ABOUT THE U.S. ECONOMY: STOP BEING A "SUCKER!" DON'T LET DONALD TRUMP WIN YOU OVER WITH HIS "LOLLIPOP LIES."

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     If you're considering (or have even decided) to vote for Donald Trump and the Republicans in the 2020 general election on November 3rd, and your main reason for doing so is because of America's economy, don't get snookered in to believing that the United States is doing "great," as Trump wants you to think, because we're not. That's not to say that our country isn't great, because it is, and it always has been; despite "The Impeached One's" slogan. But the U.S. economy is nowhere as prosperous as it has been in the past, and it's the fault of Trump's ineptness that has caused our economy to move in a downward course.

     Trump wants to take credit for a glowing economy, which - in the State of the Union Address on February 4th, 2020 - he called "the best it has ever been."  But Trump is so very wrong.  When he brags that "the state of our union is stronger than ever before," Trump is blowing smoke up America's cash poor ass.

     FactCheck.org says the U.S. GDP growth plopped to 2.3 percent in 2019.  You may recall that Trump promised 4 percent growth.  Meanwhile, economists predict the slow-down is going to get much worse in 2020.  The Wall Street Journal's recent survey of business and university economic experts and financial scholars predict it's inevitable for the GDP to only grow this year by a mere 1.9 percent.  

     Trump claims - as he did in the State of the Union Address - that "From the instant I took office, I moved rapidly to revive the U.S. economy."  But the "narcissist/egomaniac-in-chief" has only helped the wealthy get wealthier, the so-called middle-class stay stagnant or become bogged down with more debt, and the poor become poorer. 

     It's true that currently the "official" unemployment rate is low at 3.6 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics; and it's one of the lowest jobless rates in history.  But the truth is that it was President Barack Obama who is responsible for the economic recovery following "The Great 

Recession" that officially began in December 2007 - under President George W. Bush -  and continued through the remainder of Mr. Bush's second term of office, which ended on January 20th, 2009 when President Obama first sat down behind The Oval Office desk. The recession lingered on until June 2009, but Mr. Obama had already begun programs to improve our economy, which was successful over the next seven-and-a-half years of his presidency.  The Department of Labor says the unemployment rate continued to drop steadily throughout the Obama administration.

     Donald Trump - whose misogynistic behavior is disgusting - wants to pat himself on the back for the unemployment rate of women, calling it "the lowest level in almost 70 years."  The fact of the matter is that the number of women working had been rising for several years before Trump had ever entered The White House, so therefore the unemployment rate for women had been trending much lower for many years prior to Trump's inauguration.

     Trump accuses President Obama for "300,000 working age people" losing their jobs between January 2009 and January 2017, the period of time for Mr. Obama's two terms as President.  But FactCheck.org confirms that the workforce grew by 5.4 million while President Obama was occupying The West Wing.  

     Trump insists that it is he who has beefed up the economy and made it "the best," and that President Obama was a "con" artist who bungled everything.  Trump says he is the reason for low unemployment because he has reversed "years of economic decay."  Truth is, over one-million more jobs were added in the 35 months before Trump slept at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue than in the first 35 months since he took office.   

     On February 17th, 2020, President Obama tweeted, "Eleven years ago today, near the bottom of the worst recession in generations, I signed the Recovery Act, paving the way for more than a decade of economic growth and the longest streak of job creation in American history."  Mr. Obama's special anniversary message was 100 percent true.  America's 44th President did not give an opinion, he did not spin the facts to his liking, and he did not lie, which is what our nation's 45th President does multiple times everyday.  A short, few weeks after becoming President, Mr. Obama signed in to law an economic stimulus package, which saved the United States from an even greater disaster than the catastrophe our nation had suffered through for nearly two years.  Our economy was nosediving off the edge of a cliff, which caused jobs to bleed to death.  Republicans thought President Obama's plan was destined for devastation.  But almost instantaneously, America began to paint a portrait where not only was there a light at the end of the tunnel, but it was shining brightly, clear across the country, and the swamp of unemployment was becoming a freshwater lake that was stocked with jobs.  The Great Recession of weeds and thorns was on its way to becoming a blossoming bed of fragrant roses.  So thanks to President Obama - not Donald Trump - the U.S. economy advanced in a positive direction.

     Now though, the Labor Department says the nationwide market has stomped its collective foot on to the brakes, and the speed for which new jobs are being created is not as vigorous as it had been because businesses are skittish about new investments.  

     Economic recovery may have progressed, in some ways, during part of the Trump administration, but without the initial efforts and plans created and implemented by President Obama, nothing would have moved forward.  It's Donald Trump's reign of inadequacy that has caused our economy to become more lethargic.  Mr. Obama was taking our nation out of the hole, which was dug by President Bush, but because of Trump's incompetence, what was once a hole will soon become a canyon.  

     Yes, while Trump has been calling the shots - in more ways than one - the stock market has been booming and the jobless rate has gone down.  But Wall Street and unemployment numbers are not everything that need to be factored in to the equation before labeling the economy a grand slam home run; and that's basically what Trump is doing when he calls it "the best." 

     A survey by Career Builder indicates that 78 percent of all workers are living paycheck to paycheck and 3 in 4 of all workers say they are in debt.  Even Americans who should be comfortable with their day to day, week to week, and month to month living are not doing as well as some people may think.  Nearly one-third (28 percent) of workers whose annual gross income (not take-home pay) is between $50,000 and $99,999 acknowledge that they are usually or always living paycheck to paycheck; and 70 percent of them are in debt.  Furthermore, a survey by G O Banking Rates says 58 percent of Americans have less than $1,000 in savings, while a report from the Federal Reserve Board says 40 percent of adults can't cover an emergency expense of only $400.  And we call this America?  We can do better than this.  But it seems we can only do so with a Democrat in The White House and a Democratic-controlled House of Representatives and Senate.

     After President Bush 43 bombed us into the cellar of doom and gloom, and President Obama resurrected us to a working life with jobs, a weekly paycheck still doesn't mean life is back to the way it was before the recession; not when a person was making - for example - $75,000 a year in 2006, lost his or her job in 2008, and in 2020 is working for $40,000 or less.  Too many people were never able to obtain employment that equaled or surpassed the salaries they were earning before the recession. Sometimes the unemployment rate is bogus as it doesn't compare "apples to apples."  Although an individual is employed, it's not providing him or her with the income they were being paid before.  And sometimes a person has to take two or even three jobs in order to make ends meet.  That is not what America is about, and with Donald Trump focusing on the super rich and nobody else, that's all we can expect for now.  Certain workers - depending on the industry - have done better, but nowhere as much as people should be doing in the year 2020.  That's no fault of President Obama as he did everything possible in the time frame he had available to him.  But Trump could have certainly done more by continuing where Mr. Obama left off, instead of Trump being more concerned about himself and other billionaires. 

     The Pew Research Center says "Wage growth has lagged economists' expectations.  In fact, despite some ups and downs over the past several decades, today's real average wage (that is, the wage after accounting for inflation) has about the same purchasing power it did 40 years ago. And what wage gains there have been have mostly flowed to the highest-paid tier of workers."  The aforementioned being said, Donald Trump claims that "after decades of flat and falling incomes, wages are rising fast."  But FactCheck.org reports numbers from the 

Bureau of Labor Statistics, and wages have not been "flat" for "decades."  Under President Obama, wages hiked up by 4.2 percent; and under President Bill Clinton, wages jumped 6.4 percent.  Under Trump, wages have increased only 2.6 percent.   

     During the 2020 State of the Union Address, Donald Trump told Americans that his "agenda is relentlessly pro-workers, pro-family, pro-growth, and, most importantly, pro-American."  No, none of that is true.  Trump's agenda is pro-Trump. If it helps him and his billionaire buddies, that's all he cares about.  Trump would sell all of his children and grandchildren if it meant making a buck or doing something else to benefit himself.  Let's remember that the 2017 Republican tax bill that Trump signed in to law gave more of a fortune to the fortunate rich.   

     Trump lies and Republicans on Capitol Hill, plus his base throughout the country, applaud him with a standing ovation.  And after more than three years in office, Trump continues to badmouth President Obama.  "If we hadn't reversed the failed economic policies of the previous administration, the world would not now be witnessing this great economic success."  But some of what Trump calls his success, as he takes baseless victory laps, is nothing but fat falsehoods, as I've already outlined throughout this column.  In addition to his more than 16,000 lies since taking the oath of office on January 20th, 2017 - that according to The Washington Post - Trump claims that "under my administration, 7 million Americans have come off of food stamps."  The true statement is that Trump has given starving Americans a punch in the gut to add misery to their already hungry bellies.  People didn't stop using food stamps because their wallets were filled with cash.  Trump - "the billionaire backstabber" - changed eligibility standards and, by doing so, he kicked people off programs that provide food stamps and other forms of financial assistance.

     So in a nutshell, if you trust Donald Trump to vote for him on November 3rd, and not the Democratic nominee - whomever that may be - then you're a "sucker" for believing Trump and what I call his "lollipop lies," because our economy is not as sweet as he wants everyone to think. Therefore, the candy you're licking now with all it's sugarcoating will soon lick you, and you'll be fighting for your life, as survival will be nearly impossible.

     And that's The Controversy for today.

     I'm Gary B. Duglin.

     "We'll talk again." 

The Controversy is a publication of GBD Productions.  Founder and Editor-In-Chief of The Controversy is Gary B. Duglin.

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Photo credits:

1 - The Associated Press and Getty Images (Donald Trump, Photo #1)

2 - The Associated Press/Pablo Martinez Monsivais (Former President Barack Obama #1)

3 - Reuters/Lucy Nicholson (Former President George W. Bush)

4 - Former President Barack Obama and Twitter (The 2009 Recovery Act Signed by then-President Barack Obama)

5 - Getty Images (Former President Bill Clinton)

6 - NBC News Screenshot (Former President Barack Obama, Photo #2)

7 - Fox News Screenshot (Donald Trump, Photo #2)

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