Oct. 4, 2019:
- The jobless rate for Hispanics hit a record low of 3.9% in September, while African Americans maintained its lowest rate ever, 5.5%.
The unemployment numbers are better under Biden. The stock market peaked higher under Biden. And, wage growth, both average and peak, was higher under Biden than under Trump.
His State of the Union address put to bed the age issue. He was energetic, positive."
It's always interesting to see when reality bursts the GOP's little bubble, even if it's just for a short while. Right-wing media can spin their narratives, create the boogeymen, and indoctrinate that audience. Events like the State of the Union completely shatter that image.
For months now, Fox News has been pushing this narrative that Biden can barely function or be coherent, but then on Thursday last week, he came out swinging, making the GOP look incredibly weak on any policy stance because, well, they don't really have any.
We can already see how, in the last few days, right-wing media has been cooking up conspiracy theories (Biden taking drugs, cocaine, speed, etc), trying to explain why he suddenly seems like the opposite of what they've been saying. There are even people in this thread saying it, too.
Meanwhile, the other guy is chilling at his shite resort, on the brink of going broke, and probably snorting Adderall while having a meltdown on social media as his world crumbles around him.
Seriously? That senile aggressive campaign-like rant? Is Ukraine and right to kill fetuses (and unborn babies) really the most important issue for State of the Union? Last I checked Ukraine wasn't in the Union. Or size of the Snickers bar?
Abortion access was on the ballot in numerous states during both the 2022 elections and also special elections in 2023. The GOP has been getting lost in these special elections, and abortion is one of the main reasons why they are losing. Even Ohio, which is Trump land, approved a constitutional amendment that guarantees a state constitutional right to make and follow through with one's own choices regarding reproduction. That includes decisions about abortion, contraception, fertility treatment, miscarriage care, continuing pregnancy, etc. Refer to Ohio Issue 1 for more details.
And more abortion-related ballot measures/referendums are expected to be on the ballot this November as well (in Maryland, New York, etc).
After the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling was overturned, which was in place for 50 years as the supreme law of the land, you can sure bet that abortion is certainly in the top 5 of important issues for voters. The election cycles over the past two years point to it if you've been following it.
And no, Ukraine is not a member of the Union, but their country is currently confronting imperialistic aggression from barbaric authoritarian forces. The US is still a superpower and leader of the free world. I think we have a responsibility to ensure that oppressive dictatorships understand they will face consequences for their actions.
Meanwhile, Trump has gone on record to say that he's okay with letting Russia 'do whatever the hell they want' to our allies in Europe. What an absolute disgraceful thing to say.
see ever-increasing debt further fueling inflation
Inflation rates have been going down, though—from 9% to 3.1%. The US was among the few countries that managed to navigate the wave of inflation better than others.
As I said before, it's a miracle we stopped inflation without a recession, and no one seems to care or notice.
I'm a proponent of Keynesian economics, so grievances and whining over government spending don't do much for me, I'm afraid. I've come to the conclusion that the 'fiscal responsibility' motto serves as deceptive political campaign rhetoric because that same side will also increase the debt when they're in office, even more so.
bonanza for the military-industrial complex
I keep hearing this argument, but I haven't seen evidence to support it. The military-industrial complex has barely intervened in the Ukrainian war. If anything, I hope the conflict in Ukraine puts at least a damper on the silly idea that the military-industrial complex controls everything, including the media. If it did, we'd already be air-dropping armored vehicles over Kyiv and spinning up new factories to build weapons like it's a game of Hearts of Iron or Age of Empires by now. Our aid for Ukraine in weapons and equipment has been so half-assed and weak.
They may be warmongering abroad, but the real war against the American middle class is happening at home, and the middle class ain't winning.
I'm pretty sure one of the main reasons why the middle class keeps shrinking is because you have policy decisions that are mostly coming from the GOP side, which favors the wealthy and corporations at the expense of working-class and middle-class people. I'm talking about tax policies, deregulation, and labor protection laws that are eroding unions. It all began with Reagan with 'the big takeover.' Globalization is also another problem where we see lots of jobs being outsourced.
Your culture wars have little to do with the actual erosion of the middle class, in my opinion. Although you do have a point (I think this is what you are saying?) about how the wealthy elites like to divide and keep lower-class people fighting with one another by exploiting differences such as race, religion, ethnicity, national backgrounds, sexuality, social status, gender, education, jobs, in attempt to hide the fact they are real culprits when it comes to economic inequality. What they really steer clear of is acknowledging the role of socioeconomic class. That would be a big problem for them. Those Occupy Wall Street protests had them shitting bricks for a moment, though.
It's perverted system, oligarchic socialism is probably the closest description
It's still a democracy, although not a very good one at the moment. Democracy doesn't work well when the population is lagging behind in education.
Historians and economists make better arguments for describing the US as a Plutocracy—simply meaning society is governed by the wealthy. All you have to do is look at our politicians' disclosure forms, and you'll see that many of them have backgrounds in business and banking—many of them on the GOP side.
Another problem that's also prevalent in the US government is the influence of big business and special interest lobbying Congress to shape policy. I wrote my thesis paper on this. With corporations being considered as 'people' (all thanks to Citizens United), they can funnel unlimited funds through super PACs to either support or oppose candidates who challenge their interests. They went after Bernie Sanders, for example, who's a socialist ironically. A democratic socialist, to be specific.
He's done way more than any other president since the 2000s
Biden's not perfect, but he has done a lot of good. For some reason, no one in this thread will acknowledge it. He is a pro-union president, unlike his predecessor. Seriously, never before has a sitting President actively participated in joining picket lines and negotiating favorable deals for auto workers as he has. He prevented an auto assembly plant from shutting down FFS.
Trump campaigned on bringing back manufacturing jobs (which failed miserably), but Biden ended up doing it. The fact that he was able to sign numerous legislation aimed at improving the long-term prospects of the US amidst today's heavily polarized political climate is shockingly impressive. But hey, I guess the good done is not enough for some people.
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