First Trump's State of the Union Address

I almost dozed off watching this political exercise. I'm not a big fan of Prez Trump, full disclosure. But between Obama & Trump, I prefer the latter. I got tired watching the Republicans stood up, clapped & then sat down repeatedly. Was someone not seen on TV raising a big sign bearing the word "Applause"? One news account said there were boos during Trump's speech, though the TV telecast didn't catch them. The Democrats pretty much just sat there stoically. Partisan politics was very much alive as seen in that gallery several hours ago. So what did Trump miss in his speech? For one, he didn't mention the Russian meddling in the last presidential election and the complicity of some of his people in achieving that. This Russia probe is explosive & a big political drama in the U.S. specially with the release of Nunes memo. Trump also said nothing about his policies on climate change or global warming inspite of the drastic changes in the world's climate, including that of the U.S. (severe winter, widespread flooding, snowing in deserts, Florida & Texas, drought in California, devastating hurricanes). He also didn't say anything about what he would do to address the serious and pervasive drug problems in America. Yeah Obama, your country also has a very serious drug problem that you didn't effectively address or control. Can you say 'hypocrisy' on your part, mister ex-president, when you criticized our government in dealing with our OWN drug problem while extending very little military aid and money in addressing that problem? Perhaps under Trump there would be some U.S.-PHILIPPINE cooperation in dealing with worldwide drug problem. This news show some promise:

And now, let's talk about what Trump said in his speech. If there is one thing in his speech that would enrage many Filipinos is his plan to END CHAIN IMMIGRATION. This was what the Democrats booed at. That means many Filipinos wanting to petition their parents & adult children (18 years old & above) will no longer be able to do so in the future. Only MINOR CHILDREN and SPOUSES would be allowed to be petitioned by their parents & their wives/husbands. Bummer, right? He also said the criteria to qualify for immigration would be skill-&-education based. He also said he intends to end the visa lottery, a program that randomly hands out green cards without any regard for skill, merit, or the safety of American people. He favors moving toward a merit-based immigration system, one that admits people who are skilled, who want to work, who will contribute to American society, and who will love and respect America. All these policies seem geared at making immigration to America a lot harder. Trump makes foreigners, immigrants or outsiders feel or think that many of America's problems are being blamed on them inspite of the fact that there were multiple studies that have shown that immigrants are significantly less likely to commit crimes than people born in the United States. Illegal aliens even pay taxes with little benefits in return from the government. Still, like in the past, foreigners & immigrants are being made a scapegoat. It is this fear of foreigners that will not endear America & Americans to other friendly nations or other nationals.

Trump bragged about the 2.4 million new jobs that were created, the unemployment claims hitting a 45-year low, the stock market smashing one record after another & gaining $8 trillion in just a short period of time, and the enacting of the biggest tax cuts and reforms engineered by the Republicans. These tax cuts & reforms nearly doubled the standard deduction for everyone, doubled the child tax credit and reduced the tax bill of a typical family of four making $75,000 by $2,000. The first $24,000 earned by a married couple is now completely tax-free. The overall effect of all these new tax changes will translate to more take-home pay for the working class starting next month. Trump also said that corporations will have their business tax rate slashed from 35% to 21% so American companies can be more competitive against other international companies. Small businesses have also received a massive tax cut and can now deduct 20% of their business income.

Trump referred to coal as 'beautiful & clean'. I never heard anyone, specially a head of state, describe coal that way as an energy source. Coal clean? Really? Coal produces acid rain as far as I know. The chemical smoke expelled from various coal-burning power plants causes problems in the environment in many ways, including production of acid rain. The major problem comes from the gas that is released into the air that we breathe when dirty coal is burned. Is there a new science opposing that view? What's clean is solar power. With this new stand by Trump, he is almost saying that the environment will have to take a backseat or just be an afterthought. New Zealand & other low-lying countries below sea-level (like some countries in Europe), including some of our own smaller islands, will probably shrink some more as more of their above-ground coastal areas would slowly submerge more due to extreme weather changes affecting the earth's polar caps or the Arctic & Antarctic ice sheets, and Greenland. The real threat in sea level increases come from the Greenland and the Antarctic ice sheets, which contain close to 99% of all the world’s fresh water. When the Antarctic melts, climate experts state that sea levels can rise to 200 feet and more. Greenland’s melting ice sheet will add another 20 feet to sea level rise.

Trump also touted that Chrysler is moving a major plant from Mexico to Michigan, Toyota & Mazda opening up a plant in Alabama, Apple investing a total of $350 billion in America & hire 20,000 more workers, and ExxonMobil investing $50 Billion in the United States. Rejoice, American workers!

For the not-so-well Americans, Trump had this to say:

- FDA approved more new & generic drugs and medical devices

- patients with terminal conditions & terminal illness should have access to experimental treatment (which means what exactly? Health insurance companies allowing experimental drugs & medical procedures being covered by them? We all know health insurance do not cover these.) - directed his administration to make fixing the injustice of high drug prices one of his top priorities for the 2018. And prices will come down substantially. (That would be good news if the pharma companies allow the government to dictate what drug prices to impose on consumers. The pharmas won't be happy. I hope if Trump's promise comes to fruition, the drug prices here would also come down.)

Trump also promised to fix the bad trade deals and negotiate new ones. I know the U.S. pulled out of Nafta, a deal which I also didn't like. I do hope this policy will not lead to a trade war with friendly nations or trading partners.

Trump laid out their plans on immigration:

- a path to citizenship for the 1.8 million illegal immigrants who were brought to the U.S. by their parents at a young age (the so-called 'Dreamers'). - under their plan, those who meet education and work requirements, and show good moral character, will be able to become full citizens of the United States over a 12-year period

Trump also set aside at least $1.5 trillion for new infrastructure. On America's drug menace, Trump said that in 2016, 64,000 Americans died of drug overdoses, translating to 174 deaths per day, or seven per hour. Perhaps if Obama was much tougher on drug dealers and pushers during his term he could have saved a portion of that 64,000 drug OD deaths, instead spending time criticizing our country on our war on drugs. On foreign aid, he proposed a legislation that will ensure only American-friendly countries or countries serving American interests will get foreign assistance dollars.

All of the above proposals or current policies are mostly good achievements and goals (except for a few) but I do wish they do not clash or conflict with his social media tweets, his spoken words, his action and his history. When you are offering an apple to someone, make sure it isn't a poisoned one, Mr. Prez. One observation -- I noticed that the four judges sitting among the audience were not showing any emotion, not smiling nor clapping. Were they there against their will?

If you haven't noticed if you are one receiving dollars for support from family members working abroad (OFWs, immigrants) Trump's programs and policies seem to be making the exchange rates high compared to the rates during Obama's time. So in that sense, Trump is preferred by or thought better for our OFWs.

UPDATE: CNN Money reported:

The Dow plunged 363 points on Tuesday, one of its worst days since the 2016 election -- hours before President Trump's first State of the Union address. Unlike his predecessors, Trump has obsessed over the market. He frequently tweets about market milestones, pointing to the monstrous gains as evidence that his policies are working. More here: http://money.cnn.com/

SOURCES: 1. Laurie Reeves; Updated June 27, 2017 (2018). Sciencing.com. Retrieved 1 February 2018, from https://sciencing.com/how-does-polar-ice-melting-affect-the-environment-13400295.html

2. Egan, M. (2018). Market slumps at a bad time for Trump. CNNMoney. Retrieved 3 February 2018, from http://money.cnn.com/2018/01/30/investing/stock-market-trump-state-of-the-union/index.html