OK. It was trust, wasn't it?
Simple trust. It wasn't 'Which economy was better by the numbers'? It was 'Who do you trust on the economy?'
Let's face it, it is hard to figure all this out on your own. You heard a lot of facts and data and economics and history and everybody was screaming at you "This is the Truth!" And eventually you were like, "who knows?"
When you listen to Trump, he gives you what you need to hear. You need to put faith in someone. You want to believe it's all going to be all right. And after you heard all the people talking and shouting and contradicting each other with facts and figures and charts - you got the feeling of trust with Trump more than Harris. Or R more than D. You heard 'woke' and other things, and you didn't trust that. You heard 'the border' and you didn't trust what was going on there.
Put away all the bullshot for a minute and just answer plainly: is that it?
@spruce112358
The ultrarightwingnut crowd just has big problems understanding what you are saying.
They are going WHAAA?
@sonhouse
Someone today pointed out that the lesson from Biden investing in the middle class. e.g. infrastructure, manufacturing, etc. to future politicians is: don't bother. It doesn't translate into middle class votes.
Better to invest in disinformation and "political engineering' which pays solid returns. 🙂
@sonhouse saidYet they somehow think it's our fault they're stupid.
@spruce112358
The ultrarightwingnut crowd just has big problems understanding what you are saying.
They are going WHAAA?
@Kewpie saidUnrestrained.
In an unrestrained capitalist economy, you don't increase sales and profits by improving the product. Instead, you spend the same amount of money to buy more effective advertising.
That's the whole point.
That's why there needs to be regulation, because otherwise, businesses just act like children. The product stays crap (or gets worse).
@all, sometimes what we need to understand ... is in front of our snouts ; witness a recent emale from a freng :
The Trump tax cuts of 2017 laid the groundwork for the Trump victory in 2024.
The Trump tax cuts did four things:
1. They guaranteed larger deficits going forward.
2. They cut taxes a LOT for the top 1%.
3. They cut taxes a LITTLE for the rest of us.
4. They incentivized corporations to do stock buybacks rather than paying higher wages to their employees.
The result has been that in the last 7 years, the rich have gotten MUCH richer; stock prices have more than doubled since that time; most Americans are doing no better than 7 years ago; and the national deficit continues to soar.
So this year, the message that "the economy is in great shape" took the form of:
a. The Dow and related indices have risen sharply;
b. The GDP is rising;
c. American industry is doing better than foreign economies; so
d. You middle-class folks don't understand how good the economy is; so
e. Why are you blaming Joe Biden and Kamala Harris for the fact that you're not sharing in this prosperity?
Although Biden and Harris had proposed a tax increase on those making more than $400,000 a year, it never had a chance in the Republican-controlled House, where, by Constitutional requirement, all tax bills must originate, so no Democrats ever tried seriously to advance the proposal. It may have been a hopeless task, but the Democrats never figured out a way to take the offensive on the economy.
So the income inequality that was widened after the 2017 tax bill fueled the disconnect on the economy this year, and the Democrats were stuck.
Trump's plan -- we'll have to see if it actually gets implemented:
1. More tax cuts for the rich;
2. Tariffs that will be paid by consumers;
3. No actual plan to cut government spending, except perhaps for cutting military aid to Ukraine (aid that is not only propping up Zelenskyy, but is actually propping up military contractors)
4. No plan at all to reduce the federal deficit; and re-direct programs that enhance the public to select corporate supporters ( (see buzzoff & muskmelon ).
5. No plan at all for addressing pending shortfalls in Social Security funding, requiring benefits cuts in the 2030's, after he is long gone.
Will the Democrats be able to make an issue of income inequality in 2025, when they don't have to defend the status quo? Im betting probably not : {
@Suzianne saidThey take things on faith. They are faith-based rather than reason-based.
Yet they somehow think it's our fault they're stupid.
Take deportation. We look at all the parameters and say, "impossible." They say, "but we have faith in Donald Trump. So yes, possible."
America goes through periods of religious revival, and we are definitely in one. Trump's rallies don't differ that much from revival tent meetings.
@elassasino saidTrump inherits a great economy which half the country thinks is "terrible" because they have faith in a particular group that assures them "it's terrible!"
Will the Democrats be able to make an issue of income inequality in 2025,
Next year, as the new administration takes over, the message will start to change. The faith-based will start to hear the Good News. They will start to feel better about things. And by the end of next year the economy will be "Great! On track!"
And people who are faith-based will think, "Wow. The economy is great! I don't feel that great, but the people I trust are telling me it's great. And I believe them! They would not lie to me! So if I don't feel great... it must be my own fault! Darn it!"
And if there is a disconnect like, oh I don't know, a major recession that cannot be papered over - it will be because of the Devious Democrats who Did Something To Sabotage The Country. And faith-based people will be like, "Ohhhhh, so that's what it is! We get it now..." 😆