Donald Trump - still undecided

I’m going to skip past my assessment of Ted Cruz once again and give you my opinion about Donald Trump. I’m going to appear to be little harsh with my assessment of “The Donald” but don’t read anything into it. I just want to put out in the open some of Trump’s history and why he appears to me to be less than a stellar conservative. What I say here will not have any influence on the individuals that are supporting Trump nor the individuals that are not supporting Trump.

Trump has a history of talking the Republican talk but no history of actually walking the Republican walk. We’re dealing with a complete political unknown in Trump because he has no voting record to go by. On the other hand, we had the talk and record of Obama’s “in your face” socialism and half of America still managed to vote for him, twice! All we have to go by with Trump is his personal assessment of himself as a true conservative. That may be enough for some but I have a tendency to be inquisitive so I accessed a considerable amount of political information. I need more than just "trust me".

I will open with a short history of Trump’s political affiliations. In 1987 Trump registered as a Republican. In 1999 Trump switched from Republican to the Independent Party. In 2001 Trump switched from the Independent Party to the Democrat Party. In 2009 Trump switched from Democrat Party to Republican Party as he had been 20+ years before. He seems to have a little trouble determining where his loyalties lie. Actually that is not a fair statement. Trump’s loyalty has always been with Trump himself and each switch of party affiliation was a strategic move to improve his personal political status.

I researched Trump’s bankruptcies just to satisfy my own curiosity. I’ll share those findings with you. But first, let me give you an idea of what a Chapter 11 bankruptcy entails. Chapter 11 allows a company to  put off repayment of loans and debt to give the company a chance to restructure. It does not allow for liquidation of company assets and allows the company to remain in business. Trump has had four of this type of bankruptcy over the years. He is quick to point out that he has never personally gone bankrupt. I can’t express how happy I am for him! In each instance his corporations went bankrupt but he personally gave up minimal treasure but in each case he had to accept a smaller percent of ownership and/or control of the companies. The Taj Mahal in Atlantic City went bankrupt in 1991. The Trump Plaza Hotel in Atlantic City went bankrupt in 1992. Trump Hotels and Casino Resorts went bankrupt in 2004. Trump Entertainment Resorts went bankrupt in 2009. In a couple instances Trump bragged that he had gotten out in time to salvage his personal financials. Again, I’m happy for him.

Trump and his supporters claim that he is one of us but the financial information about Trump that I’m about to give you does not resemble anyone I know! Trump owns 16 golf courses around the world and he plays golf on a regular basis all around the world. Trump’s net worth is somewhere in the neighborhood of $4.5 billion. At any point in time Trump has access to $400 million in cash. He owns a three-level penthouse in Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue in New York valued at approximately one hundred million dollars. He owns 40 other high dollar New York City apartments many renting for as much as $100,000 a month. He owns a 17 acre estate in Palm Beach, Florida with a 20,000 ft.² mansion valued at approximately $250 million. He owns a 15 bedroom mansion on 230 acres in Bedford, New York. He owns a 23,000 ft.² mansion on 2,000 acres in Charlottesville, Virginia. He has a mansion on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, California. He is not one of us financially.

Let’s talk a little about his political donations. According to the Washington Post Trump has donated $1.3 million to national politicians over the years with 54% of those donations going to liberals such as Harry Reid, Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, Rahm Emmanuel’s mayoral campaign in Chicago, Hillary Clinton, John Kerry, Charlie Rangel, Ted Kennedy, and Chuck Schumer. He donated $125,000 to the Democrat Senate Campaign Committee of New York. He sent $600,000 to New York State campaigns with 67% of that going to Democrats. The bulk of his political contributions have gone to New York and Florida were his largest financial interests are located. He has also donated to John McCain in the past but that is not exactly a glowing endorsement of conservatism. Trump has stated that he has had no reason to waste money on Republicans in New York because they never win. That seems to put the exclamation point on “influence peddling” in a very political way.

With all that revealed it makes it clear to me that Donald Trump is not necessarily one of us in the political realm either. I do not want to give the impression that I feel his wealth disqualifies him from the presidency because I don’t believe it does. Donald seems to have been a little uncertain with his party affiliations over the years and all of this has left me wondering what the heck is Donald's game. I will admit that in the overall scheme of things he does appear to be more conservative than liberal. He has opposed several American job killing trade agreements initiated under both George W. Bush and Barack Obama. Even though he employs tens of thousands of immigrants in his hotels, casinos, and resorts he seems genuine is opposition to illegal immigration. He claims to be a staunch supporter of the Second Amendment and American citizen's rights to gun ownership. As a lifelong entrepreneur he has had to deal with extensive and intrusive government interference in private business and recognizes how detrimental it is to the American capitalist system. He honestly believes smaller government is  better government. He claims that Obama care should be repealed and replaced but hasn’t said what he would replace it with. He has even mentioned in the past that he is not completely opposed to a single-payer health system.

I readily admit that I have not been able to form a cohesive opinion of Donald Trump. He worries me by claiming to be such a wonderful dealmaker and negotiator and claims that would be an advantage in negotiations with the liberal side of the aisle. I do not want to negotiate a liberal agenda I want to defeat it! I don’t want to negotiate with Putin or Kim Jong-un or ISIS I want to defeat them!

Hopefully in the very near future the trash talk, the bull excrement, and the gutter-wallowing among the candidates will turn to a serious discussion of the issues and what can be done by the respective candidates to salvage what remains of the “American Dream”. In my book Freedom Permits I made the comment that I would not stand in line in the Southwest Florida heat again and vote for another establishment Republican candidate. I hereby retract that statement. I will stand in line in the heat, the humidity, the rain, and any other calamity in order to vote for a non-socialist. Having fretted through 7 ½ years of Obama’s liberal/socialist destruction of America I can honestly say that I would vote for our neighborhood feral cat “Hairball” before I will vote for Hillary or Bernie!

God Bless America!!!