Name:   Talullahhound - Subject:   2 responses Date:   5/23/2016 7:58:30 PM

So am I to understand that you don't believe that Hilary and Bernie are not self promoters?  I may give on Bernie there, but I think Hilary is a shameless self promoter. And if you want to criticize Trumps wealth, what about Hilary's?  You may recall that Bill and Hilary were not millionaires when they went into the WH, but they sure made up for lost time once they were there and beyond.  And didn't Hilary and Bill buy both a million dollar home in NY and another one in Georgetown, DC once they left.  And I seem to recall that the loans for the NY house were made by a private investor... for what purpose? 

Yes, Trump is a self promoter - as is everyone that runs for President, because if they weren't and they weren't narcissists to some extent, they wouldn't run.   As far as the Trump failures - well, that tells me that he saw a market and pursued it. Some things just don't work out. He is a businessman.

As far as "fixing" government, even when I was still working, I thought there needed to be reforms. I would not necessarily slash all these departments that some of the GOP would do, but I think more thought needs to put into what these agencies are doing and does it still need to be done?  A lot of government gets put in place to solve a particular problem, then someone decides it needs more oversight, and the next thing you know, it has taken on a life of it's own.   And in my limited experince (DOD), the Employee to Manager ratio continue to get smaller - and on that trajectory, pretty soon everyone is a chief and there are no Indians.  You would have no way to know this, but when Congress gets involved, they want to shove all decision making to the highest possible level, which is ridiculous since you are paying a lot of people very, very well for their expertise.

But beyond that, I am fed up with the relationship between the WH and Congress.  Congress is no longer doing its job, and now you have a small group in Congress setting the agenda (and more moderate GOP and Democratic members  are afraid to go against the party line).  The WH is supposed to set the agenda, and Congress is supposed to work out the details.  And I have a pretty good feeling that Trump will not be afraid to stand up to "business as usual". 

And the rest of the world?  No, I would not want to see Trump tramp all over our relationships, BUT, I think it is time countries understand that the U.S. will act in it's best interest, not necessairly their best interests. I've got a lot of experience dealing in international, and have seen the arrogance of some of these other countries, considering that they will have to hope like h*ll that we save their bacon, as we did in Kuwait.   We need to have a quid pro quo.  I can assure you that other countries look out for their own interests.  For example, about 10 years ago, the UK threatened to start decontrolling very sensitive defense technology, which would permit them to sell this stuff to countries we have national security concerns about.   I sat in on some negotiations with the UK on a framework document.  We spent 3 days on one sentence, because the UK refused to compromise.  I could give you 50 examples.  So I welcome a President that would be prepared to walk away from the table, rather than cave.

Do I have concerns about Trump?  Yes.  But it is not his lack of political and governmental experience.  My concern is really about whose advice he would take (and the thought of Newt Gingrich as the VP makes me sick to my stomach).