Sunday, February 5, 2017

GOVERNMENT BY UNCERTAINTY

The New Orleans Advocate front paged two stories about consequences in Louisiana of Trump's capricious executive orders, a state he won by a large margin.
When the gleaming new Veterans Affairs Medical Center on Canal Street opened its doors in November, officials boasted of an army of 2,500 doctors, nurses and support staff who would provide patients with cutting-edge medical care.
But a federal hiring freeze instituted in the first days of President Donald Trump’s administration has cast a shadow over plans to fill 1,000 of those positions over the next year.

While subsequent orders have loosened some restrictions on the VA — and on its newly opened hospitals in particular — questions persist about how the freeze will affect the wide range of services envisioned at the billion-dollar medical complex, more than 10 years in the making.
Trump promised to be a friend to veterans, and, as his policies play out, we see that's not true. It seems hiring of doctors and nurses will continue as planned, but support staff positions will be approved facility by facility.  Even if the hospitals hire more than enough doctors and nurses, no hospital can function without necessary support staff.

Did our incompetent president know this before he signed his executive order?  Who knows?  Act first; think later when unintended consequences follow.

Also, in today's edition of the Advocate is the article on uncertainty at the Port of New Orleans about consequences of Trump's promise to repeal NAFTA.
As far as global trade goes, "America First" may not necessarily mean "Louisiana First."
....

Reciting a familiar refrain, Trump last week called NAFTA "a catastrophe for our country." His argument is that bad trade deals have shifted American jobs overseas, hitting especially hard in the upper Midwest, where thousands of manufacturing jobs have vanished in recent decades.

But if the result of Trump’s policy turn is ultimately a decline in global trade, Louisiana could wind up as collateral damage in the effort to shore up U.S. employment.
Louisiana voted for Trump by 58 percent to 38 percent for Clinton, and this is the way he treats his friends.  Our representatives in Congress are all Republicans, except for Rep. Cedric Richmond (D-LA).  How quickly will our Congressmen (yes, all men) stand up to protect the Louisiana economy, which is already in dreadful shape because of the decline in oil and gas prices?  I'm not holding my breath.
Renegotiating NAFTA, the 1994 agreement with Mexico and Canada, might be felt in Louisiana as well. Overall, trade among the three countries has climbed from $293 billion in 1993 to almost $800 billion last year. Mexico and China — another target of Trump’s vitriol on the campaign stump — are Louisiana’s top trade partners.

Mexico accounted for nearly $5.9 billion worth of exports from Louisiana in 2015. A 20 percent tariff on Mexican imports — an idea floated by Trump's spokesman last month — could put a huge damper on that trade.
Mexico is now the enemy because President Peña Nieto stated he will not pay for Trump's wall on the southern border between the two countries.  Trump is determined to take revenge on leaders of countries he perceives to be his "enemies", even if consequences will be harmful to the citizens of the United States.

11 comments:

  1. This reinforces my view that the USA pushed the self-destruct button when it elected a Megamaniac as it's President.

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    1. I would not rule it out, UKViewer. :-(

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    2. You may be correct, but I have a thought about how all of you in the sane world might help: ignore the man. Seriously, if all the world leaders just decided to stop taking his calls, stop reacting to his insanity, go on about your sane activities as if he didn't exist ... ah, how that would wreck his megalomaniacal day! Please, if you like any of us in the colonies, please disregard his existence. Just hoping.

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    3. Marthe, how is it possible to ignore the executive order that bans travel from seven countries? If it had been ignored there would have been no litigation, and the full force of the order would still apply.

      Foreign leaders follow Trump's manic activity on Twitter. How can we ignore his tweets when we know there could be serious consequences at home and abroad?

      It's true our so-called president is a master at manipulating the media and convincing his fans that their news is fake, but I see no way to ignore his words and actions.

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    4. I didn't say ignore the action, I said ignore the man ... never mention his name, just the office; stop following the tweets, challenge the actions by protest and suit and refusal to cover his every ridiculous appearance; boycott every business with his name on it, whether owned or licensed ... the man thrives on attention, good or bad - take away the attention and you take away his ego reinforcement.

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    5. Marthe, I don't see a way to ignore the tweets. Trump is governing by tweet, and we need to take what he says on Twitter seriously, because actions follow words.

      I guess each of us do our best to decide what to talk about and what to ignore. I cannot be on the barricades, and I never patronized Trump's businesses. All I have is one small voice here and on Facebook, that counts for little or nothing. Also, I regularly contact my senators and representatives, again with my voice.

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  2. Trump barely took Texas, and if he repeals NAFTA or otherwise undoes it (no, he can't "repeal" it, but if he undoes what it has done) the Texas economy will take a major hit. For an economy still trying to diversify away from oil (it's our industrial base), that would be disastrous.

    As for the impact on VA hospitals, this is why legislatures do fact-finding and hold committee hearings and take witness testimony: to determine what a law will do to the people it is meant to affect. Trump's rule by fiat is three weeks old, and already it is a complete disaster.

    There's a reason for that. We might as well have elected five-year olds.

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    1. I can imagine the effect on towns near the border where people from both countries cross and recross the border several times a week to do business and shop. Trump does not understand governing, and he seems to be unteachable. He is unfit to be president.

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  3. Totally OT, but I had to LOL at the first line of today's reading from Isaiah. The rest was so relevant for today, especially "...for truth stumbles in the public square."

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    1. Bex, thenks. They don't call Isaiah a prophet for nothing. :-)

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