In a recent editorial in the Washington Post, Hillary Clinton was described as “a knowledgeable politician who has been vetted many times over. She understands and respects the U.S. Constitution. She knows policy. She can cite accomplishments in the public interest, such as pressing through an important children’s health insurance program. As a senator, she was respected by colleagues on both sides of the aisle. She completed four years as secretary of state to generally positive reviews. She began her campaign by rolling out a series of serious policy papers.”
As president, Hillary will have the opportunity to appoint possibly four Supreme Court Justices who will uphold Roe v. Wade, restore the full Voting Rights Act, overturn Citizens United, and allow for serious and humane immigration reform creating a path for citizenship, among other things. She will expand on the Affordable Care Act, commit to full funding of Planned Parenthood and women’s reproductive rights, protect Medicare and Social Security, greatly enhance veterans’ medical treatment, and fully fund efforts to deal with the Zika virus, Ebola, and other threats.
Economically, she will work to fill tax loopholes that allow businesses (and Donald Trump) to shield their income from taxes. She will raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour. She will develop a jobs program that will address America’s crumbling infrastructure of highways, bridges, rail transport, and airport security.
She will support a equal pay for women with a bill that will have the teeth to enforce. She will continue to lower deficit spending, as Obama has done, and lower interest rates on student loans. She will expand on Obama’s extraordinary economic record of 73 consecutive months of job growth, dropping unemployment to 4.7 percent, increasing consumer confidence, thus increasing the stock market by more than 11,000 points.
Environmentally, Hillary will continue efforts and research for alternative energy sources, reducing the need for foreign oil. She will lead, as Obama has done, international efforts to reduce pollution and address the reality of global warming. On the home front, she will work to eliminate voter suppression laws, ensure full civil rights for the LGBT community in every state, and reinstitute the assault weapons ban and tighten background checks on gun sales.
By contrast, Donald Trump has no set agenda for any of the above, not a problem for someone with no fixed beliefs. He would be the candidate with a museum of bigotry, including launching his campaign by calling Mexicans “rapists” and denigrating a federal judge litigating a case based on his ethnicity. He would propose banning Muslims, clearly unconstitutional. He would build a wall on our southern border, and deport 11 million immigrants, the latter in violation of our constitutional rights of due process and search and seizure.
He wants to jail women for having abortions, called Megyn Kelly, Carly Fiorina, Rosie O’Donnell and many others bimbos, pigs, ugly, dogs, slobs, and made crude remarks about menstrual cycles. He condones violence at his rallies, has motivated white supremacist groups, and appeals to the basest instincts of his supporters. He is a pathological liar, as has been demonstrated several times on a daily basis.
Hillary Clinton is supremely qualified, as is her running mate, Tim Kaine, to be president, and has been long in the political arena. They are both competent, knowledgeable, and have great integrity. Donald Trump, by contrast, is bigoted and ignorant. He’s a danger to the American way of life, and to our republic.
Richard Calkins is the immediate past president of the Talbot County Democratic Forum
Write a Letter to the Editor on this Article
We encourage readers to offer their point of view on this article by submitting the following form. Editing is sometimes necessary and is done at the discretion of the editorial staff.