Trump could be the most honest president in modern history

[One Bad Pig]

Source: Marc A. Thiessen

Donald Trump may be remembered as the most honest president in modern American history.

Don't get me wrong, Trump lies all the time. He said that he "enacted the biggest tax cuts and reforms in American history" (actually they are the eighth largest) and that "our economy is the strongest it's ever been in the history of our country" (which may one day be true, but not yet). In part, it's a New York thing -- everything is the biggest and the best.

But when it comes to the real barometer of presidential truthfulness -- keeping his promises -- Trump is a paragon of honesty. For better or worse, since taking office Trump has done exactly what he promised he would do.

Trump kept his promise to move the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, something his three immediate predecessors also promised yet failed to do. He promised to "crush and destroy ISIS," and two years later he is on the verge of eliminating the Islamic State's physical caliphate. He promised to impose a travel ban on countries that he saw as posing a terrorist threat, and after several false starts the final version of his ban was upheld by the Supreme Court. He promised to punish Syria if it used chemical weapons on its people, and, unlike his immediate predecessor, he followed through -- not once but twice.

Trump pledged to nominate Supreme Court justices "in the mold of Justice [Antonin] Scalia," and now Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh sit on the high court. Trump also pledged to fill the federal appellate courts with young, conservative judges, and so far the Senate has confirmed 29 -- more than any recent president at this point in his administration.

Trump vowed to pass historic tax reforms, and signed the first major overhaul of the tax code in three decades. He vowed an unprecedented regulatory rollback, with a strict policy to eliminate two existing regulations for every new regulation. In his first year, he achieved $8.1 billion in lifetime regulatory savings and is on track to achieve an additional $9.8 billion this year.

During the campaign, he told African American voters, "What do you have to lose? ... I will straighten it out. I'll bring jobs back. We'll bring spirit back." On his watch, African American unemployment reached the lowest level ever recorded, and his tax reform included a little-noticed provision creating "Opportunity Zones" to try to revitalize struggling towns and inner-city communities.

Trump promised to cancel President Barack Obama's Clean Power Plan, withdraw from the Paris climate accord, approve the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines, and open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to exploration. He fulfilled all of those pledges.

On trade, he kept his promise to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership and impose tariffs on steel and aluminum. He also committed to renegotiating NAFTA and the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement -- and recently signed new deals with Mexico, Canada and South Korea. He committed to imposing tariffs on China to force it to open its markets and stop its theft of intellectual property -- and is following through on that pledge. Whatever one thinks of Trump's trade policies, he is doing exactly what he said.

The president pledged historic increases in defense spending, and delivered. He pledged to bring back manufacturing jobs, and manufacturing jobs are growing at the fastest pace in more than two decades. He pledged to sign "Right to Try" legislation to give dying Americans access to experimental treatments, and did. He pledged to take on the opioid epidemic, and will soon sign a sweeping bipartisan opioids package into law.

Where Trump has failed to keep promises, such as building the wall or repealing Obamacare, it has not been for a lack of trying. Only in a few rare instances has he backtracked on a campaign pledge -- such as when he admitted that he was wrong to promise a complete withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan and reversed course. I'm glad he did.

But whether one agrees or disagrees is not the point. When Trump says he will do something, you can take it to the bank. Yes, he takes liberties with the truth. But unlike his predecessor, he did not pass his signature legislative achievement on the basis of a lie ("If you like your health care plan, you can keep it") -- which is clearly worse than falsely bragging that your tax cut is the biggest ever.

The fact is, in his first two years, Trump has compiled a remarkable record of presidential promise-keeping. He'd probably say it's the best in history -- which may or may not end up being true. It's too soon to tell.

© Copyright Original Source

source

comments.gif

[Zymologist]

[oxmixmudd]

Source: Marc A. Thiessen

Donald Trump may be remembered as the most honest president in modern American history.

Don't get me wrong, Trump lies all the time. He said that he "enacted the biggest tax cuts and reforms in American history" (actually they are the eighth largest) and that "our economy is the strongest it's ever been in the history of our country" (which may one day be true, but not yet). In part, it's a New York thing -- everything is the biggest and the best.

But when it comes to the real barometer of presidential truthfulness -- keeping his promises -- Trump is a paragon of honesty. For better or worse, since taking office Trump has done exactly what he promised he would do.

Trump kept his promise to move the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, something his three immediate predecessors also promised yet failed to do. He promised to "crush and destroy ISIS," and two years later he is on the verge of eliminating the Islamic State's physical caliphate. He promised to impose a travel ban on countries that he saw as posing a terrorist threat, and after several false starts the final version of his ban was upheld by the Supreme Court. He promised to punish Syria if it used chemical weapons on its people, and, unlike his immediate predecessor, he followed through -- not once but twice.

Trump pledged to nominate Supreme Court justices "in the mold of Justice [Antonin] Scalia," and now Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh sit on the high court. Trump also pledged to fill the federal appellate courts with young, conservative judges, and so far the Senate has confirmed 29 -- more than any recent president at this point in his administration.

Trump vowed to pass historic tax reforms, and signed the first major overhaul of the tax code in three decades. He vowed an unprecedented regulatory rollback, with a strict policy to eliminate two existing regulations for every new regulation. In his first year, he achieved $8.1 billion in lifetime regulatory savings and is on track to achieve an additional $9.8 billion this year.

During the campaign, he told African American voters, "What do you have to lose? ... I will straighten it out. I'll bring jobs back. We'll bring spirit back." On his watch, African American unemployment reached the lowest level ever recorded, and his tax reform included a little-noticed provision creating "Opportunity Zones" to try to revitalize struggling towns and inner-city communities.

Trump promised to cancel President Barack Obama's Clean Power Plan, withdraw from the Paris climate accord, approve the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines, and open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to exploration. He fulfilled all of those pledges.

On trade, he kept his promise to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership and impose tariffs on steel and aluminum. He also committed to renegotiating NAFTA and the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement -- and recently signed new deals with Mexico, Canada and South Korea. He committed to imposing tariffs on China to force it to open its markets and stop its theft of intellectual property -- and is following through on that pledge. Whatever one thinks of Trump's trade policies, he is doing exactly what he said.

The president pledged historic increases in defense spending, and delivered. He pledged to bring back manufacturing jobs, and manufacturing jobs are growing at the fastest pace in more than two decades. He pledged to sign "Right to Try" legislation to give dying Americans access to experimental treatments, and did. He pledged to take on the opioid epidemic, and will soon sign a sweeping bipartisan opioids package into law.

Where Trump has failed to keep promises, such as building the wall or repealing Obamacare, it has not been for a lack of trying. Only in a few rare instances has he backtracked on a campaign pledge -- such as when he admitted that he was wrong to promise a complete withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan and reversed course. I'm glad he did.

But whether one agrees or disagrees is not the point. When Trump says he will do something, you can take it to the bank. Yes, he takes liberties with the truth. But unlike his predecessor, he did not pass his signature legislative achievement on the basis of a lie ("If you like your health care plan, you can keep it") -- which is clearly worse than falsely bragging that your tax cut is the biggest ever.

The fact is, in his first two years, Trump has compiled a remarkable record of presidential promise-keeping. He'd probably say it's the best in history -- which may or may not end up being true. It's too soon to tell.

© Copyright Original Source

source

[ATTACH=CONFIG]32016[/ATTACH]

Interesting take on the word 'truthful', but it is imteresting to contrast his propensity for telling lies with his track record for keeping campaign promises.

While I would normally applaud such a track record, the danger is that we are dangerously close to "the end justifies the means" if we ignore all the lying and unfair practices that are key components of him keeping these promises.

Jim

[One Bad Pig]

While I would normally applaud such a track record, the danger is that we are dangerously close to "the end justifies the means" if we ignore all the lying and unfair practices that are key components of him keeping these promises.

Jim

Interesting allegation - one that is decidedly at odds with the article.

[Sparko]

[oxmixmudd]

Interesting allegation - one that is decidedly at odds with the article.

I don't follow you obp. What is in my reply that is at odds with the article? I agreed with the premise concerning promises kept, but I'm pointing out that ignoring the lies or immoral means associated with keeping the promises devolves to "the end justifies the means".

Thanks in advance for you clarification.


Jim

[Sparko]

Other than being wrong or exaggerating things what has Trump actually lied about?

[Littlejoe]

Interesting take on the word 'truthful', but it is imteresting to contrast his propensity for telling lies with his track record for keeping campaign promises.

While I would normally applaud such a track record, the danger is that we are dangerously close to "the end justifies the means" if we ignore all the lying and unfair practices that are key components of him keeping these promises.

Jim

Even the paragon of honesty, Abraham Lincoln (generally regarded as one of the most honest Presidents ever) "lied" or stretched the truth when the "ends justified the means".

While the House was debating the 13th Amendment in 1865, rumors had reached Washington that negotiations with the Confederacy were about to begin. "Lincoln was afraid this would derail the amendment," Foner said. "He issued a statement saying that no Confederate commissioners were on their way to Washington." This was true... technically. The Confederate commissioners were actually on their way to Hampton Roads, Va., where Lincoln and Secretary of State William Seward then met with them, Foner said. It's easy to imagine a modern-day fact-checker slapping Lincoln with at least one "Pinocchio" after a claim like that.

Source

[One Bad Pig]

I don't follow you obp. What is in my reply that is at odds with the article? I agreed with the premise concerning promises kept, but I'm pointing out that ignoring the lies or immoral means associated with keeping the promises devolves to "the end justifies the means".

Thanks in advance for you clarification.


Jim

I'll repost the salient portion for you:

Source: article

When Trump says he will do something, you can take it to the bank. Yes, he takes liberties with the truth. But unlike his predecessor, he did not pass his signature legislative achievement on the basis of a lie ("If you like your health care plan, you can keep it") -- which is clearly worse than falsely bragging that your tax cut is the biggest ever.

© Copyright Original Source

Again, you seem to be confusing him with his predecessor.

[Cow Poke]

There's that old principle "it's ok to lie to your enemy".

[seer]

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/w...romise-keeping

[Mountain Man]

Or like George Staphylococcus said about Slick Willy, "He has kept every promise he intended to keep."

[oxmixmudd]

I'll repost the salient portion for you:

Source: article

When Trump says he will do something, you can take it to the bank. Yes, he takes liberties with the truth. But unlike his predecessor, he did not pass his signature legislative achievement on the basis of a lie ("If you like your health care plan, you can keep it") -- which is clearly worse than falsely bragging that your tax cut is the biggest ever.

© Copyright Original Source

Again, you seem to be confusing him with his predecessor.

Ah, well at least I understand what you were thinking of. However, not only does he understate Trump's lying, he doesn't cover any the moral lapses associated with keeping his promises. And here I refer (WOLG) to the disastrous handling of minor children in the implementation of changes to the US immigration policies. Sure he kept his promise, but at what moral and human cost?

And that is my point. If one ignores obvious moral lapses and lying in congratulating him on success in keeping promises, we come dangerously close to "the end justifies the means."


Jim

[NorrinRadd]

... George Staphylococcus ...

Ok, I'll be stealing that one.

[mikewhitney]

Ah, well at least I understand what you were thinking of. However, not only does he understate Trump's lying, he doesn't cover any the moral lapses associated with keeping his promises. And here I refer (WOLG) to the disastrous handling of minor children in the implementation of changes to the US immigration policies. Sure he kept his promise, but at what moral and human cost?

And that is my point. If one ignores obvious moral lapses and lying in congratulating him on success in keeping promises, we come dangerously close to "the end justifies the means."


Jim

what type of moral lapses do you have in mind here?

which politician or president has had fewer moral lapses ?



It seems that most things people have called 'lies' are simply just the salesman form of speech he has. I haven't really followed what Trump has done in the past. But now he seems to speak in bargaining terms and positive terms. It seems like instinctive (or learned) to make people feel good going into bargaining and then he would work out the details as he needs to. Anyone who would do business with him should normally be prepped to expect that positive talk.

But his exaggerated speak is better than most presidents who have undetectable overstatements and deceptions.

which presidents have been less of liars?