Trump's Notable First Day

By Douglas V. Gibbs
Author, Speaker, Instructor, Radio Host 

The Trump Inauguration attracted a large crowd.  Despite the liberal left's polls, Trump is actually a very popular President going into office.  The liberal left media and Democrats, however, will kick it up a notch as compared to how they attacked George W. Bush, when it comes to their attempts to obstruct and demonize Trump.  While calling themselves tolerant, the Democrat Party supporters have shown intolerance, and the inability to accept anything other than their own ideology in a position of power.  Conservatives rallied during the Obama presidency in hopes of helping someone like Trump to emerge from the ashes of our country's destruction under liberalism, but you did not see the kind of violence and obstructive temper tantrums from Republicans like you are now seeing from the liberal left.

The Trump Inauguration was classy, and well put together.  Trump's handling of it all was also top notch.  The elegance of the balls afterward, and the incredible speech he delivered to a massive crowd as the rain decided to stop for just a moment, was just the beginning.  In addition to the pomp and circumstance, some amazing things happened on day one of the Donald J. Trump presidency that ought to convince conservatives that Trump means business, and plans to take a conservative path, about what he said approaching this historical presidency:

◾President Trump returns bust of Churchill to Oval Office

Remember the stir created when President Obama insulted Britain by removing Churchill's bust because of his "anti-colonial" feelings?  Obama had replaced Churchill with a bust of Martin Luther King Jr.  There is no doubt that Martin Luther King was an important historical figure, and belongs in the White House, but you don't turn your back on an important ally by removing the legendary British prime minister from the West Wing... and in fact, entirely from the White House.

Trump has corrected that error, and Winston Churchill is back in the Oval Office.

Trump did not hesitate.  He did it on his first day in office.

Trump did not do it with fanfare, and in fact, didn't say anything about it.  He just did it.  Reporters who were present in the Oval Office Friday night to witness Mr. Trump signing executive orders noticed the Churchill bust had been returned to the Oval Office.

Mr. Trump did more redecorating, replacing Mr. Obama’s crimson drapes in the Oval Office with gold ones. He also added a bust of Teddy Roosevelt on one of the bookshelves, and swapped out some of Mr. Obama’s artwork in the presidential office.

◾All References to ‘Climate Change’ Deleted From White House Website

No time was spared.  The references to Climate Change were removed promptly at noon, as Trump's hand lay on a Bible, and he recited the oath of the presidency.  In fact, one page was wiped completely clean.  Now, when it comes to the science of temperature fluctuations, as far as the White House is concerned, it is no longer about politically influenced consensus, but instead is now all about real science, and the reality that while temperatures do change, it is a natural phenomenon, and not a man-caused disaster.

Every little mention of Climate Change is gone in every place it was mentioned before on the White House website, and those opposing the globalist claim of Climate Change were very excited about the move by Trump's administration.

Climate Depot statement: “Climate skeptics are thrilled that one of the very first visible changes of the transition of power between President Obama and President Trump is the booting of “climate change” from the White House website. Trump is truly going to make science great again and reject the notion that humans are the control knob of the climate and UN treaties and EPA regulations can somehow regulate temperature and storminess. Welcome to the era of sound science!”

◾Trump Signs Executive Order Curbing Obamacare

Barack Obama used executive orders to act unconstitutionally legislatively, so executive orders can be used to nullify Obama's executive actions over the last eight years.  Within hours after taking the oath of office, President Donald Trump took advantage of that reality, and signed an executive order that begins the process of chipping away at Obamacare, and curbing federal regulations.

White House press secretary Sean Spicer told reporters that the executive order's goal is “to ease the burden of Obamacare as we transition to repeal and replace.”

The new president’s goal is to repeal the Affordable Care Act.  Full repeal of Obamacare will require congressional legislation.

“Potentially the biggest effect of this order could be widespread waivers from the individual mandate,” Larry Levitt, a senior vice president at the Kaiser Family Foundation, told The Washington Post. Currently, individuals who do not have health insurance and do not qualify for an exemption must pay a $695 annual fee or up to 2.5 percent of annual household income.

“They’re very aware of the fact that the first job is to prevent the Affordable Care Act from doing more damage than it’s already done,” says Ed Haislmaier, a senior research fellow in health care policy at The Heritage Foundation. “As we saw with the premium increases in the fall, people who are buying individual or small employer coverage without a subsidy are getting hammered.”

Haislmaier cautioned, however, that the executive order is “the beginning of the process.” The order states that it’s the goal of the administration to repeal the law, but there is still a lot of work to do regarding the process of ending the unconstitutional federal law.

Also, in Article II, the Constitution states it is the job of the executive branch to "faithfully execute the laws of the United States," so, until the law is repealed, Trump's team must still ensure that the law is being efficiently implemented.  In the meantime, as repeal moves into the picture, Trump's administration may take all actions consistent with the law to minimize the unwarranted economic and regulatory burdens of the act, and prepare to afford the States more flexibility and control to create a more free and open healthcare market.

◾President Trump earlier Friday signed paperwork commissioning James Mattis as Secretary of Defense and John Kelly as Secretary of Homeland Security.

General James Mattis was sworn in to run the Pentagon and General John Kelly took a similar pledge to run the Department of Homeland Security.

"Every action we take will be designed to ensure our military is ready to fight today and in the future. Recognizing that no nation is secure without friends, we will work with the State Department to strengthen our alliances," Mattis said in a statement after he was sworn in.

"Further, we are devoted to gaining full value from every taxpayer dollar spent on defense, thereby earning the trust of Congress and the American people," he said.

The Senate has only confirmed these two cabinet nominees, but have been obstructive for the remainder of Trump's picks.  For some Democrats there were some concerns regarding the fact that Mattis was recently retired, and had not been retired as long as a 1947 law requires.  However, Congress quickly gave him an exception to serve in the post, with only one Democrat voting against it.

◾FHA mortgage premium cuts helping low-income homebuyers cancelled by President Trump

It was lending practices to low-income buyers that caused the bubble that burst at the beginning of Obama's presidency in 2008, which was the impetus of the recession in the first place.  Yet, the Democrats were beginning to lead us down that path again with their FHA mortgage premium cuts.  On day one, President Trump signed an executive order to stop the damaging act, a move that helps the middle class by stopping a new housing bubble before it forms.

Trump's HUD, which would have administered the new program, said the reduction was “suspended indefinitely.”

Ben Carson, Trump’s nominee to lead HUD, told a Senate committee last week he would “really examine” the interest-rate cut.  

◾Trump puts freeze on new regulations

White House chief of staff Reince Priebus sent a memo titled “Regulatory Freeze Pending Review” to block all pending regulations under review but not yet in the Federal Register.  The memorandum Friday night went out to all executive departments and agencies to freeze new or pending regulations.  The move effectively halts any lingering policies from the Obama administration before they can be finalized.

The move also gives President Donald Trump the ability to declare an immediate impact on the regulations that Republicans have long slammed as burdensome on businesses.  Elimination of the laws the regulations may be attached to will still need an act of Congress.

The President cannot immediately halt any regulations that have gone into effect already.

For any regulations that have yet to be sent for publishing in the Federal Register, the memo asks the agency to not send any regulation to the Federal Register until reviewed by someone selected by the President.

For those that have been sent but not published, the White House ordered the regulations withdrawn.

There are regulations have been published but have not reached their effective date. The memo instructs those regulations to be delayed for 60 days for review -- with a potential that a new notice for reopening the regulation could occur.

The memo makes an exception for "critical health, safety, financial, or national security matters," and asks agencies to identify any regulations that can't be delayed for other reasons.

◾Trump put to paper his formal nominations for Cabinet members that have not yet been confirmed. Sending them on to the Senate, the list includes a number of private businessmen, and several sitting GOP legislators.

◾Trump declares a National Day of Patriotism

While not immediately clear when that day would occur, though one would assume September 11 (as Bush proclaimed in 2002, calling for national prayer and remembrance of the victims of the terrorist attacks in 2001), Trump's National Day of Patriotism is officially in the process of being created.  There are no details regarding if this day would be a presidential proclamation like Constitution Day, or a call for a federal holiday, but if the latter, it will require Congress to pass legislation to make it official.  A President can create an official holiday for one year with an executive order, according to internal rules.  Bush took advantage of that provision for a day of mourning when Ronald Reagan passed away in 2004.

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary