Fecteau: Trump As President

Sunday, November 13, 2016

 

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Mr. Donald Trump is now the president-elect. Due to the current political climate, the erratic and eccentric Mr. Trump will likely have a lasting impact on our government for generations. However, because of his lack of specifics on the campaign trail, we can only guess what his policy proposals will be based on his outlandish campaign promises.  

Internationally, because most foreign policy experts have shunned his candidacy, Trump has made pie in the sky assurances. Trump’s far-fetched idea to build a wall along the Mexican border at the respective government’s expense will likely not come to pass. His eccentric promise to pull out of critical military alliances could dilute American influence on the world stage, and embolden Russia. His detrimental policy pitch to rein in or cancel all together our free-trade deals could trigger a trade war. Trump’s denial of climate change, and failure to rein in carbon emissions will impact the entire world for decades – scary stuff. 

Some of Trump’s domestic policies seem equally reckless, and bizarre. Trump’s tax plan would add trillions to our debt, and place the tax burden predominantly on low-income, and middle-class families; exasperating income inequality. His promise to roll back gun regulation is troubling especially in the shadow of all the recent mass shootings. Trump has already promised to repeal and replace Obamcare which would result in a loss of insurance coverage for an estimated 20 million people. We will have to keep an open mind, but it doesn’t look promising. 

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Trump will have a lasting impact on our government. With a Trump presidency, and a GOP-controlled Congress, expect far more conservative policies. Even more disturbing, Trump will likely appoint right of center Supreme Court Justices adversely impacting gay marriage, and abortion rights. Consequently, we face a government hostile to progressive achievements. 

Never has there been so much gridlock in Congress, but will a Trump presidency solve anything? There is a high potential it will, but in a much more conservative direction. From retrospect, maybe congressional gridlock of the past wasn’t so bad after all. We couldn’t get anything done, but at least remained in a catatonic state, instead of shooting ourselves in the foot. I’d prefer self-induced coma instead of intentional neglect any day. 

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Matt Fecteau ([email protected]) of Pawtucket, Rhode Island lost to state Senator Jamie Doyle in 2016’s Democratic primary. He is a former White House national security intern and Iraq war veteran.

 

Related Slideshow: Winners and Losers - 2016 Election

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Winner

Joe Trillo and John DePetro

While most Republicans in Rhode Island were hiding in the bushes, Trillo (the former GOP lawmaker) and DePetro (the WPRO talk show host) were loyal advocates for Donald Trump from the beginning and through the rough spots.

Both could be big winners and could score slots with the administration -- want to go to the White House? You now know the rings you need to kiss.

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Winner

Donald Trump, President of the United States

The most unlikely candidate pulled off the biggest victory in Presidential history. The billionaire developer was underestimated which set forth much of his success during the primaries and in the election. The next four years will never be dull.   

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Winner

General Michael Flynn

The Rhode Island native and URI grad will have a major roll in the Trump Administration and America's foreign policy. As top GOP consultant Ian Prior wrote in GoLocal in July about Flynn when he was on the VP shortlist:

Of course, there are any number of national security experts that can prosecute the case against Hillary Clinton, but Flynn is unique. He is a registered Democrat that was appointed by President Obama in 2012 to serve as Director of the DIA. Even more importantly, he resigned two years later over what he believed to be a misguided approach by the administration as it concerned ISIS.

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Loser

Nellie Gorbea, Secretary of State

This year's election was one of the the most mismanaged in modern Rhode Island history. First, the Chief-of Staff of the Secretary of State's office gets into a battle with talk show host John DePetro on social media. The action seemed inappropriate at best for the head of the office administering the election.

Then, the state's Presidential election hit a number of rough spots with faulty equipment and a failed repair and triage system that lead to long lines and frustration in a number of communities across the state.

The job of Secretary of State has three major components:

1) Take care of the State's achieves

2) Maintain a database of businesses

3) Run the state's elections

She needs to assure voters that she understands the problems and correct the mistakes.

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Loser

Brandon Bell, GOP Chair

Both Democratic Congressional candidates won big. The GOP had a net loss in the legislature.

Bell went all in on taking out Speaker Nick Mattiello -- a pro-business legislator, instead of recruiting a large number of competitive candidates. If Mattiello delivers of paper ballots like his campaign claims - Bell will have wildly miscalculated at every level and will have left the GOP a weaker party.

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Losers

Cicilline and Langevin

A Trump win greatly increases the likelihood that Rhode Island will lose a Congressional seat in the next federal redistricting. Rhode Island will be more like Vermont and Delaware -- two Senators and just one House member. This will mean a big loss for Rhode Island's clout in D.C.

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Winner

Allan Fung, Republican Mayor of Cranston

Fung had just the kind of night he wanted to have. He ran up big numbers against Democrat Mike Sepe and put parkinggate in his proverbial rear window.

The margin of victory is impressive -- Fung ran up 68% of the vote and has established himself as one of the top Republicans in Rhode Island.

Now, the personable Fung is the GOP frontrunner to challenge Raimondo as it does not look like she is going to Washington, D.C. now.

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Loser

RI's Broken Technology Infrastructure 

No money, no car, and no vote.

Lets see if we got this right. You have to wait in line to vote in some locations for as much as two hours because not enough scanners were deployed. Some days you can't register your car because the Hewlett-Packard system is not deployed and the state is now suing the company. And, tens of thousands of folks most in need have not been able to get their most critical benefits (or the from benefits) because the UHIP technology was flawed despite hundreds of millions being spent. 

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Winner

Speaker of the House, Nick Mattiello

If Mattiello does hold on to his House seat, he will be a stronger Speaker than ever before. He has added more Democrats to his majority and was the architect to many of the Democrats victories. 

The simmering stress between Mattiello and Raimondo will turn into a vibrant boil over during the next two years. Raimondo was no help to Mattiello or House members -- they had to clean up for her truck tolls and absorb her unwillingness to release 38 Studios documents.

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Loser

Gina Raimondo, Governor

Raimondo's options and national political network just took a major blow. No longer can Raimondo jump to the Clinton Administration to avoid a difficult reelection. Moreover, national Democratic connections are now in Siberia as the Presidency, the House and the Senate are all in Republican hands.

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Loser

Peter F. Neronha United States Attorney District of Rhode Island 

In a short period, it is highly likely the Neronha and a few other high profile political appointees will be replaced by the Trump White House. 

The impact of Ray Gallison and others is an unknown.

 
 

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