The Economy Is Good!

by Errington C. Thompson, MD –

Some people in the mainstream media are trying to rain on President Joe Biden’s parade.

They are saying that the economy is no good. They are saying that Joe Biden is in trouble. Some are even saying that the economy would be better under Donald Trump.

I can only laugh.

One of the benefits of being old—yes, I am old—is that you gain some perspective along with the gray hairs. With little difficulty, I can remember the years from 2016 to 2020.

Donald Trump did not have an economic policy. He started a trade war with China, and I remember how this hurt American farmers and manufacturers. China didn’t pay the tariffs he imposed: they passed the costs along, and we paid, at the retail store.

Donald Trump also had tax cuts for the rich. Those tax cuts were very beneficial if you were rich. Millions and millions of dollars’ worth of benefits. Most of us got nothing because most of us are not rich. Oh, and I think that it must be said again, trickle-down economics (believing that tax cuts for the rich benefits everyone) doesn’t help the economy.

Maybe I missed something, but as I remember, that is the whole of Donald Trump’s economic policy over his four-year presidency.

The Real Economy Today is Good

The recent economic data has been excellent. Gross domestic product is up. The economy grew at a rate of 3.3% year over year. This is extremely robust. At the same time, we must remember that a year ago, many “very smart people” told us that the sky was falling.

That’s what virtually every economic pundit in the country was saying: that inflation would eat us all like a giant sea monster from Greek mythology, and then a slowdown would plunge us into the poverty of a recession. Remember how media and TV pundits all said a recession was inevitable? “The chance of a recession in 2023-2024 is . . . 100%!”

Yet, somehow, we have skillfully gotten inflation under control. Last year, at this time, the annual inflation rate was 6.4%. Now, our annual inflation rate is 3.35%. Is it perfect? No, it is not. But it is heading in the right direction. Also, the employment rate has held steady at 3.7%—the first time that’s happened in 60 years.

Meanwhile, a year ago, the Fed began slowly and surely raising interest rates in hopes of finding that mythical beast, “a soft landing.” And everyone said it would not, could not, happen. Had never happened. Well, guess what, folks? It happened.

The US economy added 353,000 jobs in January. Inflation is still down. Wages are still up, and at a higher rate than price hikes. And Joe Biden’s economy has landed, softly.

Folks, this is all GREAT news. Real wages have been on a steady increase since early 2022. Americans, real average Americans, are putting more money into their pockets.

Trump Continues to Lose

E Jean Carroll took Donald Trump to court once again. She won an earlier case in which she claimed that Trump had sexually assaulted her. The jury in that case agreed that Trump had sexually assaulted her and that he had defamed her, using the Oval Office to call her every name in the book, starting with “liar”. And they awarded her $5 million for the libel.

Shortly after losing that case, Donald Trump began his assault again. This time it was a verbal assault. We are all familiar with his sharp, childish rhetoric. Figuring she’d just won one court case against Donald Trump, she decided to take Donald Trump to court again, this time for continuing the verbal assaults. She again sued Trump, claiming more defamation.

Once again, she was victorious. Only this time E. Jean Carroll’s lawyers asked the jury to determine how much it would take to force Donald Trump, as a confirmed recidivist, to shut up. And they came up with an answer: Donald Trump was ordered to pay E. Jean Carroll an additional $83 million for his reckless defamation and unstoppable, petulant mouth.

I remember when parents would warn a child, “If you say that again, I’ll wash your mouth out with soap.” And if you did, they did. Well, clearly it’ll take a lot of Ivory to wash out Donald Trump’s mouth.

Rather than rejoice over Donald Trump’s misfortune, I would rather rejoice over E Jean Carroll and her strength, tenacity, and courage. Think about it just for a second. There have been other people who have taken on Trump and have gotten run over. Rosie O’Donnell comes to mind. Honestly, I don’t know what happened in the feud between Donald Trump and Rosie O’Donnell. I don’t want to know. I’m happy for Ms. Carroll, and that Trump is a loser, literally.

Gaza

The war in Gaza continues to grind on. There is some discussion of a new cease-fire being discussed. You and I are relatively bright people. Could somebody please explain to us what the strategic goal in Gaza is? Is the goal to level the whole province? If so, should we just stand by and let one of our closest allies, Israel, commit what appears to be genocide? When does the shooting stop?

In every conflict, there should be a goal, and there should be an objective. As I mentioned several months ago, Benjamin Netanyahu stated that the goal was to eliminate Hamas. I don’t think that is a realistic goal. So, as a surrogate for wiping Hamas off the map, are the Israelis trying to annihilate Gaza?

I find this whole war extremely difficult. It’s difficult to watch. It’s difficult to read about. This seems to be much different than any war I paid attention to in the last 40 years.

On the one hand, we have Israel. This is a country that I admire. This is one of our strategic allies. On the other side, I see the Palestinian people. I have no quarrel with the Palestinian people. But I see them as an oppressed underdog. Then, I see Hamas, a terrorist group, living among them. I also see Iran funneling money, weapons, and military advice to Hamas.

We, the United States of America, support Israel as we have done since it was carved out of the Middle East desert at the end of World War II. Have we entered a state of perpetual war? Is the two-state solution genuinely dead?

I’m sorry, I don’t have any answers. I wish I did. Unfortunately, I don’t think that anybody does at this point. I don’t envy President Biden, but I’m glad he is president. He has over 40 years of foreign policy experience to draw on, with Israel, and with diplomacy, and with the realities of what’s possible. I’m glad his steady hand is at the helm.

Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift may not be the most famous music artist on the planet, but she is in the top five. It doesn’t matter whether or not you like her music; you have to acknowledge that she is a phenomenon. She has figured out a way to connect with her audience in a way few artists can or have done in the past 50 years.

For some reason, the right-wing noise machine has decided to take on Taylor Swift. This is kind of like a miniature poodle taking on a full-grown lioness. That poodle does not have a chance. I look for Ms. Swift to mobilize millions of young voters, which will be GREAT news for the Democrats.

Polling

I wonder why pollsters were polling Americans early last year about the presidential election. Most Americans didn’t care about the election at that time. A New York Times poll “revealed” that Blacks, women, and young voters were “running away” from Biden. Many follow-up articles discussed the huge problem that Uncle Joe and the Democrats were having. Uncle Joe was in “deep trouble.”

Uncle Joe has been through some things. Because of this, he does not panic. And times change: as the realities of our excellent economy sink in, and the danger of Trump returning to power are highlighted, the polls reflect that change.

For example, a January 2024 Quinnipiac Poll states President Biden leads Trump in a head-to-head matchup 50 – 44. This is over that magic 50% number. I’m not sure how real any of these numbers are. After all, it’s still 10 months till the election: more can change, and more will change. But they are heading in the right direction.

One key to victory would be a clear message that all progressives can rally around. Personal freedom. An American citizen should have the constitutional right to control their own body. No spouse; no city; no state should have the right to tell a man he must have a vasectomy. No state has the right to tell a woman she must NOT have an abortion under any circumstances.

One thing that won’t change is that Democrats need to turn out their base to win. It is that simple. If the Democrats get a huge turnout, Trump loses his second presidential race. Done.

If we put Joe Biden back in the White House, we could probably close the book on Donald Trump once and for all. Now, that should give all of us something to smile about.

NOTE: The views and opinions expressed here, as well as assertions of facts, are those of the author. They do not necessarily represent the views or opinions of The Urban News.