Here are President Obama’s main accomplishments over eight years:

--Obamacare: This 2,000-plus page law with more than 10,000 pages of regulations and over 20 new taxes has not increased life expectancy but has taken away freedom of choice on what type of insurance everyone has to buy with greatly increased costs and deductibles.

--The Iran Deal: This took the country which is a top sponsor of terrorism and lifted its regime up with more power and money. It did not make the world or the U.S safer and stronger.

--The Paris Climate Accord: This transferred a massive amount of money and power from the U.S. private sector to its government and in turn transferred money from the U.S. to other countries. The policy is based on the belief that climate change/global warming exists and is the greatest threat to the world. So does Iran sponsor terrorists because of climate change? Does North Korea build nuclear weapons because of climate change? Does Russia take over more territory because of climate change? Do refugees from Syria and other countries escape because of climate change? CO2 is a clear, innocuous, non-polluting gas that allows plants to thrive and the billions of people to be fed. The reason Obama and other people want to regulate it is to have government control. But this accord certainly did not have its goal to make the U.S. stronger.

---- Regulatory avalanche: Obama added tens of thousands of regulations and burdens to businesses and individuals as fast as he could. This certainly helped empower and enrich the D.C. suburbs but not the rest of us.

I honestly can’t think of any policies that Obama passed or implemented that had the effect to help the U.S. economy and the people as a whole. The result of Obama’s high tax, high spending, high regulations was the slowest economic recovery in eight years and $10 Trillion more in debt along with more people being dependent on government.

Here are just some of Trump’s accomplishments in his first year:

----He has been reducing regulations as fast as he can to free up the private sector. He has opened pipelines and drilling. Where Obama was trying to bankrupt coal companies and harm fossil fuel companies, he is building them up.

---He scrapped the burdensome Paris Accord.

----He dumped the Trans Pacific Partnership trade agreement. I have not seen any country that has reduced their trade or refused to trade with the U.S as a result. Trump correctly believes that we should negotiate in smaller groups so they can be easier to monitor and fix.

----He knocked the foundation out of Obamacare. While Trump has not been able to get rid of Obamacare, he has been whittling away. The tax bill gets rid of the individual mandate which may eventually kill it. Critics say getting rid of the mandate will increase costs and I would ask them to explain why costs went up so much with the individual mandate in effect.

----The tax bill itself: Lowering rates for everyone and doubling the standard deduction means that around 90% will have a very simple return: This reduces the need for as many IRS auditors and bureaucrats along with reducing the need for as many tax preparers.

Since I am a tax professional, I will go into a bit more detail on the obvious benefits:

• Lowering the tax rate on corporations and moving to the territorial tax system is tremendous. It makes the U.S. more competitive and takes away the impetus for tax inversions which moves headquarters to other countries. These provisions reduce the need for IRS auditors and bureaucrats along with tax accountants and lawyers who so often have been used to beat the high taxes.
• Upping the exemption for estates. This reduces the need for as many IRS auditors and bureaucrats along with reducing the demand for tax accountants and lawyers who were used to get the wealthy out of paying the confiscatory rates that somehow the government believes it is entitled to.
• While the tax bill isn’t perfect it is a heck of a good start. Once the economy picks up and the tax cuts generate more for the government, not the less predicted, as other previous cuts have done they can attack more of the still too cumbersome tax code.

Everything I have seen Trump do in his first year indicates his desire to help everyone who is a citizen of the U.S. I see no preference based on race, gender identity or class. He is rapidly trying to transfer the power and money from the government back to the people where it belongs. The government, after all is supposed to work for the people, not the other way around.

What a great start to what will probably be an eight-year presidency. I look forward to more freedom and prosperity. Maybe someday a few Democrats will stop obstructing and recognize that capitalism is the system that has the greatest impact on reducing poverty and increasing prosperity.

Now I look forward to Nancy Pelosi and other Democrats campaigning throughout the U.S saying the sky is falling and Armageddon is upon us because heaven forbid that individuals and business are allowed to keep more of the money they earn to spend as they like instead of having the government confiscate it.

It is a glorious day in America. The U.S. and the world are stronger and safer when the U.S economy and the private sector are thriving with more freedom and fewer people are dependent on government.

On a day like this I think of one of my favorite songs. Louis Armstrong’s: “What a Wonderful World.”