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Not sure we can take more of Trump’s greatness; Jayne Berresford (JB); Beaver County Times; March 24, 2017.
Previous Berresford letters I critiqued were entitled “Republicans fought Obama, now want cooperation,” “Latest letters prompt response from reader,” “How is Trump a step in the right direction,” “Repairs take time,” “Congress doesn’t have nation’s best interest” and “Help, don’t hinder.” The previous letters I didn’t critique were entitled “Birth control not important issue” and “‘Our employees’ should live like us.”
Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.
“Make America great again? Let’s see: deregulation of banks, back to the same policies that sent the country into recession, trying to eliminate public schooling, knocking millions off health care while we pay for Cadillac packages of health care for Congress, cutting school meals for underprivileged kids, cutting funding for Meals on Wheels, cuts to programs for veterans, just to name a few things proposed by President Donald Trump.”
[RWC] JB has a history of using the rapid-fire technique. As you read this letter, you’ll find it’s little more than a rapid-fire list of lefty talking points. Rapid-fire listing is a tactic to disseminate a bunch of talking points while minimizing rebuttal. For example, a person blurts out a group of talking points – sometimes related, sometimes not. Since the blurter knows it’s a lot more work to rebut talking points than it is to spit them out, he also knows it’s unlikely his opponent will take the time to rebut every talking point. In some cases, like on a website, the length of your responses may be limited, which also works in favor of rapid-fire talking points. When you don’t rebut every talking point, some people assume you’re conceding the unaddressed talking points are true.
The “policies that sent the country into recession” were lefty programs. As I wrote in 2008, “At the center of the problem are Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, GOVERNMENT sponsored enterprises and Democrat creations going back to FDR (Fannie Mae – 1938) and LBJ (Freddie Mac - 1968). The idea behind Fannie/Freddie was to promote home ownership by people who were poor credit risks. Further, Fannie/Freddie are not subject to the same accounting rules as the private sector. Remember the 2002 Sarbanes/Oxley bill that was supposed to tighten up accounting rules in the wake of Enron, et cetera? Fannie/Freddie were exempted from those rules.”
The President doesn’t have the constitutional power “to eliminate public schooling.”
Re “Cadillac packages of health care for Congress,” Congress must use Obamacare. According to PolitiFact, “The requirement for Congress became part of the law after Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) in 2009 offered an amendment that required lawmakers to get their health care through the marketplaces. A version of the amendment was adopted.” The Congressional Research Service (CRS) paper “Health Benefits for Members of Congress …” provides the excruciating details.
As for the remaining talking points, I recommend you check them if you plan to take them seriously.
“Those cuts are proposed so we can pay for his plan to further build up our armed forces and pay for a multi-billion-dollar wall that experts say will be ineffective in stopping illegal immigration.”
[RWC] “Further build up our armed forces and pay for a multi-billion-dollar wall?”
The Tenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution states, “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” Therefore, any federal involvement in public schools, healthcare, Meals on Wheels, and so on is unconstitutional. The sole intent of extra-constitutional federal involvement in these areas is to increase federal power at the expense of the states and the people.
“All this and more while Trump damages our relations with allies and trade partners, and publicly maligns former President Obama without evidence.”
[RWC] Like Barack Obama and Jimmy Carter did with George W. Bush?
How specifically has “Trump damaged our relations with allies and trade partners?”
“Meanwhile our president spends millions going to his resort in Florida almost every weekend, and millions more on keeping his wife and son in Trump Tower in New York, and even more on his sons taking trips abroad for business.
“Let’s not forget the cost of all these investigations into Russian ties to our election.”
[RWC] Lefties have loved the Russkies since before I was born. Heck, U.S. lefties were “anti-war” until Hitler broke his deal with Stalin and attacked the USSR. What happened?
“I’m just not sure America can stand to get much greater. Perhaps Trump’s good friend Vladimir Putin can help him get control of things.”
[RWC] Again, I thought U.S. lefties were admirers of Russia/USSR. Why are lefties throwing their buddy under the bus?
Who was it who told “President Dmitri Medvedev of Russia he would have ‘more flexibility’ to negotiate with Putin after the election?” Hint: His given name is Barack and his surname is Obama.
“If anyone out there can answer these questions without sounding like they would like to rip the beating heart from my chest, please do so. Have a great year!”
[RWC] Blah, blah, blah.
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