I can’t assist myself: If we’re watching an Orioles recreation on the Swallow on the Hollow tavern, and a few man says Earl Weaver was the final supervisor to take the group to the World Series, I’d ask for forgiveness, pal, that was Joe Altobelli in 1983, and you may Google to verify.
I like info. And I like correcting “alternative facts.”
These days, I hear from individuals who, in defending Donald Trump and bashing President Joe Biden, assert issues that aren’t true. I attempt to assist them. I ship them hyperlinks to credible information tales and reviews from fact-checkers. They not often specific thanks as a result of — I’m guessing right here — they don’t like being instructed what they heard on Fox & Friends or learn on some crackpot’s web site is rubbish.
So, you ask, what’s the purpose of all this fact-checking if Trump supporters assume the findings are all faux? And why am I about to make use of this column to reply to the assertions of an 87-year-old reader and Trump fan named Betty?
It’s like once I’m within the Swallow: I can’t assist myself.
Betty wrote a four-page letter, making a sequence of statements that begged for responses. Mine are based mostly on information tales, congressional testimony and authorities reviews. Here we go:
On Jan. 6, 2021, the day of the mob assault on the U.S. Capitol, “people who broke into the Capitol were stationed there before Trump spoke.”
Betty’s suggestion appears to be that some individuals acted on their very own, with out listening to Trump’s mob-inciting phrases. While true that just a few individuals had been close to the Capitol earlier than the assault began, they had been quickly joined by protesters who got here from Trump’s stop-the-steal rally close to the White House. That’s the place Trump had addressed them for near an hour, saying, “If you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore.” Who was the place and when doesn’t appear to matter as a result of all of them ended up on the Capitol and for a similar objective — to protest or cease congressional certification of Biden’s victory within the 2020 election.
“Nancy Pelosi and her GOP counterpart were responsible to protect the Capitol. They refused to have National Guard troops stand by in case of trouble.”
If by “GOP counterpart,” Betty means Rep. Kevin McCarthy, the House minority chief, then she’s being ironic. It was McCarthy who joined Trump and Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio in accusing Pelosi, the Speaker of the House, of rejecting National Guard safety. That declare has been debunked; congressional testimony confirmed that Pelosi had no involvement in discussions of Capitol safety within the days main as much as the assault. The Associated Press discovered that “as the Capitol came under attack, she and the Senate Majority leader [Chuck Schumer] called for military assistance, including the National Guard.”
“I like a lot of what Trump did in office. He reminded me to be proud of the U.S. He gave us a tax break.”
It depends upon who “us” is, Betty. Most Americans acquired a modest bump in take-home pay, however the lion’s share of tax financial savings went to these nicely up the ladder. According to the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center, the 2017 tax package deal principally benefited the rich and firms. Most of the tax cuts went to Americans already on the prime of the revenue scale. Trump and the Republicans lower the company tax fee by 40%. As all the time with trickle-down economics, the cuts did little to advance development, and the Tax Policy Center expects the ensuing deficits so as to add between $1 trillion and $2 trillion to the nationwide debt. That could be on prime of the $7.8 trillion that was added through the Trump administration.
“I have been a part of many good years until Barack Obama was put into office with Joe Biden as VP. America has gone downhill fast after that. Trump slowed down their progress toward socialism/communism.”
Obama and Biden got here into workplace in January 2009, following a monetary meltdown and midst a recession, the worst such disaster for the reason that Great Recession. The unemployment fee hit 10% in October of Obama’s first 12 months. But, throughout his two phrases, the nation netted 11.6 million jobs, and the unemployment fee dropped to three.1%. Trump inherited a powerful financial system from Obama. Also, for the reason that passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2010, some 35 million extra Americans gained medical insurance protection, in accordance with the Department of Health and Human Services. There could be much more if not for governors and legislators in 12 states that refuse the regulation’s Medicaid growth. So, you’ll be able to name it “socialism,” however the ACA has made an enormous distinction for 1000’s of American households. Trump and the Republicans tried to kill it, however they failed, and Republicans have just about given up these efforts. And Betty, I don’t assume I’m going out on a limb to say you’re in all probability insured by Medicare. If so, watch out what you would like for — stopping the “progress toward socialism/communism” might imply the tip of that profit. Also, I don’t know if in case you have grandchildren, however Biden’s scholar mortgage reduction has been labeled “socialism” too. It is likely to be time to rethink a few of your views, or perhaps watch a unique channel.
“We had a president with an honorable family; five children without a hint of scandal.”
Wait. Which president are we speaking about now, Van Buren or Adams?
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Source: www.bostonherald.com