. . . of complex, nuanced issues that bear thorough investigation and honest conclusions.
The "• " items below are claims in defense of the former U.S. administration (term used loosely, of course) with the following text items representing basic, internet research results.
• Gas is currently around $2.35 per gallon (reg).
The truth is that no president — Democrat or Republican, friend of "big oil" or supporter of alternative fuels — can do much of anything to affect the short-term price of oil, and therefore gasoline. The overriding factor that determines the price of oil from day to day is the market principle of supply and demand [source: U.S. Energy Information Administration]. It comes down to simple economics: When demand is greater than supply, prices rise.
• Interest rates are 2.25 percent for a 30-year mortgage.
The president can't directly control mortgage interest rates. However, the Federal Reserve could change the federal funds rate or cut back on the purchase of mortgage-backed securities as a result of the election. This would lead to lenders charging customers more.
• The stock market closed at 30829.40 though we have been fighting COVID for 11 months.
The president's ability to impact the economy and markets is generally indirect and marginal. It's Congress that sets tax rates, passes spending bills, and writes laws regulating the economy. There are some ways that the president can affect the economy and the market. Because the president is responsible for implementing and enforcing laws, they have some control over business and market regulation. This control can be direct or through the president's ability to appoint cabinet secretaries, such as the head of the Department of Commerce, as well as trade
• Our GDP growth for the 3rd Qtr was 33.1 percent.
For many voters and pundits, the fact that the President of the United States presides over the economy makes him entirely responsible for the economy. This is not quite the Pottery Barn Theory of presidential power—"you break it, you buy it." Often, it resembles the Used Car Theory of presidential power—"it's broken, but you bought it." Like a lemon, the economy is constantly breaking down, demanding emergency fixes, or sputtering along with agonizing sluggishness.
• We had the best economy ever until COVID and it is recovering well.
The drag from Covid-19 restrictions is intensifying, but the economic impact has been much more muted compared to the first wave, according to Bloomberg economist Eliza Winger. “The risk of the economy sinking back into a recession is low and another round of proposed fiscal relief package is lifting growth prospects."
• We have not had any new wars or conflicts in the last 4 years.
This needs context as it depends on how you define war. The US has formally enacted declarations of war against 11 countries in five separate conflicts. The last formal declaration of war was during World War II.
Most of the time the US enters conflicts using the "authorisation of military force" granted by Congress to the president. For example, President George W Bush used this for the Iraq war in 2003. And President Obama sought Congressional approval to intervene in Syria after chemical weapons were used there.
President Trump has engaged in military actions abroad using legislation passed by previous governments.
In October 2019, he announced the killing of Islamic State (IS) leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in a military operation, but said he decided not to notify Democrat leaders in Congress beforehand. In January 2020, President Trump ordered an airstrike which killed Iranian General Qasem Soleimani. The White House cited Congress's "authorisation of military force" granted under the Bush administration as its legal basis.
The Trump administration has also increased US drone strikes in Somalia.
• North Korea has been under control and has not been testing any missiles.
July 7-10, 2020: Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun travels to Seoul and Tokyo to "further strengthen coordination on the final, fully verified denuclearization" of North Korea, according to a State Department press release. In a statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), the Director-General of the North Korean foreign ministry's department of U.S. affairs retorts "explicitly speaking once again, we have no intention to sit face to face with the U.S."
July 7, 2020: U.S. President Donald Trump says in an interview with Voice of America that he understands that North Korea wants to continue negotiations and that “I would do it if I thought it was going to be helpful.”
July 10, 2020: Kim Yo Jong, head of the Central Committee of the Worker’s Party of Korea, says that North Korea “should not accept an offer of the summit talks this year, no matter how badly the U.S. wants it.” She said that denuclearization “is not possible at this point in time” and “can be realized only when there are major changes made on the other side.”
• ISIS has not been heard from for over 3 years.
On the same day ISIS claimed responsibility for a deadly attack against U.S. service members in Syria, Vice President Mike Pence declared that ISIS “has been defeated.” It is true that the U.S. and its allies have retaken virtually all of the land ISIS controlled in Iraq and Syria, but experts say the group still has tens of thousands of fighters and remains dangerous. Pence made his remarks at the Global Chiefs of Mission Conference at the U.S. State Department. In Syria, however, 19 people were reportedly killed in a suicide bombing at a restaurant in the city of Manbij. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack, which killed four Americans, including two U.S. service members, a Defense Department civilian and a DOD contractor, according to the Pentagon. The announcement of the U.S. deaths came shortly after Pence spoke.
• The housing market is the strongest it has been in years.
Trump extended the eviction moratorium, making it illegal for landlords to evict most tenants until next year—an unprecedented step in the midst of a pandemic. The order has been both praised and panned. Tenants are expected to pay up whatever they owe when the moratorium ends, something many don't know how they'll be able to do. Meanwhile, the government hasn't directed funds to landlords to help them cover the mortgages, taxes and other expenses on these properties. When it comes to homeownership, one of the Trump's administration's boldest plans is its proposal to privatize Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which could affect generations of future home buyers. Fannie and Freddie, which back about half of the nation's mortgages, were moved under federal conservatorship to prevent them from going belly up after the housing bust of the late aughts. In the ensuing years, there's been a big push to privatize them. Critics fear the move could endanger the popular 30-year fixed-rate mortgage—a claim the Trump administration has dismissed. But mortgage interest rates and fees could rise as a result of the change.
• Homes have appreciated at an unbelievable rate and sell well.
Home prices are soaring, too, recording the highest two-month appreciation between May and July — at 2% — in 30 years of record-keeping. New home sales were up a remarkable 41% year-over-year for the month of October. The flipside is that not enough new houses are being built to keep up with demand, a trend that actually goes back a decade. Total inventory hit a record low of just 2.7 months' supply in September. It sunk even lower — down to 2.5 months' supply — in October. Homebuying, in all its trendy glory, only projects to get more expensive, if not impossible. If homes keep selling at this rate, US could actually run out of new ones in just a few months.
• And let’s not forget that peace deals in the Middle East were signed by 4 countries—unprecedented!
The United Arab Emirates will establish diplomatic relations with Israel, a fellow U.S. ally it has never gone to war with, formalizing ties that go back several years. The agreement cements an informal alliance against Iran and could pave the way for the UAE to acquire advanced U.S. weapons, while leaving the far more contentious Israeli-Palestinian conflict as intractable as ever.
• Unemployment sits at 6.7% in spite of COVID.
U.S. employers added 245,000 jobs in November and the unemployment rate slipped to 6.7%, Department of Labor statistics showed. The data showed the labor market clawing its way out of the pandemic-induced downturn, but still far away from a full recovery. The unemployment rate in the U.S. was 3.5% in February before the crisis hit. "Given that we’re still 10 million jobs in the hole, ideally we’d want to see a million or 2 million people returning to work in a month," Julia Pollak, a labor economist at jobs site ZipRecruiter, told ABC News ahead of Friday's report, referring to the number of jobs lost early in the pandemic that still haven't come back.
