President Tweet "This is NOT Fake News"

Table of Contents

Chapter One | A Look at the Constitution and Congress

Chapter Two | Malicious Behavior

Chapter Three | Trump and His Family

Chapter Four | Road to President-Elect

Chapter Five | Russian Roulette

Chapter Six | Collusion

Chapter Seven | Trump's Ethics

Chapter Eight | Trump's Cabinet

Chapter Nine | Trump's Executive Orders

Chapter 10 | Trump's Contract with American Voters

Chapter 11 | Jeopardizing US Democracy

Chapter 12 | Trojan Horses

Chapter 13 | Refocus on the Constitution

Chapter One

A Look at the Constitution and Congress

In 1787, when the current Constitution was written, our forefathers said: We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America. This Preamble implies that the US is not a self-promoting dictatorship or business nor is it a capitalistic (favoring business) or socialistic (favoring the people) society (promoted by Vermont's [VT] Bernie Sanders). Basically, US democracy is to be a system where social equality is achieved. During the 2016 presidential campaign many Americans complained that they felt left out for the last 30 years. To give a picture of what has occurred, I take you back.

There were no political parties when George Washington (April 30, 1789–March 4, 1797) was elected president. Thomas Jefferson and James Madison organized the Democratic-Republican Party that made an appearance in the 1792 election (the Federalist Party emerged and lasted until 1824). Their actions began to divide the people who had set-aside their differences to write the Declaration of Independence, fight the British in the American Revolution and create the Constitution. In 1824, the Democratic-Republicans split into various parties before becoming the two parties we know today. The Democratic Party appeared between 1828 and 1832, and the Republican Party (GOP) in 1854. Abraham Lincoln (March 1861-April 1865 assassination) was the first president elected under the GOP. The platforms of the parties began to blur with Democrat William Jennings Bryan (1860-1925) around 1900. (He said - Anglo-Saxon civilization has taught the individual to protect his own rights; American civilization will teach him to respect the rights of others.) The platform switch was obvious with Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR, March 1933-April 12, 1945 death). Note: He was elected four times and the presidential tenure was limited to two terms with the 22nd Amendment in 1951.

Democrat John F. Kennedy (JFK, January 20, 1961-November 22, 1963 assassination). JFK wanted to drop the top tax rate from 90% to 65% if: 1) US corporations were taxed on all their profits, earned anywhere in the world, rather than the system of allowing them to defer taxation until they brought profits home. He said ... continuing deferral is underscored where deferral has served as a shelter for tax escape through the unjustifiable use of tax havens such as Switzerland; 2) The tax preferences for the oil and gas industries (began in 1926 with GOP Calvin Coolidge) were cut; and 3) Limiting itemized deductions for the rich, saying they should receive the same benefit for things like charitable giving as everyone else, instead of preferential treatment. The tax reform passed by Kennedy (after his death) cut the top tax rate to 70% and none of his suggested reforms have been implemented.

In 1980, GOP George HW Bush called Ronald Reagan's policies 'voodoo economics'. Reagan was elected (1981-1989) and as such, today's GOP tout his policies and not those of Lincoln. In 1981, the overall top marginal individual income tax rate fell from 70.1% to 28.4% (prior to Reagan's 1986 endorsement of the Norquist Pledge); the lowest point since 1931 when GOP Herbert Hoover raised it from 25-63%. In 1983, Reagan instituted a payroll tax increase on Social Security (SS) and Medicare. In 1986, taxes were increased taxes on lower incomes and deductions decreased; poverty rose to its highest level of 15.2%. With Reagan's 1986 Tax Reform Act, tax rates on capital gains were set at the same level as ordinary income (e.g., wages; gains have a lower tax rate today). According to a report on outsourcing by Working America, there was a loss of 8 million manufacturing jobs from June 1979 (19.5) to December 2009 (11.5). The large drop was due to Reagan giving tax credits to companies moving their businesses overseas (mainly China) and avoiding taxes. In December 2015, a study reported Walmart’s China imports displaced 400,000 American jobs in the last decade. The highest level of unemployment in a recession was under Reagan; in November 1982 it was 10.8%; it stayed above 10% for 10 months. During Reagan’s tenure, to reduce inflation and lower interest rates, the US borrowed both domestically (money from SS and Medicare Trust Funds was not repaid) and abroad to cover the federal deficit caused by his reduced taxes and perks for the rich. This led to the US moving from the world's largest international creditor to the world's largest debtor nation. By 2015, about 47% of the US debt was owned by foreign investors (China and Japan owned about $1.25 trillion/11% each; the remaining 25% was owned by Brazil, Taiwan, Switzerland, Russia, Luxembourg, Belgium, and others) and pays interest on said loans. Reagan also started the tradition of giving Israel about $3 billion a year before an American gets anything (part of why Israel's defense system is better than our own). 

Democrat Bill Clinton (1993-2001) raised taxes on the rich, saved the SS and Medicare Trust Funds and left GOP George W. Bush (2001-2008) a budget surplus (the only time in US history this occurred). Bush removed Clinton’s tax increases, took money from the Trust Funds to fight the Iraq War, and gave the rich tax breaks that drove the deficit up. The debt would not matter if the revenue matched our spending to give us a zero deficit. Due to tax decreases and cost increases mainly for fighting the war on terrorism, the US debt and deficit grew.  

In 2012, GOP candidate Mitt Romney brought up the size of government since Kennedy’s time. The government cost was 27% of the federal budget and corporate taxes made up more than 20% of the federal revenue, the average American was responsible for less than 7% of its cost. Since JFK, the government grew because of the need for oversight of businesses (GOP Richard Nixon in 1970 created the Occupational Safety and Health Administration; in 1972 the Consumer Product Safety Commission) and the fight against terrorism that began with the 9/11/01 terrorist attack. In 2012, taxes on the rich were at 35%, the government cost was 37% of the budget and corporate tax made up less than 10% of the revenue; over 27% became the responsibility of the average American.

Democrat Barack Obama, on July 21, 2010, took steps to change the business practices that caused the recession (Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act). He reduced the strain of student loans, saved the Trust Funds, US auto industry and cut unemployment from 10% to 4.7% by the end of December 2016. More jobs would have been created if the GOP supported his 2011 Jobs Act or let him change Reagan's tax credit to keeping jobs in the US. The poverty level dropped from Reagan's high to 14.5% in 2015. On December 9, 2015, a PEW study showed the middle class made up 50% of the adult population (61% in 1971; 54% in 2001), the upper class at 21% (14% in 1971 and 18% in 2001) and the lower class at 29% (25% in 1971 and 27% in 2001). There are currently 7 tax brackets and this means we have more Americans in the upper class paying less taxes than the average citizen (pointed out by billionaire Warren Buffett in 2011). In 2012, while Thirdway.org showed a taxpayer earning the 2009 median income of $34,140 paid $5,400 in federal income tax and FICA, a Detroit Free Press analysis showed as of 2009: the total number of tax returns increased slightly over 2006 but the number of taxable returns fell by more than 10 million. Nontaxable returns from people with income between $75,000 and $100,000 went from 4,025 in 1996 to 476,624, an increase of almost 12,000%; more than 20,000 filers making more than $200,000 a year owed no income tax and this included 1,470 filers who had adjusted gross incomes of more than $1 million, 6 of which made about $200 million each. 

Poverty will not be reduced as the US continues to maintain the world’s highest pay ratio gap. Per the Economic Policy Institute it was 296:1 in 2013 and 303:1 for 2014 (for every $1 of median worker pay, the average CEO earned $303). These figures include the CEO of Discovery Communication who earned $156.1 million with the median firm income at $80,000 (earned 1,951 times the worker). On June 5, 2016, it was said that worker wages went up only 2% in 20 years (with the exception of the last few years, the cost of living increases about 2% a year). To reduce poverty, people need to be employed at a livable wage and with benefits, e.g. healthcare, to decrease supplementary costs. 

Folks are quick to tell you that entitlement programs since the mid-1980s are 49-50% of the federal budget. US entitlement programs include: Veteran's Administration programs, federal employee and military retirement plans, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) assistance, some agricultural support programs, welfare, food stamps, unemployment, SS and Medicare Trust Funds, and more. SS and Medicare bring in money via payroll taxes collected prior to receiving benefits. SS is not tax free, increases in benefits is tied to the cost-of-living adjustment in the Department of Labor's Consumer Price Index, and retirees pay Medicare and other healthcare premiums to cover costs not paid by Medicare. For about 40-50 years, revenue is collected via the shared worker/employer FICA tax (15.3% in 2017) with the taxable maximum set at $127,200; the Medicare portion is higher for those making $200,000. Payroll taxes for 2017 are expected to collect $1 trillion (corporate taxes $368 billion). The US life expectancy is about age 79 which means the average person collects benefits for about 10-20 years (must less than the years they pay in). Some people die before collecting benefits and, instead of welfare, SS disability is paid to individuals who have not met 50% of the requirement for collecting benefits from this fund and thus a deficit is created that does not allow for keeping some recipients out of poverty. But, the math to reducing the so-called entitlement costs is simple - welfare, food stamps, Medicaid and unemployment are reduced by the same factors that keep people out of poverty.

Mandatory spending includes the entitlement programs as well as a small portion for defense and the interest on debt. The rules for mandatory program spending can be altered to reduce costs. It has already been noted that by keeping people out of poverty, costs for several programs will be reduced. Programs like welfare and unemployment could be further reduced by deterring fraud. If state laws required a follow-up with employers to verify benefit recipients were in fact refused a job. In 2011, a national survey found that 7 in 10 Americans opposed the fossil fuel subsidies (billions annually due to the GOP). If these were discontinued or drastically reduced, more money would be available for the remaining programs. Unfortunately, Congress is looking at reducing the types of emergency that receive FEMA money and privatizing SS and Medicare (will put citizens at risk of losing their benefits during a recession).

The US debt as of January 2017 is almost $20 trillion. When Obama took office, the gross domestic product (GDP), the total value of goods and services produced, was -9.8% due to an almost $1.5 trillion deficit. When he left office, the GDP was -2.6% and the deficit reduced by almost $1 trillion (cuts in discretionary spending). Even with this drop, the interest paid on the national debt will be over $266 billion. The only way to reduce the interest paid, is to reduce the debt/deficit and this could readily be accomplished by increasing taxes on the rich so they pay a fair share (Buffett Rule). After deducting mandatory spending, Congress has about 25% of the budget that goes to discretionary spending.

Congress, in scrutinizing the budget for cutbacks in discretionary spending, looks at pork barrel legislation (nonessential projects that focus on a representative's local constituents) and the reduction of government agencies: Securities and Exchange Commission, education, military, international affairs, science, transportation, agricultural and energy, health research, administration of justice (cost of lawsuits), the postal service, etc. Included in reductions could be programs that were put in place during the Civil Rights Movement (1954-1968) that began with the Supreme Court of the US (SCOTUS) handing down a unanimous decision (9-0) on May 17, 1954 in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka. It overturned the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson ruling and declared state laws establishing separate public schools for Black and White students unconstitutional under the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment  (adopted July 9, 1868). The first Civil Rights Act was enacted in 1957; implemented a Civil Rights Division within the Department of Justice (DOJ) and created a Commission on Civil Rights. In 1960, the second Civil Rights Act was enacted. With the 23rd Amendment (ratified on March 29, 1961) the District of Columbia (DC) was granted the right to vote in presidential elections and given electoral votes; first participated in 1964. The 24th Amendment, proposed on August 27, 1962, was ratified on January 23, 1964. It addressed the poll tax states implemented from 1890-1904 that was found to be constitutional in SCOTUS' 1937 Breedlove v. Suttles decision. (In 1966, SCOTUS ruled [6–3] in Harper v. Virginia (VA) Board of Elections that poll taxes for any level of elections were unconstitutional as they violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.) In 1964, the Civil Rights Act resulted in the July 2, 1965 creation of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (preceded by JFK's March 6, 1961 EO 10925) and MLK won the 1964 Nobel Peace Prize for his role in the civil rights movement. In 1965, came the Voting Rights Act and the Immigration and Nationality Services Act that removed racial and national barriers. In 1967, SCOTUS unanimously invalidated laws prohibiting interracial marriages in Loving v. VA. The decision overturned the 1883 ruling in Pace v. Alabama (AL) and ended VA's 1924 Racial Integrity Act. (John Punch and his White wife were married in the 1630s, they are known as the first mixed couple to have left traceable descendants). In 1968, the Civil Rights (Housing) Act banned discrimination in the sale or rental of housing and created the Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity within the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Congress in the past 20 years has repeatedly changed the law to make it easier for victims to sue over state-sponsored terrorism. Over the years, funding has been made available through various litigations resulting in penalties collected from foreign companies for violating sanctions, sanctions on governments and other things. The December 18, 2015 budget included the creation of a Hostage Compensation Fund (S.559 by Georgia's [GA's] GOP Senator Johnny Isakson) of about $1 billion to pay survivors and the families of the deceased that resulted from the 1979 Iran hostage situation. Americans, after protesting, received additional funding for 9/11/01 responders. To reduce discretionary costs, the GOP wants to privatize education and eliminate regulations that protect citizens from poor business practices (increases profits of business). To reduce the cost of government, with the pay ratio gap and/or pork barrel legislation funds (includes Donald Trump's wall), Americans should ask themselves if regulations are removed - will business increase jobs, wages and benefits or pay a fair share in taxes. They should also ask if they want to give up regulations that help to prevent global warming, allow them to sue manufacturers, initiate recalls due to food impurities, and more.

On November 29, 1990, an Immigration Act (S.358 introduced by Ted Kennedy on February 7, 1980) was enacted by President GHW Bush (1989-1993). It constituted a major revision of the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act and lifted the testing process for naturalization imposed in 1906. Clinton enacted the 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act and immigration bills were passed annually through 2000. During GW Bush’s tenure there was a lot of talk of a comprehensive immigration bill and even though several were attempted, he could never get one passed. The DREAM Act (Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors; S.1291) was introduced in the Senate on August 1, 2001 by Democrat Dick Durbin and GOP Orrin Hatch. On November 15, 2002, Bush used an Executive Order (EO) to deal with undocumented aliens in the Caribbean Region. On January 12, 2004, he used a Proclamation to Suspend Entry to Immigrants or Non-Immigrants of Persons Engaged in or Benefiting from Corruption. In 2007, an EO was used to include American Samoa as a ‘geographical extent’ of the US. (The US has about 15 territories, 5-American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands are protected by US law, have voting rights and representatives in Congress.) On October 18, 2005, Bush signed the 2006 Homeland Security Appropriation Act that included minor changes in funding immigration services, the H2A visa and naturalization oath. On October 26, 2006, the Secure Fence Act allotted $1.8 billion for the construction of 1,531 miles of barriers along the US/Mexico border. During Obama's tenure, beginning in 2009 several immigration bills were attempted including resubmission of the DREAM Act. In June 2012, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy, similar to the Dream Act, was formally created. In January 2013, Florida's (FL) GOP Senator Marco Rubio said a bill would be created and on April 1, a group of 8 Senators had agreed on an immigration bill. In June, the House said it would draft its own and voted on defunding DACA that was almost entirely funded by application fees rather than congressional appropriations. On November 20, 2014, Obama issued an EO that expanded DACA and fix a problem in the Mariana Islands that Congress has known about at least since 2013. By December 4, 2014, Texas (TX) was leading a coalition (26 of 31 states with GOP Governors) that was suing Obama for his immigration EO. On February 16, 2015, TX US District Court Judge Andrew Hanen issued an injunction to halt it. In November, an Appeals Court ruled against it and in June 2016, SCOTUS, in a 4-4 tie, left the Appeals Court decision in place. The tie left the Mariana problem unresolved. In 2009, 8 births to Chinese parents received US birth certificates. From January 2015-September 2016 in Saipan alone 715 foreign births occurred: 692 Chinese, 15 Korean, 5 Filipino, two Japanese and one Russian. Congress failed to take any action to resolve the Mariana issue and it has failed to provide an immigration bill in 16 years.

The Constitution's Preamble talks about leaving the blessings we have secured to our posterity (future generations). If we look at the issues surrounding oil and gas subsidiaries alone: depletion of natural resources and miles of neglected pipelines (home explosions and poisoning of water, air and land), we need to ask what will be left for our posterity if we reduce regulations; failing to do our part to reduce global warming and promote climate control. (Note: 1979, solar panels were installed at the White House; they were removed in 1986 by Reagan.) In 1992, under Clinton, the Energy Policy Act established tax credits for renewable energy production and tax deductions for alternatives to power vehicles. With Bush, in 2008, tax subsidies for renewable energy were greater than those for oil and gas. In 2009, Obama's stimulus package included $90 billion for energy efficiency and renewable-energy projects, including wind and solar electricity generation, fuel cells, and electric vehicles.

Not counting their retirement, Congress costs $700 million a year. Members have a short work schedule (107-132 days a year) so they can return to constituents and confer (Rubio found time to write books and had the worst attendance record for a rookie). A Congressional Oath, in 5 USC § 3331, taken by every member of Congress says: ...I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter... 

In 1986, 30 years ago, Reagan endorsed the Norquist Pledge. Members of Congress that sign the Pledge bind themselves to opposing any and all tax increases while they hold public office. Article 1, section 8, of the Constitution says: The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States. The Norquist Pledge signers should have been stopped with Reagan. Congress received a second chance when Clinton left a surplus in the budget. However, the war on terrorism increased our debt and Congress did not implement increased taxes on the rich so they would pay their fair share for securing the US. In 2008, the Tea Party joined the GOP and strengthened their vow to make Obama a one term president. The House for a short time was controlled by the Democrats; California's (CA) Nancy Pelosi was the Speaker from January 2007-2011. Taking the House back, Ohio's (OH) GOP John Boehner became Speaker (January 2011-October 29, 2015). The 112th Congress (2011-2012), that resulted in an untimely budget and the US credit rating falling, consisted of 238 (236 GOP and two Democrats) House and 41 Senators (40 GOP and one Democrat) who had signed the Pledge. During Obama's second term, from October 1 through October 16, 2013, a government shutdown, led by Pledge signer TX Senator Ted Cruz, resulted. Due to the poor voter turnout with the 2014 mid-term elections, since January 3, 2015, both the House and the Senate have been controlled by the GOP. With the 114th Congress (2015-2016), 219 of the 244 House GOP and 49 of the 54 Senate GOP had signed the Pledge and a dysfunctional Congress continued. Fed up with Congress and inspired by the Pope’s visit, Boehner announced on September 25, 2015 that he would resign in October. Boehner said he had intended to leave in 2014 but when GOP House Majority Leader Eric Cantor lost the VA GOP primary he decided to stay (this is considered one of the biggest upsets in congressional history since the position of Majority Leader was created in 1899). Boehner recognized that he did not have control of the majority of GOP and said he did what needed to be done for the Party. With the announcement, the Tea Party claimed victory and, at a conservative meeting across town, they clapped and yelled in celebration. On September 27, on CBS' Face the Nation show, Boehner said: Absolutely they're unrealistic... The Bible says beware of false prophets. And there are people out there spreading noise about how much can get done...You can pick a lot of names out, I'll let you choose them.  

If you are one of the people feeling left out in the last 30 years, it is because the GOP continually protects businesses over the people. Example: Two 2015 bills (HR 2403 - Coal Healthcare and Pensions Protection Act introduced in May and S.1714 - Miners Protection Act introduced in July) and one 2016 bill (HR 4456 - Revitalizing the Economy of Coal Communities by Leveraging Local Activities and Investing More Act; aka the RECLAIM Act, introduced in February) that were to help coal miners have gone nowhere in the GOP controlled Congress.

The greatest GOP dupe is with the 2nd Amendment - A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed - written several times before our forefathers came to an agreement on the language and at a time when there was no national militia. In the context of the amendment the word 'state' means country. Since the American Revolution when militia (armed force, private army, band of soldiers, mercenaries) were used, the US has developed local, state and federal forces. It was almost 11 years after the last state ratified the Bill of Rights that the US Military Academy was established in 1802. With the progression of the US' militia/military, the bands of armed citizens no longer met the intent of a national 'well regulated militia' (the word 'regulated' implies a controlled organization). For years the GOP has said the Democrats would eliminate the 2nd Amendment when in fact they want to limit access to weapons in order to comply with the intent of the Constitution. There is no plan to take away guns for protection, hunting or sport. They only want to remove military style weapons from law abiding private citizens and guns from those who could cause harm, e.g. criminals, in order to return to the meaning of a well regulated militia.

According to Mass Shooting Tracker data, which defines a mass shooting as an incident in which at least four people are killed or wounded, there were 372 mass shootings in 2015, killing 475 and wounding 1,870. With only two committed by terrorists, this means 99.5% of the shootings were committed by so-called non-terrorist Americans. The FBI defines a mass shooting as four or more killed and does not include gang killings or slayings that involve the death of multiple family members. Per a November 28, 2016 CNN article, from 1966-2012 there were 90 FBI defined mass shootings in the US. We make up 5% of the world's population but our mass shootings accounted for 31% of the 292 global attacks for that time period. According to the Triangle Center on Terrorism and Homeland Security report dated January 26, 2017, in 2016, 242 Americans were killed in mass shootings. A Muslim-American, Omar Mir Seddique Mateen born in New Hyde Park, NY took 50 lives in the June 12, Orlando, FL Pulse nightclub shooting. Although Mateen swore alliance of ISIL prior to the killing, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) found no links between ISIL and Mateen so there is no credible evidence to substantiate a terrorist claim. In March, an illegal Mexican, Pablo Serrano-Vitorino took 4 lives in Kansas; no mass murder by an illegal had been reported prior to this. With the 2016 killings, since 9/11 (2001), a total of 123 US citizens, in 16 years, have been killed by Muslim-American extremists. Over 30,000 Americans a year are shot/killed, in February 2017 alone there were three mass shootings in Mississippi (MS) that took 12 lives. With all this information, it is only reasonable to conclude that it is not foreigners that we should fear but ourselves.

On February 28, 2017, Trump signed HJR 40 - Joint Resolution Providing for Congressional Disapproval Under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the Rule Submitted by the Social Security Administration relating to Implementation of the NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007. HJR 40 was introduced January 30, 2017 by TX GOP Sam Johnson. On February 2, it passed the House (235-180) without amendment, on February 15 the Senate (57-43) passed it without amendment, and it went to Trump on February 16. This bill did not change any gun law but prevented an SSA rule (signed by Obama December 19, 2016) from taking effect. The rule would have required about 75,000 people on disability and incapable of taking care of themselves to be referred to the National Instant Criminal Background Check database for processing. The majority of responsible gun owners want gun control but the GOP, like the Russians in the Syrian Civil War, are protecting US gun manufacturers and gun dealers, not democracy or the people. If Hillary Clinton has blood on her hands for two Benghazi deaths, not the four quoted by the GOP, then the GOP is swimming in a sea of blood. (Since the 1970s when the Assad family began its rule of Syria and the nation lost its democracy, Russians have had contracts to provide weapons to Syria's government.) On a side note, the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing was by two Russian immigrants. 

If the GOP were interested in protecting your rights, they would defend the 1st Amendment - "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for