By Thornton Crowe
Can you really support our local leadership and still be a Trump supporter at the same time?
The Trump Agenda centers around the voter and his/her well-being. He promotes good paying jobs, healthcare options at affordable costs, honoring our history, law enforcement and military, and lastly, encouraging us all to have dreams and pursue them.
This is called
American Centrism. And a lot of voters, including a majority here on the Shore voted for this last November.
If you look at the leadership decisions, they
run counter to everything in the above agenda as our local politicians seem to be all about self-interest,
catering to special interests groups and unrealistic demands which don't serve us. This is everything Trump supporters voted
against in the last election and frankly, not very Trumpian!
For some examples of the many juxtapositions, the following illustrates some of the non-Trump actions of both our local Republican and Democrat leaders:
- Failure to fix infrastructure issues like the sewage plant which has never worked properly and clean up the river in the Downtown area.
- Arguments and upheaval over volunteer verses paid firefighters and Station 13.
- Continued overtaxing our already sub par infrastructure systems by expecting the area to tolerate 200K visitors for a folk music festival that could potentially cost much more than it would gain through lawsuits and mishandling/mismanagement.
- Continued escalation of crime, yet failing to report crime statistics, which poses a danger to citizens.
- Continuation of downgrading local criminal behavior and failure to prosecute those crimes on any real level.
- Businesses providing permanent jobs with benefits continue to vacate the area and in their place temporary or part-time work in the fast food or convenience store industries.
- Constant bickering, personality clashes and pettiness between the City and County governments where nothing ever gets resolved - unless it costs the taxpayers big bucks.
- Jumping on the latest social justice warrior trains no matter how ridiculous. For example, the upset over the historic markers.
- Both County and City have had massive budget issues, shortcomings and legal questions about working within their charters.
- Last but not least, local officials have the utter audacity to demand raises for themselves even though they have produced absolutely nothing of benefit to you. (Don't forget: Trump opted to take not take a salary at all.)
Does the above put you, the voter, first? Hardly. Does it make you better off financially than you were ten years ago? Probably not.
In reality, the President can only do so much for you. Local governments have to cooperate with the America First agenda in order for you to feel its full benefits. Yet, here we are - in an local political climate where everything couldn't be further from Trump's plan for us.
Therefore, why do you continue to promote people on a local level who spout agendas that leave you in the middle going nowhere?
If you can name any of the local leaders who legitimately support Trump in their actions (not words) please post them in the comments and explain why you think they are America First candidates/leaders!
