Domestic Policy

While I find Mr. Trump’s crudeness, habitual lying and insensitivity towards pretty much everyone to be incredibly disconcerting, the real reason I became and remain #NeverTrump is due to his lack of conservative policies or ideology.

While it’s difficult to pin down where Mr. Trump stands on nearly any issue, I’m going to examine some of his domestic policies and stances.

Now to be fair, Mr. Trump is offering some policies I, like most real conservatives, can get behind. As a supply sider, I’m happy to see his desire to reduce personal income and corporate tax rates across the board. In that vein, I also applaud his willingness to cut back economic regulations that are strangling our economy, especially small businesses.

His support of unlocking our natural resources to continue towards the goal of total energy independence and backing of school choice also get high marks.

That is where the praise ends.

Looking at the remainder of his domestic policy finds little that conservatives should take solace in.

The Economy

Perhaps the most bewildering aspect of Mr. Trump’s campaign is his stance on trade agreements. He has frequently promised to renegotiate North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) or “rip it up”, while also vowing to not sign Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) because it’s too complex and not good enough of a deal for the U.S.

Not to sound too much like him here, but in this case, Mr. Trump sounds like a loser. So just because we don’t get an absolutely perfect deal for the country, Mr. Trump is going to take his ball and go home? That’s a loser’s mentality. So often in life, you cannot get everything you want, so you take a good, but not perfect deal in absence of no deal at all. Waiting around for a perfect deal means you’re going to be waiting around forever.

For NAFTA, the proof of the pudding is in the eating. Since its inception in 1993, it has:

• Quadrupled trade between the U.S., Canada and Mexico
• Lowered prices on many products, but especially oil and food
• Boosted overall economic growth
• Created nearly five million U.S. jobs
• Increased foreign investment in the U.S.
• Reduced government spending

I can’t sit here and claim that NAFTA is perfect. In fact, I’m sure there are some aspects of it that do help our economy, but looking at the totality of its success thus far, why would anyone want to do away with this agreement?

Yes, the U.S. has the world’s largest economy, so we do have leverage in negotiations. However, there are countless other nations that would gladly fill the economic void left by us if we abandoned trade agreements like NAFTA or TPP. And our trading partners, in absence of our presence, would just as gladly trade with them.

Let us not forget Mr. Trump’s desire to impose higher tariffs on goods coming in from China. Surely nothing bad could possibly come from that, right? Ask people that lived through the Great Depression, which was made far, far worse by the disastrous Smoot-Hawley Act how they feel about this.

Free market capitalism, fueled by global trade is the greatest humanitarian vehicle the world has ever known. It has saved 10s of millions of lives by rising people out of poverty, has crushed oppressive regimes across the globe and given most people on Earth a quality of life not even thought possible a century ago. Any presidential candidate (especially the Republican Party nominee) who so casually risks the future of free global trade with such a flippant attitude clearly illustrates that they do not understand the importance of free markets to the U.S. and the rest of the world, and thus, should not occupy the Oval Office.

Spending

Since President Obama took office nearly eight years ago, one of the biggest criticisms hurled at him from republicans and independent conservatives alike is his mismanagement of the federal debt (When he took office, it stood at $10.6 trillion. Today? An appalling $19.8 trillion). It was this mismanagement, along with the proposal and eventual passing of the Affordable Care Act (A.K.A Obamacare) that launched the Tea Party movement that allowed the Republican Party to retake the Senate and House of Representatives.

This criticism of out-of-control federal spending from republicans and conservatives is nothing new. In fact, one could argue that it forms the foundation of conservative ideology. That is why it is so troubling to see Mr. Trump not only refusing to stop the debt crisis that is careening out of control, but willing to exacerbate it.

According to American Action Forum, a right-leaning think tank, Mr. Trump’s tax and spending plans would add nearly $6.8 trillion to the U.S. debt over the next decade. This is in sharp contrast to Mrs. Clinton’s tax and spending plans that would add $1.5 trillion over the same time. This should come as little surprise to anyone, considering Mr. Trump’s business practices over his career, where he has regularly taken on large sums of debt. A recent Forbes article just calculated his personal debt to be at $1.1 billion.

Now I’m fully aware that presidents Reagan and W. Bush helped make the federal debt worse. But those situations were different in the sense that the bulk of their additional deficit spending related to military expenditures during the Cold War and the War on Terror.

Mr. Trump’s extremely high levels of spending have nothing to do with national defense; rather all they do is increase an already-pork laden federal bureaucracy, which is the antithesis to conservative ideology.

Healthcare

You will not find many people more critical of the Affordable Care Act than I. It has resulted in poorer care for people from coast to coast by simultaneously reducing the choice consumers have in selecting coverage plans, preventing them from keeping their doctor and exploding costs.

However, what Mr. Trump is proposing isn’t a feasible plan.

He offers seven parts to his “plan” (I put plan in quotes because we have no idea on how he will actually do any of this)-some good, some simply not feasible:

1. Completely repeal Obamacare
2. Modify existing law that inhibits the sale of health insurance across state lines
3. Allow individuals to fully deduct health insurance premium payments from their tax returns under the current tax system
4. Allow individuals to use Health Savings Accounts (HSAs)
5. Require price transparency from all healthcare providers
6. Block-grant Medicaid to the states
7. Remove barriers to entry into free markets for drug providers that offer safe, reliable and cheaper products

Let me briefly take one at a time.

1. I agree with this, but only if there’s a comprehensive plan to replace it. Whether we like it or not, people are enrolled in the federal and state healthcare exchanges. We cannot just throw them off of insurance without something in place for them. And thus far, Mr. Trump hasn’t convinced many that he’s capable of doing this.
2. This already happens. For example, United Healthcare sells plans in many, many states-so long as the plans comply with each state’s insurance regulations. This portion of the plan means Mr. Trump thinks insurance companies should be able to sell plans in one state under the regulatory regime of another (this will never happen) or the federal government should take over all health insurance regulation and create a single national market (no thank you).
3. This is fine, but doesn’t really do anything to impact the affordability of coverage.
4. This is a great idea, but it needs to be the centerpiece of the plan, as it would allow people to remove healthcare coverage from their employment-a critical step in reforming the nation’s healthcare issues. 
5. Almost impossible to implement.
6. Very good idea.
7. Not feasible considering the role the FDA has in drug approvals.

So, again, there is some promise here, but ultimately this isn’t a healthcare plan. It’s just a mashup of different stances without an organizing blueprint around it.