Had Obama done this I would have been pleasantly surprised and even yes, impressed. I knew some positive things from Trump were likely in being less of a war-monger than HRC and maybe less than even "average" Washingtonian, I knew pushback on TPP/NAFTA at least making it a few steps better, and a few other things. I didn't expect anything positive like this, yet we got a bunch of smaller and, above, two major sets of programs in the direction of economic justice, racial justice, sociological (for ex prisoners) justice. Going against conventional wisdom is never popular; less so when it's against sacred cows, and even less so when it's counter to demonization (even "bad" can be demonized; example: Saddam demonized pre-2003, demonization turns off logic, and critical thinking for the public, hence public is led to support or be ok with, bad or disastrous decisions). Well I'll say it: The above is remarkable.
If only time for 1 video only, watch embedded on in 1b) which is set to jump to key part of video; and if only time for reading just one, read this one:
2) Second Chance Hiring and much more — multiple (modest but definitely positive) actions including education, housing, and more. Why did DNC leave these low and medium hanging fruit for Trump to pick and thus rightly be able to claim credit for?
3) Link to African American community TV station in D.C. does "Fact Check" and says that YES Trump has allocated more funds to HBCUs than Obama. Why? Why didn't Dems at least loudly demand higher-than-Trump levels at least after Trump's election, if not before? Fact Check: "Did Trump push more federal dollars towards Historically Black Colleges and Universities" than Obama? More than any of his predecessors, even? Yes, says African American community forcused TV station WUSA in Washington, D.C.
4)
https://www.kidney.org/news/president-trump-announces-administration%E2%80%99s-bold-vision-transforming-kidney-care
"The [Trump] Administration's commitment to charting a new course for kidney health will help revolutionize transplantation and dialysis and advance new innovations, therapies and treatments which patients everywhere have been waiting on for far too long," said Kevin Longino, CEO of National Kidney Foundation and a kidney transplant patient. "Kidney care is, for the first time in decades, experiencing a renaissance that can transform the lives of millions of Americans while also saving taxpayers billions of dollars. NKF is grateful to the [Trump] Administration and our bi-partisan Congressional champions who are elevating kidney disease as a national priority."https://www.kidney.org/news/president-trump-announces-administration%E2%80%99s-bold-vision-transforming-kidney-care
* New York, NY, July 10, 2019 — Today President Trump announced a bold vision for transforming kidney care for the estimated 37 million Americans affected by kidney disease.
* "The time is now for the entire kidney community to embrace the momentum of today's announcement, work with the Administration and Congress to advance policies which can significantly benefit kidney patients and their families, and together change the current trajectory of kidney care," said Holly Kramer, MD, MPH, President of National Kidney Foundation.
"The [Trump] Administration's commitment to charting a new course for kidney health will help revolutionize transplantation and dialysis and advance new innovations, therapies and treatments which patients everywhere have been waiting on for far too long," said Kevin Longino, CEO of National Kidney Foundation and a kidney transplant patient. "Kidney care is, for the first time in decades, experiencing a renaissance that can transform the lives of millions of Americans while also saving taxpayers billions of dollars. NKF is grateful to the [Trump] administration and our bi-partisan Congressional champions who are elevating kidney disease as a national priority."
Update: Aug. 30, 2019, a mostly depressing study by Columbia University Irving Medical Center about patients interests and preferences not beign taken into account by doctors, surprised me by adding this positive passing reference to Trump's executive order:
Executive order
"The vast majority of kidneys are not going to the first matched candidate on the list," Mohan says.
"The current system, which allows centers to decline offers without patient involvement or awareness, appears to make an otherwise objective allocation system more subjective than intended."
"The recent executive order directing the Secretary of Health and Human Services to improve the allocation and utilization of deceased-donor kidneys may create an opportunity for change".
Kara--un-comment and give full quotes
5)
Trump legalizes hemp
President Donald Trump signed Congress'
omnibus Farm Bill into law on Thursday, legalizing hemp at the federal
level in a move that will surely bolster Tennessee's burgeoning hemp and CBD industry.
The new law will make it possible to buy crop insurance for hemp, erasing some of the risk for farmers who want to expand into the new market, and allow hemp to be moved across state lines, expanding options for exports and sales.
"That would be ginormous," said Billy Wall, who farms 70 acres of hemp in Franklin and owns a hemp processing lab in Murfreesboro. "It would finally put us on equal footing with regular farmers. It would be huge for all of us."
Hemp, which is closely related to marijuana but has no psychoactive effect, has been classified as a controlled substance under federal law for decades. The Farm Bill removes this designation and reclassifies hemp as an agricultural product, legally distancing hemp from pot, which is still illegal to grow in most states.
Trump called the Farm Bill a "tremendous victory for the American farmer" during a..signing ceremony during which the president boasted about recent bipartisan criminal justice reform legislation, called former FBI Director James Comey a liar and attacked Democrats for their objection to his proposed border wall.
Moments later, Trump praised the Farm Bill as a rare bi-partisan victory, then congratulated Democratic lawmakers who he said had contributed heavily to the bill. "I'll probably have to deny that someday, but I won't do that because you worked really, really hard," Trump said.
Hemp law reforms were never directly mentioned during the signing ceremony
Tennesseans have been able to farm hemp for five years through a closely monitored government pilot program, and the new law doesn't change that. William Freeman, a spokesman for the Tennessee Department of Agriculture, said anyone who wants to grow hemp is still required to be licensed by the state, but that licensed farmers will now be allowed to take their harvest across state lines. This provides hemp farmers and processors with "new options and increased markets."
"We expect this change in federal regulation will offer additional opportunities for Tennessee farmers," Freeman said in an email. "Additionally, Tennessee's universities will have fewer restrictions and be able to do more research on this plant as an agricultural commodity."
State records show that most licensed hemp farmers are small hobbyists, farming only a few acres, but commercial-scale hemp farming is rising quickly, in part because the industry is recruiting struggling tobacco farmers. This year, as least seven of the state's top 10 hemp farmers came from tobacco-growing backgrounds.
6) [Re making HBCU funding *permanent*, add here]
7)
Historic
Bill gives 2 Million PAID Parental Leave:12weeks. MSM:
Crickets. PLUS:Protection for ex-Convicts. Are most progressives
aware? [keyword healthcare family leave]
8) Replacing NAFTA with what #1 Union in USA
calls "vastly" better trade deal
(yes partly due to pressure on him versus his 2017/2018 version but
not entirely that; also his rhetoric and his base and where he comes
from for decades as anti-NAFTA, he already wanted to do some things
for worker protection; so Trump gets not all but definitely some of
the credit; certainly the Democrat brand was behind the universally
agreed worse NAFTA both Clintons pushed) Details:
Largest U.S. Union AFL-CIO Endorses [Trump's trade deal and replacement for NAFTA] US-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement calling it "Vast Improvement" [keywords trade economics economy jobs]
Oh, Trump also vocally attacked the World Trade Organization (WTO) which replaced the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT); such statements by Trump help educate Americans that it's very much not good thing (WTO) and actually terrible, so next time a corporate Democrat or corporate Republican tries to expand it or pass things like it, it's a little harder.
..and possibly even more to come but that's enough for now!