The Choice In 2024
Joe Biden inherited a nation in crisis from Trump. We had an out of control pandemic, 10 million Americans had lost their jobs, 12 million Americans lost insurance, 8 million Americans fell into poverty and the annual deficit increased from $585 billion to $3.1 trillion.
When Trump “left office, the murder rate was higher, drug overdose deaths had increased, and the abortion rate had gone up for the first time in decades. America was more bitterly divided, and deficits increased each year of his presidency. His early Covid lies helped fuel an immense amount of confusion and almost certainly cost American lives. And his entire sorry term was capped by a violent insurrection fueled by an avalanche of lies.” David French.
By many measures, we are much better off now than we were three years ago.
We have received a remarkable amount of good economic news in last few weeks:
— GDP increased 5.2% in the third quarter.
— The Dow hit an all time high.
— Wages are running above inflation in 2023.
— The Federal Reserve has indicated that that interest rate cuts are likely next year.
Simply stated, the U.S. has had the best post-COVID recovery in the first world group of countries.
“As 2023 comes to an end, it is increasingly clear that not only did the economy avoid a widely anticipated recession, but it was also a great year for the economy. Real GDP is on track to grow a heady 2.5%, unemployment has remained below 4%, and inflation has quickly receded.” Mark Zandi.
“Everything we know about what Americans are doing, as opposed to what they tell pollsters, suggests that on average they’re feeling pretty good about their own situation: Consumer spending is strong, new business formation is high, and so on.
But the fundamental puzzle isn’t that people are unhappy despite favorable macroeconomic indicators. It is that Americans say that things are terrible but behave as if they’re doing pretty well.” Paul Krugman.
Polling indicates that approximately 73% of the American people say their own financial situation is good or okay. In contrast, only 18% of Americans believe the national economy is doing well. When people say the economy is doing poorly, they must believe it’s other Americans who are not doing well. That’s what they keep hearing from the GOP and the mainstream press.
We have also received great news on the crime issue. The stereotype is that that the Republicans are the great crime fighters and the Democrats are soft on crime. The reality is that eight out of the ten states with the highest murder rates are red states. None of them are blue states.
“Crime in the United States has declined significantly over the last year, according to new FBI data. The data found that violent crime dropped 8%, while property crime fell 6.3% to what would be its lowest level since 1961.
“Murder plummeted in the United States in 2023 at one of the fastest rates of decline ever recorded, and every category of major crime except auto theft declined.” NBC News on December 16, 2023.
The Republicans like to argue that high crime is concentrated only in blue cities. Recent studies indicate this talking point is false.
“The 16 cities run by Democratic mayors had 12.3 murders for every 100,000 people. The three Republican-run cities — Jacksonville, Fort Worth and Oklahoma City — had a rate of 11.4. Whether a big city is run by Democrats or Republicans has little influence on its murder rate.” NY Times on August 31, 2023.
There are no guarantees we can maintain this progress if Trump is elected. Trump’s economic agenda would ruin the economy and bring back the dreaded stagflation of the 1970s.
The Trump platform consists of imposing a 10 percent tax or tariff on all foreign-made goods and extending and enacting trillions of dollars in deficit-financed tax cuts for the rich. Taken together, this constitutes a formula for a massive increase in U.S. consumer prices.
When you impose high tariffs or tariffs on all goods from every exporter, all Americans will pay much higher prices. Extending the failed 2017 Trump tax cuts would add a whopping $3.3 trillion to the national debt. Trump has proposed even more corporate tax cuts. The cost of all of Trump’s proposed tax cuts would be $4 trillion.
If the economy collapses during a Trump presidency, you will be prosecuted and arrested if you dissent. Donald Trump has promised to deploy the military to arrest protesters under the Insurrection Act. There are no checks on the president’s power under this law.
Trump has also promised to prosecute political opponents and journalists.
There wouldn’t be any real checks and balances in a second Trump presidency. The Republicans in Congress would just let Trump do what he wants to do. The current SCOTUS has a 6–3 GOP majority. Would they save the Constitution from Trump?
It’s America or Trump in 2024. Choose wisely.