Each day we are witness to a President who is sinking lower in the poll ratings and trying to take America with him.
Political observers and late night comedians like to speculate that it is only a matter of time before Mr. Trump resigns or is impeached. Not many people focus on Vice President Michael Pence and his history in government.
There are rumors that it would be a disaster and some research shows that the rumors are correct.
The more you dig into Pence’s past, the more you will be convinced that we have two people in the White House who are a threat to the values that made America great.
With the help of Wikipedia and the resources of the Internet, one can learn a lot about one Pence horror after another.
Pence served in the U.S. Congress from until 2013 when he became governor of Indiana.
On almost any issue that affects our quality of life he was on the wrong side.
Pick any issue and the answer is the same.
He voted against the No Child Left Behind law and opposed expansion of the Medicare prescription drug program.
Add to that was his vote against the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which banned workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.
While most fair-minded Republicans favor stopping the deportation of the children of immigrants who were born in America, Pence opposed the Dream Act. During the campaign, his running mate Mr. Trump vigorously attacked Hillary Clinton for supporting the Iraq War resolution.
She had lots of company including Congressman Pence who voted the same way.
Poor Hillary Clinton took a lot of heat for the use of a personal server for her emails.
Pence as governor of Indiana used his AOL account for official state business. His account was hacked and it was revealed that his personal emails contained highly sensitive material along with Homeland Security discussions.
Somehow, that issue never surfaced but sooner or later actions by public officials don’t stay a secret.
His tenure as governor of Indiana wasn’t exactly a happy experience for his taxpayers.
His opposition to funding for public education was consistent and he was a strong supporter of charter schools at the expense of public school students.
He signed a law that requires that the remains from abortions and miscarriages at any stage of pregnancy to be buried or cremated.
At the time, Indiana was the only state in the country to adopt such a law.
His other actions that deserve scrutiny were his support to limit lawsuits against gun manufacturers; his opposition to increases in the minimum wage; his attempts to curb freedom of the press; his support for firearms to be kept on the premises of local schools; his position that Global Warming is a myth because the earth is “cooler” today; his opposition to attempts to resettle a handful of Syrian refugees in his state; his support for institutions that do research on individuals seeking to change their sexual behavior and quite a few other scary positions.
Was Mr. Pence scandal free during the course of his career?
The major issue against him in his 1988 campaign for Congress was that he used political donations to pay the mortgage on his house, his credit card bills, groceries, golf tournaments and personal car payments.
That issue undermined his campaign and caused his defeat. He ran two years later and made it to the Congress.
The decision by candidate Trump to put Vice President Pence on his ticket last year was the equivalent of throwing a life preserver to a drowning man.
Pence’s approval ratings as Governor were at an all-time low and the talk around Indiana was that he could never be elected to another term.
He was about to make a decision on whether to run for re-election and possible defeat, when he got the call from Mr. Trump to be considered for the job of Vice President.
It is fair to say that America has a great quandary.
With each passing day, President Trump sinks deeper and deeper into the political muck and the alternative isn’t much better.
Hopefully 2020 comes quickly.
