Community Magazine January 2019

TEVET - SHEVAT 5779 JANUARY 2019 79 clientele efficiently. In the 2017 Small Business Regulatory Survey, the average small business owner was shown to be spending $12,000 a year just to keep up with suffocating regulations. First-year regulatory costs previously averaged over $83,000. Personal taxes were also lowered by the Republicans’ Tax Cut and Jobs Act, their first sweeping legislative bill in the Trump Administration, passed at the end of 2017. HEALTHCARE Many drug producers are freezing or reversing planned price hikes. The Medicare system has been reformed to stop hospitals from overcharging low-income seniors for drugs, and the “right to try” legislation was signed, granting patients the right to use experimental cures. The Trump Administration had promised some movement on reversing the Affordable Health Care Act, also known as Obamacare, and has had success ensuring that people who do not need insurance aren’t forced to purchase it. ENERGY Oil is, and always will be, a controversial subject, given the grave concerns of pollution and climate change, on the one hand, and the necessity of oil in modern life, on the other. Generally, though, Americans are becoming increasingly reluctant to pay high prices for oil, and increasingly displeased about being reliant on belligerent nations overseas – hence the clamoring for greater homegrown oil production. President Trump has answered this call, and domestic oil production is now at its highest rates since 1970. Trump has fast-tracked two major pipeline expansions: The Keystone XL Pipeline, and Alberta Clipper, both of which will funnel oil from Canada, our largest oil exporter. Additionally, the President has put in motion the ANWR drilling operation (the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge), essentially a frozen Alaskan hinterland that has been the center of controversy since the Carter Administration back in the 1970s. President Obama had put off approval of exploring this option, but Trump’s administration has approved an exploratory drilling expedition, the first step to opening up the reserves that have the potential to supply a full year of oil for the nation. FOREIGN POLICY/DEFENSE President Trump hammered out a historic U.S.-Mexico trade deal to replace NAFTA (the North American Free Trade Agreement) to lift tariffs (taxes on imports and exports) on virtually all goods traded among the US, Canada, and Mexico). Arrests along the Mexican border have dropped significantly in the past two years thanks to tighter security measures. Statistics provided by the Department of Homeland Security show that the number of people trying to enter the country illegally is at a 46-year low, with the drop occurring immediately after Trump’s election. Meanwhile, President Trump has made progress on brokering peace between the Koreas – something no other U.S. President has ever done. In a historic break from standard practice, Trump held a private meeting with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un, with only translators present, and then later that day signed an agreement for the denuclearization of North Korea, in exchange for American security promises. It appears that Trump’s tough talk on North Korea has gotten the attention of the Chinese – North Korea’s biggest supplier. In September, Chinese Central bank told its affiliate banks to stop doing business with North Korea. China has also imposed its own sanctions on the hermit country. It is believed that this action on the part of China is a direct response to Trump’s urging and tough negotiations. As far as defense andhomeland security are concerned, thePresident passed a $700 billion defense bill, aimed at replacing dilapidated and out-of-date military equipment, and increasing the number of troops. The bill would pay for 7,500 more active duty soldiers, 1,000 active duty Marines, 4,000 new Navy sailors, and 4,100 active-duty airmen in the Air Force. On top of that, troops will see a 2.4 percent pay raise, higher even than the 2.1 percent they requested. Military successes under Trump have included wiping out huge swaths of ISIS, the extreme, violent Islamic cult that has been terrorizing parts of the Middle East. In fact, one-third of all territory recaptured from ISIS since 2014 was seized in Trump’s first year of office. The latest estimates are that ISIS has lost 98 percent of its territory, half on President Trump’s watch. Trump has also worked to increase the share of the burden borne by the U.S.’ coalition members in dealing with ISIS, encouraging them to take on a more active role. That is especially true across NATO – towards which the US. is the primary economic contributor. JURISPRUDENCE In under two years, Trump has appointed two Supreme Court judges, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, both of whom enjoy wide support among conservatives. Additionally, he appointed more federal appeals judges than any other President, beatingout NixonandKennedy (eachappointing11) by appointing 12 federal appeals judges in his first year. What that does is stamp on the country right-leaning interpretations of the law for years – or even decades – to come.