One of the recurring questions on presidential polls asks respondents for their perceptions of economic performance.
Although Kamala has bested Trump in a couple of recent polls, it has really rankled me that so few Americans have recognized and/or appreciated either the damage Trump did to the economy or the Biden administration’s incredibly successful management of it–management that financial markets and economists acknowledge was masterful, and brought the U.S. out of the pandemic downturn faster (and better) than any other country.
Knowledgable observers compare Biden’s performance to that of FDR. He will go down in history as one of America’s most consequential Presidents. In my humble opinion, the lack of popular recognition of his performance is attributable to his relative lack of oratorical skills–if Biden had the oratorical gifts of an Obama, perhaps a general public fixated on celebrity, salesmanship and hype (and too lazy to consult evidence and data) would have appreciated the extent of his administration’s accomplishments.
The Democratic convention got underway Monday, and in his speech, Biden justifiably reminded listeners of his “greatest hits.” In a column about the convention and the speech, Jennifer Rubin focused on Biden’s economic and foreign policy performance, noting the historic pieces of legislation Biden managed to pass even when the House of Representatives was in the hands of a partisan–and looney– GOP: measures on infrastructure, microchip manufacturing, and green energy investment. Cost controls on insulin and a variety of prescription drugs for Medicare patients. A massive operation to immunize Americans against the coronavirus, despite what Rubin called–accurately– “irrational and destructive” Republican opposition. That operation saved thousands of lives in addition to allowing the U.S. economy to recover.
These domestic successes accompanied equally impressive foreign policy accomplishments: “repairing and expanding NATO, arming Ukraine, reestablishing the United States’ credibility on the international stage, new and reinvigorated alliances to check China’s power).”
Kamala Harris has been part of the Biden administration, and can be expected to continue the policy approaches that have been so successful. There will be some “tweaks,” but she has administration “bragging rights.” She is running on four years of demonstrated, excellent performance.
So, you might ask, what are Donald Trump’s “bragging rights?” My sister recently listed them, and seeing them all in one list was–shall we say–edifying:
First President in history to serve a full term and increase the deficit every year he was in office.
First President in history to maintain a debt to GDP ratio over 100% for his entire term
Highest annual budget deficit.
Most added to the national debt in a single term.
Most new unemployment claims.
Largest single day point drop in the history of the Dow.
First President in almost a century to lose jobs in his first term.
Longest government shutdown in history (and he did that while his own party controlled both chambers of Congress).
In addition to that dismal economic performance, Trump was also the first President to lose the popular vote twice, the first to maintain a net negative approval rating for his entire term, first to be impeached twice (with bipartisan support for his conviction after both impeachments) and, as we know, the President with the most indictments, guilty pleas, and criminal convictions of members of an administration.
The first to be a convicted felon.
The only people who cheered Trump’s economic policies were the super-rich, who benefitted from his tax cuts–cuts that placed the tax burden squarely on the middle class, and further enriched the wealthiest Americans.
You know what to do. VOTE BLUE.
Listen to the nuns….
People are too engrossed in trying to put food on the table as they meet the price gouging of imported, poor quality foods which is now evident in canned goods and showing up in our better restaurants in the quality of the foods they serve. Is anyone testing for food value in the foods available to us in all markets? Health problems have escalated in most families; the Pandemic after-effects, the chaotic condition of the government and this frightening presidential campaign are taking a physical toll on the majority of Americans.
In a local news broadcast a few day ago the report of replacing the many decades old cast iron sewer pipes in one area had a large sign posted that the work was being accomplished due to President Biden’s Infrastructure Bill. We definitely need to see more of these reminders before we vote on November 5th.
Love the parody!
Lets also remember the Biden people skillfully managed the oil markets. By skillfully selling oil reserves when prices went high and refilling the reserves after prices went back down they did two important things. 1. They stabilized the oil markets.
2. They Made BILLIONS in profits for the US Government. The Trumpers are way to stupid to pull that one off. Give the Democrats credit please.
Biden deserved better than his party gave him. Unlike Trump, he showed up for work on day one, didn’t spend his days bumbling in front of tv cameras talking about the “response” to Covid. Biden worked like a journeyman; he understood his mission and put in the work to achieve it. Kamala has energized the party and she gets my vote, but she has big shoes to fill.
JoAnn is spot on about the cost of food. In my job as grocery store cashier, I’m constantly on the receiving end of complaints—not aimed at me—about how expensive groceries are, and to the average Joe, high food prices = poor economy, regardless of whatever data you present otherwise. (I was somewhat dismayed yesterday when I bought a package of sausage made by a local producer and found it a dollar more and a quarter in size less.) I know and can point out that many conditions like droughts are avian flu (that’s now transmissible to cattle, oh happy day) are factors, but a huge factor is the obscene price gouging on the part of producers and retailers. Hopefully the Harris/Walz administration will be able to address that.
infrastructure ,road construction,reconditioning, improvements, better aspalt.
yep, and the work is on bids, federal/state. and federal and state. were in a mini boom. there was more work when Obama was in control of the congress. but, trumps dump we saw more cut throat bidding and some of the larger const companies here in NoDak take a hit from a outside investor owned companies like CSI,in minn…though i will say, the type of asphalt is a higher quality and the work is speced to a better grade.
According to,the wall street press, forbes etc,there were 700 or so billionaires in early 2023, now we have 850. yea,too bad the money went to the upper hoard and not into the local economy,like main street..
more hoard,less gravy.. Shawn fain had a t shirt that didnt make many news ops at the DNC,,, it said trump is a scab….laughed my ass off. its getting framed and hung on my shop wall… dept of commerce?labor? yea…
There seems to be two different economic systems at work in the country these days. Only one, the wealthy one, is reported on by the media. The other system, sans stock market profits, corporate pay, second homes, luxury cars and lavish vacations, continues to sink amid the sea of gauging by retailers.
I’m happy that so many are doing so spectacularly. Too bad those folks and their leaders don’t turn around and have to face the people who have been left behind.
How about Economic Performance in education with the booming voucher system draining our Public Education Budget system. One Catholic school here in Indianapolis, the vast majority of students have vouchers; that is Catholic and non-catholic alike. Religious classes are required for all students (brainwashing?); parents are making the education decisions for their children (the parents do NOT receive the voucher money, it goes directly to the school in the child’s name). Can we compare this to the integration when white students didn’t want black students in their schools and many of the black students did not want to be where they weren’t wanted. All of this effected the scholastic outcome at test time and when reporting statistics of any, if there are any, benefits of the voucher students attending. If the voucher student leaves the school for any reason, the money in their name remains with the school till the end of the school year. If the student moves to another school, if religious by choice, there is no economic help just as there is less economic help available if they attend a public school.
What is the psychological, emotional effect on the students who are reportedly NOT receiving higher quality education no matter where they attend. Just a few days into the school year at the Catholic school I am familiar with and, all evidence points to a 7th grader who defecated on the floor. Too old for an “accident” and a symptom of an obvious emotional problem at some level. Sick children, including Covid, are sent to school to spread disease. The Economic Performance we are currently subjected to is effecting our lives at all levels as we watch the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer and students in public and private school systems are not getting a quality education. Our future leaders are deliberately being dumbed-down by the overall “Economic Performance” around them, including the poor food quality available.
A few words from one of the songs in Muhammad Ali’s movie, “The Greatest” still rings in my ears:
“I believe the children are our future,
teach them well and let them lead the way.
Show them all the beauty they have inside,
give them a sense of pride.”
The children today are more than ever before learning more about life today from within their homes; parroting what their parents are watching on TV, conversations and opinions spouted are taken with the children into their world away from home. What does defecating on the school floor tell you about one student’s home-schooling before they go to school to spend their days? These issues are reported in statistics; nor are class disruptions by problem students.
“The only people who cheered Trump’s economic policies were the super-rich, who benefitted from his tax cuts–cuts that placed the tax burden squarely on the middle class, and further enriched the wealthiest Americans.”
There are now more billionaires and they are now far richer; the children in homes at all economic levels are aware of the differences in their economic status and it does appear that the rich have the right idea. Money can’t buy love but it can buy everything else, including our government leaders.
Please do not relax your vigil on this presidential election because of all of the Democratic enthusiasm and the cheers. Enjoy it, join in, but keep Trump and his MAGAs in your political cross hairs.
Joe is not a performer, which is all that tfg is…at his best, all show and no substance.
Those who do not recognize Joe’s achievements at this point most probably never will, as it would require reading, and not the sports pages.
Nice of your sister to gather, and list, all of tfg’s high points in one place.
It’s unfair to compare Trump and Biden’s economic performance when we had a natural disaster like COVID-19. The market’s law of supply and demand ruled the world—literally! Those comparing gas prices in 2020 with today’s gas prices or food prices must provide the context of what was happening then versus now.
I get tired of correcting them on Facebook posts. I don’t see the same ignorant memes on X because it’s a more educated crowd. A meme is not fact.
Anyway, the actual word many describe in your economic analysis is EXTRACTION. Washington puppets are really good at extracting money from the US taxpayer and distributing it upward to oligarchy: the military-industrial complex, Big Pharma, Big Oil, etc.
Our economic system is still stuck on Friedman and Laffer’s theories of upward redistribution – “give to the wealthy, and they will create jobs and share the wealth with others.”
Today, we can see that is exactly what it is – extraction from the middle and bottom and giving to the oligarchs. When Reagan and Trump cut taxes on the wealthy, it meant less revenue for the budget, which was offset by debt. They were literally borrowing money internationally and giving the proceeds to wealthy oligarchs. Pretty slick, huh?
Biden did the same thing with all the money from the military-industrial complex, which added to the debt. All the money given to Ukraine and Israel is circulated in Washington and Wall Street. It’s called money laundering! Why do you think both parties agree to fund these causes?
You will not get the truth from the mainstream media because who benefits from advertisers’ and political campaigns’ largesse?
The really good journalists who discovered this during their reporting years were booted long ago or immediately. “It’s a business, kid; we are here to make money, not to share our conscience.”
Once the dust settles, Biden will be remembered as #GenocideJoe and the first American President to invade Russia since WW2, pushing us to the brink of WW3, which I would argue has already begun. Kamala needs to distance herself from Joe. The sooner, the better!
At least the smart leaders in Australia are starting to catch on and calling out the US’s plans for using AU to agitate/fight China. Who wants to be the next proxy like Ukraine? 😉
YES – For the past two years I’ve been telling my Dem friends that Biden needed to be publicly bragging about his accomplishments. Continuously pointing those out to the public would have drowned out the radical right’s lies or at least might have caused R voters to check them out for themselves.
Sheila – if your sister would have time to provide references for her list about Trump I would love to use that list to help R friends understand the danger he poses, but I would definitely need to be able to cite references to back up my claims. Thanks!
Our elections have become demonstrations of over the air marketing instead of serious governance debates.
That favors entertainers like Trump while Democrats are sticking to qualifying positions in the actual coming world.
I personally believe supporting the Constitution is a winning hand even in a marketing contest.
Time to reread Eric Hoffer’s “The True Believer.” Facts don’t matter to those who see trump as their savior.
Pete – if you don’t think the DNC convention is a staged “entertainment”….
Biden stepped up in 2020 to fight/stop the Maga movement toward economic and cultural domination. With his knowledge and longed lived belief in the idea of American Democracy he used all his strength, know-how and resources to settle the waters and right the direction of the ship. That tremendous, constant effort of the presidency took a toll on Biden’s health, and he was still willing to give more. Sometimes we ask too much of people and other Democrats recognized the toll on Biden and measured the stakes at this time in history. Like Biden said “America, I gave you my best”. I believe he agreed to step down only if Kamala Harris would be the presidential nominee. The smooth roll out of Kamala’s candidacy is evidence of another of Biden’s genius decisions. We’re fortunate that he’s still at the helm while the country fights to ward off the advances of trump’s evil empire!
Droughts *and* avian flu! I know they’re not the same! 😳
If we’re looking at parody songs that make us smile, you can’t go wrong with Randy Rainbow. My favourite is “Cheeto Christ Stupid-Czar”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gW2SEpWWqXM
“If Biden had the oratorical gifts of an Obama, perhaps a general public fixated on celebrity, salesmanship and hype (and too lazy to consult evidence and data) would have appreciated the extent of his administration’s accomplishments.”
So right, as usual, Sheila. Rubin set out the facts well too. It’s just so disappointing that the investments in and accomplishments of the Biden administration fail to capture the press which, too, is drawn to celebrity…..agh!