Why I voted for Trump - and still support him.

When I'm asked why I support President Trump despite his obvious deficiencies, these are some of the reasons that come to mind:

1. Abortion.  Under President Obama, this country actively pushed for expanded support of abortion both nationally (funding it through the ACA) and internationally (through the UN).  Abortion is bad not only for the unborn child, but for the mother as well, and I am opposed to abortion except when necessary for the mother's life.  I am pleased with President Trump's reversal of support for it in the UN and his elimination of the mandate to fund it through ACA.  I would like for him to defund Planned Parenthood as well, as it provides no prenatal care that is not available elsewhere and is the largest abortion provider in the country, and I hope that, despite the failure of the Congress to do this, that he will be able to accomplish this.
2. The Constitution and the Bill of Rights.  Under President Obama, numerous judges were appointed who have viewed the Constitution as a flexible document, subject to review and reinterpretation by international law.  I oppose this.  I believe that the Constitution is not subject to international law, and it needs to be honored as it is written.  Beyond this, there is a frightening tendency in this country to declare that parts of the Constitution can be ignored if they don't satisfy our current sense of what is appropriate (e.g. freedom of religion with respect to the LGBT agenda, freedom of speech with respect to so-called "hate speech", and the right to bear arms).  This is a very bad trend for our country and could lead to widespread loss of liberty as political correctness increasingly comes to supersede the written law.  I strongly favor President Trump's appointment of conservative judges who will enforce the Constitution as it is written, and am convinced that if we believe as a nation that the Constitution is wrong that the proper response is to amend it (as has been done in the past) rather than ignore it.
3. Immigration and the rule of law.  Under President Obama, our federal immigration laws became largely a dead letter.  He specifically ordered that they not be enforced and, when individual states sought to enforce them, he threatened them with action in the courts.  The message that was communicated was that our borders are open, and that anyone who wishes to enter the country for any reason at all is free to do so and to receive numerous benefits that previously had been limited to citizens of our country.  The natural fruit of this attitude has been to encourage more illegal immigration, culminating most recently in a march of thousands of people from Honduras through Mexico to demand entry into the US.  Illegal immigrants have marched in this country to demand rights that they had no legal grounds to claim, and California has gone on record saying that it will refuse to cooperate with the federal government in enforcing federal law in this regard.  I strongly oppose all of this, and support President Trump in demanding that the state governments should cooperate in enforcing the laws as they are currently written, and that if there is something wrong about these laws that the proper response is not to ignore them, but to write new laws that define a proper boundary between the US and other countries that extends grace to those in need while giving proper precedence to the citizens of this country when the responsibilities of the government are considered.
4. Racism and Poverty.  From what I can see, the policies of the last 50+ years have done nothing to ameliorate poverty and have hurt blacks in particular as much as they've helped.  Black-on-black violence is endemic, most black children are born of unmarried parents, and multi-generational poverty is commonplace.  Government policies have discouraged forming healthy families and communities and encouraged dependency and a sense of entitlement to the point where the fact that over 40 million people receive food stamps is celebrated when it should be mourned.  Stockton's announcement that they are guaranteeing a minimum income of $500 to everyone is simply another step down this road, and is likely to draw many more homeless into the city but do little to resolve the underlying issues that cause the homelessness in the first place.  Rather than pursue a strategy of ever increasing government handouts, we need to cultivate a sense of personal responsibility in people that encourages them to seek their own improvement through their own efforts.  Where help is needed, it should be limited to overcoming immediate roadblocks and not allowed to quench personal initiative.  Much more should be done to encourage the formation and preservation of intact families among the black community, as this is the surest antidote to generational poverty and the formation of gangs.  I support the steps that I've seen that President Trump has taken in this area and hope for much more.
5. LGBT issues.  Sexual dysphoria (like depression) is a mental illness and not something to be celebrated.  It certainly should not be cultivated in the schools, as is now happening.  It is not good for men to be able to use women's restrooms if they self-identify as female, nor for men to compete in women's sports or women in men's sports according to how they self-identify.  People should be free to not have to support gay marriage by making wedding cakes, taking pictures of gay weddings or providing flowers (as we would not and do not require Islamic restaurant owners to serve ham sandwiches or liberal bakers to create "Make America Great Again" cakes).  I am glad that President Trump has reduced the support given to LGBT causes by the federal government and I hope he continues down that road.
6. International affairs.  I am glad that the US is now supporting Israel as it customarily has, and I believe that our support has encouraged Saudi Arabia to support Israel as well.  I am glad that President Trump has stood up to North Korea and am delighted that they will have talks over nuclear weapon reduction.  I am glad that the US is willing to stand alone against the UN when necessary.  I agree with President Trump that the agreement we negotiated with Iran regarding nuclear weapons was a very bad idea and I'm glad he's walking away from it.  I also agree that Honduras, Mexico and other countries should be accountable when large numbers of their citizens seek to enter the country illegally.  I think that China should be held accountable for its theft of intellectual property, and if tariffs are a way to encourage that, I'm OK with that.  I think we should never have scaled down our military strength (trusting that everyone else would be good) and I'm glad that Trump is building it up again.  I'm glad that ISIS has been greatly weakened and that Iraqi Christians are able to return to their homes.  I think that the European countries have not contributed their fair share to NATO and I'm glad that President Trump is urging them to up their contributions.
7. Economics, big business and jobs. I believe that higher taxes hurt our economy and that during an economic downturn, the first thing the government should do is lower the tax rate, rather than increase government spending (which is what President Obama did).  In particular, lower corporate taxes will stimulate the economy far more efficiently than higher government spending, as governments do not know how to spend money as efficiently as companies can.  While the government should watch over the economy as a whole to prevent it from being manipulated by people in power, it should also allow as much freedom as possible for economic forces to work naturally.  Local businesses that create local jobs should be encouraged.  Agenda driven government stimulus, whether for home ownership, college tuition, or clean energy, is likely to be a bad idea and will usually drive real costs up, either directly (escalating college tuition prices) or indirectly (higher taxes to pay for high speed rail).  Where action is needed, it should be the minimum necessary to accomplish the desired goal and it should be temporary if at all possible.  I support President Trump's tax plan and his efforts to scale back spending in many areas, which I think will reduce unemployment and may well reduce the federal deficit as well.
8. Education.  The federal government does not do education well.  Washington DC, which is run by the federal government, spends more on education and gets poorer results than pretty much anywhere else.  The responsibility for education should be returned to state and local levels, as I think President Trump is doing.  I support vouchers as well, and believe that students do better when parents have a choice on where to send them and pay for some of the costs of their education directly rather than just through taxes.
9. Climate change and energy.  I'm not convinced that we know what is happening to the climate, why it is happening, or what (if anything) we can do about it.  I'm certainly not convinced that spending trillions of dollars to reduce CO2 emissions is going to materially improve life on this planet for anyone except those who are receiving the money.  I am, however, convinced that levying the huge taxes that will be required to support this level of government spending will have a significant detrimental effect on our economy and the economies of many other nations throughout the world.  Increased production of petroleum and natural gas in the US has lowered the price of energy throughout the world, helping the poor throughout the world, and has reduced the money that petroleum producing countries in the Middle East and Africa have to fund terrorism.
10. Corruption of government agencies.  Under President Obama, the IRS slow-walked approvals for tax-exempt status for conservative interest groups, impeding their ability to receive donations and speak into elections.  As Comey of the FBI testified before Congress, Hillary Clinton perjured herself repeatedly in her testimony before Congress regarding the emails kept on her server while she was Secretary of State.  One of the Clinton foundations received numerous substantial donations from various nations while she was Secretary of State, often with the appearance of pay-to-play incentives.  There is now clear evidence that the FBI actively collaborated with the Clinton campaign to discredit Trump.  Several government agencies have indeed become swamps, and I support President Trump's efforts to drain them.
11. Mike Pence.  I like Mike Pence.  His attitude towards women is exactly what is needed to answer the complaints of #MeToo.  Hollywood's statement, on the other hand, that "we make movies to offend Mike Pence", makes it clear to me where the root causes of the problems #MeToo complains about really lie.  I also think that if all the accusations made against President Trump regarding how he has treated women were as serious as the press claims, and if they still presented as much of a problem today as they did 10-15 years ago, then Pence would not have accepted the position of Vice President.