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But these criticisms are for another day — pretty much any other day.
Today is Christmas. And in a spirit of finding the best in people, I promised myself I’d look for a few areas of agreement with a President with whom I disagree quite a lot.
After all, if you view politics through a historical lens, you’ll see that even our worst Presidents have some redeeming qualities. And if those can’t be found personally, they can be found in policy.
So what are the policy areas Trump deserves credit for, according to my admittedly subjective centrist compass?
Criminal justice reform
The law blends common sense and compassion, redeeming reformed lives while saving money in the process. It promises to lessen the sentences of nonviolent criminals and reduce frankly racist sentencing disparities. And it’s the kind of bill that could only command Republican support if it were backed by a law-and-order candidate, which itself speaks to the stupid partisanship that usually outweighs policy.
It also offers a window into what might have been — if Trump had decided to use his power with the base to pull a political judo move on policy, for example pushing for comprehensive immigration reform including a wall.
Getting tough on China
Their geo-political power grab and continued attacks on civil rights and civil liberties offers a chilling vision of the 21st century that deserves an unflinching pushback in the name of freedom and human rights. That does not mean America and China need be enemies — but it does mean there needs to be more mutual respect and less of an abuse of the international order.
Economic opportunity zones
The tax cut bill most often trumpeted as the prime achievement of the Trump era was actually a disaster. It stimulated an economy that was already overheated, promises to exacerbate the growing gap between the rich and poor (as well as the super-rich and middle class) and its failure to close corporate loopholes is already exploding our deficit and debt, reducing tax receipts in a booming economy.
The devil is always in the details, and there is a potential for abuse — namely a focus on relatively disadvantaged neighborhoods in otherwise rich cities, with Amazon’s move into Long Island City in exchange for a boatload of tax breaks being a prime example.
But if other companies follow through with the intended spirit, investing in the rust belt in particular, opportunity zones could be an important catalyst toward rebuilding America’s long-neglected inner cities.
‘Right-to-try’ legislation
Basically, it allows terminally ill patients to have access to experimental drugs. The logic is simple: what do they have to lose? Why not give patients and their families access to whatever experimental drug they want if it might be able to save or prolong their life?
Yes, there is the potential for abuse and con artists scamming the terminally ill. But the opportunities for hope outweigh the potential for abuse, especially if paired with reasonable quality control. Sometimes it does take a disrupter to break through the bureaucratic logjam.
The Music Modernization Act
I still feel like bars shouldn’t be stalked by ASCAP for playing music on the jukebox, but the musicians definitely deserved to get paid for their work — whether they recorded it this year or fifty years ago when Woodstock reigned. (While Trump is apparently a Stones fan, he’s always been more of a hardhat rather than a hippie kind of guy).
There’s more the Trump administration could do to bring about some reforms with bipartisan appeal in the new year. “Infrastructure week” has become a well-deserved punchline because of too many half-baked rollouts, but it remains the most obvious area of bipartisan agreement because it builds directly on the President’s professional expertise. Democrats have backed it in the past but couldn’t get Republican support because Barack Obama was President. Now, they can get that needed public-private infrastructure spending without politically owning all the cost (not that the GOP has any credibility left on deficits and debt).
There’s a chance at more measurable progress on combating the opioid crisis, where Trump has the right instincts, but more pill mills still need to be crushed. There may be some opportunity to find constructive bipartisan purpose on reducing prescription drug costs as well, or so said Nancy Pelosi at the CNN Citizen Conference.
But maybe the ultimate silver lining in the dark and stormy Trump presidency is the way the President’s actions have inspired a civic rebirth as citizens realize we can’t take our democracy for granted.
As hard as it may be to believe, 2019 could make 2018 look tame. On the horizon are rocky markets and the Russia report, with an erratic President meeting real congressional checks and balances for the first time in his administration. But today is Christmas, so let’s offer thanks for hardworking folks in government — many working without pay today — who try to do the people’s business and advance the national interest no matter which party is in power or who happens to be president.
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