By Alex Lloyd Gross
As President Donald J. Trump boarded Air Force one for his maiden voyage in the plane, to come to Philly, there were thousands of protesters on hand to greet him when he arrived here. Trump, in town for the Republican Retreat, at the Loews Hotel, at 12th and Market Streets could not avoid seeing at least some of the protesters as they lined the motorcade route.The protesters were orderly but vocal. As of 5:30PM, police reported no arrests.
The event inside, where Trump was speaking was closed to all but five members of the traveling press pool. That was a huge mistake, as that leaves the local media with nothing to report on except what they can see. In this case, it was the protesters. These protesters were the real deal, not George Soro’s paid hacks who will gladly hold up a sign for whoever signs a paycheck. None of the protesters were getting paid for being here.
The majority of the talk was about the repealing of the Affordable Care Act ( Obamacare) . There is no plan in place to replace it and although the program has some flaws such as having men pay for women’s issues like prenatal care, the majority of it works for millions of people. Without it’s protections, insurance companies will be able to reap billions of dollars off working class people with higher premiums and no federal subsidy. According to Trump, he will put in a better plan but until that plan is drafted and approved by congress then signed into law, millions are left in limbo and without insurance, the results can be deadly.
The other groups of protesters were for a raise in the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. Trump said he would not oppose raising it to $10.00. However, his choice for Labor Secretary, Andrew Puzder has opposed even that. Puzder, the millionaire owner of Carl’s Jr, and Hardees restaurants has routinely opposed anything more than a smidgen of an increase for working families, while he has no compunction of spending millions of dollars on Super Bowl ads featuring big breasted women. His own employees have protested his confirmation hearings. Should he be confirmed, protesters feel he can do his time in public service, then return to his business, and have a direct influence in the amount of wages his peers pay to their employees.
A small contingent of people were also on hand to protest the building the wall. They claim it is not feasible and Mexico will not pay for it. A tax on Mexican imports will not work and the idea should be abandoned,. Trump ran a platform of building a wall. Opponents stated that it will be expensive and impossible at times. Tensions between Mexico and the US have been strained with the Mexican president cancelling a visit to Washington next week. Mexicans against the wall said they will tunnel under it or devise ways to climb over it.
There were a few other protesters against the Dakota Pipeline and against Trump’s stance on sanctuary cities. Philadelphia mayor James Kenney said he will keep the status of Philadelphia as a sanctuary city no matter what. Police were kept busy, as barricades were set up at 11th street and at 13th street along Market St. To keep protesters away. They were orderly as opposed to the riots that happened in Washington DC . A man who answer the phone at the Philadelphia Republican Committee said he was furious at who ever “let the cat out of the bag that Trump would be here”. he did not want to give his name. He claimed it was a “private event”.
As if motorists could not be stressed out more, about 20 tow trucks were driven around city hall as their drivers protested the new towing legislation that goes into effect next month.
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