Tag Archive: economy
It’s been almost 2 years. If you’re not rich, What has Donald Trump done for you? Republicans control the House, Senate, and the Presidency. Did they: Repeal & Replace Obamacare with something better….NO. Build a wall and make Mexico pay….NO. Pass a Jobs Bill….NO. Do you have a better job or better paying job….NO. Pass an Infrastructure Bill….NO. Raise the Minimum Wage….NO. After 2 years and full control of the Government, Republicans should have passed something just for the middle class and the poor. Republicans did get 2 Supreme Court Justices, Pass a Trillion dollar plus tax Bill, Got a Nuclear Treaty with North Korea, Broke Nuclear Treaties with Iran & Russia, Imposed tariffs that will raise consumer prices, Got a Muslim ban, Removed regulations that protect the environment & consumers, Took children from their mothers and put them in cages, are trying to break up the European Union, NATO, and the U.N. Oh yes, just last week, Passed a Prison Reform Bill. Just in time for the results of the Mueller findings. None of the things Republicans got done were directed at the middle class and the poor except the Prison Reform Bill. Trump did not put you guys first. He did nothing for you directly at all during the first two years. Are you tired of winning yet?
Trump’s incessant lying, name calling, and cozying up to Putin is unbecoming of the U. S. President. Republican legislators do nothing to place checks on Trump even when he chooses to believe Putin over U. S. Intelligence Agencies (TREASON)!!!! Trump is doing a lot, but nothing for you. After 2 years of nothing for you, if you are still supporting Trump and Republicans, you are either: 1. Die Hard Republicans who are hard wired to vote Republican, no matter what, 2. Brainwashed, 3. Stupid, or 4. Racist. Trump voters, which group are you in? It’s not about loyalty to Party, it’s about loyalty to the United States of America.
Here are 2 links that show Democrat and Republican legislation since WWII. After viewing the legislation, Democrats clearly are trying to help as many people as possible, and Republicans are clearly helping the rich. There are also 2 links that shows which Party handles the Economy best overall:
1. Democrat legislation.
2. Republican legislation.
3. Which Party handles the economy best overall?
4. The Economy By the numbers.
Since you read all this, and if you’re not rich, but you still think Republicans are looking out for you, the average man……. “Here’s your sign”!!!! Just keep on winning back to the Stone Age!!!!!!!
You don’t have to know a person completely to get a sense of whether you can trust them or not. Initially, you use your observation to make your decision. If a person is clearly exaggerating their importance, lying, mocking a person’s religion, and demeaning people based on race, most people would not want to associate with that person. Further, if that same person was sympathetic to world leaders who have horrible records with respect to human rights, eliminates all independent news sources, discourages free speech, and imprison or murders political opponents, you would call that person a dictator. Donald Trump wants to imprison and mute anyone who has a different view from his. As for the other traits mentioned, Trump does all of them on a daily basis except murder.
So if you aren’t willing to hang around the guy next door who has those bad character traits, why would you want to keep Donald Trump around? Also, why would you want to keep his best people around either. In less than two years, a lot of Trump’s “best people” have either quit, been fired, indicted for crimes and lying, plead guilty to crimes, and have been sent to jail. There are simply too many people that fall under these bad character traits. A list which includes most of the House and Senate Republicans. Those politicians are doing nothing to prevent Trump from deconstructing our Democracy. Now if all those people around Trump are of dubious character, Trump is either turning a blind eye to them, or he is complicit with their behavior, and may be orchestrating that behavior.
Trump and the Republican Party consistently ignore the rule of law by allowing Congress to enable Trump to keep his businesses intact, refuses to release Trump’s taxes, and taking children from their mothers at the southern border. They have removed consumer protections which now allow banks to resume their predatory lending habits for homes, credit cards, personal loans, and online universities. Environment regulations are being systematically removed which makes it easier for corporations to pollute our air, water, and land just so they could increase their profit margins. With regard to foreign policy, Republicans are calling NATO obsolete, pulling out of the Paris Agreement and the Iran Nuclear Agreement, and belittling our allies in Canada, Germany, and the UK etc., the net effect is to destabilize world governments which makes the path to war more likely.
Republican voters, you have to realize that yes, you are getting some of the things you voted for, but at what price? At what point do the negative things your party is obviously doing out weigh the positive things. What will you do if we lose freedom of the press, free speech, we have a polluted environment, the gap between the haves and have nots continues to get bigger, and we are plunged into another war because our natural alliances have been weakened if we are alone in the world. Is a booming economy for the rich, worth the weakening of our Democracy? How much better is your life and financial status than it was two years ago before Trump took office? If you can’t see a significant difference in your life now, then your vote didn’t make America great again, it made the rich richer again. So FOCUS!!!! If your life is not significantly better than 2 years ago, and you’d rather have a strong Democracy than a booming economy, then you must vote Republicans out of office in November. You can say a lot about Democrats, but they are truly concerned about the equality of every American. For Democrats, people are more important than money. They haven’t promoted fiscal responsibility as much as Republicans, but Obama did much better with the economy than Bush. After Obama fixed Bush’s mess, Trump just took over an economy that was on cruise control. Trump said the economy is booming because of him alone. Really? That’s his biggest lie. If you want to put your faith in Trump, a man who lies everyday, then you are truly brainwashed. Our country deserves better. Vote Democratic in November.
This Blog is gonna be short, sweet, and to the point. For those of you who trash Obama and give Trump all the credit for our current great Economy, a picture is worth a thousand words:
THIS GRAPH SHOWS THE DOW STOCK MARKET ACTIVITY AT THE END OF THE BUSH PRESIDENCY, AND THE START OF THE OBAMA AND TRUMP PRESIDENCIES. ANY QUESTIONS?
UNEMPLOYMENT RAPIDLY ROSE TO 10% IN OBAMA’S FIRST YEAR BECAUSE OF THE RECESSION STARTED UNDER BUSH. AFTER OBAMA’S FIRST YEAR, THERE WAS A STEADY DECLINE TO 4.7%. TRUMP DIDN’T DO ANYTHING BUT SAY I DO. YES, THE UNEMPLOYMENT DROPPED TO 3.9% IN APRIL 2018, BUT AS YOU CAN SEE, OBAMA DID ALL THE HEAVY LIFTING FOR HIM.
Bottom line, the numbers don’t lie. Obama has eight years of numbers that prove he rescued our Economy from the mess the Republicans, under Bush, left him. Donald Trump is nothing more than the back-up quarterback to Tom Brady (Obama). The back-up quarterback usually only takes over during the last 2 minutes of the game after Brady (Obama) has already won the game by 50 points. Trump didn’t earn the credit for this great Economy. He had it handed to him on a silver platter by President Obama. Silly Republicans, you believe everything Trump and Hannity say…..SAD!!!!!…..LOL
THIS IS WHAT THE REAL AMERICA LOOKS LIKE.
The word ‘woke’ has several meanings. The most common meaning implies an understanding of issues involving race. I’m using the term in a broader sense to focus on social and political problems and not just race. Overall, ‘woke’ simply means being aware of and understanding your surroundings and environment.
Most of the people I talk to admit they have tuned out the news and don’t talk about race or politics. The problem with that strategy is simple, if you don’t look both ways before you cross the street, you’re gonna eventually get hit by a car. You are admitting that you don’t care about your life or anyone else’s. The things happening around us have consequences , and if we ignore them, eventually something bad is going to happen. Another mistake is to think there is nothing we can do about it. The Constitution of the United States gives us the pathway to do something. We have two choices. We can use our power to vote for change, or we can actually physically overthrow the government if our government strays from its Constitutional obligation. Of course, overthrowing the government is problematic, and it’s definitely not my first choice. Voting makes more sense. And these days, there is less chance of bodily injury or death. It’s a win, win for democracy. Recognizing our Constitutional power is the first step in being ‘woke’.
Being aware of, and recognizing issues that are problematic to democracy is the next step of being ‘woke’. All politicians tell half truths and seem to be interested in financial gains and maintaining political power. Since the 60’s, the rule of law began to mean something. Civil rights, voting rights, and women’s rights are now guaranteed in the Constitution. LGBT rights and some women’s issues are a work in progress because Republicans are fighting against them. Ironic because Republicans lobby for smaller government, but try to legislate who you can love and what women should do with their own bodies. In the current Trump era, the rule of law has been adulterated. What good is a booming economy if we believe certain things that Donald Trump suggest: Don’t believe any news unless it comes from FOX news or his lips. The Justice Department is rigged and overseeing a witch hunt against him. The FBI is corrupt and acting like storm troopers. Immigrants are at the root of our criminal problems. These Trump statements are seeds that form the foundation of a dictatorship. Our Constitution mandated 3 branches of government, and no single branch has absolute power, but all three are necessary to have a healthy democracy. The Legislative Department (House, Senate) writes the laws. The Judicial Department (Supreme Court) interprets and rules on laws. The Executive Department (President and Department of Justice; FBI CIA, NSA) appoints personnel to run departments in all branches of Government, signs legislation into law, and oversees law enforcement. News agencies operating under the 1st Amendment report on all branches of Governments. They report what they see and hear, then give their opinion on the impact on society. Of course sometimes their opinion is wrong, but a good news outlet will announce and correct the error. Even so, we are obligated to seek out the truth on our own, that is, be ‘woke’.
Now, let’s all get ‘woke’. First of all Martin Luther King, Jr. had it right. We are to judge people “not by the color of their skin, but the content of their character”. When dealing with your neighbor, a prospective business associate, or someone who wanted to date your son or daughter, you want to know some common sense basic things. Are they honest, dependable, liars, or dangerous (mentally or physically). Of course there are other litmus tests, but if you can check all these, you basically have a decent human being. If anyone fails all four character test, most people would definitely avoid them in all phases of their lives. If a President fails all four character test, we must recognize how dangerous this is for democracy.
Let’s see how Donald Trump fails all four of these character test:
- Honesty- It’s no secret even before becoming President, Trump stiffed people he owed money to. He didn’t want to reveal his IRS tax forms. His opinions conform to however the current news cycle is trending and he will say whatever makes him look and sound good. He has a disturbing pattern of describing and attacking women based on looks, and although adultery is dishonest, it’s so common, it almost doesn’t qualify. What is disturbing is that he is so rich, adultery is part of his normal routine and he pays people to keep it quiet. If Senator Franken can resign because of a picture taken of him when he was a comedian, making a gesture of touching the breast of a woman. If that is the standard, then we shouldn’t have a President that bragged on video, “I just start kissing them. It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything….you can grab them by the p#@@y.” That’s not locker room talk. That’s assault, and men have been fired and gone to jail for less. Trump was rewarded with the Presidency. See what you did Trump voters!!!! Finally, since Trump has chosen Twitter to inform the public because everything is Fake News, we have to examine his claims on Twitter.
- Dependable- Trump in action on DACA. This link shows Trump not being able to focus. He obviously is not ready for prime time. In general, Trump was not consistent in paying his bills. It got to the point that most U.S. Banks would not lend him money. Trump had to borrow money from China, buy property via Russia and certain Arab nations. This creates a conflict of interest which may compromise his decisions on behalf of the United States. He did not truly divest himself of his businesses as he promised. Rates to stay at Trump properties were raised. Will he make decisions based on the needs of the American people or his wallet.
- Liar- If lying was an Olympic event, Trump would win the GOLD!!!! How can you tell if Donald Trump is lying? Answer, his lips are moving!!!! His very first lie as President, “he had the biggest Inauguration crowd ever”. This was followed closely by “Hilary won the popular vote by 3 million votes because of voter fraud”. This doesn’t even make sense because if 3 million people could illegally vote, the officials that made that happen could easily have canceled out the approximately 70,000 votes that won Trump the Electoral College. If the election was rigged as he was stating during the primaries, HE IS NOT THE PRESIDENT!!!! Trump is such a prolific and pathologic liar, I decided to provide a link to his many WHOPPERS!!!!
- Dangerous (mentally and physically)- Donald Trump likely has a Personality Disorder. More specifically, as seen in this link, Borderline Personality Disorder. Trump shows signs of several Personality Disorders. When reading the above link, you will immediately recognize which disorders describe Trump. Personality disorders are actually common. About 1 in 20 people have some type of Personality Disorder. These disorders don’t matter unless it interferes with your daily life, the lives of the people you come in contact with on a daily basis, or you can’t control the behavior. It’s all about how severe the disorder is. Trump’s disorder must be severe because we are still waiting for Trump to pivot and become more Presidential, but he just can’t control his behavior. While his antics seem comical on a daily basis, as President, things can get real bad real quick. That’s when the poor and middle class citizens have rights and benefits reduced or taken away, not to mention, sending our Armed Service personnel into harm’s way in an unnecessary war. By the way, we don’t know if Trump is physically fit either. Remember when he was slurring his speech? His doctor, Admiral Jackson, did not mention anything about doing an EEG, MRI or CT scan of the brain. I’m a doctor, and for someone who slurs their speech but doesn’t have dentures, doesn’t drink, and has perfect blood tests, not evaluating the brain comes close to malpractice.
Are you ‘woke’ yet? It’s not about Republican or Democrat, it’s not about political ideology, and it’s not about the haves and have nots. It’s about a severely flawed President, preserving democracy, and avoiding the clear and present danger Donald Trump poses to the world because he is a pathological liar, is narcissistic, is undisciplined, and has no empathy. If you don’t want to deal with anybody that fails my brief character test, why would you want to keep Trump around. Remember, you can do something. You’ll be up to bat in November 2018, and you can hit a homerun in 2020 if Trump can run for reelection. The goal is to elect any Democrat or Republican that is not Trump or Trump like. I’ve got to tell you, I’m leaning toward voting Democratic. Not because they are far better than the Republicans, but because except for slavery, The Democrats have championed the cause of women, minorities, poor people, and the LBGT community. Join me and be ‘woke’ in the voting booth. What’s it gonna be, money or people?
CUTE
Maybe we’ve got this all wrong. It is obvious that President Trump is a pathological liar, has low moral character, is poor Presidential material, is a womanizer, and has shady business dealings. All that was evident when he was running for President. As President, he has proven all of that to be true. In addition to his well documented actions, He is having an unexplained love affair with Russia’s President Putin. The anticipated pivot to being Presidential never happened. The question is, why are most of us willing to tolerate the chaotic actions of President Trump? The fault is ours, not Trump’s.
Here is my theory. Donald Trump is the problem child of the Republican “family”. Like most families, no matter how bad the problem child is, the family will either think their child is a little angel and something is wrong with everyone else, or they know their child is a little devil, but ignore the problem or feel powerless to stop the bad behavior. No one in their right mind thinks Donald Trump is a little angel. Since Republicans are ignoring the acts of a little devil… rather Satan Incarnate, they are operating with “Eyes Wide Shut”. The rest of us are the “next door neighbors” with “Eyes Wide Shut” . The neighbors just stay out of it until the things that the little devil do affects them like: 1. Trump sowing the seeds of divisiveness, 2. Incessant lying, 3. Insulting our allies and making them nervous because of his obvious knowledge handicap (STUPIDITY), 4. Threats that could lead to nuclear war, 5. Likely conflict of interest with Russian investments, loans, etc., 6. Paying hush money to a pornography star. 7. Trump firing a lot of the “best people” he hand picked while others have resigned like rats leaping off a sinking ship. Can you sense the coming storms? These are not minor infractions that are open to interpretation. These are everyday, in your face, extremely volatile actions that Trump seems to relish, and dares anybody to do anything about. They are also most certainly, acts unbecoming of a sitting President or any normal human being for that matter. So why isn’t there more pressure on Trump to do the right thing or leave?
If someone that obnoxious was visiting your home, you would ask them to leave. Republicans aren’t asking Trump to leave because they are selfishly trying to protect their jobs and money, instead of making National Security their priority. The rest of us are not pressing Trump to leave because our economy is good now and we are giving Trump the credit. When people have money, they complain less. The problem is, Trump didn’t make this economy. This economy was skillfully and artfully crafted by President Obama. U.S. GDP. Obama’s Economy Summary . The following chart shows economic growth that covers Presidents Bush and Obama’s terms in office:
STEADY GROWTH AFTER OBAMA’S 1ST YEAR IN OFFICE
Some of you may need a short explanation of the charts. The first linked chart shows the percent change of GDP growth by year. Simply stated, was there positive or negative growth in each year and by what percent. The second linked chart is Obama specific and covers his entire term as President. The second chart focuses on GDP, Debt, and Unemployment. The chart above shows that in 2009, President Obama took over a declining economy (The Recession), from Republican President George Bush. Every year after 2009, there was positive growth through 2017, the year Trump took over as President. Bottom line, Obama inherited a bad economy and made it better, but Trump inherited a good economy and is making it worse.
Lately, because of some bonehead moves by Trump (ie, tariffs on steel, aluminum, and China), the stock market has some major losses and has become erratic. What we have chosen is money over our National Security, ethics, and morals. When money becomes more important than people, we all lose. But it’s not too late. We have the power to vote for positive change. The future is in our hands and not the politicians. So before the Grim Reaper comes to collect, we need to let President Trump know in terms he can understand, “YOU’RE FIRED”!!!! In your heart you know I’m right!!!!
NOT SO CUTE
This was supposed to be my first Blog after returning to WordPress, but the shootings at a Parkland, FL high school was more important. Here is a link to that Blog. Let’s continue to work for reasonable gun control legislation and a ban on assault weapons.
Now, about President Trump. I’m going to try and be as brief as possible. During President Obama’s term, Republicans deliberately did everything they could to interfere with President Obama’s legislation and success (click this link). As a result, there was an escalation of political chaos and gridlock. There were more Republican filibusters than in the entire history of our government, the Republicans shut down the government twice, and got U.S. credit downgraded. The American people simply got fed up with government. Instead of blaming the Republicans who instigated this political chaotic mess, the blame was placed on the Democrats. This didn’t make sense because all indicators showed a significant improvement over the metrics that the Republicans handed Obama. Here is a video link outlining President Obama’s accomplishments.
American voters, now fed up and blinded with rage, chose to abandon traditional politicians and try someone with no history of serving as a politician. They had to choose between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. Hillary lossed by default, she was a politician. She also shot herself in the foot a few times: 1. She stated she would get rid of coal jobs 2. Had an infamous “What difference does it make” Bengazi comment 3. she didn’t campaign in Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin 4. She made poor decisions about emails. The voters ultimately chose Trump, but in doing so, ignored obvious warning signs: 1. He launched his campaign with racist remarks against Mexicans 2. He uses profanity in public 3. He makes insane statements like “he could shoot someone in Time Square and not lose votes” 4. “John McCain is a loser, he got caught” 5. He brags about sexual assaulting women with impunity. 6. He went bankrupt 4 times, one was a Casino. How do you bankrupt a Casino? Both Hillary and Trump were poor candidates for President because of their baggage, but in a case like that, people should always choose the lesser of the two evils. It should be obvious to most, that we chose wrong!!!! Donald Trump is President. Hillary was careless and that allowed Russia to exploit her. Trump entertained Russians secretly in the Oval Office. We only found out because Russia published it. Which is worse?
After just over a year of the Trump Presidency, it’s baffling why he has any support at all. Trump is spawning rapid fire chaos at a rate too numerous to count. Here are the high points: 1. His many lies can easily be highlighted with soundbites and video 2. Many of his handpicked staff who “are the best at what they do”, have no experience at what they are asked to do 3. Many appointees (34%) have been fired by Trump, are under criminal investigation, are wasting government money, or simply quit 4. Many leave because of Russian connections 5. Trump minimizes the importance of the intelligence community, Hispanic Judges, and the news media 6. Trump gives every country grief except Russia, and Russia hacked U.S. political and infrastructure systems. Yet, Trump has not taken a definitive stand against these actions. My take on Trump and Russia involvement will follow in another Blog. 7. He changes his mind sometimes hours after he makes a public statement (examples: “I’ll sign any bipartisan DACA legislation”. The next day he didn’t sign. Also, he led people to believe he wanted to raise the age to buy assault weapons. His official plan did not include a provision for this point). 8. Finally, he is named as a Defendant in a legal case that involves a pornography star.
I realize some of you will support Trump no matter what he does or says, but for those of you who are concerned about Trump’s inability to try and unite our country, please pay attention and do more searching for the truth on your own. Don’t rely on FOX, MSNBC, CNN, NBC, CBS, or ABC. There is unbiased information at Politifact, Factcheck.org, and (any Federal Government site).gov
VOICE OF REASON 
5 Year Old Republicans
Since Republicans seem to ignore facts, numbers, and reality, I’m going to explain to America the 5 main reasons Republicans are wrong for America. I will then give examples in terms a 5 year old … errrr … a Republican can understand. Don’t forget to click on the YouTube links.
REMEMBER THIS? LET’S DO IT AGAIN!!!!