Good summary of Trumps positions.....

Well, almost all Trump's positions are anathema to huge establishment groups. He cares nothing for identity politics--THE big business of higher education, today. He dismisses Big Climate Alarmism in plain favor of more oil wells, more fracking. That is to attack the religion of the New Left and environmentalists. He says in education, he will spend money only on schools of choice, charter schools, and other non-public-school system options. That is death to the National Education Association, which is 100 percent for Hillary and desperate to keep the public school monopoly. He wants to cut corporate taxes to 15 percent fro 35 percent--a simple extremely powerful way to keep corporations in America or bring them back. In health, his chief ideas are to repeal Obama care and empower medical savings accounts and tax deduction. That sets back the huge socialized medicine contingent. And so it goes. If he wins without these hugely powerful, power-hungry, ruthless groups, they will be OUT for four years. Not to mention, as have others, that Hillary's list of what the Supreme Court must do is a menu of social programs and identity politics. She never mentioned the Constitution. In his answer, Trump mentioned only upholding the Constitution.

Well, almost all Trump's positions are anathema to huge establishment groups. He cares nothing for identity politics--THE big business of higher education, today. He dismisses Big Climate Alarmism in plain favor of more oil wells, more fracking. That is to attack the religion of the New Left and environmentalists. He says in education, he will spend money only on schools of choice, charter schools, and other non-public-school system options. That is death to the National Education Association, which is 100 percent for Hillary and desperate to keep the public school monopoly. He wants to cut corporate taxes to 15 percent fro 35 percent--a simple extremely powerful way to keep corporations in America or bring them back. In health, his chief ideas are to repeal Obama care and empower medical savings accounts and tax deduction. That sets back the huge socialized medicine contingent. And so it goes. If he wins without these hugely powerful, power-hungry, ruthless groups, they will be OUT for four years. Not to mention, as have others, that Hillary's list of what the Supreme Court must do is a menu of social programs and identity politics. She never mentioned the Constitution. In his answer, Trump mentioned only upholding the Constitution.

I sure agree. The disgusting spectacle of the media trying to declare the election over is just another in their unintellectual, sleazy, and near hysterical attempt to defeat Trump at any cost. You know, although I have read and thought and written--wept and fasted wept and prayed--about Trump, without making a decision, it just occurred to me that I should trust the instincts of the media. If they are so uniformly terrified of a Trump victory--as they once were of a Goldwater victrory--I think I may take that as a reason to vote for Trump. With Trump in the White House, all the insiders of the political/media/crony/power elite would be out in the cold. All of them. Trump owes them nothing; and how do you think, if he beats them, he will care about their moaning? His enemies are telling us that he positions are terrifying them, which is why they discuss only gossip column stuff. The New York Times op-ed page has become the National Inquirer, with apologies to the National Inquirer. Well, almost all Trump's positions are anathema to huge establishment groups. He cares nothing for identity politics--THE big business of higher education, today. He dismisses Big Climate Alarmism in plain favor of more oil wells, more fracking. That is to attack the religion of the New Left and environmentalists. He says in education, he will spend money only on schools of choice, charter schools, and other non-public-school system options. That is death to the National Education Association, which is 100 percent for Hillary and desperate to keep the public school monopoly. He wants to cut corporate taxes to 15 percent fro 35 percent--a simple extremely powerful way to keep corporations in America or bring them back. In health, his chief ideas are to repeal Obama care and empower medical savings accounts and tax deduction. That sets back the huge socialized medicine contingent. And so it goes. If he wins without these hugely powerful, power-hungry, ruthless groups, they will be OUT for four years. Not to mention, as have others, that Hillary's list of what the Supreme Court must do is a menu of social programs and identity politics. She never mentioned the Constitution. In his answer, Trump mentioned only upholding the Constitution. Hey, folks, let the terror and viciousness of the anti-Trump forces guide you; they know he would be a disastrous setback for their plans.

Thank you. By the way, I'm voting for Gary Johnson. I do consider Trump a strong second choice, because of some of the positions he takes on his website. I likewise have no idea whether he'll follow through, if elected.

Another point for you. Color me schooled.

Here's the thing though. 1. I don't believe a word that Trump says. I just don't, and I never will. 2. I will never, under any circumstances vote for Donald Trump. I'm never going to vote for Hillary either. I've said in other posts on this thread that I vote FOR the principles and things I believe in, not AGAINST the other worse alternative.

The electoral college being what it is makes my vote pointless in any case. I live in Texas, so Hillary has no chance to win my state, and frankly if she does, Trump is doomed across the country anyway.

BTW, the thumbs up you get for both posts comes from me. While I doubt the validity and/or the sincerity of anything Trump has to say, I made the A, B and C comment, and you proved me wrong. I appreciate that.

I agree with your assessment, mminnick, except I think the 2nd Amendment will be the first one truly crushed. PC already has the 1st under assault, but I expect it to hold on longer than the 2nd. Here's the scenario under a HRC presidency: She will select SCOTUS judges that hold the "Constitution is a living breathing document" point of view, meaning it can be reinterpreted to fit the times without having to amend it to change what it actually says. The final interpreters, of course, is SCOTUS and her appointed judges will interpret the "peoples right to keep and bear arms" clause to mesh with the preceding militia clause and the word "peoples" is referring to the state (the left has been pressing this interpretation for years). That is, it might SAY "peoples right to keep and bear arms", but it really means "state's right to bear arms" ending once and for all an individuals right to bear arms.

Once that's established, reinterpreting quaint phrases like "We the People" to mean "We the State" is a simple trick. Then we the people are really screwed.

Buying time is my major reason for voting trump this election. Crooked Hillary isn't going to help anyone but Hillary. I doubt she will make it through her term and kaine would be a disaster

I’m 73 and hope to see both the crash (if it comes) and the rebuilding. The country and the world are a lot more resilient than most of us think. If anything can save us, it will be the exponential growth of technological change. I think that’s the main thing that’s kept consumer prices (with the exception of health care) from exploding, which would have been the expected result of the irresponsible money printing and zero interest rate policies of the past eight years. Libertarian ideas are starting to gain traction, and the advance of technology may buy us the additional time we need to swing public opinion to our side.

Re: “If I were running for president, my website would say the following: ‘On Day 1 of my administration, I will present a bill to Congress completely repealing the Affordable Care Act in its entirity.’"

Directly from Trump’s website:

“On day one of the Trump Administration, we will ask Congress to immediately deliver a full repeal of Obamacare.”

Close enough?

OK, point for you. He allowed some policy wonk to post some party platform material to his website that nobody looks at. I don't know when those things were posted to his website, but if they are there, then good for him. That said, have you ever heard him speak at a rally in front of hundreds or thousands of people and line out anything specific? I haven't. All I know from Trump is that we're going to win again. We're gonna win so much that we are going to be tired of winning. It's gonna be huge. And a couple dozen other non specific platitudes repeated ad nauseum for the legions of disenchanted morons in this country who are sick of Washington but are unwilling to do anything more than blindly follow the Pied Piper.

As for any of that being palatable to my Libertarian way of thinking, I'll pass. If I were running for president, my website would say the following:

"On Day 1 of my administration, I will present a bill to Congress completely repealing the Affordable Care Act in its entirity."

In my world be no tinkering or tweaking of Obamacare. It would simply be legislated out of existence altogether. As for the other stuff not covered by the ACA, however much I might wish that healthcare providers were price transparent, it is not the government's place to require private businesses to do anything. If a transparent pricing model is the most efficient, the marketplace would work that out on its own in due course.

I am 70 so I will probably not see the crash and definitely not see the rebuilding. Look at Venezuela how slowly the crash comes. I say socialism finally fails when the wealth it feeds on is gone. If we knew how much wealth is in the USA and how fast the govt is squandering it, we could estimate when it reaches the end of the line. I agree that the USA is a house of cards and only unencumbered real assets are worth anything. Financial assets are already worthless. Almost anything can trigger a lack of confidence and spark a cradh

As I read through the comments posted here, it is difficult to remain positive about the future of the country. One particular difficulty is that the negative comments regarding Trump seem to come mainly from the media. People who work for or have worked for him have nothing but positive things to say. His children all seem to be pretty well raised and intelligent. That is the only thing I can cite that did not originate from the media. I would like to see evidence supporting Trump's poor character from something other than the national media. Please!
My gut feel is that Trump is sincere, courageous, and speaks a plain truth that many can support, which partially explains why his supporters are not diminished by the barrage of media inspired reporting.

Re: “He has not ever come right out and said that he would do A, B and C.” Actually, he has position papers on his website, some of which are decent from a libertarian perspective. I have no idea if he will follow through, if elected. Here are some of his proposals for health care reform:

https://assets.donaldjtrump.com/Healt...

“Our elected representatives must eliminate the individual mandate. No person should be required to buy insurance unless he or she wants to.”

“Modify existing law that inhibits the sale of health insurance across state lines.”

“Allow individuals to fully deduct health insurance premium payments from their tax returns under the current tax system.”

“Allow individuals to use Health Savings Accounts (HSAs). Contributions into HSAs should be tax-free and should be allowed to accumulate.”

“Require price transparency from all healthcare providers, especially doctors and healthcare organizations like clinics and hospitals. Individuals should be able to shop to find the best prices for procedures, exams or any other medical-related procedure.”

“Remove barriers to entry into free markets for drug providers that offer safe, reliable and cheaper products.”

If only a +10 or 100 . . . were available!

Let me leave it with this. Where you said that you "wont live forever to see either the crash, or the rebulding", I don't know how old you are, but I think you got it half right.

Speaking personally, I am 44 years old, and I fully expect to see blood in the streets before I die. I think the crash is inevitable, and I think it will hit us like a ton of bricks. In the grand scheme of things, I think it will happen sooner rather than later.

This is a little abstract, so bear with me. History is like geology. You don't really see or feel it happening unless lava goes shooting up in the air or the ground splits open underneath your feet. That said, the ground is always shifting, and every seismic event is preceded by warning signs that anyone can see if they just open their eyes.

Did the Revolutionary War just happen out of the blue one day, or were the warning signs clear and obvious to anyone that bothered to look?

How 'bout the Civil War? Did that happen because some idiot decided to fire a few shells at Fort Sumter, or were those shells fired as a result of events that lead up to that?

You can think of hundreds more historical examples of one day life is one way and the very next day life was completely different. If you were a Roman, how fat, lazy and happy were you the day before the city was sacked? Years later the question wouldn't have been about who could have possibly seen that coming. Instead, the questions would have been about who couldn't have seen it and why were the obvious foreshadowings ignored.

Think about something a little more recent. The world was at war, and somehow our Pacific Fleet was bombed by the Japanese at Pearl Harbor. How did they miss it? Why didn't they know that was coming?

More recently, a bunch of Islamic terrorists (big shock there, right?) decided to hijack and fly some airliners into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and some unknown target that I assume was not a random Pennsylvania pasture. Should the question be, "who could have possibly seen that one coming" or "what kind of incompetent morons could have possibly missed the build up of Al Qaeda"?

The thing is that whether you choose to look at history going forward or as something that has already happened, you cannot deny that it was/is incredibly bloody and shook/shakes our lives to the core.

Let's also be clear on another point. The term "History" applies to more than just war. Amongst others, it can be applied to things like Economics as well. If we are so smart as a country, why would we buy into the notion that being $19.6+ Trillion in debt and using intrinsically worthless paper as money is a good thing? Never in the history of mankind has that ever been successful, and it has always led to economic collapse. What makes us so special that we are supposed to be immune to thousands of years worth of history? Do economic laws just not apply to the United States?

I used 9/11 as a recent example of something that shook our world to the core. How about something fresher than that? You remember the housing crisis and the resulting bailouts? Does that ring a bell at all? One of my favorite movies of the last couple years is "The Big Short" that talks about the guys who opened their eyes and saw the warning signs leading up to that before anyone else did. If you haven't seen it, do yourself a favor and make the time. It's worth it. Last I looked it was available on Netflix anytime.

When it comes to this country and the big kaboom I think is on the horizon, I feel like Michael Burry from the movie. Whether looking backwards to the things that have happened over and over in the past or looking forward at the unmistakeable warning signs on the horizon, I am scared shitless. When this thing comes tumbling down, it's not gonna be about some other guy's mortgage payment or a bunch of Wall Street pricks whose company falls out from beneath their feet one day. It will be about grocery store shelves lying empty and the electricity/running water not working anymore. Am I paranoid or misguided? Christ, I hope so. If I am wrong though, for the love of God, will somebody please explain to me how exactly it is that we are not all screwed. And while you're at it, please explain to me how it is that a corrupt traitor (Hillary) or a bombastic, egomaniacal clown (Trump) is supposed to fix it?

The only chance a Third Party has is a candidate with Trump's level of showmanship, for instance Penn Jillette. With all the others promising magic, we may as well write in someone who's done it professionally.

They don't want to hear what I have to say on election day...

Funny thing, but I think I am saying the same thing. Hillary will put in all sorts of things that will kill MY business, so I can either just let it happen or perhaps delay those things. I have given up on the idea that a cultural revolution can occur in my lifetime, so I have therefore given up on that. I just want the least bad things to happen. Call it a pragmatic solution if you want, but I just dont see any other way. I wont live forever to see either the crash, or the rebulding

You know, one thing that always gets me in a discussion like this is that when I lay out some screed or another about any/all of Donald Trump's faults, I have never yet come across anyone who took issue with the truth of what I am saying.

Some people, like you, will try to change the subject. That's all that last post of yours attempted to do. You throw some philosophical horse manure around about voting for the least bad thing instead if defending your choice for its own merits. Keeping with my rat poison analogy from earlier, that's like saying, "At least with Trump the country might die a little slower no matter how agonizingly painful it might be." You will forgive me if I fail to see the logic in that kind of thinking.

It doesn't matter. At this point, the only thing I care about is me and mine anyway. Any reverence I ever had for what this country was/is supposed to be is long gone. Short version: I am going to build my business and do my best to prepare for the S storm that will happen when this house of cards comes tumbling down on our heads. Do whatever you want. Rationalize it however you can. I'd rather spend my time preparing for the aftermath if this trainwreck is inevitable anyway. That seems more productive to me than debating the finer points of voting for/against a pathologically lying, power hungry, egomaniacal turd on a stick like Donald J. Trump.

Unfortunately, we are going to get stuck with one
of those two. We have no choice about that. The
only choice, is which? Certain death or Russian
roulette?
As to Dagny, oh, it is too bad she is not in the running. If she were, she would get my vote
in a minute, if I thought she had a chance (in
spite of Ayn Rand's belief against a woman's
wanting to be president). I did not vote for Trump in the primary. But I never get the nomin-
ee I want any more.

We have to do the best we can. I think it is better
to vote for Russian roulette than certain death, so
there is still a choice between two.
I have heard Mark Levin proposing some kind of
"convention of states". At first I was against it,
considering that a second Constitutional Con-
vention would be a disaster, and might wipe out
the Bill of Rights. But the way he explained it,
it would not be a Constitutional Convention; it
would be some kind of deal where separate a-
mendments would be proposed separately, and
so maybe it would be all right; and , who knows,
maybe we could even get rid of #16.

In the long run its is what the people of the USA stand for. At present they are for a mixed economy and for an approaching runaway debt and a pretend patriotism where flag waving will save the day. Trump will divide the masses so that the government will slow slightly to give the becoming-angry people time to decide that the Constitution should be followed or the country will perish.

I think the changing of the culture is an intellectual thing, not a voting thing. It will take a long time (40-50 years) and will fly in the face of a system which operates by taking from the invisible rich and gives to the voting massed.

In the meantime we live with the system being slightly better or a lot worse while WE are alive. I think a better solution is to put effort into changing the intellectual culture, but voting for the least bad candidate.

It wont matter if you vote libertarian if the young people are taught socialism is good by the parents and government indoctrination centers, and watching people getting freebies (that they would be happy to take if offered). You will just be labeled a freak who is out of touch.

Trump is no paragon of libertarianism, but look at what his supporters are called. DEPLORABLE and they are hated- just for standing up to the establishment. Imagine what a REAL libertarian would face today !! They leave Johnson alone pretty much because he is no threat. They would dredge up all sorts of stuff on him, and he would probably be out of the race for his pot smokng alone (not that I care about pot smoking).

Nope. Wrong. It IS the medias Country, it IS the medias choice. Apparently, we don`t have the will, or the courage to stop them.