Congressman Fitzpatrick:
You have had almost three years to witness this monstrosity of the administration of the 45th president. Soon you will have to decide whether to support his reelection. For my 45th weekly letter to you, I have provided below 45 instances of his failures, his outrages, and his policies which should be cause for alarm, embarrassment and even disgust in the mind and soul of any reasonable American. I hope you will use this list as you make your decision as to whether or not you will be complicit in subjecting the horror of this lawless ignorant narcissist on the American people for four more years.
1. His failure to address the most critical threat to our planet and species; namely, the urgent crisis of human-induced climate change. In his selfish ignorance, he not only denies the very existence of the threat, but has championed policies instead which exacerbate the crisis.
2. His failure to address the economic crisis of income inequality. In his selfish ignorance and his callous predisposition to benefit the wealthy class to which he belongs, he has championed policies instead which have worsened the gap between rich and poor.
3. His failure to work towards improving our healthcare system so that more Americans have health insurance, healthcare costs are reduced and the quality of our healthcare system is improved. Instead, due to his spiteful resentment of the success of the Affordable Care Act, he has actively pursued its dismantling which would significantly reduce the quality and availability of healthcare to millions of Americans,
4. His failure to address the critical need in America to rebuild our infrastructure. Instead he squandered federal funds, which could have been used to invest in rebuilding the public arena, in a pointless almost two trillion dollar tax giveaway to the rich.
5. His failure to address the epidemic of gun violence in America that is killing thousands of innocent Americans. Instead he continues to make empty promises of improvement while eventually yielding to the talking points of the NRA.
6. His failure to address the systemic problem of racism in America. Instead he has fanned the flames of racism through his racist communications which arise out of his own ignorance, prejudices and concern for his selfish political advantage.
7. His failure to uphold the dignity and decorum of the Office of the Presidency. Instead, through his sophomoric and crude name-calling tweets, he debases the American presidency almost daily in the eyes of a vast domestic and foreign audience.
8. His failure to uphold and support the freedom of the press. Instead he continually attacks this cornerstone of our democracy almost daily in a shameless attempt to discredit the democracy-preserving institution that exposes to the American people his multitudinous shortcomings and failings.
9. His failure to lead our country to comprehensive immigration reform. Instead, through ignorant, cruel and incompetent policies, he has exacerbated the problems at our borders inflicting needless pain and suffering on innocent refugees and asylum seekers.
10. His failure to defend the freedom of women with respect to their fundamental reproductive rights. Instead of defending the constitutional rights of women enshrined in Roe v Wade, he has taken steps along with his complicit Republican legislators, executives and judges to deny a fundamental freedom to 50% of the American population.
11. His own personal failure to obey the Constitution. Instead he has acted as if he were above the law as he performed many acts of obstruction of justice as documented in Volume 2 of the Mueller Report and has violated the emoluments clause by using the Office of the Presidency to enrich his personal business, thereby creating ambiguities as to whether his actions are being taken for the public good or for his private gain.
12. His failure to strengthen our alliances with democratic governments. Instead he has picked fights with the leaders of democracies and pursued policies detrimental to them while praising the leaders of totalitarian and fascist regimes and at times, supporting their agendas.
13. The president’s numerous foreign policy failures where he has dispensed with the wisdom and expertise of historical knowledge and diplomacy in favor of impulsive tweets, “love letters” and vacuous photo-ops giving stature to rogue dictators and gaining nothing in return.
14. His failure to protect the environment. Instead he has proceeded to dismantle a wide variety of environmental regulations that were put in place to protect our air, land, water, and living organisms simply to provide short-term profit for business interests.
15. His failure in personnel management. The turnover in key Cabinet and other high level management positions has been record-breaking and has led to an inordinate number of vacant and temporarily filled positions that have clearly impacted the leadership and work of many government agencies.
16. The president’s incredibly racist words in Charlottesville when he said there were very fine people on both sides of the demonstrations when one side consisted of neo-Nazis and the KKK.
17. The president’s continual spewing of racist invective calling Hispanics animals, criminals and invaders. These fear-mongering hateful words have been used to inspire acts of domestic terrorism including the murder of 22 innocent people in El Paso and 11 innocent worshipers gathered in a synagogue in Pittsburgh.
18. The president’s words in Helsinki when he sided with Vladimir Putin and not the intelligence agencies of the United States about whether Russia attacked our democracy in the 2016 election.
19. The president’s tone deaf invitation of the Taliban to Camp David near the 18th anniversary of the 9/11 attack.
20. The president’s racist tweets about four Congresswomen for which he was formally censured by the House of Representatives. He also stood idly by and smiled at his campaign rally when the crowd was chanting “send them back” and did nothing to stop their xenophobic frenzy.
21. The president’s heartless and cruel decision not to provide temporary protective status to the destitute victims of the Bahama hurricane tragedy. Instead he again used fear-mongering words to paint the needy victims as criminals, murderers and drug dealers as he generally does about nations with people of color.
22. This president continues his daily assault on truth in our democratic society by making (as of 8/12/19 according to the Washington Post) 12, 019 false or misleading claims since the beginning of.his administration. This has reduced not only the credibility of the Office of Presidency in the eyes of our foreign allies, but has dangerously eroded the people’s trust in our government institutions.
23. This president has consistently not only praised the Russian dictator Vladimir Putin and never publicly criticized him, but has also fostered policies that strengthen our Russian adversary’s agenda (removing economic sanctions, threatening to cut aid to Ukraine, inviting Russia back into the G-7) while weakening and insulting our NATO allies.
24. Based on his ignorance of sound economic principles, this president has begun a trade war with China which has begun to hurt both the American and world economies. Whether through deliberate deception or profound ignorance, he continues to state falsely to the American people that tariffs are being paid by the Chinese when in fact the tariffs are taxes paid for either by American businesses or the American consumer. Billions of dollars are being wasted each year in taxpayer giveaways to the agricultural industry because of losses incurred due to the self-inflicted wounds of his trade war.
25. This president’s unilateral withdrawal from the Iran nuclear has resulted in a buildup of Iran’s nuclear capabilities. No better deal is in sight.
26. This president continues to disregard the independence of the institution of the Federal Reserve, has called his own appointed Federal Reserve Chairman an enemy of the United States and childishly tweeted that the Federal Reserve Board members are boneheads.
27. His failure to speak out against or demand sanctions against Saudi Arabia after their the brutal murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi sadly signaled to the world how the United States no longer champions the fundamental American constitutional value of the freedom of the press. Previously this president publicly joked with Vladimir Putin, who has had journalists killed, about his problems with the “Fake News.”
28. One of the president’s re-election organizations is “targeting” individual reporters to discredit their reputations, a truly frightening endeavor considering the recent 2018 murderous attack on journalists in Maryland’s Capital Gazette.
29. This president continues to act as if he is above the law in his efforts to implement his cruel and unjust border policies. He recently told federal employees at the southern border to break the law in order to implement his unauthorized border proposals and that then he would pardon them later. The president is unlawfully seeking to wrest land away from private citizens at the southern border in order to build his pointless border wall. He is also reprogramming money Congress has authorized for building a school for the children of the military so he could pay for his pointless border wall he promised Mexico would pay for.
30. Recently this president continues his disregard for the emoluments clause in the Constitution as he continues to use the Office of the Presidency to enrich himself. Investigations are proceeding into the Air Force refueling military jets near a Trump resort in Scotland and having airmen stay at his Scotland resort as well as into the Vice-President staying at a Trump resort in Ireland over 180 miles from his meeting place. Meanwhile, this president hawks his Florida Doral resort for the next G-7 meeting like an infomercial pitchman.
31. This president has broken the institutional norm which every modern day president has followed of releasing his tax returns to the public and continues to actively fight their release. What is he hiding?
32. In a meeting in the White House Oval Office with Sergey V. Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, and Sergey I. Kislyak, the Russian ambassador to the United States, this president boasted about highly classified intelligence, providing details that could expose the source of the information and the manner in which it was collected. The intelligence disclosed was about an Islamic State plot. Sharing this information without the express permission of the ally who provided it was a major breach of espionage etiquette, and jeopardized a crucial intelligence-sharing relationship. How competent is our Commander-in-Chief with our nation’s secrets? Should we hold rallies with people screaming ”Lock him up?”
33. The president’s unilateral withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement has not only reflected his ignorance about the dire threat of climate change to life on this planet and his pandering to the business interests of the fossil fuel industry, but has signalled to the entire world that the United States of America can no longer be counted on as a leader on the world stage with respect to critical issues. He has shamefully squandered the opportunity for America to take a vital leadership role on this critical existential issue.
34. This president has inexplicably rolled back the fuel economy mandate set by the Obama administration. The move will mean fewer high-efficiency, zero-pollution cars on the road. This will cause higher transportation costs for drivers and more air pollution as more fossil fuels will be burned. This president is again taking our country backwards, not forwards. Why is our president destroying our environment?
35. This president repealed an Obama-era regulation that would have nearly doubled the number of light bulbs subject to energy-efficiency standards starting in January 2020 and also proposed scaling back the next phase of efficiency standards for bulbs that remain subject to regulation. This president is again taking our country backwards,not forwards. Why is our president destroying our environment?
36. This president, in an effort to boost the polluting coal mining industry, repealed the Stream Protection Rule which had restricted the dumping of mining waste into streams and waters. The action left waters unprotected from mining pollution. The Stream Protection Rule, issued on December 20, 2016, was meant to prevent toxic pollutants such as arsenic and selenium from contaminating waterways. Why is our president destroying our environment?
37. This president is finalizing plans to allow oil and gas drilling in a portion of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge that has been protected for decades. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) will offer leases on essentially the entire 1.6m-acre coastal plain, which includes places where threatened polar bears have dens and caribou visit for calving. Drilling operations are expected to be problematic for Indigenous populations, many of which rely on subsistence hunting and fishing. Why is our president destroying our environment?
38. This president canceled a requirement for oil and gas companies to report methane emissions and revised and partially repealed an Obama-era rule limiting methane emissions on public lands, including intentional venting and flaring from drilling operations.Why is our president destroying our environment?
39. This president loosened offshore drilling safety regulations implemented by the Obama administration following the 2010 Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill. The revised rules include reduced testing requirements for blowout prevention systems.Why is our president destroying our environment?
40. This president overturned a ban on the hunting of predators in Alaskan wildlife refuges,ended an Obama-era rule barring hunters on some Alaska public lands from using bait to lure and kill grizzly bears, withdrew proposed limits on the number of endangered marine mammals and sea turtles that people who fish could unintentionally kill or injure with sword-fishing nets on the West Coast, amended fishing regulations for a number of species to allow for longer seasons and higher catch rates, and rolled back a roughly 40-year-old interpretation of a policy aimed at protecting migratory birds. Why is our president destroying our environment?
41. This president has proposed weakening federal clean water rules designed to protect millions of acres of wetlands and thousands of miles of streams from pesticide runoff and other pollutants. This Obama era rule was designed to limit pollution in about 60% of the nation’s bodies of water, protecting sources of drinking water for about a third of the United States. Not only will it soon be easier for pollution to seep into our waterways, if a developer finds a wetland is in the way of a money-making opportunity, the habitat can be paved over altogether. Why is our president destroying our environment?
42. This president announced changes to how the Endangered Species Act (ESA) is applied in a sustained effort to weaken the United States’ premier conservation law, which passed under the Nixon Presidency in 1973. One change will alter how the government interprets “foreseeable future” when implementing the ESA. This narrowed interpretation can make it more difficult for regulators to protect species that are vulnerable to climate change and other future threats, because the effects of climate change are often not experienced immediately. Also, the changes will make it easier for the Secretaries of the Interior (former coal and oil lobbyist, David Bernhard) and Commerce Departments to remove species from the endangered list. Why is our president destroying our environment?
43. This president scaled back pollution protections for certain tributaries and wetlands that were regulated under the Clean Water Act by the Obama administration, withdrew a proposed rule aimed at reducing pollutants, including air pollution, at sewage treatment plants, withdrew a proposed rule requiring groundwater protections for certain uranium mines, weakened federal rules regulating the disposal and storage of coal ash waste from power plants and a second phase of this rollback is still under way.Why is our president destroying our environment?
44. This president has so far had 217 golf outings at a cost to the taxpayer of $105 million dollars, some of which has been funneled into his hotels. This from a man who said on the campaign trail “I won’t have time to play golf if I am elected president.”
45. This president has revealed how Republican leaders in Congress are willing to go along with the outrages, ignorance, and illegality of this administration simply to retain their political power. Many Americans have become disillusioned and cynical about Republican politicians who, whether through active or silent complicity, put allegiance to their selfish political goals, their ideology, or their party over the defense of their country. Congressman Fitzpatrick, are you one of these complicit Republican politicians? It is time for you to choose the right presidential path forward for our nation.