|
nChrist
|
 |
« on: October 05, 2019, 01:19:32 PM » |
|
________________________________
The Patriot Post Digest 10-4-2019
From The Federalist Patriot
Free Email Subscription
_______________________________
The Patriot Post® · Mid-Day Digest
Oct. 4, 2019
https://patriotpost.us/digests/65917-mid-day-digest-2019-10-04
THE FOUNDATION
“This gave me occasion to observe, that when Men are employ’d they are best contented. For on the Days they work’d they were good-natur’d and chearful; and with the consciousness of having done a good Days work they spent the Evenings jollily; but on the idle Days they were mutinous and quarrelsome, finding fault with their Pork, the Bread, and in continual ill-humour.” —Benjamin Franklin (1771)
https://patriotpost.us/fqd/65914-founders-quote-daily-2019-10-04
IN TODAY’S EDITION
The economy is pretty healthy. The Leftmedia doesn’t want you to know.1
Trump talks over the media about Ukraine, China, and Biden.2
Daily Features: More Analysis3, Columnists4, Headlines5, Opinion in Brief6, Short Cuts7, Memes8, and Cartoons9.
IN BRIEF
The Power of Economic Pollaganda10
The Leftmedia’s harping on the economy has yielded the desired pollaganda11 result. “Americans’ attitudes toward the economy took a sharp turn downward in the third quarter,” CNBC reports12, reaching “the lowest level of optimism in three years.” Moreover, “With only 23% expecting the economy to improve and 32% believing it will get worse, the poll marks the first time in the Trump presidency that economic pessimism outstrips optimism.” Even worse for President Donald Trump, “50% now disapprov[e] of his handling of the economy, the worst of his presidency.”
Mission accomplished? In order to win in 2020, Democrats are hoping for a recession13 they can blame on Trump. The way to achieve that is through media reports of a weak economy, followed by polls to gauge how well Americans have digested that incessant reporting. Then media outlets report on the polls to convince even more consumers that the economy is weak because their fellow Americans think so. And so the churn goes.
Frankly, though, Trump’s economic approval rating has as much to do with the Democrats’ impeachment charade14 as Leftmedia economic pollaganda.
How is the economy actually doing? Reasonably well. It’s true that GDP growth is only around 2% in 2019 after hitting 3% during 2018 for the first time in a decade. It’s also true that Trump’s tariffs are a burden on the economy (albeit a means to a desirable end). Yet consumer spending remains healthy, leading to a higher trade deficit in August.
Meanwhile, September jobs numbers weren’t exactly eye-catching at only 136,000. For perspective, however, headline unemployment is at just 3.5%, the lowest since December 1969. The fuller measure of unemployment fell from 7.2% in August to 6.9% in September. (The all-time low is 6.8%.) National Review adds15, “Hispanic unemployment fell to 3.9 percent, setting a record low, while black unemployment remained at a record-low 5.5 percent.” Those rates aren’t dropping because people are leaving the workforce, either, which is what happened during the Barack Obama years. It’s somewhat tough to add jobs when most everyone who wants one has one. The slowdown in hiring likely has a cooling effect on GDP as well, but that doesn’t mean neither are healthy.
Much of the economy is built on consumer confidence. That’s why Democrats and their Leftmedia super PAC want Americans to see not a solid economy but one teetering on the brink of recession. If that pans out, it will be a self-fulfilling prophecy.
https://patriotpost.us/articles/65910-the-power-of-economic-pollaganda-2019-10-04
Trump Calls Dems’ Ukraine Bluff, Raises Biden/China16
If Washington politics is likened to a game of high-stakes poker, then President Donald Trump just called the House Democrats’ bluff and then raised the ante. At a press conference Thursday, Trump was asked what Ukraine should do regarding Hunter Biden’s business dealings. He answered, “I would recommend that they start an investigation into the Bidens.” But Trump didn’t stop there, adding, “Likewise, China should start an investigation into the Bidens.”
This is reminiscent of 2016 when Trump, referencing Hillary Clinton’s conveniently “lost” emails, joked, “Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing. I think that you’ll probably be rewarded mightily by our press.” Now, as then, Democrats and the Leftmedia cried foul, alleging that Trump is openly engaging in election meddling.
Clearly, from Trump’s perspective, if Democrats are free to engage foreign nationals to dig up dirt on him, then he’s free to publicly call on foreign countries to investigate those efforts. Furthermore, Trump’s questions regarding Joe and Hunter Biden are not merely politically expedient, as much of the Leftmedia asserts. There are serious questions as to whether Joe Biden used his position as vice president to benefit his son financially. By calling on China to investigate Biden, Trump has effectively expanded the air of suspicion surrounding Biden, communicating over the heads of the media to the wider American public that something stinks.
Trump also knows that Biden is his most significant political rival, and by publicly pressing the question of Biden’s potentially corrupt behavior, Trump forces both the mainstream media, which has largely ignored the story, and Biden to at the very least address it. So every time Democrats and the MSM raise questions over Ukraine, Trump will ask about Biden. As political strategies go, it’s pretty brilliant, as it puts Biden continually on the defensive.
While many conservatives have questioned why Trump would dare raise the specter of election meddling following the whole Russia-collusion fiasco, they seem to have missed the fact that irrespective of anything Trump says or does, Democrats and their Leftmedia cohorts will condemn him as they press on in their crusade to see him impeached14. Trump knows there’s no level playing field in Washington, so why should he act as if there is one?
https://patriotpost.us/articles/65915-trump-calls-dems-ukraine-bluff-raises-biden-slash-china |
