No one questions the needs for controlled immigration into this nation. Only the Democrats do not care if the borders are open, drugs and sex trafficking is promoted and that known terrorist and cartel gangsters are free to come into our nation.
Immigrants built this nation. They came here within the law, they obeyed the law and the nation was good to them. Sadly, the illegal aliens are tearing down our nation, forcing taxpayers to finance their lifestyles and law breaking. Then we have to have laws that force ballots in several languages—yet to become a citizen you have to speak and understand English, so why ballots and government manuals and documents in foreign languages?
We can again make America great—all we have to do is unite as a people instead of being segregated by language, culture and values.
By Richard Colman, California Political News and Views, 3/29/23
Donald Trump has a slogan: “Make America Great Again” (MAGA).
There is a perception that America is in a state of decline and must return to greatness.
But what is Trump offering? His actions as president of the United States (2017–2021) showed a philosophy of protectionism, isolationism, and nativism. (According to an internet definition, “Nativism is a policy of favoring native inhabitants as opposed to immigrants.”)
In the future, will Trump’s philosophies make America greater than it is today?
Other Republicans like Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida have policies similar to those of Trump.
Protectionism erects barriers to imported goods and services. Under protectionism, imported cars, especially from Japan, would be barred, leaving American buyers dependent on vehicles made inside America. If American cars are so great, why are so many Americans buying Japanese, German, and South Korean vehicles? (Some of these so-called foreign vehicles are made right here in the United States.)
Americans should ask themselves if they are better off buying vehicles only from Ford, Chrysler, and General Motors, or if they can obtain better deals if they can purchase vehicles from such additional manufacturers as Toyota, Mazda, Nissan, Kia, Mercedes, Volkswagen, and BMW.
Protectionism props up inefficient producers, leading to higher prices and a lower quality goods and services. Free-trade among allied nations, as opposed to protectionism, produces prosperity. Tariffs on foreign goods means fewer choices for goods and services.
Among the 50 states of the United States, free trade exists. (There are some exceptions involving goods like alcohol and tobacco.)
Thus, the United States itself is an example of the benefits of free trade. Imagine what would happen if every state along the Mississippi River –- from Minnesota to Louisiana –- added a 10 percent tariff to the price of such products as oil, paper, and wheat.
Isolationism means ignoring foreign allies like Canada, Great Britain, most European countries, Japan, South Korea, and Israel. Each of these foreign nations helps America contribute to preserving democracy –- and to some extent –- free-market economics –- a form of economics that, with economic growth, can provide a social safety net that supplies pensions and health care. In some democracies, governments provide such other benefits as shelter, pre-school, and child care.
Having allies gives the United States needed assistance in containing or halting Russian and Chinese expansionism. Russia is currently trying to annex Ukraine. If Russia succeeds, what is the next target? Is it other parts of the former Soviet Union, or is it such nations as Poland, Germany, and Finland? China has made the once-free Hong Kong an appendage of dictatorial China itself. Is China’s next goal the subjugation of Taiwan, now a center of production of high-quality silicon chips? These chips are, like petroleum in the 20th century, the economic lifeblood of 21st century commerce.
Nativism means the exclusion of immigrants. Illegal immigration has to be stopped. All too often, illegal aliens are involved in the smuggling of illegal drugs into the United States. Rational and legal immigration would favor immigrants who are free of disease, do not have any connection with crime, have a job, and are proficient in the use of English.
A person can ask himself if the U.S. is better off because of an immigrant like Albert Einstein. Another example is the late Andrew Grove, one of the pioneers in the development of silicon chips. Born in Hungary, Grove, emigrated to America and later, with Gordon Moore and Donald Noyce, helped found Intel, a leading maker of silicon chips.
Many members of the Democratic Party favor aspects of protectionism. As stated above, protectionism means higher prices and lower quality. Perhaps these Democrats could be called “Trump-like Democrats.”
Whoever is elected president in 2024, should repudiate protectionism, isolationism, and nativism. Exceptions can be made in cases involving national security.
Donald Trump represents a version of the Robert Taft wing of the Republican Party. In 1952, Dwight Eisenhower, a World War II hero, challenged Taft, a Senate Republican, for the Republican presidential nomination. Taft represented isolationism and opposed American membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Eisenhower wanted to maintain American support for NATO. Eisenhower, a well-liked figure, beat Taft for the Republican nomination and went on to be the first elected Republican president since 1928. (In 1932, 1936, 1940, 1944, and 1948, Democratic candidates won the presidency.)
The Republican Party needs to move away from its Trump-like positions. Instead, Republicans should focus on raising the American standard of living, keeping the nation safe from imperialistic, foreign threats (coming from such nations as Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea). Republicans should favor entrepreneurship. They should vigorously oppose crime. They should encourage investment in new products and services and stop hampering commerce by imposing excessive regulation and burdensome taxation. They should stop the escalation of the national debt. They should extinguish inflation and have a U.S. dollar that holds its value.
By following this prescription, Republicans (as well as Democrats), if elected, will be able make America great forever. There will be no need to say something like, “Make America great again.”
