President Trump fights back

... you didn't think he wouldn't, did you?

President Donald Trump inspects the newest section of the U.S.-Mexico border wall, Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2021, in Alamo, Texas.

by Carolyn Yeager

IN THESE FINAL DAYS, the Trump White House has been compiling a list of the president's accomplishments during his 4 year term. I'm really glad they have. It will be handy when responding to those misguided Trump-bashers who love to say, “Trump didn't do anything for white people.”

Trump has accomplished a lot, with no group or class of people left out. That's what a President is supposed to do and must do. Just watch how Joe Biden will leave out benefitting white working people and conservatives in blatant fashion. Then those critics might appreciate Trump as they should. I copied this list from The Gateway Pundit.com and am publishing it here to keep it in one more secure place. But because it's so long, I didn't list all the specifics under every category.

Here's what the Trump-Pence administration wants to be known for:

Unprecedented Economic Boom

Before the China Virus invaded our shores, we built the world’s most prosperous economy.

• America gained 7 million new jobs – more than three times government experts’ projections.

• Middle-Class family income increased nearly $6,000 – more than five times the gains during the entire previous administration.

• The unemployment rate reached 3.5 percent, the lowest in a half-century.

• Achieved 40 months in a row with more job openings than job-hirings.

• More Americans reported being employed than ever before – nearly 160 million.

• Jobless claims hit a nearly 50-year low.

• The number of people claiming unemployment insurance as a share of the population hit its lowest on record.

• Incomes rose in every single metro area in the United States for the first time in nearly 3 decades.

Delivered a future of greater promise and opportunity for citizens of all backgrounds.

• Unemployment rates for African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Asian Americans, Native Americans, veterans, individuals with disabilities, and those without a high school diploma all reached record lows.

• Unemployment for women hit its lowest rate in nearly 70 years.

• Lifted nearly 7 million people off of food stamps.

• Poverty rates for African Americans and Hispanic Americans reached record lows.

• Income inequality fell for two straight years, and by the largest amount in over a decade.

• The bottom 50 percent of American households saw a 40 percent increase in net worth.

• Wages rose fastest for low-income and blue collar workers – a 16 percent pay increase.

• African American homeownership increased from 41.7 percent to 46.4 percent.

Brought jobs, factories, and industries back to the USA.

• Created more than 1.2 million manufacturing and construction jobs.

• Put in place policies to bring back supply chains from overseas.

• Small business optimism broke a 35-year old record in 2018.

Hit record stock market numbers and record 401ks.

• The DOW closed above 20,000 for the first time in 2017 and topped 30,000 in 2020.

• The S&P 500 and NASDAQ have repeatedly notched record highs.

Rebuilding and investing in rural America.

• Signed an Executive Order on Modernizing the Regulatory Framework for Agricultural Biotechnology Products, which is bringing innovative new technologies to market in American farming and agriculture.

• Strengthened America’s rural economy by investing over $1.3 billion through the Agriculture Department’s ReConnect Program to bring high-speed broadband infrastructure to rural America.

Achieved a record-setting economic comeback by rejecting blanket lockdowns.

• An October 2020 Gallup survey found 56 percent of Americans said they were better off during a pandemic than four years prior.

• During the third quarter of 2020, the economy grew at a rate of 33.1 percent – the most rapid GDP growth ever recorded.

• Since coronavirus lockdowns ended, the economy has added back over 12 million jobs, more than half the jobs lost.

• Jobs have been recovered 23 times faster than the previous administration’s recovery.

• Unemployment fell to 6.7 percent in December, from a pandemic peak of 14.7 percent in April – beating expectations of well over 10 percent unemployment through the end of 2020.

• Under the previous administration, it took 49 months for the unemployment rate to fall from 10 percent to under 7 percent compared to just 3 months for the Trump Administration.

• Since April, the Hispanic unemployment rate has fallen by 9.6 percent, Asian-American unemployment by 8.6 percent, and Black American unemployment by 6.8 percent.

• 80 percent of small businesses are now open, up from just 53 percent in April.

• Small business confidence hit a new high.

• Homebuilder confidence reached an all-time high, and home sales hit their highest reading since December 2006.

• Manufacturing optimism nearly doubled.

• Household net worth rose $7.4 trillion in Q2 2020 to $112 trillion, an all-time high.

• Home prices hit an all-time record high.

• The United States rejected crippling lockdowns that crush the economy and inflict countless public health harms and instead safely reopened its economy.

• Business confidence is higher in America than in any other G7 or European Union country.

• Stabilized America’s financial markets with the establishment of a number of Treasury Department supported facilities at the Federal Reserve.

Tax Relief for the Middle Class

Passed $3.2 trillion in historic tax relief and reformed the tax code. 13 specific items

Jobs and investments are pouring into Opportunity Zones. 5 specific items

Massive Deregulation

Ended the regulatory assault on American Businesses and Workers.

• Instead of 2-for-1, we eliminated 8 old regulations for every 1 new regulation adopted.

• Provided the average American household an extra $3,100 every year.

• Reduced the direct cost of regulatory compliance by $50 billion, and will reduce costs by an additional $50 billion in FY 2020 alone.

• Removed nearly 25,000 pages from the Federal Register – more than any other president. The previous administration added over 16,000 pages.

• Established the Governors’ Initiative on Regulatory Innovation to reduce outdated regulations at the state, local, and tribal levels.

• Signed an executive order to make it easier for businesses to offer retirement plans.

• Signed two executive orders to increase transparency in Federal agencies and protect Americans and their small businesses from administrative abuse.

• Modernized the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) for the first time in over 40 years.

• Reduced approval times for major infrastructure projects from 10 or more years down to 2 years or less.

• Helped community banks by signing legislation that rolled back costly provisions of Dodd-Frank.

• Established the White House Council on Eliminating Regulatory Barriers to Affordable Housing to bring down housing costs.

• Removed regulations that threatened the development of a strong and stable internet.

• Eased and simplified restrictions on rocket launches, helping to spur commercial investment in space projects.

• Published a whole-of-government strategy focused on ensuring American leadership in automated vehicle technology.

• Streamlined energy efficiency regulations for American families and businesses, including preserving affordable lightbulbs, enhancing the utility of showerheads, and enabling greater time savings with dishwashers.

• Removed unnecessary regulations that restrict the seafood industry and impede job creation.

• Modernized the Department of Agriculture’s biotechnology regulations to put America in the lead to develop new technologies.

• Took action to suspend regulations that would have slowed our response to COVID-19, including lifting restrictions on manufacturers to more quickly produce ventilators.

Successfully rolled back burdensome regulatory overreach.

• Rescinded the previous administration’s Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) rule, which would have abolished zoning for single-family housing to build low-income, federally subsidized apartments.

• Issued a final rule on the Fair Housing Act’s disparate impact standard.

• Eliminated the Waters of the United States Rule and replaced it with the Navigable Waters Protection Rule, providing relief and certainty for farmers and property owners.

• Repealed the previous administration’s costly fuel economy regulations by finalizing the Safer Affordable Fuel Efficient (SAFE) Vehicles rule, which will make cars more affordable, and lower the price of new vehicles by an estimated $2,200.

Americans now have more money in their pockets.

• Deregulation had an especially beneficial impact on low-income Americans who pay a much higher share of their incomes for overregulation.

• Cut red tape in the healthcare industry, providing Americans with more affordable healthcare and saving Americans nearly 10 percent on prescription drugs.

• Deregulatory efforts yielded savings to the medical community an estimated $6.6 billion – with a reduction of 42 million hours of regulatory compliance work through 2021.

• Removed government barriers to personal freedom and consumer choice in healthcare.

• Once fully in effect, 20 major deregulatory actions undertaken by the Trump Administration are expected to save American consumers and businesses over $220 billion per year.

• Signed 16 pieces of deregulatory legislation that will result in a $40 billion increase in annual real incomes.

Fair and Reciprocal Trade

Secured historic trade deals to defend American workers.

• Immediately withdrew from the job-killing Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).

• Ended the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and replaced it with the brand new United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).

• The USMCA contains powerful new protections for American manufacturers, auto-makers, farmers, dairy producers, and workers.

• The USMCA is expected to generate over $68 billion in economic activity and potentially create over 550,000 new jobs over ten years.

• Signed an executive order making it government policy to Buy American and Hire American, and took action to stop the outsourcing of jobs overseas.

• Negotiated with Japan to slash tariffs and open its market to $7 billion in American agricultural products and ended its ban on potatoes and lamb.

• Over 90 percent of American agricultural exports to Japan now receive preferential treatment, and most are duty-free.

• Negotiated another deal with Japan to boost $40 billion worth of digital trade.

• Renegotiated the United States-Korea Free Trade Agreement, doubling the cap on imports of American vehicles and extending the American light truck tariff.

• Reached a written, fully-enforceable Phase One trade agreement with China on confronting pirated and counterfeit goods, and the protection of American ideas, trade secrets, patents, and trademarks.

• China agreed to purchase an additional $200 billion worth of United States exports and opened market access for over 4,000 American facilities to exports while all tariffs remained in effect.

• Achieved a mutual agreement with the European Union (EU) that addresses unfair trade practices and increases duty-free exports by 180 percent to $420 million.

• Secured a pledge from the EU to eliminate tariffs on American lobster – the first United States-European Union negotiated tariff reduction in over 20 years.

• Scored a historic victory by overhauling the Universal Postal Union, whose outdated policies were undermining American workers and interests.

• Engaged extensively with trade partners like the EU and Japan to advance reforms to the World Trade Organization (WTO).

• Issued a first-ever comprehensive report on the WTO Appellate Body’s failures to comply with WTO rules and interpret WTO agreements as written.

• Blocked nominees to the WTO’s Appellate Body until WTO Members recognize and address longstanding issues with Appellate Body activism.

• Submitted 5 papers to the WTO Committee on Agriculture to improve Members’ understanding of how trade policies are implemented, highlight areas for improved transparency, and encourage members to maintain up-to-date notifications on market access and domestic support.

Took strong actions to confront unfair trade practices and put America First.

• Imposed tariffs on hundreds of billions worth of Chinese goods to protect American jobs and stop China’s abuses under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 and Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974.

• Directed an all-of-government effort to halt and punish efforts by the Communist Party of China to steal and profit from American innovations and intellectual property.

• Imposed tariffs on foreign aluminum and foreign steel to protect our vital industries and support our national security.

• Approved tariffs on $1.8 billion in imports of washing machines and $8.5 billion in imports of solar panels.

• Blocked illegal timber imports from Peru.

• Took action against France for its digital services tax that unfairly targets American technology companies.

• Launched investigations into digital services taxes that have been proposed or adopted by 10 other countries.

Historic support for American farmers.

• Successfully negotiated more than 50 agreements with countries around the world to increase foreign market access and boost exports of American agriculture products, supporting more than 1 million American jobs.

• Authorized $28 billion in aid for farmers who have been subjected to unfair trade practices – fully funded by the tariffs paid by China.

• China lifted its ban on poultry, opened its market to beef, and agreed to purchase at least $80 billion of American agricultural products in the next two years.

• The European Union agreed to increase beef imports by 180 percent and opened up its market to more imports of soybeans.

• South Korea lifted its ban on American poultry and eggs, and agreed to provide market access for record exports of American rice.

• Argentina lifted its ban on American pork.

• Brazil agreed to increase wheat imports by $180 million a year and raised its quotas for purchases of United States ethanol.

• Guatemala and Tunisia opened up their markets to American eggs.

• Won tariff exemptions in Ecuador for wheat and soybeans.

• Suspended $817 million in trade preferences for Thailand under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program due to its failure to adequately provide reasonable market access for American pork products.

• The amount of food stamps redeemed at farmers markets increased from $1.4 million in May 2020 to $1.75 million in September 2020 – a 50 percent increase over last year.

• Rapidly deployed the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program, which provided $30 billion in support to farmers and ranchers facing decreased prices and market disruption when COVID-19 impacted the food supply chain.

• Authorized more than $6 billion for the Farmers to Families Food Box program, which delivered over 128 million boxes of locally sourced, produce, meat, and dairy products to charity and faith-based organizations nationwide.

• Delegated authorities via the Defense Production Act to protect breaks in the American food supply chain as a result of COVID-19.

American Energy Independence

Unleashed America’s oil and natural gas potential.

• For the first time in nearly 70 years, the United States has become a net energy exporter.

• The United States is now the number one producer of oil and natural gas in the world.

• Natural gas production reached a record-high of 34.9 quads in 2019, following record high production in 2018 and in 2017.

• The United States has been a net natural gas exporter for three consecutive years and has an export capacity of nearly 10 billion cubic feet per day.

• Withdrew from the unfair, one-sided Paris Climate Agreement.

• Canceled the previous administration’s Clean Power Plan, and replaced it with the new Affordable Clean Energy rule.

• Approved the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines.

• Opened up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) in Alaska to oil and gas leasing.

• Repealed the last administration’s Federal Coal Leasing Moratorium, which prohibited coal leasing on Federal lands.

• Reformed permitting rules to eliminate unnecessary bureaucracy and speed approval for mines.

• Fixed the New Source Review permitting program, which punished companies for upgrading or repairing coal power plants.

• Fixed the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) steam electric and coal ash rules.

• The average American family saved $2,500 a year in lower electric bills and lower prices at the gas pump.

• Signed legislation repealing the harmful Stream Protection Rule.

• Reduced the time to approve drilling permits on public lands by half, increasing permit applications to drill on public lands by 300 percent.

• Expedited approval of the NuStar’s New Burgos pipeline to export American gasoline to Mexico.

• Streamlined Liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal permitting and allowed long-term LNG export authorizations to be extended through 2050.

• The United States is now among the top three LNG exporters in the world.

• Increased LNG exports five-fold since January 2017, reaching an all-time high in January 2020.

• LNG exports are expected to reduce the American trade deficit by over $10 billion.

• Granted more than 20 new long-term approvals for LNG exports to non-free trade agreement countries.

• The development of natural gas and LNG infrastructure in the United States is providing tens of thousands of jobs, and has led to the investment of tens of billions of dollars in infrastructure.

• There are now 6 LNG export facilities operating in the United States, with 2 additional export projects under construction.

• The amount of nuclear energy production in 2019 was the highest on record, through a combination of increased capacity from power plant upgrades and shorter refueling and maintenance cycles.

• Prevented Russian energy coercion across Europe through various lines of effort, including the Partnership for Transatlantic Energy Cooperation, civil nuclear deals with Romania and Poland, and opposition to Nord Stream 2 pipeline.

• Issued the Presidential Permit for the A2A railroad between Canada and Alaska, providing energy resources to emerging markets.

Increased access to our country’s abundant natural resources in order to achieve energy independence.

• Renewable energy production and consumption both reached record highs in 2019.

• Enacted policies that helped double the amount of electricity generated by solar and helped increase the amount of wind generation by 32 percent from 2016 through 2019.

• Accelerated construction of energy infrastructure to ensure American energy producers can deliver their products to the market.

• Cut red tape holding back the construction of new energy infrastructure.

• Authorized ethanol producers to sell E15 year-round and allowed higher-ethanol gasoline to be distributed from existing pumps at filling stations.

• Ensured greater transparency and certainty in the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program.

• Negotiated leasing capacity in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to Australia, providing American taxpayers a return on this infrastructure investment.

• Signed an executive order directing Federal agencies to work together to diminish the capability of foreign adversaries to target our critical electric infrastructure.

• Reformed Section 401 of the Clean Water Act regulation to allow for the curation of interstate infrastructure.

• Resolved the OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) oil crisis during COVID-19 by getting OPEC, Russia, and others to cut nearly 10 million barrels of production a day, stabilizing world oil prices.

• Directed the Department of Energy to use the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to mitigate market volatility caused by COVID-19.

Investing in America’s Workers and Families

Affordable and high-quality Child Care for American workers and their families. 7 specific items

Advanced apprenticeship career pathways to good-paying jobs. 4 specific items

Advanced women’s economic empowerment. 8 specific items

Ensured American leadership in technology and innovation. 15 specific items

• First administration to name artificial intelligence, quantum information science, and 5G communications as national research and development priorities.

• Launched the American Broadband Initiative to promote the rapid deployment of broadband internet across rural America.

• Made 100 megahertz of crucial mid-band spectrum available for commercial operations, a key factor to driving widespread 5G access across rural America.

• Launched the American AI Initiative to ensure American leadership in artificial intelligence (AI), and established the National AI Initiative Office at the White House.

• Established the first-ever principles for Federal agency adoption of AI to improve services for the American people.

• Signed the National Quantum Initiative Act establishing the National Quantum Coordination Office at the White House to drive breakthroughs in quantum information science.

• Signed the Secure 5G and Beyond Act to ensure America leads the world in 5G.

• Launched a groundbreaking program to test safe and innovative commercial drone operations nationwide.

• Issued new rulemaking to accelerate the return of American civil supersonic aviation.

• Committed to doubling investments in AI and quantum information science (QIS) research and development.

• Announced the establishment of $1 billion AI and quantum research institutes across America.

• Established the largest dual-use 5G test sites in the world to advance 5G commercial and military innovation.

• Signed landmark Prague Principles with America’s allies to advance the deployment of secure 5G telecommunications networks.

• Signed first-ever bilateral AI cooperation agreement with the United Kingdom.

• Built collation among allies to ban Chinese Telecom Company Huawei from their 5G infrastructure.

Preserved American jobs for American workers and rejected the importation of cheap foreign labor.  2 specific items

• Pressured the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) to reverse their decision to lay off over 200 American workers and replace them with cheaper foreign workers.

• Removed the TVA Chairman of the Board and a TVA Board Member.

Life-Saving Response to the China Virus

Restricted travel to the United States from infected regions of the world. 8 specific items

Acted early to combat the China Virus in the United States. 9 specific items

Re-purposed domestic manufacturing facilities to ensure frontline workers had critical supplies. 17 specific items

Replenished the depleted Strategic National Stockpile. 4 specific items

Created the largest, most advanced, and most innovative testing system in the world. 8 specific items

Pioneered groundbreaking treatments and therapies that reduced the mortality rate by 85 percent, saving over 2 million lives. 19 specific items

Brought the full power of American medicine and government to produce a safe and effective vaccine in record time. 26 specific items

Prioritized resources for the most vulnerable Americans, including nursing home residents. 14 specific items

Supported Americans as they safely return to school and work. 6 specifics

Rescued the American economy with nearly $3.4 trillion in relief, the largest financial aid package in history. 13 specific items

Great Healthcare for Americans

Empowered American patients by greatly expanding healthcare choice, transparency, and affordability. 14 items

Issued unprecedented reforms that dramatically lowered the price of prescription drugs. 10 items

Promoted research and innovation in healthcare to ensure that American patients have access to the best treatment in the world. 10 items

Protected our Nation’s seniors by safeguarding and strengthening Medicare. 7 items

Remaking the Federal Judiciary

Appointed a historic number of Federal judges who will interpret the Constitution as written. (4 specific items, including confirming over 230 new conservative Federal judges; flipping the 2nd, 3rd and 11th Circuit courts from Democrat to Republican majority, and reshaping the very liberal Ninth Circuit.

Appointed three Supreme Court justices, expanding its conservative-appointed majority to 6-3.  3 specific items

President Donald Trump speaks in recognition of the successful completion of 450 miles of border wall erected during his administration, in spite of constant obstacles put in his path by Democrat courts and judges.

Achieving a Secure Border

Secured the Southern Border of the United States.

• Built over 400 miles of the world’s most robust and advanced border wall.

• Illegal crossings have plummeted over 87 percent where the wall has been constructed.

• Deployed nearly 5,000 troops to the Southern border. In addition, Mexico deployed tens of thousands of their own soldiers and national guardsmen to secure their side of the US-Mexico border.

• Ended the dangerous practice of Catch-and-Release, which means that instead of aliens getting released into the United States pending future hearings never to be seen again, they are detained pending removal, and then ultimately returned to their home countries.

• Entered into three historic asylum cooperation agreements with Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala to stop asylum fraud and resettle illegal migrants in third-party nations pending their asylum applications.

• Entered into a historic partnership with Mexico, referred to as the “Migrant Protection Protocols,” to safely return asylum-seekers to Mexico while awaiting hearings in the United States.

Fully enforced the immigration laws of the United States. 4 specific items

Ended asylum fraud, shut down human smuggling traffickers, and solved the humanitarian crisis across the Western Hemisphere. 10 specific items

Secured our Nation’s immigration system against criminals and terrorists. 8 specific items

Protected American workers and taxpayers. 10 specific items

Restoring American Leadership Abroad

Restored America’s leadership in the world and successfully negotiated to ensure our allies pay their fair share for our military protection. 7 specific items

Advanced peace through strength. 7 specific items

Stood up against Communism and Socialism in the Western Hemisphere. 12 specific items

Cherishing Life and Religious Liberty

Steadfastly supported the sanctity of every human life and worked tirelessly to prevent government funding of abortion. 11 specific items

Safeguarding the Environment

Took strong action to protect the environment and ensure clean air and clean water. 3 specific items

Secured agreements and signed legislation to protect the environment and preserve our Nation’s abundant national resources. 8 specific items

• The USMCA guarantees the strongest environmental protections of any trade agreement in history.

• Signed the Save Our Seas Act to protect our environment from foreign nations that litter our oceans with debris and developed the first-ever Federal strategic plan to address marine litter.

• Signed the Great American Outdoors Act, securing the single largest investment in America’s National Parks and public lands in history.

• Signed the largest public lands legislation in a decade, designating 1.3 million new acres of wilderness.

• Signed a historic executive order promoting much more active forest management to prevent catastrophic wildfires.

• Opened and expanded access to over 4 million acres of public lands for hunting and fishing.

• Joined the One Trillion Trees Initiative to plant, conserve, and restore trees in America and around the world.

• Delivered infrastructure upgrades and investments for numerous projects, including over half a billion dollars to fix the Herbert Hoover Dike and expanding funding for Everglades restoration by 55 percent.

Expanding Educational Opportunity

Fought tirelessly to give every American access to the best possible education. 7 specific items

Drastically reformed and modernized our educational system to restore local control and promote fairness. 4 specific items

Prioritized support for Historically Black Colleges and Universities. 5 specific items

Combatting the Opioid Crisis

Brought unprecedented attention and support to combat the opioid crisis. 17 specific items

Took action to seize illegal drugs and punish those preying on innocent Americans. 6 specific items