With less than one week to go before Election Day, the few remaining undecided voters are making their final decisions on how to cast their votes in this most consequential of presidential elections. Earlier this week, I published a column listing 10 Reasons Not to Vote for Kamala Harris. Here, I will list 10 reasons to vote for Donald J. Trump.
Because this election is unique – it features a former president running against the incumbent vice president – we are not limited merely to imagining what might happen if the former president wins; we can simply look back at what actually did happen when he was president. He actually has a record in office. Comparing and contrasting where we were then to where we are now is quite a useful exercise when seeking to determine where we can go.
Here, then, are 10 reasons to vote for Donald J. Trump for president.
First, consider the fundamental question voters have been asking themselves every four years since 1980, when Ronald Reagan first asked it in his debate with Jimmy Carter: “Are you better off than you were four years ago?”
Ponder that question today, as Trump did when he opened his remarks at Madison Square Garden last Sunday. By any measure, the answer is no: Prices are up by nearly 20 percent since the Biden-Harris administration took office; by better than two-to-one, Americans say their household finances have gotten worse under Biden and Harris; and only three in 10 voters say the country is on the right track.
Second, voters recall with appreciation what things were like when Trump was president. A majority of voters now say they approve of the job Trump did as president. That’s what four years of a Biden-Harris administration will do to some people – even some who said years ago that they did not approve of the job Trump did as president have changed their minds.
Third, a majority of voters say they will be better off under Trump than they would be under Harris.
Fourth, Trump promised during his Madison Square Garden rally remarks that he would “stop the invasion of criminals coming into our country.” According to official government statistics, more than 8.5 million illegal aliens have been encountered crossing the border; on a related front, data from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) recently sent to Congress reveals that “more than 13,000 immigrants convicted of homicide either in the United States or abroad are living outside of ICE detention,” which is another way of saying they are roaming freely inside the U.S. And the number of convicted criminal immigrants on ICE’s non-detained docket (meaning they, too, are roaming freely) as of July of this year was 435,719.
Fifth, Trump will continue his first-term practice of appointing to the federal bench only those women and men who have demonstrated a fidelity to the principles that government exists to secure liberty, that the separation of powers is the key to our Constitution, and that it is the job of judges to say what the law is, not what they wish it were.
Sixth, Trump has pledged to follow up his successful 2017 Tax Cut and Jobs Act – the biggest tax cuts in American history – with further tax reforms to expand on the success of the 2017 plan.
Seventh, Trump has promised to up his first term’s anti-regulation zeal (for every new regulation imposed, an agency was required first to eliminate two old regulations) to a 10-to-1 ratio: For every new regulation proposed, an agency would first have to eliminate 10 old regulations. Even if his administration only reached half that goal, it would still be two-and-a-half times better than the original goal. Strap in and blast off, economy.
Eighth, Trump will reenact his policies on trade and manufacturing that led to sustained high-wage job growth during his first term, leading to record-setting employment figures.
Ninth, Trump will reimplement his “all of the above” energy policies that led to American energy dominance during his first term. By encouraging oil, natural gas, and even coal production in the United States, we will expand supply, increase energy independence, and lower costs simultaneously.
Tenth, he understands and honors the value of work. Since his first job – collecting empty soda bottles to redeem for cash as he accompanied his father to construction sites – he has respected work of all kinds. He knows there is no job too big or too small – in the last week, he’s worked at a McDonalds and as a garbage collector, to affirm these jobs and honor those who work them. He’s reminding people when he says “America First” that he loves America and wants what’s best for America – and for Americans.
Jenny Beth Martin is Chairman of Tea Party Patriots Citizens Fund