This page was last updated on December 9, 2016.
We see no signs of ‘draining the swamp’; Cynthia Kincaid; Beaver County Times; December 7, 2016.
Previous Kincaid (CK) letters I reviewed were “Trump provokes the worst in too many Americans,” “You can’t be informed by watching one channel,” and “Hillary is more qualified than any Republican.”
Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.
“Hey, Donald Trump voters, how’s that ‘swamp draining’ going? Every person who Trump has appointed to a cabinet position is a millionaire or a billionaire.”
[RWC] With President Obama and Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) leaving and Mrs. Bill Clinton not coming, the “swamp draining” is off to a good start.
I don’t know if CK’s allegation is true, but if it is, so what? One-percenter Hillary Clinton (HRC) made a living giving speeches to “Wall Street,” and let’s remember all the contributions to the Clinton Foundation. Whom does CK think HRC was going to nominate?
In fairness, it shouldn’t shock anyone regardless of party. We want top talent for these positions and top talent in the private sector usually means the person has been financially successful.
CK seems to think millionaires and billionaires are in a “swamp” by default. My experience is folks like CK worry only about the non-lefty wealthy. For example, “one-percenter” really means “non-lefty one-percenter.” That’s why we never hear leftists complain in public about lefty one-percenters like the Clintons, the Obamas, George Soros (Wall Street hedge-fund manager), Tom Steyer (Wall Street hedge-fund manager), and the Manns/Warrens. Yes, yes, I know; the Clintons and Obamas aren’t lefties. <g>
“‘Draining the swamp’ meant that no special-interest groups would be in power, yet we see these people at every cabinet level. Some cabinet appointees are also anti-LGBT and most are large campaign donors to Trump, who didn’t self-fund his presidential campaign.”
[RWC] I can’t confirm CK’s allegations other than the self-funding comment. Though Donald Trump (DT) claimed his campaign was self-funded, neither candidate self-funded their campaign.
According to PolitiFact, during the primary season as of 12/31/16, “Trump’s campaign brought in about $19.4 million by the end of 2015. Trump contributed nearly $13 million of that himself. Most of the remainder comes from individual contributions, which federal law caps at $2,700 per candidate per election.
“Trump is contributing much, much more of his personal wealth than any other presidential contender. The only other candidates contributing to their own campaigns are: retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, who has so far reported contributing $25,000; former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at $368,147; and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush at $388,720.”
As of 11/28/16, FEC data reported the Clinton campaign raised $498 million vs. $248 million raised by the Donald Trump (DT) campaign.
What makes someone “anti-LGBT?” Since CK left out the “Q,” is she anti-queer?
“The nominee for education secretary, Betsy DeVos, wants to privatize the nation’s public school system. This means the return of segregated schools and the end of taxpayer funds for under-performing schools.”
[RWC] CK has nothing to worry about. I’m sure CK knows the Constitution grants the feds no authority over education. This means the feds have no authority “to privatize the nation’s public school system” and it is unconstitutional to throw federal taxpayer dollars at schools whether or not they are “under-performing.” Because the feds have no authority over education, the U.S. Department of Education should be abolished.
“The return of segregated schools?” Does CK not remember it was her party that fought tooth and nail to continue school segregation? Let’s go to the “Little Rock Nine” in 1957. Democrat Governor Orval Faubus abused the purpose of the Arkansas National Guard (ANG) and ordered it to block black students from attending Little Rock’s Central High School. The Little Rock School District opposed Faubus’ actions and the Democrat mayor asked Republican President Eisenhower for help. In response, Ike federalized the ANG, taking control from Faubus, and sent the 101st Airborne Division of the U.S. Army. Depending on the source, the 101st was there to help and/or make sure the ANG followed Ike’s order to stand down. Can you imagine how tough it was for Ike – himself a former five-star general – to pit one part of the U.S. armed services against another?
“The nominee for attorney general, Sen. Jeff Sessions, was denied a federal judgeship under Ronald Reagan because of referring to a black attorney as ‘boy.’ He also repeatedly spoke out against the federal Voting Rights Act, saying it is something that the individual states should decide.”
[RWC] It’s a gross exaggeration to assert Mr. Sessions (JS) “was denied a federal judgeship … because of referring to a black attorney as ‘boy.’” At the time, JS was U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Alabama. The “black attorney” was Thomas Figures, an Assistant U.S. Attorney. JS as well as a federal-judge witness denied Mr. Figures’ accusation.
Compare what JS allegedly said 30 years ago vs. what Democrats/leftists said at least as recently as 2015. For example, “In lobbying the late Sen. Edward Kennedy to endorse his wife, former President Clinton angered the liberal icon by belittling Obama. Telling a friend about the conversation, Kennedy recalled Clinton had said ‘a few years ago, this guy would have been getting us coffee,’ the authors paraphrase. A spokesman for the former president declined to comment on the claim.”
I didn’t spend much time researching this, but it appears JS’ 1986 nomination was done in by hearsay. If VP Joe Biden said what JS was accused of saying, the lefty response would have been “that’s just Joe being Joe.” For the sake of argument, let’s say JS said what he was accused of saying. As far as I can tell, no one presented credible evidence to indicate JS executed his job improperly before or after his nomination.
For example, as Alabama AG, JS “prosecuted United Klans of America member Henry Hays, son of United Klans of America leader Bennie Hays, which led to the conviction of Hays for murder. Sessions successfully sought death penalty in the case” according to Wikipedia.
As for the Voting Rights Act (VRA), I didn’t find anything to support CK’s assertion JS “[said] it is something that the individual states should decide.” During the nomination hearing, JS referred to the VRA as “an intrusive piece of legislation” – which describes nearly all legislation – but also said it had been “effective.” In 2013, the Supreme Court ruled a portion of the VRA to be unconstitutional.
“Taxes will only be cut for the wealthy under Trump. The middle class will not be funded for job training, and manufacturing jobs will not return without the tax credits that corporations and the wealthy receive.”
[RWC] I’m confused. CK appears bummed because she thinks only the “wealthy” will see tax cuts, but then says “manufacturing jobs will not return without the tax credits that corporations and the wealthy receive.”
Only people who actually pay taxes can get a tax cut. According to the Tax Foundation, the bottom 50% of those of us who file federal income tax returns pay only 2.78% while the top one percent pay 37.8%.
“So this is ‘draining the swamp,’ according to Trump -- billionaires, millionaires, Washington insiders, special-interest groups and a man who was denied a federal court seat for being prejudiced against blacks. May God help us all.”
[RWC] Blah, blah, blah.
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