Us Versus Them

From a poster who was too afraid of responses.

This how I feel about the political divide in America: Both the major parties love America and think they know the best way to govern her, when both forms of leading the nation have positive and negative. The great divide we see now (Democrats-vs-Republicans) has been corrupted by the Cult of Personality surrounding Mr. Trump. I do not believe he is a hurtful person when it comes to his decisions - he simply does not know how to run a large living organism like the United States effectively.

Trump was a major star before he ascended to the presidency. The last major star to do that was Ronald Reagan. Both men were the best presidents of all time.
Trump has a certain amount of ego, as anyone who single handedly created an 8 billion dollar international empire by himself.

Trump is the least hurtful of all presidents. He has more compassion than any of them.

He is better at running this fcked up country than ANY president of the past.

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ElwoodBlues · M

Truth is, by every major measure, our economy was better under Clinton than under Reagan or tRump.

JOB CREATION
Reagan 16.5 million
Clinton 18.6 million
Bush 5.8 million
Obama 8.9 million
Trump NEGATIVE 3 million

YEARLY DEFICIT
Reagan $79 billion to $152 billion
Clinton lowered our deficit from 255 billion to a $126 billion SURPLUS in 2001
Bush raised deficit from 0 to 1412 billion
Obama lowered deficit from 1412 billion to 585 billion
Trump raised from 585 billion up to ~4000 billion

DJIA (proxy for growth)
Jan 20 1981, Reagan takes office 946;
Jan 20 1989, Reagan leaves office 2235;
Up 136% or 11.3% growth per year.
Jan 20 1993, Clinton takes office 3242;
Jan 20 2001, Clinton leaves office 10588;
up 227%, or 15.92% growth per year.
Jan 20 2001, Bush takes office 10588;
Jan 20 2009, Bush leaves office 7949;
NEGATIVE 3.5% per year.
Jan 20 2009, Obama takes office 7949;
Jan 20 2017, Obama leaves office 19827;
up almost 150% over 8 years, or 12.1% per year (1.121^8=2.49).
Jan 20 2017, Trump takes office 19827;
Jan 20 2021, Trump leaves office 30,930;
up 56% over 4 years, or 11.76% growth per year.

DogMan · 61-69, M

@ElwoodBlues Elwood, why did you leave out Biden?

I imagine Trumps first term is the one listed, and if we are being fair, we have to take Covid into consideration, don't we?

We were on a roll before Covid shut us down.

Without Covid, Trumps numbers would be very good.

ElwoodBlues · M

@DogMan asks

Elwood, why did you leave out Biden?

I was addressing the OP's absurd claim about our economy under Reagan and tRump. But feel free to post similar info about Biden if you so choose!

if we are being fair, we have to take Covid into consideration

Bad things and good things can happen in any presidency; the question is how well they are handled. I have a pile of numbers showing how much worse tRump did with Covid than many other leaders of developed nations; I'm happy to share the numbers if you like.

And my pile of numbers doesn't even mention how tRump spent the first 5 weeks lying about Covid and then muzzled the experts at the NIH & CDC, forcing all pandemic related briefings to go thru an approval process headed by VP Mike Pence.

DogMan · 61-69, M

I agree with you R10

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ElwoodBlues · M

@ItsMeMorgue Yep, no matter how @Reason10 tries to spin it, Reagan was a YUGE fan of immigration; even gave amnesty to millions of undocumented.

Our nation is a nation of immigrants. More than any other country, our strength comes from our own immigrant heritage and our capacity to welcome those from other lands.

-- Ronald Reagan, Jul 30 1981, Statement on United States Immigration and Refugee Policy

Other countries may seek to compete with us; but in one vital area, as a beacon of freedom and opportunity that draws the people of the world, no country on earth comes close.

This, I believe, is one of the most important sources of America's greatness. We lead the world because, unique among nations, we draw our people -- our strength -- from every country and every corner of the world. And by doing so we continuously renew and enrich our nation.

... Thanks to each wave of new arrivals to this land of opportunity, we're a nation forever young, forever bursting with energy and new ideas, and always on the cutting edge, always leading the world to the next frontier. This quality is vital to our future as a nation. If we ever closed the door to new Americans, our leadership in the world would soon be lost.

-- Ronald Reagan, Jul 30 1981, Statement on United States Immigration and Refugee Policy

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Roundandroundwego · 61-69

Inequality inheres in the USA. That's how you beat the Indians and the commies!

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ElwoodBlues · M

@Reason10 DEAD WRONG!!

Under Biden there were more than 5,000,000 (FIVE MILLION) more people employed than during the peak under Trump. Just read the graph.

And the number unemployed was historically low!

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