“If” Hillary was President

Just imagine for a few minutes what our world would look like if November 2016’s presidential election resulted in President Hillary Clinton rather than President Donald Trump. No matter your political persuasion, I think all will agree that the last year plus would have been different. How different? We can only speculate. But certainly things would have changed under Hillary, and certainly would have been vastly different than under this President.

Let’s “speculate” together. For the purpose of this story, let’s speculate those differences in these categories: Political, Economical, Foreign Policy, and Social. Let’s go!

Political

There would be obvious differences that are certain: political appointees including cabinet heads and White House staffers. Let’s not waste time on speculation of who those might be. Let’s concentrate on other politically certain important differences.

1. Supreme Court Appointee(s) Without a doubt the single most impactful political event of Trump’s first year was the appointment of Neil Gorsuch to replace Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court. Gorsuch had a very conservative judicial record and extensive experience on the Bench. His taking the SCOTUS 9th spot was and will be critical as more and more contentious cases come before the Court that will assuredly result with verdicts often split down political lines. A Clinton Presidency would have certainly seen a liberal selection for the Supreme Court which would have certainly resulted in decisions that leaned liberal. Though not certain, there could likely be 1 if not 2 more SCOTUS changes in the next few years. If so, controversies that would include abortion, 2nd Amendment gun rights, and immigration law revisions would see certain Court challenges go the way of the Left under a Clinton administration.
2. Appeals Court Appointees President Trump in his first year has appointed more judges to appeals courts than any other president. Why is that such a big deal? Obama appointed 362 judges: 2 Supreme Court Justices, 268 district court judges, 4 to the International Court of Trade, and and 55 to U.S. Courts of Appeal in his 8 years. Trump by November of his first year in office had appointed besides Gorsuch, 40 judges for District spots, but more importantly, 18 for Courts of Appeal. Adding 18 Conservative judges for Courts of Appeal is already making a staggering difference in cases. Why? Appeals judges make a huge majority of final determinations on cases — only 20%-30% of denials from appeals courts are ever heard at the Supreme Court. Obama stacked those courts with liberal judges. Replacing those 18 in Trump’s first 10 months will make a staggering difference on the outcome of controversial cases.
3. “Russia, Russia, Russia!” The DOJ has announced a “look” into Clinton ties to Russia and their alleged ties to Russia for opposition research during the 2016 election. That is a 180 degree swing of the Russia narrative. With Hillary in charge, you can bet there would be NO look-back at the Clinton campaign for any wrongdoing. The current uproarl in the FBI and DOJ regarding leaks, fake news, false information, and potential obstruction of justice would have never happened under Hillary. All this and much more currently being investigated and some still to come would have simply disappeared or been quietly quashed when mentioned. Under Trump we are probably still a ways away from getting facts on all this. Under Hillary, such facts would have NEVER been known by the public.
4. Clinton Foundation It is obvious from the dramatic and sudden “winding-down” of the Clinton Foundation after the election that there certainly was pay-for-play underway in their massive fund raising. When election results showed there would be no quid pro quo from a Clinton Administration for those contributions, contributions ceased. No doubt the Foundation would have continued to stay flush with money with Hillary in office. With a imminent DOJ investigation in addition to a Congressional look-see, no big companies or foreign governments are throwing good money after bad.

Economical

1. Taxes Under Clinton, the massive corporate and individual tax cuts signed by President Trump into law would have never appeared. Probably (if not “Certainly”) there would have been federal tax increases instead.
2. Regulations Hundreds of Obama regulations on businesses stifled the economy. Trump through Executive Order cancelled many of those and implemented a policy for the future stating that for every 1 new regulation, 2 old ones must be cancelled. Clinton would have kept the Obama regs in place and would probably have added more — especially in the case of Environment and Climate Change matters. The massive almost instant business expansions, increases in employment with historical declines in unemployment resulted in large part because of this. The Steel Industry received an immediate rebirth as did the Coal Industry. And there are more to come in the Trump era.
3. U.S. Foreign Deposits Repatriation As a direct result of the new tax law, hundreds of billions of dollars stashed offshore by U.S. corporations is coming home, and bringing back manufacturing jobs and plants. Apple, which has 94 percent of its total cash of $269 billion outside the United States, said it would make a one-time tax payment of $38 billion on the repatriated cash. Apple also announced a $600 billion infrastructure and product development plan in the U.S. Dozens of other companies have already followed suit. Clinton would have maintained the Obama policy of doing nothing but blaming those companies who have made one thing clear: they pay massive taxes on profits to countries in which they operate. Why would they then pay the U.S. 35% taxes on top of that? So they have left money offshore. No more.
4. Stock Market The status of the U.S. Stock Market is always a direct result of interest rates, corporate profits, and confidence in the U.S. economy. Because of numbers 1, 2, and 3 above, in a Clinton Administration we would have have not seen anything close to the $7 Trillion increase in the value of the stock market in a Hillary presidency. But it happened in Trump’s first year — which is the result of all of those 3 rolled together fueling massive confidence in the economy. Hillary Clinton followers scream that the Market increases result in good for only the wealthy and large companies in stock dividends and corporate profits. Not so. Tens of millions of Americans own stocks, bonds, and derivatives either through individual portfolios, retirement funds like 401K’s and Simple IRA’s. Market profits go straight to those accounts. And, of course, individuals buy and sell stocks and bonds just like the investment bankers, though in smaller scale. But profits as a per cent of investment are identical.

Foreign Policy

The World watched as during the Obama/Clinton Administration, America’s standing in the World took a sharp hit as the Obama Globalist agenda was rolled out over 8 years. Obama’s foreign policy was basically to tread water while doling out policies designed and implemented to be symbolic at best. The World looked on as his Middle Eastern fight against terrorism proved to be faulty at best and deadly at worst. ISIS burst onto the World scene for a longtime left unchecked. Many world leaders were cautious as they watched Obama cozy up to Russia, exposed by letting Putin know through his foreign minister on an open mike that Obama’s second term would bring “goodies” to Russia. Hillary’s role as Secretary of State resulted in tens of millions of dollars from foreign governments to show up in Clinton Foundation accounts, while Bill’s speaking fees tripled. On her watch terrorism exploded — and not just at Benghazi. Libya fell to ISIS because of her two-faced approach to diplomacy there and the Obama/Clinton led ousting of Quadafi. Although he was a longtime terrorist, he had gone quiet for several decades, primarily because of the bombing by Reagan of his personal conclave after the Libyan bombings throughout Europe. There was no real terrorist difficulties under his watch — until Obama/Clinton which resulted in his ouster and death.

Trump’s methods have been watched with caution by many world leaders while others have embraced his policies. He quickly made it clear through overseas visits, speeches, and White House meetings that the United States was no longer going to be the “Keepers of the World.” Under his guidance it would be “America First.” The obvious leaders were shocked and lashed out — at first. But when they saw his results in many areas at home and watched as he softened the disdain of the U.S., more and more have come calling. U.S. standing in the World has been horrible for more than a decade. Leaders in Asia and the Middle East have quickly warmed to the President and have renewed commitments on many fronts.

His recent announcement about U.S. intentions to demand fairness in the International Marketplace through U.S. tariffs on foreign goods to level the playing field have shocked many in D.C. and also overseas. Some leaders have responded in negative fashion — as was expected. But ALL realize that the U.S. has carried a tremendous load in paying massive tariffs for foreign imported goods while those countries plunder American markets without paying any tariffs for that access. Reality in world trade has simply been acknowledged now. Foreign leaders have been put on notice that the gravy train for them called the U.S. is over. Under Trump, what is good for foreign countries economically MUST be good for the U.S. If not, there will be a price to pay: literally.

Social

1. Criminal Justice As a lawyer, Hillary has always been soft on crime. Obama’s Justice Department relaxed jail sentences, implementing early releases for federal prisoners, and refused to even prosecute under federal laws for drug offenses. States began to legalize recreational marijuana sales and use in violation of federal law — with NO penalties to the states or those individuals who participate. Donald Trump has through the DOJ toughened stances against all types of crimes and has aggressively implemented programs to partner with state and local law enforcement agencies to assist in fighting crime. Hillary during the campaign gave no plans nor made any promises to change any of the Obama criminal justice policies.
2. Immigration Hillary was an open-borders proponent who lauded immigration of all kinds, including illegal immigration. She offered no plans to change border control policies or any changes in immigration laws, although years earlier she took a position of stiffening control of all illegal immigration. She is a Globalist and would prefer to see virtual open-borders to all. Trump’s immigration plans are widely known and daily reported on. He supports (and is initiating plans for) strict border control, abolishing chain migration and the existing immigration lottery program. He offered a DACA plan that would give legal status to 1.8 million illegals qualified under DACA that Democrats (including Hillary AND Bill) summarily rejected. He has issued multiple executive orders to temporarily halt immigration of all kinds from known terrorist countries while the U.S. perfects a realistic and thorough vetting process for ALL immigrants, only to have all temporarily halted by federal judges. And he is pushing members of Congress demonstrably to pass a comprehensive immigration bill to resolve the decades-old immigration issue in the U.S.
3. Right to Life Hillary supports abortion and would appoint federal judges at every level in numbers that would ensure that Roe v. Wade would never be overturned. She supports Planned Parenthood and its continued federal funding. Trump is hardcore Right to Life, an anti-abortionist, and anti-Planned Parenthood because of the volume of abortions at its nationwide clinics. He has already appointed one Pro-Life Supreme Court Justice and will appoint others if/when any spots open.
4. Political Correctness We are watching a president who literally gives no thought or concern about Political Correctness. Trump is a pragmatist on pretty much every political and social issue and is very vocal about all. He laughs at the PC police and the national Media and the political correct stands they take on pretty much everything. And his thoughts are supported by most Americans. Hillary along with her husband wrote the Political Correctness book. For decades in their control of the Democrat Party, they have set the standards on every issue as to what is correct and what is not.

Summary

I’ll be quick here. The differences between Hillary and Donald are many and obvious. As President Trump works diligently to implement more and more of his agenda this year, he along with many other Americans watch as those on the Left take every opportunity to bash those agenda items just as they did throughout 2017. Clinton meanwhile continues to bask in her reality for her election loss to Donald Trump in 2016. Her reality is false. Yet she continues to beat that blame game drum.

Those from her “basket of deplorables” are pushing hard — fighting, if you will — to maintain the implementation of the Trump Agenda so as to see more good results of his promised concepts actualize. Their hope is to in the mid-terms give President Trump more Congressional support for that agenda while simultaneously pushing back against any Leftist agenda.

Even if one is a Hillary supporter, it would be lunacy to refuse to recognize the stark policy differences between these two, and that the Trump agenda — the small amount that has been passed and implemented by this Congress — has done (and is doing) great things in the nation. Most Americans are confident that the election result of a Trump Administration is a good thing, and that a Clinton Administration would have definitively set the nation on a dramatic course toward a European Socialist model.

And that scares them.