/19/more-mexicans-leaving-than-coming-to-the-u-s/ If Trump builds a wall it's going to be holding them
in.
Regulations. There are some onerous, highly counter productive regulations out there. I'm sure of that. What concerns me here is the contempt Trump has demonstrated in his debates for things such as the EPA. He has the perspective of a businessman, where he sees regulations only as an impediment. But that's a narrow view. These regulations are also the things that prevent our lakes from catching fire.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuyahoga_River. There is no free market solution to the problem of 'The Tragedy of the Commons'.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tragedy_of_the_commons