Nothing Important to the American People is Accomplished Without Democratic Leadership

 

Op-ed by TheWiseOldFart

Republicans are incapable of leading America. This was proven most recently by Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush, and Donald Trump. They caused enormous damage to our economy and are responsible for the increase in our national debt and income inequality thanks to their use of “trickle-down economics.”

Let’s focus on how important accomplishments are not possible without Democratic leadership.

HELP FROM AMERICA’S GREATEST PRESIDENT

I would be happy to debate two issues with anyone: in our nation’s history, who were the greatest and the worst presidents?

Although it didn’t require a group of presidential historians to decide that Donald John Trump will forever be the worst president in American history, I’m glad they confirmed what we already knew.

Not only did he fail to accomplish one thing in four years, he attempted to overthrow our government before being evicted from the White House. He brags about many things, none of them true, with the exception of additional tax breaks for the super-rich. His failure to lead our nation in the battle against Covid-19 cost more than one-million Americans their lives, and nearly placed our country in another depression. His incompetence will remain legendary.

Our greatest president is also unquestionable. Franklin Delano Roosevelt was “the people’s president.” His decisions were always focused on the working class and improving their quality of life.

His first effort, the New Deal, created thousands of new jobs and ended the damage caused by the depression. Without FDR, Social Security and Medicare would not exist. His original design made both programs self-sufficient. Unfortunately, Republicans began to steal money from these programs to create more tax cuts for the super-rich. Today, the most important and effective laws ever passed by our federal government are in danger of becoming under-funded. Republicans always receive a failing grade when we discuss economics.

32 YEARS OF GROWTH AND PROGRESS

For 32 of the years between 1932 and 1980, Democratic presidents led our nation in growth with progressive platforms.

FDR led our nation through WWII, and Harry Truman made decisions to end it in 1945, albeit on very controversial decision.

In 1960 America was blessed with another great President, John Fitzgerald Kennedy. FDR was courageous, with a magnetic personality. He united our nation’s people, both old and young. His intellect and sense of humor impressed all Americans, and charmed our allies. No president in my lifetime, other than FDR and JFK displayed their faith and courage as they did in preparing our nation for entry into WWII, and by taking a stand against Russia during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTS AND ECONOMIC WOES

Between 1968, with the election of Richard Nixon, and 1992 only one Democratic President was elected. After the Gerald Ford debacle, Georgia Governor, Jimmy Carter, was elected in 1976.

Admittedly, President Carter was not a great president. He is a great man but he failed to act decisively when an international crisis arose.

On November 4, 1979, 50 Americans were seized and held hostage in Iran. The situation was not resolved during the remainder of his presidency and Mr. Carter was soundly defeated in the 1980 election by Ronald Reagan. The hostages were eventually released on Reagan’s inauguration day, January 20, 1981.

Reagan’s foreign policy was commendable. However, his fiscal and domestic policies were disastrous. Reagan was committed to a single philosophy: give more money to the wealthy, in the form of tax incentives, and they would create thousands of new jobs. In turn, our nation’s economy would flourish. He called it “supply side economics,” better known as “trickle-down economics.”

Reagan’s naivete became evident immediately. The super-rich placed the money, money they did not pay in taxes, and hid it in offshore accounts. Reagan’s other domestic failures were labeled as “wars” on the working class, minorities, and women.

When he left office in 1989, our nation was more than one-trillion dollars in debt, and the unemployment rate was beyond unacceptable.

George H.W. Bush succeeded Reagan in 1989, and adopted the same failed fiscal policy. He was soundly defeated in 1992 by Democrat, and Governor of Arkansas, William Jefferson Clinton.

DEMOCRAT BILL CLINTON SAVES THE ECONOMY

Over the next eight years, Clinton’s economic policies erased the national debt. He completed his second term on January 20, 2001 and left behind a gift to our nation: the national treasury was gifted with a surplus.

HOW THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE DESTROYED AMERICAN PROSPERITY

In the 2000 election, Vice President Al Gore was defeated with the unconstitutional assistance of the Supreme Court. Although George W. Bush lost the popular vote, after he was gifted Florida’s Electoral College votes, he was declared the winner and our nation’s 43^rd president.

Once again, Bush 43 adopted the fiscal policy known as trickle-down economics. This mistake, combined with his illegal declarations of war against Afghanistan and Iraq, placed our nation in the Great Recession of 2008.

A DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENT TO THE RESCUE

In 2008 America elected its first Black President, Barack Hussein Obama. After his inauguration he and his extremely qualified staff began efforts to overturn Bush’s mistakes.

By the time he left office in 2017, our country’s economy was in full recovery. Trump inherited efforts which were in place, along with programs which would become available over the next several years which would continue the repair of a financial disaster.

WORSE THAN BUSH

Trump had no idea what he was doing. His choices for cabinet members and close aides were as unqualified as he was. Like his three predecessors, he immediately focused on a policy of trickle-down economics and gave more tax cuts to the super-rich.

His failure to take timely action against the approaching coronavirus placed our nation in a near depression and added at least three-and-one-half trillion dollars to the national debt. More than one-million Americans lost their lives because Trump told us, “it will just go away.”

ANOTHER DEMOCRAT TO THE RESCUE

Trump was evicted from the White House after a single term in January of 2021. Enter Joe Biden. I won’t waste your time by listing his long list of accomplishments, but I will tell you that economists claim that our nation’s economy is in the best shape it has been since 2001.

I will be the first to admit that I am both pleased and surprised that the man I believed was chosen to be our President in 2020 with the sole purpose of replacing the worst president in history, was greatly effective. Mr. Biden has impressed me, and I will be proud to vote for him again in November.

I am not a member of any political party, nor will I ever be one. However, right-wing politicians began to fail our nation’s people in 1980, and by 2000, after John McCain was cheated of his opportunity to become our nation’s leader, I have failed to find one member of today’s pretend Republican Party worthy of my vote.

Save our country and save your family’s future: vote on November 5^th.

Op-ed by James Turnage

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Source: https://edition.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1996/conventions/chicago/facts/history/index.shtml