There are so many unusual, unprecedented aspects concerning the first 100 days in office of the President trump, it’s hard to know where to start. According to his own estimates, the number of unfulfilled promises was amazing. During his election campaign, trump said that “from the first day of tenure of the President,” he will insist on repeal of President Obama’s health. He said that he was deported from the country 11 million undocumented immigrants and added that he will start to do it with 2 million “criminal aliens” in “the first hour of his work in the White house.” The liberal blog ThinkProgress counted 36 political steps which trump promised to take “within the first day.” But he made only two such step in my first day.
But even more striking than unfulfilled political promises — some of them may still be offered or carried out are those on which he has completely refused. Yet no President has done so many sharp turns and with a minor amount of explanation. Trump called the agreement on free trade NAFTA “perhaps the worst ever concluded trade deals and, of course, the worst of the number signed in this country.” He promised to name China “the biggest offender in the history of this country”, as well as currency manipulator, all in the first day of his presidency. Trump said that NATO is “outdated” organization, and said that maybe he will close the Export-import Bank and its support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
In the first days of operation of trump as President began on sharp turns. According to him, he came to the conclusion (perhaps thanks to the secret intelligence reports) that China, in fact, does not manipulate its currency, that NATO is involved in many critical operations that Export-import Bank helps a large number of small businesses in the United States and that Assad is committing war crimes. He unceremoniously announced these changes, and made it as if he surely could not know all these facts in the past, when I was a candidate. In February, he said: “Nobody expected that health care can be such a complex problem.”
I suspect that the next stage of his education will be tax policy. Made this week by President trump proposals are strikingly irresponsible. They will help to increase the country’s debt by billions of dollars, but do not even provide for the maximum stimulatory effect (the Abolition of tax on inherited property, which annually pay 0,002% of Americans, will not lead to pandemonium in the stores, but will cost the government $ 20 billion a year). Negotiating the taxes will be an interesting challenge for members of the Republicans. The party proclaims its deep concern about the national debt, is going to take measures that might lead to the most significant increase in debt in the history of the United States (in absolute dollar terms).
Even more significant lesson for trump and — hopefully — to his supporters, is the conclusion that to manage the state, of course, is not easy. Many liked the fact that he is an outsider, a businessman who will bring their commercial skills and managerial acumen in the White house and will solve problems. And then the Washington corrupt politicians and incompetent bureaucrats will see how the successful people from the “real world” will Wade through the fog.
Instead, we see utter incompetence the first 100 days trump as President, his Executive orders do not go through the courts, the bills are rejected in Congress, government agencies remain understaffed at the White house on an endless internal struggle, and were constantly under sharp turns. It turns out that the management of the family business in real estate and conducting franchise operations are not the very same that govern the Executive branch of the U.S. government. It turned out that running the country is hard, difficult work.
Although there are many problems with Washington, the real reason for the insignificant number made is that the American people are very contradictory desires. Americans want to have unlimited medical care, they don’t want to lose this because they are sick (they have already “early” was in a bad condition), and yet, they expect that the prices will sharply go down. They want the government not interfered in their lives, but they don’t like the prospect of any cuts to its largest programs (health care reform, social security), or cancellation of tax incentives in health care and mortgages.
These conditions have developed over many years. In his 1995 book, Michael Kinsley (Michael Kinsley) called what he believed to be the cause of the then existing populist anger about Washington, and then newt Gingrich (Newt Gingrich) used it for their policy document “Contract with America.” “(The American voters) put forward a completely incompatible requirements, — said Kinsley. They say: cut my taxes, preserve my benefits, balance the budget and then, being fully confident in their rightness, they are outraged when politicians do not fulfill their promises.”
Kinsley called his book “Big kids” (Big Babies) in honor of the American people, and the epigraph is a quote from Alexis de Tocqueville: “In the days of the old monarchy, the French were convinced that the king cannot be wrong, but if he was wrong, the blame, in their opinion, were his advisers… That Americans are the majority.” Let’s hope that the biggest lesson for the presidency, trump will be the next the Americans will gradually realize that the reason for the inefficiency of Washington is not the corruption of politicians, but rather the appetites of the people whom they represent.
