(from https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/04/us/politics/trump-mass-shootings.html
". . . a 21-year-old white man is accused of opening fire in a Walmart in El Paso, killing 20 people and injuring dozens more after writing a manifesto railing against immigration and announcing that “this attack is a response to the Hispanic invasion of Texas.”. . . The suspect wrote that his views “predate Trump,” as if anticipating the political debate that would follow the blood bath. But if Mr. Trump did not originally inspire the gunman, he has brought into the mainstream polarizing ideas and people once consigned to the fringes of American society. . . While other leaders have expressed concern about border security and the costs of illegal immigration, Mr. Trump has filled his public speeches and Twitter feed with sometimes false, fear-stoking language while welcoming to the White House a corps of hard-liners, demonizers and conspiracy theorists shunned by past presidents of both parties. . ."
launched an unprecedented economic boom rarely seen before
GDP increased by 4.2% in Q2 of 2018, a high under Trump. Obama surpassed that 4 times during his presidency.
2
created 5.3 million new jobs
Jobs actually increased 4.9 million.
3
added 600,000 new manufacturing jobs
454,000 new manufacturing jobs were added.
4
everyone’ said above would be ‘impossible’ to do
Manufacturing jobs grew at a similar rate under Obama and significantly faster during the 1990s (Clinton and Bush presidencies)
5
nearly 5 million Americans have been ‘lifted off’ food stamps
3.5 million Americans have gotten off food stamps. During Obama’s second term 5 million Americans got off food stamps.
6
passed a massive tax cut for working families
Over 75% of the Trump tax cut went to the wealthy
7
virtually ended the estate tax, or death tax
Only 0.2% of very wealthy Americans pay estate tax
8
U.S. is now the #1 producer of oil and natural gas in the world
This has been true since 2013 during Obama’s second term.
9
our economy is thriving like never before
The economy is not the ‘best’ in history and is currently showing signs of slowing.
10
“I want people to come into our country in the largest numbers ever”. . . legally
Trump supports a bill which would sharply reduce legal immigration. In 2019 he cut refugee admissions to the lowest level in 49 years.
11
year after year, countless Americans are murdered by criminal illegal aliens
Immigrants commit crimes at lower rates than native-born Americans.
12
San Diego used to have the most illegal border crossings in our country . . . a strong security wall was put in place . . . almost completely ended illegal crossings
The barrier ‘did not have a discernible impact’ on border crossings according to the Congressional Research Service (non-partisan).
13
El Paso used to have extremely high rates of violent crime . . . and considered one of our nation’s most dangerous cities
El Paso was never one of the most dangerous cities in the U.S.
14
(after building a barrier) El Paso is one of the safest cities in our country
El Paso had the second-lowest crime rate of cities its size before the barrier.
15
my budget will ask Democrats and Republicans to make the needed commitment to eliminate the HIV epidemic in the United States within 10 years
Trump’s 2019 budget slashed $123 million from AIDS programs
16
Lawmakers in New York cheered with delight upon the passage of legislation that would allow a baby to be ripped from the mother’s womb moments from birth
There is no such thing as abortion ‘moments from birth.’ NY law does not allow abortion after a woman is twenty-four weeks pregnant, unless the mother’s life is in immediate jeopardy.
17
I withdrew the United States from the ‘disastrous’ Iran nuclear deal
The UN’s nuclear watchdog said the Iran deal WAS working and Trump’s intel chief says Iran is still complying without the U.S.
. . . you figure out which high-profile person posited these gems at his 2019 state-of-the-union address.
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(from https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2019/01/08/facts-donald-trumps-border-wall-address-nation-immigration-shutdown-column/2503981002/)
►Illegal border crossings are down. Significantly.
In 2000, 1.6 million people were apprehended trying to cross the southern border into the United States. In 2001, 1.3 million were apprehended. In 2018? Less than 400,000.
►The counties along the southern border are among the safest in the United States.
According to data from the Wilson Center, as summarized by The Washington Post, “The crime rates in U.S. border counties are lower than the average for similarly sized inland counties, with two exceptions out of 23 total.”
►Most undocumented immigrants don’t “sneak” across the border.
The majority of immigrants in the USA without authorization first entered the country legally, and then overstayed their visas. Even the anti-immigration Center for Migration Studies said in a 2017 report that crossing the border is not the way “the large majority of persons now becoming undocumented.”
►The White House is lying about terrorists crossing the southern border.
In an interview on Fox News this weekend, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders' careful wording suggests she knew she was more than bending the truth. Fox News anchor Chris Wallace fact-checked Sanders: “Do you know where those 4,000 people come, where they are captured? Airports.”
►Migrant caravans aren’t “sneaking” across the border, either.
It’s important to distinguish between illegal border crossings and migrants lawfully presenting themselves at southern ports of entry in order to apply for asylum.
►Drugs entering the USA across the southern border are most often hidden in legal shipments.
While 90 percent of heroin enters through the southern border, according to the Drug Enforcement Agency, “illicit drugs are smuggled into the United States in concealed compartments within passenger vehicles or commingled with legitimate goods on tractor trailers. . . A wall wouldn’t stop most heroin from entering the country.
►Conservative political figures and think tanks think Trump’s wall is pointless.
(The) reason Trump couldn’t get funding for his wall during the past two years of his presidency when his own party completely controlled both houses of Congress: They didn’t want it.
►There are already 654 miles of border fencing.
The U.S.-Mexico border is 1,933 miles long. Of that, 34 percent already has a wall or a fence — in particular, parts along the areas of the border that are most easily accessed by people traveling by car or on foot.
►Americans do not support Trump’s wall.
“The people of our country want it,” Trump said recently. No, they do not. A mid-December poll found that 54 percent of respondents opposed Trump’s wall.
(from http://www.nber.org/papers/w13229.pdf by Kristin F. Butcher, Department of Economics, Wellesley College & Anne Morrison Piehl, Department of Economics, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey)
The perception that immigration adversely affects crime rates led to legislation in the 1990s that particularly increased punishment of criminal aliens. In fact, immigrants have much lower institutionalization (incarceration) rates than the native born - on the order of one-fifth the rate of natives. More recently arrived immigrants have the lowest relative incarceration rates, and this difference increased from 1980 to 2000. We examine whether the improvement in immigrants' relative incarceration rates over the last three decades is linked to increased deportation, immigrant self-selection, or deterrence. Our evidence suggests that deportation does not drive the results. Rather, the process of migration selects individuals who either have lower criminal propensities or are more responsive to deterrent effects than the average native. Immigrants who were already in the country reduced their relative institutionalization probability over the decades; and the newly arrived immigrants in the 1980s and 1990s seem to be particularly unlikely to be involved in criminal activity, consistent with increasingly positive selection along this dimension.
(from http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/trumpometer/)
". . . The Promise: "We will move the American embassy to the eternal capital of the Jewish people, Jerusalem."
Update June 2nd, 2017: Trump delays moving U.S. embassy to Jerusalem
The Promise: "We’re going to cancel the Paris Climate Agreement and stop all payments of U.S. tax dollars to U.N. global warming programs.”
Update June 1st, 2017: Trump says U.S. pulling out of Paris climate agreement [rendering the country one of three of the 178 attending nations not to sign]
The Promise: “I’m not going to cut Social Security like every other Republican and I’m not going to cut Medicare or Medicaid.”
Update May 26th, 2017: White House budget cuts Social Security disability benefits
The Promise: “And if people don't like it, we've got to have a country folks. Got to have a country. Countries in which immigration will be suspended would include places like Syria and Libya. And we are going to stop the tens of thousands of people coming in from Syria.”
Update May 26th, 2017: 4th Circuit Court of Appeals upholds block on Trump’s travel ban
The Promise: "I would build a great wall, and nobody builds walls better than me, believe me, and I’ll build them very inexpensively. I will build a great great wall on our southern border and I’ll have Mexico pay for that wall."
Update May 24th, 2017: Trump’s 2018 budget requests $1.6 billion for border security [Mexico vows NOT to pay]
T - the number of police officers killed in the line of duty has risen by almost 50 percent in one year
Fact - the number of law enforcement officers killed on the job has increased 8 percent, compared to this point in 2015.
T - homicides last year increased by 17 percent in America's 50 largest cities. That's the largest increase in 25 years. In our nation's capital, killings have risen by 50 percent. They are up nearly 60 percent in nearby Baltimore."
Fact - the percentage increase was large because the number of homicides in 2014 was relatively small. Meanwhile, homicide trends have been split in the major cities so far this year: Out of 63 agencies reporting to the Major Cities Chiefs Association, 32 cities saw a decrease in homicides in the first quarter of 2016, and 31 cities saw an increase.
T - Nearly 180,000 illegal immigrants with criminal records, ordered deported from our country, are tonight roaming free to threaten peaceful citizens.
Fact - in fiscal 2015, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement deported nearly 140,000 convicted criminals, but ICE has estimated that nearly 1 million noncitizens with final deportation orders remain in the United States. Crimes committed by this group are not documented. A significant percentage of their crimes involve immigration violations and nonviolent offenses, according to historical records.
T - The number of new illegal immigrant families who have crossed the border so far this year already exceeds the entire total from 2015. They are being released by the tens of thousands into our communities with no regard for the impact on public safety or resources.
Fact - From October to June, just over 50,000 families were apprehended at the southwestern border, up from about 40,000 in all of the previous fiscal year, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. But overall apprehensions, including of unaccompanied minors, are running only slightly higher than in 2015 and remain far less than in 2014, 2013 and 2012.
T - Decades of record immigration have produced lower wages and higher unemployment for our citizens, especially for African -American and Latino workers.
Fact - Distinction must be made between legal and illegal immigration. The flow of legal immigrants has increased over the past four decades, stabilizing at roughly 1 million people obtaining lawful permanent resident status every year since 2001. The unauthorized immigrant population increased from about 4 million in 1990 to about 12 million in 2007. But researchers estimate that the number of illegal immigrants has been essentially stable since then because of the large number of unauthorized immigrants who left the country during and after the Great Recession.
T - 2 million more Latinos are in poverty today than when the president took his oath of office."
Fact - From March 2009 to March 2014, the most recent year for which statistics are available, the number of Latinos in poverty increased by 750,000 people, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. But the overall number of the Latinos grew by nearly 7 million. So the percent of Latinos living in poverty declined from 25.3 percent to 23.6 percent.
T - Household incomes are down more than $4,000 since the year 2000 - 16 years ago.
Fact - Median annual household income was $57,206 in June, down slightly from January 2000, when it was $57,826 in 2016 dollars. So household income is essentially flat, not down $4,000.
T - Forty-three million Americans are on food stamps.
Fact - This is the lowest number of people receiving food stamps since the program reached its peak in 2013, a sign that the economy is finally improving enough to help the desperately poor families who depend on it.
T - Fifty-eight percent of African American youth are not employed.
Fact - According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate among blacks 16 to 19 years old was 31.2 percent in June. This official unemployment rate refers to people who are actively looking for work, as a percentage of the total available workforce.
T - Another 14 million people have left the workforce entirely.
Fact - Half of the decline in the labor participation rate since 1999 is due to the retirement of the baby boomers. Economists estimate just 15 percent of the drop in the labor force involves people who want a job and are of prime working age (25 to 54).
T - America has lost nearly one-third of its manufacturing jobs since 1997, following the enactment of disastrous trade deals (by previous administrations)
Fact - The economy has added nearly 1 million manufacturing jobs since 2010, the low point after the Great Recession.
It is simplistic to pin blame for the decline in manufacturing jobs on trade agreements. Increased efficiency and technological advancement have also played a major role.
(thanks to http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/politics/ct-donald-trump-convention-speech-fact-check-20160721-story.html)
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(from NBCNews.com)
". . . House Speaker John Boehner on Thursday warned that the president will "poison the well" for the new Congress if he takes executive action to address the deportation of undocumented immigrants."I've made clear to the president that if he acts unilaterally on his own outside of his authority, he will poison the well and there will be no chance for immigration reform moving in this Congress," Boehner told reporters at his first news conference after big GOP gains in Tuesday's midterm elections. "When you play with matches, you take the risk of burning yourself. And he's going to burn himself if he continues to go down this path," he said. Boehner also pledged that the House will vote to repeal the president's signature legislation, the Affordable Care Act, despite the fact that repeal legislation would be headed to a certain veto and perhaps failure in the upper chamber. "Now whether it'll pass the Senate, I don't know," he added. "But I know in the House, it will pass." Boehner Warns Obama: Don’t 'Play With Matches' and Get Burned on Immigration. Boehner said that, although he has "a nice relationship" with President Barack Obama, "my job is not to get along with the president just to get along with him." "My job is to listen to my members and listen to the American people to make their priorities our priorities," he added. Other issues Boehner said he wants to address in the new Congress included energy policy, education reform and changes to the nation's tax and legal systems. Republicans gained at least seven seats in the Senate and at least 14 seats in the United States House. . ."
Isn’t there a law against threatening a U.S. President?
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My latest solo release, '2014' of original, instrumental piano music, can be downloaded digitally at:
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