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From 2009 to 2015, the Obama administration deported more than 2.5 million immigrants according to ABC news. Obama has bragged that his presidency has been marred by war, including drone strikes and bombings in Yemen, Iraq, Pakistan, Somalia, Syria, Afghanistan, and Iran. However, one could be forgiven for not knowing this as the media and many of the most vocal opponents of Trump's policies do not make note of this. It is important though, that we disseminate Trump's speech to Congress for what it was.

One of the most laughable parts of the speech was when Trump argued that “America respects the right of nations to forge their own paths”. One would be hard pressed to tell that to the people of the vast majority of the world and not be met with either aggression of dismissive laughter, mainly because it is antithetical to everything America has done in terms of foreign policy for decades. Did Trump coincidently forget the raid in Yemen he oversaw that resulted in the deaths of a US Navy Seal and several Yemeni children including the little sister of Anwar al-Alaki, an American citizen killed by a drone under Obama?

Trump also stressed the need for new sanctions against Iran for its alleged production of ballistic missiles. Not only is this claim unsubstantiated, but has Trump forgotten that the United States posses these same missiles in addition to nuclear weapons? Did Trump also call for sanctions of Israel which also has nuclear weapons? I think not.

Trump pledged to increase the military budget by 54 billion dollars. The United States already spends more than the next seven countries combined on the military, not including interest on debt borrowed for war, but the 54 billion dollars is itself larger than all but a handful of nations military budgets. The ballooning of the ‘offense’ budget is of course not a new development, as it represents a bi-partisan effort on behalf of the Democratic-Republican corporate duopoly which has spanned decades.

Trump also said that we must ensure that the United States does not become a “sanctuary for extremists” however, he failed to mention that the United States is responsible for the nations of Afghanistan, Libya, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia becoming just that! He also failed to mention that the United States, Britain, and France are working tirelessly to make sure Syria suffers the same fate.

Let us shift now, to domestic policy. One of the not-so-bad policies pushed by Trump in the address is the introduction of a one trillion dollar infrastructure package. This is something the country desperately needs as the working class begs for jobs and better wages, as well as better national infrastructure. I have extreme doubts Trump will deliver on this proposal, and even if he does I think the potential for it to be a bailout for wealthy developers and perhaps even his financial cronies, is more likely than not (and that’s if we get a package at all!). Trump also failed to mention how he intends to pay for this package. He talked of slashing taxes, so that begs the question, where will the money come from? Obviously not from military cuts or closing some of the 1,000+ bases we have worldwide, obviously not from increasing taxes on the wealthy elite robber barons, and I am sure I need not convince you that nationalizing anything is not even within 100 miles of the realm of possible.

Tens of millions of Americans are still without healthcare, and many are being fined for not being able to afford any of the ACA plans. The ACA is a disaster for Americas working families, but no alternative offered by the republicans or Trump will bring much needed relief to those left behind in the quest for corporate profit. Anything less than a national health system that puts people first and eliminates profit will be a disservice to the American people, who deserve better.

The same goes for childcare, another policy Trump mentioned. He talked of making it affordable and accessible, but again these are just smokescreens to further shift the narrative away from what Americans deserve, that is universal and free childcare, towards what the ruling class is willing to offer.

Trump spoke of the need for jobs, and he is correct in pointing out the epidemic of unemployment that I would add is caused by capitalism itself. One of his solutions, approving the Keystone XL and DAPL pipelines is nothing more than a further surrender to the oil companies that dominate global politics and permeate into almost every nation on earth. The jobs created by the construction of these pipelines is temporary and only creates a handful of permanent jobs. Not to mention this solution is in direct contradiction to Trump's call for protecting clean air and water. Unless Trump counts the jobs created when these pipelines inevitably leak and people must work to clean up the millions of barrels of spilled oil, a solution to unemployment it is not.

One of the more bizarre moves was the introduction of the VOICE program to amplify propaganda to perpetuate the fiction that American citizens are under attack by immigrants. To politicize these isolated instances of violence for ones bigoted agenda, is insulting.

*(Donald J. Trump at CPAC 2017 February 24th 2017; Credit: Michael Vadon/ flickr).