For almost two weeks, it has been the best of times (for Republicans) and worst of times (for Democrats). Nancy Pelosi was strutting after the mid-terms, but Trump punched back in a State of the Union address that was unexpectedly “presidential.” He shared impressive economic data and promised bipartisanship, while Democrats begged voters to pardon their sins and misdemeanors.
Great economic news emboldened a wobbly White House: in January, US employers added 304,000 jobs and increased average hourly wages 3.2 percent over a year earlier. It just got better when Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell confirmed the “US economy is now in a good place” with low unemployment and inflation near the Fed’s 2 percent target. Trump did not have to lie: America’s economy today IS the hottest in the world.
After six quarters, the GDP growth rate has surged to 3 percent (double Obama’s last six quarters). More people (157 million) are working than at any time in US history. For ten straight months, the Department of Labor has reported more job openings (6.9 million in January) than people unemployed. Speaking of hot, US stock markets posted the best January in 30 years – and investors aren’t the only folks on fire. General Motors just earned $10.8 billion in North America and will pay 46,500 (mostly American) workers a $10,750 bonus (hardly “crumbs”).
Moreover, US labor markets are on fire. African-Americans, Latinos, and Asian-Americans are all enjoying record-low unemployment. Americans with only a high-school education just established record-low unemployment. Teenage unemployment just hit a 50-year low and women just set a 65-year low. Veteran unemployment is at the lowest level since 2000, and disabled Americans are entering the workplace at record numbers. This is true, and blue-collar wages are now rising faster than white-collar wages.
And, if the economic news was not enough, President Trump silenced his opponents by celebrating World War II vets, a Holocaust survivor, unjustly imprisoned Blacks, children orphaned by illegal-alien crime, and a heroic Hispanic border agent. Democrats were on their feet applauding more often than not – while both CBS and CNN polling showed 75% of Americans liked the President’s address. By any measure, Trump had a good night.
In contrast, Democrats have been stumbling and bumbling into political chaos. It began January 27, when Democrats attacked Starbucks founder Howard Schultz, a major Democrat donor, for suggesting an independent presidential campaign. On January 28, Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA) terrified 180 million Americans with her proposal to eliminate their private health insurance.
On January 29, delegate Kathy Tran (D-VA) proposed legalizing late-term abortions in Virginia (with only one doctor’s consent and performed in non-licensed hospitals). On January 30, Governor Ralph Northam (D-VA) supported the Tran bill by coldly describing infanticide: “the infant would be delivered…kept comfortable [until] physicians and mother decided” whether to terminate the infant’s life.
On January 31, the Senate Intelligence Committee refuted House member Adam Schiff’s (D-CA) claim that Donald Trump Jr. had lied to Congress about calling his dad during the son’s meeting with a Russian lawyer (cell phone records proved Don Jr. had called friends not associated with the presidential campaign). An embarrassing moment for Democrat Schiff, but nothing compared to February 1, when Governor Ralph Northam (D-VA) apologized for his role in a yearbook photo of two men masquerading in blackface and KKK costume.
On February 2, Northam did an about-face and denied any part of the blackface-KKK photo, while confessing to wearing blackface to imitate Michael Jackson. On February 3, Democrats widely demanded Northam resign, when the Washington Post reported a woman had alleged a 2004 date rape by Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax (D-VA). Vanessa Tyson has now come forward with what-when-where-how facts, Fairfax has confessed at least to “consensual” sex, and another victim has come forward.
On February 4, Governor Andrew Cuomo (D-NY) announced that state income tax revenues had dropped by $2.3 billion, effectively scuttling his 2019 entitlement plans. Citing anecdotal evidence that “rich” New Yorkers were leaving the high-tax state, he urged statehouse Democrats not to raise taxes on the rich: “That would be the worst thing to do. You would just expand the shortfall. God forbid if the rich leave.”
On February 5, press reports refuted Senator Elizabeth Warren’s (D-MA) claims she had NEVER used her “assumed” Native American heritage to advance her legal career. Liar! She had written “American Indian” on her 1986 Texas Bar application. Her explanation was utter mumbo-jumbo: “I am not a tribal citizen…my apology is an apology…tribes and only tribes determine tribal citizenship.” She has since confessed there might be more news of her claim to Native American heritage.
On February 6, Attorney General Mark Herring (D-VA) admitted he too had worn blackface and an Afro wig at a 1980 party. Even Trump’s tweets cannot keep pace with the most embarrassing moments in Democrat history. Perhaps anti-Trump liberals have learned how fleeting the euphoria of the mid-terms is. Heh-heh-heh!
Democrats so supported speaker Pelosi’s hardball tactics against President Trump; i.e. her alpha-gal mandate delaying the State of the Union. Oops! It backfired: had Pelosi stuck to the original schedule (Jan 29), Trump would have not had the January jobs numbers, and her fellow Democrats would not have so self-destructed. As luck would have it, Trump pounced upon the pitiful Pelosi, killing her with the kindness of a “presidential” Republican.