Paul Revere by Cyrus Dallin, North End, Boston

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Wednesday, December 11, 2019

To the Trump trolls who come here to crow about the economy and their IRAs:




"...incumbent presidents almost always benefit from a strong economy, and right now job growth is robust and average hourly earnings are up — but Trump’s poll numbers are not: 

“Instead of enjoying anything close to overwhelming popularity because of the economy, Mr. Trump’s national approval rating has remained low, dropping about two percentage points to 41 percent since the Ukraine story broke.’’

 “Stock Markets Up Record Numbers,” Trump tweeted on Friday, adding, “It’s the economy, stupid.”

 Yes, it’s the economy, stupid — when you have a president who is not violating his oath to preserve and protect the Constitution. But if you read today’s poll numbers alongside the economy numbers, it turns out that more than a few Americans are saying, “It’s the Constitution, stupid — and unlike you, Mr. Trump, we value some things more than money.”

We care about having a president who does not lie 20 times a day. We care about having a president who does not demean his opponents and mock their physical appearance. We care about having a president who does not take the word of Russia’s president over that of his own intelligence services. We care about having a president who is not caught up in conspiracy theories, which he then makes everyone around him chase. We care about having a president who values our nonpartisan public servants. We care about having a president who wants to be the president of the whole country, not just his base. 

 And most of all, we care about having a president who takes seriously his oath to preserve and protect our Constitution. Without that, we will end up one day morally and financially bankrupt. How many Americans will still feel that way on Election Day remains to be seen and will also depend on the Democrats’ alternative. But for now, it’s good to know that it’s a significant number — that despite three years of Donald Trump’s presidency, the country still has a civic pulse."



Trump is at 41% approval. The economy is important, but honesty, decency, and the rule of law is, thankfully, more important to Americans.

SOURCE

30 comments:

Anonymous said...

We will see what's really important to voters in Nov. 2020. So you folks continue to do what you do best...wish and hope.

skudrunner said...

The economy is important to most people. After eight years of lackluster growth, no wadge increases, costly increase in regulations and scorn for success it is nice to see a robust economy for Everyone. The dems are preaching that the economy is only good for some, like the super rich, who are mostly democrats. The problem with that argument is a 3.5% unemployment rate and 2-3% wadge growth, facts are an ugly thing. If the front running democrats win the race we will be looking at a massive drop in jobs and production because companies, and their workers cannot prosper when everything is taxed to the max. This is something that those who have no business experience understand. Tariffs and taxes are not paid for by businesses but by the consumer.

The economy nd IRAs only matter to those who work. The super rich and the poor don't care.

Shaw Kenawe said...


skud,the American people expect a president to be honest, decent, and competent in addition to presiding over a good economy. Trump isn't honest, decent, or competent, so the good economy leaves a sour smell to Americans who know that a president can have admirable personal qualities AND deliver economic goodies to the American people.

Trump has demonstrated over and over that he cannot do that. To decent people, delivering a good economy is tainted when the POTUS is a corrupt malignant narcissist.

That's why he's polling in the low 40s. If the economy means so much to the average American, Trump's approval should be in the high 60s. It isn't because he's a disgrace to the office of the presidency and to America herself.

Facts are stubborn things.

anymouse said...

Fact -- manufacturing has been in a recession since 2017, even though the orange blob said he was going to 'bring back' all those jobs sent overseas. He hasn't and it's actually gotten much worse.
Fact - GDP today is lower than it was anytime during Obama's last 6 years.
Fact - Farm bankruptcies are at all time high, up 24% from last year. What's that I hear? "Trade wars are easy." Tell that to the farmer who is only surviving due to welfare in the form of a one time 'gift' from the orange blob.
Fact - The right always cheers for 'less regulation' but they skip over the fact that our air, our water and our soil are all more polluted today than they were when the blob took office. Not a smart trade, imo - our planet so some paint company can dump toxins and save a buck.
Fact - Every major economist is saying there is a recession on the way. Might hit next year, maybe the year after but Skidmark and his fellow right wing nutcases are going to have to change out of their cheer leading outfits and into bio hazard suits if this keeps up.
Oh wait, great minds on the right don't actually believe in man made climate change. That would piss off their oil and gas company sugar daddies.
Total and utter fools.

Dave Miller said...

Here are the questions the GOP, and their supporters, like the Mother Ship crew, should answer. To their friends or at least, to themselves.

1. Is it a crime, or bad for the US, for a president to invite a foreign government to involve themselves in our elections?

2. If it is a crime, what should the punishment be?

3. Does Congress have a right to investigate a president for purposes of investigation?

4. If Congress has that right, is it obstruction of Congress, or justice, if a president being investigated refuses to respond and blocks witnesses from appearing or providing potentially useful documents?

You see, no one will address those questions directly. Instead, they attack the process, and offer no fact rebuttal. Which leads to a final question... If there has been no crime, why not just produce the defense witnesses and the documents that prove that?

I'll sit silently while the crickets chirp.

BTW... thanks Skud for your comments elsewhere today. As folks were talking about a lack of comments and discussion, you mentioned it's hard to have a discussion when everyone agrees. At least here, you can disagree, and if presented in a cogent, thoughtful way, enter into the discussion. Not there. Not at all...

bluzdude said...

The economy isn't really that good, not for the average working person. Unless you have significant investments in the stock market, wages are stagnant and we're paying the price of his tariffs.

The economy is only good for those at the top.

skudrunner said...

Ms Shaw, and if the public cared about the impeachment "hearings" his numbers would be in the low 20's. I read that 13 million people have tuned into any of the "hearings" so most people don't care. I am sure the GOP wishes he wasn't their candidate and the DNC wishes they didn't start the impeachment movement three years ago. The leftist media is foaming at the mouth about the impeachment as are a lot of the democrat elected elite. Most people don't really care and haven't changed their minds on their feelings either positive or negative.
No one, not even the swell guy, could survive an investigation as intense as has been launched against the current president. I do believe if the democrats come up with a sane candidate they will win but so far that has not happened.

Senior Artist, toonarts studios said...

Then there's that other fact....Last time we had a Repub president, he, quite literally, crashed the economy. The ONLY reason we have a decent economy now, is 8 years of skilled, brillant guidance from a black man named Obama.

Did you forget about that part? You %#$@#÷÷ people usually do....

Shaw Kenawe said...

skud, do you remember the BENGHAZI! investigations into Hillary? How many were there? How many hours did Hillary get grilled by the GOP committees investigating? And she survived with no indictments, charges, and a complete vindication of any wrongdoing by the Republican committee chairman himself, Trey Gowdy. So to answer your question, Hillary survived.

I'll ask you a question: If a Democratic POTUS with as little regard for the Constitution as Trump is elected in the future and asks, say China to help him or her get re-elected, would you be okay with that and tell the GOP to IX-nay on the impeachment issue because it's No Big Deal when a president breaks the law?

You keep describing the impeachment as a simply partisan deal, implying that Trump did nothing wrong when he asked the Ukrainian president to get dirt on his political opponent.

So, If a Dem does it in the future, I assume you'll remain silent in the face of this sort of lawlessness, and let the Dem, with the help of say, China, get away with it.

You're good with that?

Anonymous said...

I must say the "economy" is not very good for this little possum. I have $2,000 less in my pocket this year thanks to the new tax laws. For someone of my modest middle class means, that is a not an insignificant amount. And, our small, across the board wage increase was wiped out by a large increase in my organization's health insurance premiums.

Possumlady

Shaw Kenawe said...

bluzdude,

BlueBull
above bolstered your comment with facts. Something the Goopers are allergic to.

Shaw Kenawe said...

Dave, I keep asking our friend, skud, those questions and keeps not answering them.

It the GOP fan believe this impeachment is nothing more than harassment of Trump, will they ignore a Democratic POTUS if he or she asks China to help him or her get re-elected?

No one will answer that.

BTW, it is a clear violation of Trump's oath of office and what the founding fathers feared most.

I'm sorry to say that today's GOP is okay with a president committing crimes in office so long as it's THEIR president.

That's what this is about.

Trump has totally ocrrupted the Republican Party, as we predicted he would. What did anyone expect of a man who's cheated, lied, and committed fraud all his life?

Shaw Kenawe said...

Sorry for all the typos, my eye is still on the mend.

Shaw Kenawe said...

"I must say the "economy" is not very good for this little possum. I have $2,000 less in my pocket this year thanks to the new tax laws. For someone of my modest middle class means, that is a not an insignificant amount. And, our small, across the board wage increase was wiped out by a large increase in my organization's health insurance premiums.

Possumlady"

POSSUMLADY, I wish our friend skud would read this. He comes here almost every day to tell us how awful President Obama was to the middle class. I, too, am a middle class widow who is barely keeping up. I got nuthin' from Trump's supposed largess to the middle class.

I was way better off when Mr. Obama was the POTUS! FACT!

Dave Miller said...

Whitewater, Benghazi, Monica...

Nope, a Dem has never faced a "an investigation as intense as has been launched against the current president."

Skud really? Do you really believe that?

The Whitewater investigations into the Clintons lasted from 1994 to 2002, continuing after he left office.

The Benghazi incident had 10 separate investigations by various House and Senate Committees and caused to the GOP led House to change to rules of investigation to what the Dems used in the impeachment hearings.

President Clinton was impeached and tried, and acquitted for lying under oath in regards to Monica Lewinsky. Although I don't know how he was acquitted, he was clearly guilty. And even some Dems joined in and agreed.

Short memory?

skudrunner said...

Oh I read it. Like most of the media they comment without any facts. You were better off with the swell guy as were a lot of people but so many more are better off with the new administration. Now they have jobs and wadge increases and don't get fined if they choose to not enroll in obamacare. Businesses are not burdened with more ridiculous regulations although there are still to many. Not being a special interest president does not bode well for many.

Dave Miller said...

Well Skud, I agree with you. Unemployment is down across the board under Pres Trump. That may not be his doing, but our systems is this... the Pres gets the credit, and the blame. So kudos to him. Wage growth has finally started to inch up. It is true that regulations are being removed, but it too early to see a net effect on wages and continued job growth.

You are also right in that people will not be fined for not having health care. But they will have costs and there will be health bankruptcies once again. And you and I, along with Shaw and everyone at the Mothership will pay larger deductibles and more taxes to cover the uninsured.

Because they will be getting care, at higher costs.

Your special interest quote is interesting. Are business owners a special interest group? How about farmers hurt by tariffs? Are millionaires a special interest group? What about coal miners? Are they?

You act as if President Obama is the only president who has ever tried to look out for specific groups of people. Are you really just upset that he was not looking out for you?

Seriously, why do you care who a president helps? As a conservative/libertarian, just go about your business, live your life and be a good person. Live and let live.

But please, don't you ever dare to ask the federal government to help you in your pursuit of life, liberty, happiness and domestic tranquility.

Anonymous said...

"You were better off with the swell guy as were a lot of people but so many more are better off with the new administration."

Skud, can you quantify that?

Possumlady

skudrunner said...

PL, You said you were better off with the swell guy than trump so those are your words. A historic number of minorities have jobs and wages are on the increase. The tax decrease helped millions just maybe not you. I am a firm supporter of going to The Fair Tax because that takes the power to punish away from the corrupt elite.

Rev, Not an libertarian nor am I a republican, I am a fiscal conservative. Obamacare changed the healthcare world for everyone. You could no longer get a high deductible catastrophic policy because all had to cover the 50 year old male who was pregnant. Individual rights are now government mandated rights. You take away one persons right to give to another.

Anonymous said...

Possumlady, if you're losing money in this economy you've got to be doing something wrong.

Anonymous said...

"Possumlady, if you're losing money in this economy you've got to be doing something wrong."

Sure, I could have a whole lot more money if I follow the trump model of stiffing vendors and contractors and don't pay my taxes, but I PAY all my bills and follow the rules. Something trump supporters obviously don't do.

Possumlady

anymouse said...

Standing ovation for Possumlady! Well said.

skudrunner said...

PL
By your comment I will have to assume you are in the over 306,175 income range because that is where you would pay more. It hurts to have to pay more in taxes no matter how much you make. I don't mind paying my Fair share and I think everyone should the problem is when someone pays nothing it puts the burden on the higher rate taxpayers like you.

2018 Tax Brackets 2019 Tax Brackets

10% Up to $9,525 Up to 9,700
12% $9,526 to $38,700 9701-39475
22% $38,701 to $82,500 39476-84200
24% $82,501 to $157,500 84201-160725
32% $157,501 to $200,000 160726-204100
35% $200,001 to $500,000 204101-306175
37% Over $500,000 Over 306176

Anonymous said...

Hardly. I’m in the 22% bracket as is pretty much all my coworkers who also got screwed. You must have missed all the daily national news reports on people getting screwed not getting their usual refunds and instead having to owe 100s if not thousands to the IRS.

Possumlady

possumlady said...

Here’s a better explanation...

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/the-tax-bill-is-one-year-old-here-are-the-winners-and-losers/

Losers: Taxpayers in high-tax states

In some cases, taxpayers will end up owing more next April, especially those who live in high-tax states. That's because the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) caps the state and local tax (SALT) deduction at $10,000.

Hey look, my avatar is back!

Shaw Kenawe said...

Possumlady "Hardly. I’m in the 22% bracket as is pretty much all my coworkers who also got screwed. You must have missed all the daily national news reports on people getting screwed not getting their usual refunds and instead having to owe 100s if not thousands to the IRS."

Don't confuse skud with facts. When he reads your comments he'll be back to blame President Obama and Hillary.

skudrunner said...

22% is 22% and it extends to a higher income so it was a middle class tax cut. Now you add that you pay more because your state is overtaxing you and that makes sense but you blame the administration instead of your state and local politicians. Why should the millions of taxpayers who live in reasonably taxed areas pay for those who choose to live in overtaxed areas.

Only the poor get a refund the remainder get back their over payment. If it is a large "refund" you are after loan the government more interest free money so they can return it to you.

BTW Ms Shaw, those are facts and it seems you are being cynical which I am sure cannot be true.

possumlady said...

I blame the administration and the Republicans because of the passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA).

possumlady said...

Honestly, why would I blame my state where for the past 21 years that I’ve owned my house, I’ve gotten a great refund. But as soon as the Republicans and trump sign the TCJA, I no longer get a refund and have to pay the IRS. That makes no sense.

skudrunner said...

PL, Are those high tax states governed by republicans or democrats. I believe Calif, NY, NJ, MA, IL, MI, OR, WA are all governed by democrats and are high tax states. If you live in one of those states maybe you consider what you get for your taxes even though it is easier to blame the republicans for actually lowering taxes for the middle class.
I favor a Fair Tax where there are no deductions for anything including RE taxes and Charities. By doing that Everyone would pay their Fair Share which is a democrat theme. They don't want everyone to pair their fair share they just want to bilk the rich.

I do feel for you in paying more taxes because of TCJA. I lost a lot of business deductions that made me pay more in taxes but I don't think it fair to have other people pay for my business expenses which is what they were doing. Guess we just have a different take on financial responsibility.