Republicans and Democrats

How does individualism favor the rich? Curious on the logic of that.

 

That's what every politician says. Interestingly Trump has had more follow through than any other president in recent history.

People here aren't really interested in how. Look at the way they tried to mandate electric cars nobody gave a thought to how.

 

I think most politicians are called to book over how they are going to achieve their promises.
Trump seems almost untouchable. For instance, the wall never got built, neither in reality nor in practice as illegal migration hardly paused.
Yet still the faithful believed it had.

 

He's the only president in USA history to have other world leaders laugh at him while he gave a speech.
The world knows what a clown he is.
Except Putin and Jong Un. trump worships their power.

The left, more so the far left, do care about climate change.
However, the technologies to leave oil and NG are slow developing and have many obstacles to overcome to be a viable alternative.

IMO, it will be a mix of energy sources, wind, solar, hydro until some breakthrough happens in nuclear.

 

MAGA followers believe in the words. Actions, few and far between. Unless it's to subvert the democratic election processes.

 

Trump is unpopular for his personality that is ill suited to the position of US president. He is popular because of his policies which made life better for Americans. His fans want a return to his policies which were good for the country. He is a known quantity. Personally I don't support him because he overspent like all other presidents. I can't tolerate that and government spending is the greatest problem facing the U.S. and has been all of my life.

 

Actually it is Trump's actions while in office that endear him to his followers. His words were awful. His actions were outstanding except for the overspending.

 

Which policies did Trump bring that were liked? Would they continue if the republicans won without trump.

 

Yes his supporters seem to like that?

Last year the UK produced 64% of our electricity from non fossil fuels. 14% Nuclear, the rest (50%) renewable. Can be done. I like the fact its making us less dependent on outside sources and pricing. The war in Ukraine really hammered this home for us.

 

We never hear of those outside America. What in particular did you value. (There has to be a reason half of the U.S wants him back.)

 

Trump still fulfilled more of his campaign promises than any other president modern history.

I think Trump is untouchable not because there's something special about him but because his opponents have cried wolf over and over and over to the point where nobody listens to them anymore.

They're trying to accuse him of inciting and insurrection without any evidence. That and the opponents overlook all the criminal behavior in their own. Essentially they re Newt Gingrich-ing. Newt Gingrich was the guy that was hammering Bill Clinton so hard over infidelity while he was cheating on his wife.

 

I can't speak for Trump supporters, but here is my view as to their claim of valuing his "policies".

-Tax cuts. They credit those for the supposedly greatest ever Trump economy and Trumpian prosperity. However, the tax cuts are still in place. In their mind, however, Biden raised taxes.
-Tariffs. One can argue about the good and bad of tariffs, however, Trump's tariffs are still in place.
-The wall. In their mind, Trump fixed illegal immigration. In reality, only a small fraction of the wall was built and immigration was never fixed.
-Energy policy. They credit Trump for the gas price of $2 during the worst of the covid pandemic. In reality, it was low demand that made gas prices tank. They also claim Biden is waging war on oil. In reality, oil production is on record levels.
-Monetary policy. They credit Trump for low inflation. In reality, inflation was low because we were close to a recession even before covid and than had one during covid in 2020. Also, Biden kept Trump's Fed chair, Powell.

So, when Trump supporters talk about his "policies" it's all about rose colored glasses looking back to the past, infused with a good helping of RW propaganda about how great the Trump economy was. But that still all can't explain the deep, emotional, unwavering attachment that many of his voters have to him. People don't usually get emotional about policies. No, the REAL reason is that Trump hates all of the same kind of people that they hate. When they talk about MAGA, it is only MAGA for certain people, i.e. Trump's voting demographic. The "others" can go pound sand. They need to be put back into their place where they were 50 years ago. They hope that Trump will be able to achieve this.

 

Excellent analysis and summation. It not easy to stay focused when there are so many generalized claims of the Trump pie in the sky economy. I highlighted a few things to add to,

1. demand tanked and the world production was deeply cut back nd Trump was involved in those negotiated cut backs

2. and anyone that's being honest realizes he took over an economy growing slowly BUT STEADLY under Obama (to avoid a recession), then super charged it with the tax cuts and started the beginnings of a recession in the second two years of his Admin. Proof of this out of Trump's own mouth was when he called and whined loudly for months about the FED should do negative interest rates prior to COVID.

3. That one is easily explained for the reasons you provided but the proper word for it is banned here.

 

In other words, they get hoodwinked easily.
Very little policy change Biden made on those issues
And it always cracks me up when a MAGA member claims $2/gal gas. Like Covid didn't cause that. Or they must wish for another pandemic or recession. It's a bit mind boggling.

 

Strong economy, no wars, toughness in dealing with our enemies, better control of the illegal immigration. Some negatives too. Overspending and, of course, his personality. Trump is a businessman and approaches government like a businessman. The government hates that, of course.

 

I guess I was not clear enough.

Let me back up for a minute on how our elections work. Each state, the district of Columbia, and the US territories each operate, maintain, and manage the election process within that jurisdiction. For Federal elections, which include President, Senator, one-third at a time for each election, and US Congressional Representatives, plus any state-wide offices in that state or territory, will hold primary elections where each party nominates for each office for their candidate. In the primaries, there are open primaries and closed primaries. Each state or territory determines in the legislative process of that state whether it is open or closed. For instance, the New Hampshire Primary is an open primary. Iowa is a closed caucus or primary. Closed primaries are primaries where only registered party members vote in the primary. Open primaries mean that any registered voter can vote for that party's nomination for federal office, but only once. When we have the general election, Republicans, or registered Republicans generally vote for their respective candidate, but it is not required. Once the primary is over, then we have the general election. In the general election, we have all office holders and each party, including independent candidates who don't affiliate with any party, to run for office. A voter will choose their candidate for each office. Republicans and Democrats typically vote for their candidate in each office, but not all the time. Independent voters can choose the candidate but generally do not vote for what we call a straight-party ticket. They can choose a Republican for President, a Democrat for Senator, and a Republican for the US Representative, for instance, or any combination thereof. It is why independent voters, voters who do not register or identify to a particular political party, are the most important and choose who wins and who does not win the general election.

 

I think everyone talks that, especially politicians. Remember, AOC, a progressive when she first won her seat said that we should not have compromise, but now says compromise is a good thing. Even Trump the other day talked about compromise or "getting along" and we can come together type of statement when he won the Iowa caucus for the GOP nomination. Obama said, Bush said it, Reagan said it, Clinton said it, Biden has said it, and so forth. Thus, it is not just "Democrats" who talk a good game, it is US politics in general.

The problem we, Americans in general, have is stereotypes within the party. Conservatives view Democrats as the party of Blacks, Hispanics, LGBTQ, etc, but ironically, never imply or state that they are Americans to begin with, Worse still, conservatives tend to think Democrats are "communists or freedom taking members from the 2a to pretty much everything in between. Thus, the stereotypes of who is a Democrat imply that minorities is viewed as outsiders at the least, and foreign invaders at the worst and want to take freedom away with the "Great Replacement Theory" which is why Trump's statement of "poisoning the blood of our nation" resonates within the conservative movement and causes, in part, the divide. Meanwhile, a lot of progressives, rank, and file die-hard progressives, think any conservatives are nuts, ignorant, gun-toting would-be vigilantes, or worse which I cannot say in this forum. Again, the wrong stereotype was made. But that is what Americans as a whole tend to do from time to time, and why it is causing the great divide, mostly because of the internet/social media access that people tend to flock to. But it is not just politics that we tend to stereotype. We stereotype on pretty much everyone and everything because we are intellectually lazy for the most part.

I think you would be wise to listen to Tina Nguyen on her perspectives of both progressives and MEGA Conservatives. Very interesting from her perspective and from her background.

 

How does the FBI create "fake news?" That really does not make sense. they report the facts as they discover them. they find evidence, how they discover them. If you don't like the facts, then find more facts to try to negate the facts the FBI received instead of using the excuse of "fake news."

Independent voter simply means they are not registered with a party. Independents can lean conservative or liberal, or a mix. Business-wise, I am a traditional conservative, but socially, probably considered a liberal simply because I don't care if you are black, white, purple with pink polka dots on your skin, whether or not a woman has had an abortion or not, or whatever social issue you can come up with. You will find that with most people who are complex and not purely idealogical in nature. That is the difference. Republicans and Democrats tend to be more idealogical to varying degrees than independents.

 

I don't think the media is that divided. But the internet, especially social media, tends to be the major source of the problem. The liberal and social media tend to use shock jock journalism to get the click baits, which is what is causing the divide. And we see this especially on the conservative side, but to some extent on the liberal side as well with conspiracy theories becoming more and more mainstream.

 

tell that to Senator Menendez lol

 

does not work that way. for instance, there was a person in my department that was charged with theft. The theft was using a government credit card for personal use. It was $6500. Yes, the person paid it back, but the person was still charged with theft and government misuse of property, among other things. Got 2 years in jail, plus a fine, plus loss of all benefits therein. A stupid mistake that cost the person dearly. Was competent in what they did professionally, but somehow made the stupidest mistake of their lives. I have no idea what happened to that person, but they served their time and moved on.

Trump took the government documents, bragged about it publicly, knew about it, but Trump in his thinking, thought he could negotiate with what he could and could not keep, for whatever reason. They were all owned by the government, the NARA and did so to make sure Trump kept them to the extent that he lied, conspired to keep them, and so forth. That is why he is charged. If Trump had returned all the documents when asked, then he would not have been charged. But it would mean admitting he made a mistake, and we all know Trump never admits when he does wrong. We call that arrogance, and it has caught up to him legally. All he has now is crying like a little boy because he got caught and does not want to face the legal consequences.

 

I'm a businessman. I employ about 120 people. Trump is a business thug using his fathers money to bully. I would not deal with the man at all.
Business is about understanding, compromise and fair play.

 

I would prefer if there were no political parties. Why are they needed? Other than fund raising for bribes, aka, donations.

Elect a person. Not a party.

 

I would too. That is what John Adams, the 2nd President, personally believed. But here we are.

 

It is very divided but only when reporting political stories. Not so divided when reporting yesterday's snowfall or sports scores.