Reno Gazette Journal February 26, 2017
Let me start by admitting that while I voted for President Trump, I did so with some reservation. He had no legislative record which I could use to anticipate his future performance. His words at times seemed to contradict. He offered no specifics but spoke in broad themes. I was concerned that I might be voting for someone who may not share my Conservative views. I was also concerned by his not-so-polite treatment of other GOP contenders. Yet, I voted for him because I felt that I could not take a chance with the Supreme Court as Hillary Clinton would nominate someone who would have no regard for the Constitution. I also felt that the GOP-led Congress would stand up to a President Trump while Democrats in Congress would blindly follow a President Hillary Clinton over the cliff and manage to pick off a few Republicans to carve out a majority.
President Trump has pleasantly surprised me. He reached out and met with Mitt Romney, Ted Cruz, Carly Fiorina and many of his former detractors. He picked solid conservatives, successful CEOs, and Generals to be in his cabinet. He is well on his way to keeping most of his campaign promises. The economy is starting to gather steam. Consumer confidence has hit a 15-year high with most of the increase coming from middle income households. The Dow has shown a historic 30-day gain since inauguration, second only to the Presidency of William Howard Taft back in 1909. Higher market valuation is an indication of optimism for the economy and bodes well for job growth. Other market indicators are also corroborating this optimism. Federal Reserve is hinting at raising interest rates (the economic equivalent to tapping the brake to ensure it is not growing too fast). Mortgage interest rate on 30-year fixed has jumped 60 basis points since November 8th.
Do I wish President Trump would keep his fingers off Twitter? Most of the time I do, but sometimes I don’t. The media has been biased. While other Republicans have appeased the media, President Trump is challenging the media. Over the last month, when I saw the media running with unsubstantiated gossip, I found myself begging for the President to tweet. If that’s the only way for him to get his message through and defend himself, so be it.
While I strongly support the immigration executive order for reasons outlined in my previous column, I also wish that the President had waited just a little longer until he had key pieces of his cabinet in place. The rollout was messy and there is clearly room for improvement. I hope the lessons learned from the implementation of the initial executive order are incorporated into the implementation of the revised executive order.
Let the President continue to focus on keeping our country safe, moving our economy forward, building an environment where regulations are minimal and job growth is strong. The rest is just noise.