Progressive Bull Moose One Year Later

It has been quite the year as we launched Progressive Bull Moose exactly one year ago.

Unfortunately, President Trump has not, per our second post on January 20, 2017, served the people in a just and competent fashion and he has not moved the country positively forward.

The economy has been doing well but these are based on the trends that were well underway during Presidents Obama's Administration and policies.

His only major legislative achievements centered on tax cuts for the wealthy and senseless deregulation that will harm our environment and individual physical health will provide a sugar rush for the economy but you know what happens when the sugar rush abates. Everything comes crashing down.

His trade policies in withdrawing from agreements like TPP and the Paris Climate Accords have only served to make former Cold War and World War Two Adversaries like China and Germany stronger.

His political philosophy, with its focus on xenophobia and isolationism. has destroyed the party of Lincoln. His cabinet picks in departments like the  E.P.A., and Education care more about moving those agencies into alternative reality modes with missions that contradict their goals.

The way he presents himself and how he conducts himself with his work schedule, the tweets, his continual weekends at his family resorts (which enrich him), and his continual lying that have made new career opportunities for fact checkers have diminished the office of the Presidency.


Finally, his reputation as a pragmatic transactional dealmaker is in tatters as we are now in a government shutdown one year to the day he has become President. He has catered to the extremes of his parties base in matters ranging from health care to immigration. He calls for a wall on our southern border but says nothing about protecting our northern border and our coastlines. The people in those areas must not be brown enough. Instead of nominating a mainstream judicial candidate for the Supreme Court for the seat Mitch McConnell (it was funny watching this giant of obstruction moan and groan about Democrats filibuster yesterday) stole the seat Merrick Garland had been nominated for. Bipartisan Compromises have been shunned as Alt right staffers and members of Congress have the President's ear. His pet issue of infrastructure does not even have a detailed policy proposal.

Fortunately, the country, awakened after the shock of the President's electoral college victory (remember more people wanted Hillary Clinton), realizes that the Presidents demeanor and policy objectives contradict the visions of the American Dream. Progressives and Democrats have put forth strong candidates (some in areas that they did not previously challenge) and voter participation levels have risen resulting in impressive wins across the country, including red-state Alabama and a state senate seat in Wisconsin. We need to keep the momentum and enthusiasm going and maintain it for every electoral season. Candidates for their part, need to promote programs that promote "opportunity, community, and responsibility" that earns the support of the populace.

The first year of the Trump Administration was contradictory to what we hold dear as a Democratic Republic. We need to continue the fight and restore the Progressive Dream.