Aloha Hawaii Republican Party – the Party of Prince Kuhio,
Happy Thanksgiving!
This is the beginning of America’s happy season of holidays, vacations and celebrations starting with Yom Kippur, Halloween, Thanksgiving, then Christmas and Hanukah, and finally New Years!
So while its almost 2020, it’s still the calm before the storm when the President’s and the Mayor’s race soon begins, all state House seats are up, and half of the state Senate must run for reelection, plus many still need time to figure out how much tax will be owed or what size of a refund might be expected.
Whatever your situation it is an exciting time be alive and in Hawaii and in the USA! Hawaii has just awakened to 3 major land issues that have dominated the news for the past months on Mauna Kea, Sherwoods in Waimanalo and more recently the wind turbines in Kahuku. A new strain of community activism is afoot, especially in the Hawaiian community, who interesting used to be a big part of the coalition of Republicans in early Hawaii and are leaning back in our direction. Just note the “red wave” that is sweeping over the West Side up to Ewa Beach and parts of Mililani, while a “blue wave” appears to be continually battering East Honolulu. Also recall the 2020 elections will be determined by ALL MAIL-IN BALLOTING, so just click on this URL to see how easy it is for you or someone to register to vote: https://olvr.hawaii.gov/; all you need is the last 4 digits of your social and your driver’s license.
This month’s NCM report is all about the many accomplishments of President Trump, especially in view of the constant distractions of impeachment in the Congress. No one has ever said you have to like your president, but respect is a must. Recall President Truman’s remarks to General MacArthur after making him wait for MacArthur’s plane to land on Wake Island during WWII. Truman said, “General, I don’t give a g-damn what you think of Harry Truman, but this is your president and you better respect that!” ‘Nuff said.
TRUMP ACCOMPLISHMENTS YOU CAN BRAG ABOUT:
Trump Administration Accomplishments (Updated: October 5, 2019)
The below is a brief summary of the RNC’s record of top accomplishments achieved under President Trump’s administration.
Economy
President Trump’s policies have put the American economy into high gear.
- Since President Trump was elected over 6.5 million jobs have been created.
- Over 500,000 manufacturing jobs have been created since the president was elected.
- Highlights of September’s jobs report:
- The unemployment rate dropped to 3.5%, the lowest in 50 years.
- The U.S. added a healthy 136,000 jobs in September.
- This year, the economy has averaged 161,000 new jobs each month.
- In September, wages grew at a strong 2.9%.
- Wage growth has remained at a consistent 3% during President Trump’s administration.
- The Dow Jones Industrial Average hit record highs more than 80 times under President Trump, including closing higher than 26,000 points for the first time in its history.
- Under President Trump’s leadership, Congress passed historic tax cuts and relief for hard-working Americans. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act is the first major tax reform signed in 30 years. o As a result of the historic tax cuts, nearly 9,000 Opportunity Zones were created in all 50 states, DC, and 5 territories. Opportunity Zones will spur $100 billion in private capital investment and impact nearly 35 million Americans.
- The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act increased the Child Tax Credit by 100% keeping more money in the pockets of hardworking mothers.
- Economic confidence rebounded to record highs under President Trump because his pro-growth policies have and continue to put American workers and businesses first.
- President Trump has rolled back unnecessary job-killing regulations at a record clip which has saved billions and unleashed massive economic growth.
Immigration
President Trump is working to secure our border.
• President Trump is fulfilling his promise to build a border wall, with sizable portions already finished or under construction. o It’s expected that 450 miles will be finished by the end of the year.
- To date, 66 miles of the new wall has replaced an old and ineffective barrier.
- Currently, 167 miles of wall is under construction in high entry sectors such as San Diego, El Centro, El Paso, and Yuma.
- The new wall has contributed to a 56% overall decrease in the number of illegal migrant arrivals at the border; thanks to President Trump’s successful negotiations have led to 28% drop in migrants taken into custody in June.
- Under President Trump, the U.S. Border Patrol has arrested hundreds of members of dangerous gangs. The President has strongly enforced our nation’s immigration laws by cracking down on illegal immigration and taken aim at “sanctuary cities.”
- President Trump has called on Congress to close dangerous loopholes such as “Catch and Release,” end chain migration, and end the visa lottery program which enables illegal immigration.
- The administration is looking to close the Flores Settlement Agreement that requires the government to release families into the country after 20 days. This loophole has been exploited by smugglers who use children as pawns to enter our country.
- We are closing asylum loopholes – recently, the administration instituted a new rule requiring migrants who come to our border to have previously applied and been denied to a country they passed through.
- The Trump Administration announced they are releasing a “Public Charge Rule” that will ensure non-citizens do not abuse our nation’s public benefits. This rule will go into effect on 10/15/19.
- President Trump was successful in his efforts to get Mexico and the Northern Triangle countries to step up and help stop the crisis at the border.
- In May, President Trump announced a new immigration proposal that would modernize our system and secure the border.
Foreign Policy
President Trump has restored our nation’s standing in the world and is standing up to bad actors.
• President Trump has negotiated better and fairer deals for the American people.
- President Trump has kept his promise to deliver a modern and rebalanced trade deal to replace NAFTA.
- A new United States-Japan trade deal was negotiated.
- President Trump withdrew the United States from the flawed Trans-Pacific Partnership.
- President Trump has forced our allies to recommit to NATO.
• The United States has successfully decimated ISIS.
• President Trump fulfilled his promise to name Jerusalem Israel’s capital city and moved the U.S. Embassy
• President Trump used tariffs to rattle China’s economy and leaders for their trade cheating.
• President Trump held two historic summits with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, further demonstrating the Administration’s commitment to a denuclearized Korean peninsula.
• President Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Iran Nuclear Agreement and instituted the toughest sanctions in history to drive the regime’s oil exports to zero.
- In June 2019, President Trump signed an executive order that authorizes expanded sanctions against Iran.
- The Administration has vigorously and quickly enforced red lines against regimes and individuals that use chemical weapons.
- The Trump Administration has imposed sanctions on Russian entities and individuals previously indicted for their roles in Russian interference in our election.
- The Trump Administration imposed hard-hitting sanctions against Iran’s national bank.
Judicial
President Trump continues to reshape the Federal judiciary at a record pace and is following through on his promise to appoint judges who will uphold the Constitution and rule of law.
• President Trump has nominated, and the Senate has confirmed a grand total of 150 Article III judges:
o 2 Supreme Court Justices – Justice Gorsuch and Justice Kavanaugh.
o 43 Circuit Court judges
o 105 District Court judges
Health Care
President Trump has reduced the cost of health care and taken significant steps to fight the opioid epidemic.
- President Trump has prioritized fixing our broken health care system and worked with Congress to implement a system that works for all Americans.
- The President has made it clear patients with preexisting conditions will be protected.
- The individual mandate penalty has been eliminated.
- Association Health Plans have been expanded.
- Short-term, limited duration insurance plans have been extended.
- President Trump is working to implement his plan to lower prescription drugs.
- Under the Trump Administration, we have seen the first ever decline of average benchmark premiums on the federal health care exchange.
- The President signed an Executive Order to improve seniors’ healthcare and improve the fiscal sustainability of Medicare.
- Reforms to expand Medicare Advantage options and Health Reimbursement Accounts have been expanded.
- President Trump mobilized his entire administration to address the drug addiction and opioid abuse by declaring a Nationwide Public Health Emergency.
- President Trump signed the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act to fight the opioid epidemic.
- President Trump signed an Executive Order that increases price and quality transparency.
- The Administration has committed to ending surprise billing.
- The Trump Administration has promoted innovation and solutions to expand treatment options for Americans living with disease.
Environment: President Trump is promoting a clean and healthy environment for all Americans.
- The President and the Administration are continuing to pursue policies that encourage environmental protection while promoting economic growth. o Since 2005, our energy related carbon emissions have declined more than any other country. This is expected to decrease in 2019 and 2020.
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- Our nation’s environmental record is one of the strongest in the world. o According to the White House, from 1970 to 2018, the combined emissions of the most common air pollutants fell 74% while the economy grew over 275%.
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- We have the cleanest air on record and remain a global leader for access to clean drinking water. The President has taken important steps to restore, preserve, and protect our land, air, and waters. o The Save our Seas Act was signed into law in 2018. This law reauthorized the NOAA Marine Debris Program, promoting international action to reduce marine debris and authorizing cleanup and response actions that may be needed.
- The EPA has taken significant steps to clean up our contaminated sites and hazardous sites.
- In FY2018, the EPA completed cleanup work on 22 Superfund sites from the National Priorities list. This is the largest number in one year since 2005.
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- The EPA is more efficiently implementing air quality standards that will better protect the environment and human health.
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- The President’s management of our nation’s lands promotes conservation while encouraging good stewardship and expanding recreational opportunities. o Just this year, President Trump signed legislation designating 1.3 million new acres of wilderness - the largest public lands legislation in a decade.
- The Department of the Interior proposed to open more than 1 million acres of land for expanded hunting and fishing access.
- The President took important action to improve management of forests to help prevent devastating forest fires.
Energy
President Trump’s policies have begun to unleash our nation’s energy potential.
- President Trump signed an Executive Order to expand offshore oil and gas drilling and open more leases to develop offshore drilling.
- The Administration acted aggressively to increase exports of energy resources to the global market and allowed financing for coal and fossil energy projects.
• President Trump has approved the infrastructure and provided the resources needed to unleash Oil and gas production in the U.S. o The Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines were approved, supporting an estimated total of 42,000 jobs and $2 billion in wages.
o The New Burgos Pipeline, a cross-border project that will export U.S. gasoline to Mexico, was approved.
- The President proposed the Affordable Clean Energy Rule to reduce greenhouse gasses, empower states, promote energy independence, and facilitate economic growth and job creation.
- The Administration has rescinded many costly Obama-Era regulations including the methane emissions rule that would cost American energy developers an estimated $530 million annually.
- The President announced his intent to withdrawal the U.S. from the unfair Paris Climate Accord.
Military and Veterans
President Trump is protecting America and our allies by rebuilding our military and ensuring our veterans receive the care they deserve.
- • President Trump has restored American military strength.
- • Under President Trump’s leadership, Congress passed two historic National Defense Authorization Acts (NDAA) which allocate almost $1.5 trillion combined to rebuild and grow our military.
- • The FY2019 NDAA included a 2.6% military pay raise, the largest in 9 years.
- • President Trump signed the Veterans Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act to allow senior officials in the Department of Veterans Affairs (V.A.) to fire failing employees and establish safeguards to protect whistleblowers.
- • The President signed the V.A. Choice and Quality Employment Act of 2017 to authorize $2.1 billion in additional funds for the Veterans Choice Program (VCP).
- • The Trump Administration created a new White House V.A. Hotline, staffed by veterans and family members.
- • The Administration has secured a record $8.6 billion in funding for mental health services with the goal of ending the tragedy of veteran suicide.
- • The Trump Administration has created the PREVENTS initiative, a task force aimed at unifying the efforts of government, businesses, and nonprofit groups to help our veterans.
- • Veterans Affairs increased transparency and accountability by launching an online “Access and Quality Tool.” This provides veterans a way to access wait time and quality of care data.
• In 2019, President Trump signed a memorandum that eliminates 100% of student loan debt for permanently disabled veterans. o The President also called upon all 50 states to ensure that disabled veterans do not pay state tax on their forgiven debts.
• The number of unemployed veterans has been reduced by 37% under President Trump.
Women
Under President Trump’s administration, women have been empowered to reach their economic potential.
- • Women have experienced record low unemployment under President Trump.
o In September, the unemployment rate among women was at 3.1%, the lowest in 66 years.
o Women’s unemployment rate has been under 4% for 15 straight months.
o In September, the economy added 119,000 new jobs for women.
o President Trump directed more than $200 million per year to technology education grants for women and programs that encourage participation in STEM careers.
o President Trump signed an Executive Order establishing the National Council For The American Worker.
o Over 300 companies and associations of all size and industry have signed the Administration’s Pledge to America’s Workers, promising to create more than 14 million education, training, and skill-building opportunities over the next 5 years.
o Ivanka Trump created the Women’s Global Development and Prosperity Initiative (W-GDP) to help 50 million women in developing countries realize their economic potential by 2025.
o The Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi): Aims to mobilize more than $1.6 billion in capital for women entrepreneurs in developing countries.
o The Women Connect Challenge: Seeks to growth women’s access to digital technology and bridge the digital gender divide.
o The 2X Women’s Initiative: Aimed at mobilizing $1 billion in capital to support women living in the developing world. This initiative has already mobilized more than $140 million from the private sector to support women in Latin America and the Caribbean.
• During the President’s first year in office, the number of American women in poverty fell by nearly 600,000.
• Thanks to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, the child tax credit was doubled to $2,000 per child.
• The Trump Administration has prioritized empowering women to pursue careers and realize their economic potential.
• Additional Trump Administration efforts to empower women globally include:
African Americans
The African American community is benefitting thanks to President Trump’s leadership and the booming economy.
• Under the Trump Administration, African American unemployment has reached record lows. o In September, African American unemployment hit a record low of 5.5%.
o The African American unemployment rate has been at or below 7% for 19 consecutive months.
- Prior to the Trump Administration, African American unemployment rate never dipped below 7%.
• Over 1.4 million new jobs have been created for African Americans.
• The poverty rate among African Americans is at its lowest level in history.
o During the President’s first year in office, the African American poverty rate fell to 21.2% down from 22% the year before.
o In 2016, 241,000 more African Americans were living in poverty.
o The FIRST STEP ACT has been widely hailed as the most meaningful criminal justice reform in a generation.
o This landmark legislation included necessary reforms to our justice system, improves our prison system, and prepares inmates for reentry in our communities.
- • As a result of the historic Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, nearly 9,000 Opportunity Zones were created in all 50 states, DC, and 5 territories. Opportunity Zones will spur $100 billion in private capital investment and impact 1.4 million minority households.
- • President Trump signed the historic FIRST STEP Act into law.
- • President Trump has committed his Administration to advancing second chance hiring for former prisoners. This includes launching a “Ready to Work Initiative.”
- • The Trump Administration has fought for a federal tax credit on donations that fund scholarships to private schools, a proposal supported by 64% of African Americans.
- • President Trump has made Historically Black Colleges and Universities a priority, including appropriating more money to HBCUs in one year than any other president and establishing a Presidential Board of Advisors on HBCUs.
Latino Americans
Under President Trump’s leadership the Latino American community has thrived.
- • Under President Trump, Latino Americans have experienced record low unemployment. o More than 2.7 million jobs have been created for Latino Americans.
- o The Latino American unemployment rate is at a historic low of 3.9%.
- • The median Latino American income rose by $1,786 during President Trump’s first year in office. o In 2017, the median Latino American income hit its highest ever recorded level ($50,486).
- • Since taking office, the Latino American homeownership rose by more than a percentage point (46.3% to 47.4%).
- • In addition to the booming economy, President Trump renegotiated freer and fairer trade deals such as the USMCA.
- • President Trump has stood up to socialism and communism in Venezuela, Cuba, and Nicaragua. o Thanks to pressure from President Trump, 50 countries followed President Trump’s leadership in recognizing Juan Guaidó as the legitimate leader of Venezuela.
- o The Trump administration has rolled back President Obama’s disastrous rapprochement with Cuba, which only benefited the country’s dictatorship instead of its people.
- o At the direction of President Trump, the Treasury Department has imposed sanctions against senior officials in the Nicaraguan regime for their role in human rights abuses and undermining democracy.
- • The President has made it clear that American interests do not align with failed socialist policies.
Asian Americans
Under President Trump’s leadership Asian American unemployment has reached record lows.
- • Asian American unemployment hit a near record low of 2.5% in September.
- • The lowest ever record unemployment rate for Asian Americans (2.1%) came in June 2019.
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“Broken Promises” is still available!
Download at www.BuildMoreHawaiianHomesWorkingGroup.Org There is also 26 minutes video that can be viewed or downloaded along with an 8-minute trailer.
“Broken Promises” revealed that after 100 years of an Act of Congress that granted 203,000 acres of land to resettle Native Hawaiians, the Dept of Hawaiian Homelands (DHHL) could only manage to issue 9,700 homesteads leases with another 28,000 Native Hawaiians on a Wait List in 2019.
The Hawaiian Homes Commission Act was sponsored by a US Congressman and Hawaii’s first Republican Native Hawaiian, Prince Jonah Kalanianaole Kuhio in Congress. He fought for a great cause, but the ball has been dropped, but it is a great cause for some HRP Party members to remember and join as the shadow of Mauna Kea might reach DHHL as well?
Aloha and Mahalo, Have a blessed Thanksgiving!
Rep. Gene Ward, Ph.D., Hawaii National Committeeman/House Minority Leader
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