TRUMP' FIRST 100 DAYS - EXECUTIVE ORDERS

(Updated April 29th)

Whereas Trump's signing of bills shows his fidelity to Republican causes - fewer protections for the public, his executive orders, memorandums, and proclamations may show more his real feeling or at least those of his base. I'm not sure how many Executive orders Trump has signed but I believe it is at least 28 (It seems like more.) as of April 29th.*  Most of these orders ask for studies of some sort that have no immediate effect although they may at some point in the future.

One such instructive moment arrived last Monday, when Trump visited Snap-on Tools in Kenosha, Wisconsin, to unveil his so-called “Buy American and Hire American” executive order with trademark showmanship.
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The action directed federal agencies to “assess” the enforcement of existing guidelines that prioritize the use of American firms and goods and to then “submit findings” within 150 days. It similarly asked a group of relevant cabinet secretaries to “as soon as practicable, suggest reforms” on eliminating fraud and abuse of the H-1B program that awards visas to highly-skilled foreign workers.
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As of now, Trump has signed more executive actions in the same period than his recent predecessors.
If he keeps up his current pace, Trump is on track to sign 96 executive orders by the end of the year, according to the American Presidency Project – far more than George Washington, who signed just eight, but far fewer than Franklin D. Roosevelt, who signed a staggering 3,721 orders as he imposed his sweeping New Deal program in response to the Great Depression.
Republicans, including Trump, routinely denounced Obama for what they claimed was unprecedented unilateral action and often honed their campaign messages around ending Obama’s “overreach”of the executive branch. But Obama signed the fewest executive orders per year, 35 on average, since Grover Cleveland in the 1890s.
In total, Obama signed 277 executive orders during his two-term presidency, lower than the tally of his two immediate predecessors. George W Bush signed 291 executive orders over eight years, while Bill Clinton finished his two-term presidency with 364 such actions. 

Probably Trump's most effective orders are negative, following the legislation he has signed:**
A notice that the U.S. will begin withdrawing from the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal. Trump called the order "a great thing for the American worker.
An order that directs federal agencies to ease the “regulatory burdens” of ObamaCare. It orders agencies to “waive, defer, grant exemptions from, or delay the implementation of any provision or requirement” of ObamaCare that imposes a “fiscal burden on any State or a cost, fee, tax, penalty, or regulatory burden on individuals, families, healthcare providers, health insurers, patients, recipients of healthcare services, purchasers of health insurance, or makers of medical devices, products, or medications.”**  This order actually does nothing because it says "within the law" so states could do that anyway without this order.
Trump revoked "...the requirement that companies seeking federal contracts prove they've complied with federal laws banning discrimination based on sexual identity or orientation."

He also rescinded something called the Global Gag Rule

President Trump’s reinstatement of the Mexico City Policy, better known as the global gag rule, came as no surprise to anyone working in the field of global health. We have been through this before — in 1984, when the policy was first put into effect by President Reagan, and then in 1993, 2001, and 2009, when it was repealed, reinstated, and repealed again.

The Mexico City Policy is called a gag rule because it limits not just what organizations and health providers do but what they are permitted to say. It prevents foreign organizations that receive US government funding from performing abortions — even if they are using funds from non-US government sources and even if abortion is completely legal in their countries.

The global gag rule also steps right between a woman and her doctor, nurse, or midwife, preventing these frontline health providers from telling their patients about the full, legal range of health options available to them. It forbids trusted advisers from giving honest, comprehensive health advice and information. I started my career as a nurse-midwife, and then worked in maternal and newborn health programs in Africa and Asia, so I know what this will mean for the lives and health of women and their families.

When the global gag rule was previously in force, it applied only to foreign organizations that received funds from the US budget for family planning assistance. That meant the effects were mostly limited to organizations focused on contraceptive services.
But President Trump’s expanded policy will apply to any foreign organization that receives any US global health funding. That could mean endangering maternal and child health programs, efforts to fight the Zika virus, and the expansive PEPFAR program to stop HIV/AIDS, perhaps the most successful health aid program in US history.
Here’s what happened when the narrower policy was in place before: Clinics were closed, services were reduced, and there were more unintended pregnancies and unsafe abortions.*

Perhaps the most unfortunate,, though not surprising, order regards immigration where the Dept. of Homeland Security is breaking up families (something that many Republicans said wouldn't be done).  With 11 million illegal immigrants to choose from, I don't know why they are doing this.  It just seems mean and will harm the children who remain in the U.S. and are U.S. citizens:
Two multi-pronged orders on border security and immigration enforcement including: the authorization of a U.S.-Mexico border wall; the stripping of federal grant money to sanctuary cities; hiring 5,000 more Border Patrol agents; ending “catch-and-release” policies for illegal immigrants; and reinstating local and state immigration enforcement partnerships.**
In many cases, the mother being deported has committed no crime since entering the country.  I'm disappointed in John Kelly.

Trump plans to impose a 20% tariff on Canadian soft lumber used in building homes because of claims it is being subsidized..  He can do this by executive order   Of course this will make building homes in America more expensive. (http://money.cnn.com/2017/01/23/news/economy/trump-tariff-power/) probably somewhere between $1,000 and $2,000.

Two orders are held up in the courts: (1) Trump's Muslim Ban, and more recently (2) Trump's plan to hold Federal funding from "Sanctuary cities."  This latter order is held up because Sanctuary City was not defined and it involves impoundment of funds authorized by congress.  Impoundment of Federal funds is what got Nixon in so much trouble though Watergate became more sexy.  Curiously Trump says it is the 9th circuit that held this up whereas in reality it was a Federal Judge in San Francisco.  If his decision is appealed, then it will go to the 9th Circuit that may well hold it up too.

There are two orders that I approve of, however, though many don't:
Two orders reviving the Keystone XL pipeline and Dakota Access piplines. He also signed three other related orders that would: expedite the environmental permitting process for infrastructure projects related to the pipelines; direct the Commerce Department to streamline the manufacturing permitting process; and give the Commerce Department 180 days to maximize the use of U.S. steel in
the pipeline.**
I also have nothing against his Arctic or Atlantic Shelf oil drilling executive orders.  I am for drilling in the Alaskan National Wildlife Area (ANWR) because you don't know until you bring it in (http://stopcontinentaldrift.blogspot.com/search?q=ANWR) and President Obamawas going to open up the Atlantic Shelf for drilling but was foiled by the BP disaster in the Gulf (http://stopcontinentaldrift.blogspot.com/search?q=Atlantic+shelf).  The drilling on the Atlantic shelf has special problems because of patches of hydrates in the column being drilled that could shoot a conventional drill ridge a good start towards the moon.  But companies are aware of this.

Most of the executive orders are benign and ask for studies and the like. About some I just don't know, for example  one that moves an initiative to assist historically black colleges and universities from the Education Department into the White House, an administration official said.  ... The initiative urges federal agencies to contract with black colleges..*** At least if doesn't sound harmful, though I am not sure what effect the words in hopes of streamlining the program means..

He also signed two other, noncontroversial bills. One bill (HR 321) directs the NASA administrator to encourage female students to study and pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and math. The second (HR 255) encourages the National Science Foundation to support entrepreneurial programs for women in the STEM fields.***

* http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trumps-25-executive-orders-in-100-days-more-cosmetic-than-substantive/ar-BBAaXYa?li=BBnb7Kz
http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/here-s-full-list-donald-trump-s-executive-orders-n720796
https://www.statnews.com/2017/01/27/global-gag-rule-trump-mexico-city/
** http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/04/20/list-trumps-executive-orders.html
*** https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-to-sign-executive-orders-on-water-rule-black-colleges-initiative-1488276000

THE TRANS PACIFIC PARTNERSHIP - TPP

Anti-trade has become a major political issue in both major political parties in the 2016 election and has forced the candidates for president  to disavow foreign trade.  Without doubt, automobile assemblers in Michigan and some other states have been hurt by NAFTA, even though, over all, there was a net gain in jobs in America.*  The fact that those workers left out of the benefits of free trade did not get any Adjustment Assistance (for what this is, see below) is a failure of government and not of the trade deal.   I suspect that few of those against foreign trade know of this program.  This is the target they should be aiming at and not foreign trade. Below are excerpts from the Guardian and the Washington Post on the Trans Pacific Partnership.  Bolding and underlining have been added for emphasis.

From the Guardian:
But the reality is that, if two sides willingly trade, it can be assumed that both are better off; otherwise, one of them would refuse to trade. So, while trade liberalisation may entail some (smaller) losses for certain groups, these can – and should – be addressed through domestic relocation and assistance schemes, such as America’s Trade Adjustment Assistance programme, [See note on the Trade Assistance Program below]and transition rules for affected industries, firms, and workers.
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At a time when growth is failing to meet expectations almost everywhere, the TPP thus seems like a good move. To be sure, because tariffs in the TPP member countries are already low (with some exceptions, such as Canada’s tariffs on dairy products and Japan’s on beef), the net benefit of eliminating them would be modest (except for a few items that are very sensitive to small price changes). But the TPP is also expected to reduce non-tariff barriers (such as red tape and protection of state enterprises); harmonise policies and procedures; and include dispute-settlement mechanisms.
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That would be a major loss. Allowing existing protectionist trade barriers to remain in place – or worsen – would not only deprive citizens in TPP countries of higher incomes; it would also deal a damaging blow to international cooperation.***

And from the Washington Post:

The security effects of trade agreements can be significant — indeed, one could argue that this was the most important thing about the North American Free Trade Agreement, the deal that has caused DeLong such existential angst. It’s worth remembering that prior to NAFTA, Mexico had a … let’s say “fraught” relationship with the United States. NAFTA made it clear to U.S. policymakers that Mexico was now a key partner and merited treatment as such. Which is why the United States helped Mexico in the mid-1990s and during the 2008 financial crisis. And the lock-in effects of NAFTA also helped Mexico transition from a one-party-dominated state to a true multiparty democracy.****

The Trade Assistance Program The Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) Program is a federal program that provides a path for employment growth and opportunity through aid to US workers who have lost their jobs as a result of foreign trade. The TAA program seeks to provide these trade-affected workers with opportunities to obtain the skills, resources, and support they need to become reemployed. The program benefits and services that are available to individual workers are administered by the states through agreements between the Secretary of Labor and each state Governor. Program eligibility, technical assistance, and oversight are provided by the US Department of Labor's Employment and Training Administration's Office of Trade Adjustment Assistance.(https://www.doleta.gov/tradeact/factsheet.cfm)


* http://stopcontinentaldrift.blogspot.com/2016/07/the-american-economy-great-recovery.html
*** https://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/oct/30/tpp-trans-pacific-partnership-the-case-for-trade
**** https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/05/07/the-trans-pacific-partnership-is-about-more-than-trade/