Ben EveridgeComment

The 47th

Ben EveridgeComment
The 47th

By Team Thomas

Photo Credit: CNN

Wishing the President-Elect & Vice President-Elect Smooth Sailing …

The tensest, most acrimonious and perhaps consequential election in the modern era of U.S. politics is mercifully over. It was an historic win both of the Electoral College as well as the popular vote. It was only the second time in U.S. history that a former president of the United States regained the White House after sitting out a term.

We, as an electorate, witnessed an extraordinary set of events that saw former President Trump shot, the withdrawal of the first president since 1968 to drop out of a race in which he won his party’s nomination after a long-fought primary calendar, and a sitting Vice President stepping up to fill the void left by the incumbent president’s decision to drop out of the 2024 race that closed the support gap and made November 5th competitive again.

The American voter has now spoken.  So, it’s time to clean the slate and begin anew. Donald Trump will be the 47th president of the United States and J.D. Vance his vice president.

The United States Senate will be under management by the Republican Party.  The U.S. House of Representatives maybe too but is yet to be determined.

President Trump and Vice President Vance will have a full plate of issues to deal with and we will be watching and hoping for progress in finding successful solutions so that America can grow and prosper in the four years ahead.

As the President-elect said in his victory speech, it is time to put the division of the past four years behind us and unite. Let’s take Mr. Trump at his word and start there.

The issues we will monitor over the months ahead, as people who identify as political independents - not hack partisans - include:

  • The constitutional role of Congress and how the White House might or might not work in tandem.

  • Any resolution of Mr. Trump’s four federal indictments and 34 felony convictions in the state of New York.

  • The promised January 6th pardons and political retributions for those who opposed Mr. Trump.

  • Adherence to the rule of law.

  • Supreme Court retirements and appointments.

  • Abortion rights and access to contraceptives.

  • Mass deportations & comprehensive immigration reform.

  • Tariffs.

  • Vaccines viability and affordable healthcare.

  • The federal budget deficit and national debt reduction.

  • NATO’s future with the United States.

  • A more robust economy, better-paying jobs, and inflation under control.

  • The Russia-Ukraine war.

  • The Israel-Gaza/Hamas war.

  • Potential repeal of the Affordable Care Act and protection of those with preexisting conditions.

  • Preserving Social Security & Medicare benefits.

  • Elon Musk’s initiatives to reduce the size of the federal government.

  • Climate change solutions.

The next four years will be dynamic and challenging. But with the right decisions in our rear view mirror, American democracy can and will prevail benefiting, we believe, all who trust in our system of government.

Here’s to our future together. Smooth sailing!