And The Answer Is … VOTE November 6!

Polling Place Voting Booths

This post is an appeal to anybody reading it to VOTE on or before November 6. There is only one thing you, personally, can do right now to support our current situation and direction if you like them or change them if you don’t — VOTE. We are deluged with “election statistics” these days, but one of them is far and away the most disappointing of all — voter turnout. The U.S. ranks 26th among 35 of the most developed countries in voter turnout — 55.7% of the voting-age population; 86.8% of registered voters. #1 is Belgium at 87.21% and 89.37%, respectfully. The only countries that rank below us are Luxembourg, Slovenia, Poland, Chile, Latvia, Switzerland, Iceland, Japan and Turkey [source: Pew Research Center — 5/21/18.]

I started the web site www.USAparadigm.com and began posting weekly blogs through it a couple of months before the 2016 elections. My motivation for doing that was that I truly felt that election would be the most significant of my life time [I was 71 years old that year.] In retrospect, I believe I was correct in that assessment. As we approach the upcoming mid-term elections, I honestly believe they may be even more significant in some ways.

For anybody reading this who does not like our current President, please don’t quit reading when I say that there is not a doubt in my mind that our country is much better off today than it would have been at this time had Hillary Clinton been elected President in 2016. Please understand that I don’t “like” President Trump. I view him as an extremely narcissistic man who lacks good judgment in some aspects of his role as POTUS. He is too quick to speak [or “tweet”] his mind, and he’s insensitive to how his remarks might affect or be interpreted by some people — even his supporters. And he is not the moral model I would like to see in our President — which I could also say about the two most recent Democrat Presidents.

What Matters

However, what we all need to do is focus on what matters — facts. In the overall scheme of things, whether I “like” our President doesn’t matter. What matters is whether our country is in a good place and moving in a good direction under his leadership. Consider these facts [condensed from over 50 items listed on 10/16/18 by Sean Hannity]:

- Employment. Almost 4 million jobs have been created since the election. More Americans are now employed than ever recorded before in our history. We have created more than 400,000 manufacturing jobs since Trump’s election. Manufacturing jobs are growing at the fastest rate in more than three decades. New unemployment claims recently hit a 49-year low. African-American unemployment has recently achieved the lowest rate ever recorded. Hispanic-American unemployment is at the lowest rate ever recorded. Asian-American unemployment recently achieved the lowest rate ever recorded. Women’s unemployment recently reached the lowest rate in 65 years. Youth unemployment has recently hit the lowest rate in nearly half a century. We are at the lowest unemployment rate ever recorded for Americans without a high school diploma. Veterans’ unemployment recently reached its lowest rate in nearly 20 years.
- The Economy. Economic growth last quarter hit 4.2% [in his second term, President Obama said that 1.5% to 2% was the “new normal.”] Median household income has hit the highest level ever recorded. Almost 3.9 million Americans have been lifted off food stamps since Trump’s election. 95% of U.S. manufacturers are optimistic about the future—the highest percentage ever. Retail sales surged last month, up another 6 percent over last year. The biggest package of tax cuts and reforms in history has been implemented. After tax cuts, over $300 billion poured back in to the U.S. in the first quarter alone, and small businesses have the lowest top marginal tax rate in more than 80 years. A record number of regulations has been eliminated. The Dow Jones Industrial Average has been up as much as 45% since Trump’s election, and even after the current “correction” is up 35%.
- Foreign Policy And Trade Relations. We withdrew from the Iran Nuclear Deal. We moved the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem. We are protecting Americans from terrorists with the Travel Ban, upheld by Supreme Court. We concluded a historic U.S.-Mexico Trade Deal to replace NAFTA [negotiations with Canada are underway.] We reached a breakthrough agreement with the E.U. to increase U.S. exports. We imposed tariffs on foreign steel and aluminum to protect our national security. We imposed tariffs on China in response to their forced technology transfer, intellectual property theft, and their chronically abusive trade practices. Net exports are on track to increase by $59 billion this year. We increased our coal exports by 60%. U.S. oil production recently reached all-time high. We are a net natural gas exporter for the first time since 1957.
- The Judiciary Branch Of Our Government. Confirmed more circuit court judges than any other new administration. Confirmed Supreme Court Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, at least slowing if not stopping a massive move in an extremely liberal direction in our country enabled by a “legislating from the bench” mentality.

None of this gets the media coverage it would get absent the extreme media bias against President Trump.

What’s At Stake

The “experts” say that Democrats will probably gain a majority in the House in the mid-terms, and that doing so in the Senate is at least a possibility. However, most of these same “experts” were predicting a Clinton landslide in 2016 right up to election day. History also presents that projection. For two reasons, though, I believe neither of these indicators matters in this election. First, President Trump has from his candidacy announcement to now ignored precedence and “upset the apple cart.” Election “history” simply doesn’t matter as much as it has in the past. Second, Democrats have seriously “shot themselves in the foot” for two years — they have no agenda other than “oppose whatever Trump is for.” On top of that, the way they conducted themselves in the Kavanaugh confirmation hearings was despicable. Now, it appears they are behind the “caravan” making its way to our southern border, an undertaking that seems to be about to backfire.

Whether the “experts” are right this time, and whether election “history” will matter this time, remains to be seen. What’s at stake? Whether we continue progressing economically or begin heading back to an anemic economy, whether we continue getting the Judiciary branch of our government back to making decisions based on the Constitution rather than “legislating from the bench,” … well, those two are enough for me.

Whether you agree with my assessment of where we are or not, please VOTE on or before November 6!

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