Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by notoothpaste 3517 days ago
From Trump's plan for his first 100 days in office (https://www.donaldjtrump.com/press-releases/trump-pledges-to...):

>First: I am going to institute a 5-year ban on all executive branch officials lobbying the government after they leave government service.

>Second: I am going to ask Congress to institute its own 5-year ban on lobbying by former members of Congress and their staffs.

>Third: I am going to expand the definition of lobbyist so we close all the loopholes that former government officials use by labeling themselves consultants and advisors when we all know they are lobbyists.

>Fourth: I am going to issue a lifetime ban against senior executive branch officials lobbying on behalf of a foreign government.

>Fifth: I am going to ask Congress to pass a campaign finance reform that prevents registered foreign lobbyists from raising money in American elections.

>There is another major announcement I am going to make today as part of our pledge to drain the swamp in Washington. If I am elected President, I will push for a Constitutional Amendment to impose term limits on all members of Congress.

>Decades of failure in Washington, and decades of special interest dealing, must come to an end. We have to break the cycle of corruption, and we have to give new voices a chance to go into government service. The time for Congressional term limits has arrived.

If you wanted to actually do something about corruption in Washington instead of just talking about it, you should have voted Trump.

2 comments

Even the shallowest dive into Trump's business dealings would show you that he is no stranger to corruption.

I personally do not believe that he would enact a single one of those campaign pledges.

He can't enact them. The presidency isn't a dictatorship.

I don't know why people keep acting like it is - Trump isn't going to ride into Washington on a white horse and pass a Constitutional amendment or fund a massive immigrant detainment and deportation program or convince Mexico to pay for a wall through sheer willpower.

At best, he'll try, and either have to compromise significantly to get anything passed at all, or else fail entirely.

I hope trump wins because he'll be out in 2020 and maybe we get a better Pres. sooner than later. But he won't get any of his promises passed, they won't even make it to the congress floor. He'll be a lame duck president, and nothing more. I don't even see him wanting to run for re-election, as I feel this is a stunt to get more publicity for his reality TV empire.
I've heard that argument before, and it kind of amuses me. It's as if to say, yes, Hillary is awful, but if she's elected she'll probably do a good enough job that she will win re-election in four years time.

Those two things don't seem to go together well to me.

While reducing the influence of lobbyists is a laudable goal, it's hard to imagine how anyone could honestly see Trump as a fighter against corruption. His own business has been far too riddled with corruption and scams.