One of the most stupid media tropes (among oh so many) is that incoming U.S. presidents should have a “100-day” report card on their performance. It’s another hangover (among oh so many) from the detestable Franklin Roosevelt which should be taken out and shot in the back of the head.
Why one hundred? Well, like any arbitrary number, it’s conveniently round but sheesh, it has no bearing in reality.
Some policies can be enacted immediately (e.g. re-opening the Keystone XL pipeline, mobilizing the Corps of Engineers to continue building the southern border wall) — which can safely be called a one-day report card; others may require a little longer, in that the job cannot be done immediately, but can be safely implemented within a month or so (e.g. putting a budget proposal together, firing a large number of federal bureaucrats); while still others may take several months, probably because they require the assistance of the tortoises in Congress (tax cuts, balancing the budget, cutting spending — as opposed to just cutting the growth of spending, which is what those assholes “call cutting”).
Of the immediate- to short-term initiatives, let’s just hope that Trump follows up on his promise to enlist the support of Elon Musk — especially when it comes to trimming the headcounts in various federal departments — to get things moving, in the manner of trailblazing ArgyPres Javier Milei.
And we don’t need any stupid polls like this one to tell Trump what to do about illegal immigration either. As Commander-In-Chief, he can tell the military to start gassing up the C-130s on Day One, to be ready for takeoff by Day Seven. (Why seven? Because it should only take a week to start emptying out the existing detention centers and jails prior to transporting the illegals and criminals out of the country.)
Whatever these initiatives may entail, let’s please ignore the stupid “100-day” report card because like so many artificial deadlines, it’s totally meaningless.
As usual, I love your list, Kim!
However, you can take the Keystone XL pipeline off of it. Some time ago, I read an interview with TC Energy execs in which they were asked if they would restart the pipeline if Trump was elected. The answer was a resounding NO!
They spent hundreds of millions on permits (now expired) both at the Federal level and in the various states to get ready for the project, and those have now expired. They would take years to redo, and countless more $ millions, and they are disinclined to do so because by the time they got approvals, the NEXT user of the Resolute Desk might stop the whole thing again with a stroke of a pen.
In fact, TC Energy, I believe, has spun off its oil transportation business to focus on liquid natural gas. They simply cut their losses and got out of the biz. Short a Congressional law protecting pipeline companies from this sort of bullshit, nobody else in their right mind would take up the project either. One only has to look at recent lawsuits against gun manufacturers DESPITE The Lawful Commerce in Arms Act to see how well that might work. No, Kim, unfortnately, the Keystone XL pipeline is dead. Canada is selling its oil to the Chicoms now. That ship has sailed.
I am reminded of The Philippines when I lived there, oh, some 35 years ago (wife is Filipino). Texas Instruments, as I recall, built a chip plant near Baguio City in the central mountains of The Philippines, after greasing the proper palms to get it done. However, when the next local administration was elected, they came wanting THEIR palms grease. When TI complained that they had already greased the proper palms, they were told, “Well, those palms are gone now, ours need greasing.” Shortly after building the plant, TI abandoned it.
I remember reading in a Financial publication about that time that no foreign company would start a capital investment project in The Philippines, because the long-term cost of capital for a plant that might operate for a few decades was indeterminable, therefore, long-term business planning was impossible. TI took it’s business elsewhere, probable Thailand or even Viet Nam.
My wife tells me The Philippines woke up and put a stop to this bullshit and the business climate is much better there now. In fact, one of my neices is a CFA with a major Japanese Bank in Manila, the Philippine economy seems to be on the upswing, now that they’ve realize the old bullshit doesn’t work.
Unfortunately, we don’t seem to have learned that lesson in the U.S. and now the opportunity for Canadian oil to be processed in Texas refineries is gone. Permanently. Even if Trump is elected. Why would any sane business fuck with trying to restart that massive, multi-year project when the Chinese will buy their oil?
The question answers itself, sadly.
Another notion that needs to go away is the whole notion that somehow Tax cuts need to be ” Paid For”. Democrats are fond of shouting from the rooftops “How are you going to pay for those tax cuts? ” and the members of Stupid Party try in vain to justify the cuts. Instead they should just say “It’s not our money. You should be explaining why you spend so much in the first place. The only way to get you to spend less, is to give you less to spend. “
I haven’t paid attention to the arbitrary metric of 100 days in office. I thought the 100 days came from the Little Corsican’s return to power.
There are a lot of things that Trump can do within the first week. Clemency or pardons for the J6 protestors would be a quick one.
Another would be to evict the anti gun nuts from the White House and charge them for any damages. Institute a department in the DOJ to sue states that have not complied with the Heller, McDonald and Bruen decisions from SCOTUS and to sue New Jersey into complying with our 2A rights instead of its current carve outs that “allow” firearm ownership. That might take longer than a week to recruit and constitute a division of the DOJ. We could model it after their Civil Rights department
Cutting bureaucrats would probably take a little longer and might require assistance from Congress. Good luck with that.
> We could model it after their Civil Rights department
Better yet, force that department to do its job and start defending the 2nd Amendment. Those who don’t want to get on board can be fired. (Whether the nature of that firing is that of Donald Trump in The Apprentice or of Arnold Schwarzenegger in True Lies is a suitable topic of discussion. 🙂 )
An important first step would be to dismantle the White House Office for the Prevention of Gun Violence, who’s primary tasking seems to be funneling taxpayer dollars to private anti-Second Amendment organizations.
I’m tired of financing both sides of the Second Amendment battle.
Hehehehehehe!
You brought up one of my favorite .gov myths. In College I was in an Poli-Sci class that spent so much time dribbling on about how important the first 100 days was. A year later in a History Class we studied US Presidents and how the 100 days was mostly bullshit. It just gave the media a chance to swoon over elected American (Leftist) Royalty, hence the fawning over Hillary, or Michelle, or Rosalyn, vs the shitty way they treated Melania. FDR got shit done because he had 4 terms, a slavish Congress, cowardly Supreme Court, and a populace too stupid to realize the trap they were walking into.
First day: Executive Order that the entire government is now prohibited from giving money/grants to anyone unless receiving adequate compensation. Grover Cleveland’s veto response to the Texas seed bill applies. (Exception for statutory programs).
Second day: Send draft bill to Congress re concealed carry which preempts state laws and makes licensed carry uniform across the country, and any state’s license is good everywhere. (Part 2 puts Fema on notice to handle the flooding from the tears in NJ, Maryland and DC! ) (only half sarc).
Hell, you could take up the entire first day with firings : Merrick Garland, Dettlebach, “Rachel” Levine, Mayorkas, Austin and the list goes on and on. In reality, he wouldn’t even need to take up a day with it, just issue a “I’ll have your resignation on my desk NLT 12:01 on 01/20” notice, order or whatever. It’ll be beautiful, and I can hardly wait. Second order of business, assuming a solid Senate majority accompanies his election, is lobbying Clarence Thomas to step down. Encourage him to choose his own successor, but don’t let him pull a Ruth on us. He’s served us well for over forty years and it’s time to let someone else who thinks just like him take on the job for another forty or fifty. With any luck Red Sonia’s diabetes will flare up and we’ll add another seat to the conservative majority on the court.
I assume he’ll have Garland’s replacement on deck and ready for express confirmation with his new Senate majority, and his first order of business should be the swift arrest and prosecution of all those fucks that were protesting outside of Kavanaugh and others houses prior to the Dobbs ruling. There’s video. It’s against the law. It ought to be a slam dunk, and there will be plenty of room to house them in the cells vacated by the release of the J6 patriots.
There should also be some revenge lawfare on the bastards that have tortured Trump the past four years with their kangaroo courts and bogus charges. Merchan, Bragg, Enogoron and others, I’m looking at you. Expect to wind up unemployed and impoverished if not jailed.
And that’s just the beginning for the new AG. I expect the same sort of slash and burn approach from the new heads of every other agency that survives.