Trump's First Year Accomplishments

     It has been a bumpy first year for President Trump. Even though he has been thrashed by liberal media, he has pressed forward to deliver on his promises. Here are some of the promises he has fulfilled in his first year.

Tax Cuts for Christmas

    After a two-month long process, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 has passed. Trump has touted it as the largest bill of tax cuts since the 1980s. Indeed, it has numerous pro-business, pro-middle class provisions, from which we have already seen benefits. The most immediate benefits are the bonuses and raises many large companies are giving their employees:

• AT&T, the mobile service provider, has given 200,000 non-management employees a $1000 bonus this year, a $200 million dollar investment.
• Boeing, an airplane manufacturer, is investing $300 million in its employees, which includes training, gift-giving, and workplace upgrading.
• Wells Fargo, a banking giant, is raising its minimum wage to $15 an hour, up from $13.50.
• Sinclair, a broadcasting company, is giving nine thousand employees a $1000 bonus, an investment of $9 million. 

     From my home state of Wisconsin, we are seeing benefits as Associated Bank, based in Green Bay and the largest financial institution based in the state, is raising its minimum wage by 50% to $15 an hour and is giving a $500 bonus to 55% of its workers. 

     The tax bill passed 224 - 201 in the House of Representatives and 51 - 48 in the senate, with Senator John McCain abstaining. Other provisions included in the bill are the opening of oil drilling in the Alaskan Wildlife Refuge and the lowering of tax rates in every income tax bracket.

Reformed Judiciary

     More judicial nominees have been confirmed in the Trump administration's first year than in any other president's first year in office. Trump has already confirmed twelve nominees, four times that of Obama, who only had three confirmed. Richard Nixon and John Kennedy came the closest to Trump with eleven nominees confirmed each.

     The rapidity with which the judiciary has been reformed can be largely attributed to the genius of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (KY). Mitch McConnell has battered down every attempt by Democrats to stop the hearings and has devoted much time in each session to clearing the nominees. 

      Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch is the best example of McConnell's patience and political genius. In 2016, when Justice Scalia passed away, President Obama recommended Merrick Garland to take Scalia's place on the Supreme Court. McConnell suggested that Obama was a lame-duck president and that a lame-duck president should not have the right to propose the next justice, resulting in McConnell's refusal to hold hearing for Garland. 

     Despite calls from members of the public and his own party to hold hearings for Garland, McConnell did not budge. Nearly one year later, when President Trump nominated Neil Gorsuch to replace Scalia, McConnell wasted no time in holding a hearing for him, and Gorsuch was confirmed. 

Leadership on the World Stage

     Recently, President Trump has announced that he would be moving the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. The United Nations voted overwhelmingly to condemn that move to no one's surprise. Nikki Haley, our ambassador to the United Nations, made it clear that "we would be taking names" during the vote. In response to the UN vote to condemn the embassy being moved to Jerusalem, Nikki Haley announced that $285 million would be cut from the UN budget next year. 

     Following Trump's lead, Guatemala announced that it would move its embassy to Jerusalem as well, with many other countries considering a similar move. 

     In November, Congress authorized a nearly $700 billion defense bill. Included in the bill are provisions to give our service members raises, purchases more LCS ships, orders more Join Strike Craft, and allocates $60 billion to the Pentagon war accounts. This bill fulfills a promise by President Trump to modernize our military and make it the most effective military in the world. 

     Lastly, ISIS has been defeated. Trump did not manage the war against the Islamic State. He delegated the entire war effort to James Mattis. Mattis wasted no time in allowing the military to do what they do best: blowing things up and killing the enemy. 

     

     After Trump's delegation of the war to Mattis, the war effort was accelerated and just in time for Christmas, the UN announced that ISIS had been effectively destroyed. 

     President Trump is doing what he said he would do. He has boosted the economy, reformed the judiciary, and modernized the military. 2017 has been a successful year for his administration, and America is looking forward to what he has planned for 2018.