An op-ed I found on the Fox News website is a perfect embodiment of the bubble of doom and gloom Trump supporters live in. It’s by a guy named Wayne Allen Root, who is, like many conservatives, of questionable sanity.
First some hysteria
I live in the real world. I am a private sector businessman. I have “boots on the ground.” I understand that President Obama has wrecked the U.S. economy. We are in an economic disaster. And it can get worse. Much worse. If someone who thinks just like Obama is elected, we could slide into economic Armageddon. America’s economy could smash to the ground like Humpty Dumpty -- into a million pieces, we can never put back together again.
No, Wayne, you don’t. In the real world, we are doing pretty damn well despite all the nonsensical predictions we’ve had to suffer through over the last 8 years. Unless things go horribly wrong between now and January 20, Obama will be leaving behind rapid employment growth, a budget deficit cut in half, and a lot more people with healthcare. The last Republican president left us with an economy hemorrhaging jobs, a dumpster fire of a banking sector, and massive budget deficits. At the end of the Bush Administration, we were sliding into economic Armageddon. As the Obama Administration ends we are in an era of, dare I say it, prosperity.
I know this because I’m a small businessman with 15 different and diverse businesses and careers. And all 15 are in trouble. All 15 are sucking wind. All 15 are hurting like never before in my lifetime (I’m 54 years old). And I will admit it -- I’m scared.
First of all, if you own 15 businesses, you are not a small businessman. Second of all, your anecdote has no proof behind it, maybe you’re just a bad businessman.
I’ve seen some really bad trends, up close and personal. Consumers don’t want to spend money anymore. Investors don’t want to invest anymore (at least not in small business). No one wants to hire anymore. No one wants to pay bills on time anymore.
According to the trusted University of Michigan Consumer Confidence Survey, people do want to spend money. And according to the Purchasing Manager’s index, businesses are confident. Mr. Root manages to prove that saying, the plural of anecdote isn’t data
Next, we have more hysteria
We know Obama, Hillary and the mainstream media are lying about “economic recovery.” There is no recovery. We have been living in an 8-year-long Obama Great Depression.
Wayne clearly doesn’t know what a great depression looks like. It does not look like 5% unemployment, it does not look like rising home values, it does not look like modest budget deficits.
Then he gives his logic(?) for why Trump should be president
Sure Trump has failed but he came back bigger and better than ever, each and every time.Maybe, just maybe, Trump can show America and the middle class how to recover, just like he did after almost losing it all.
No he hasn’t. In 1995, Trump Hotel and Casino Resorts had an IPO, you should feel sorry for people who bet their retirement savings on Trump’s business acumen, as they would’ve lost 90 cents on the dollar. I really don’t think Trump is a good role model for anyone, especially not our middle class.
In another part, I am reminded of something my mother taught me; never speak in absolutes.
Every Democrat I speak to swears the economy is fine. You know why there is such a disconnect? Because Democrats almost never work in the private sector.They sign the back of paychecks, not the front. Huge difference.
Question for Mr. Root; if Democrats don’t work in the private sector, how do Democrats ever win elections if only 15% of people are employed by government?
They’ve never sold anything for a living (I have every day of my life).
This cool graphic depicting political donations by occupation shows that’s not true. 40% of people in sales related occupations are Democrats, and Democrats outnumber Republicans in Technical, Retail, and Software Sales (incidentally, car dealers are overwhelmingly Republican, although I don’t think they should brag about being the party of used car salesmen).
They’ve never woken up on a Monday with no idea how they’ll pay their mortgage or bills this week
Yes, actually we do. Those welfare recipients you guys love to hate for racially motivated reasons usually have that problem.
Now, Wayne apparantly realized the stupidity of his claim that no private sector workers vote Democrat, and he broadens it to
They work for someone else. They collect a safe weekly paycheck, without ever having to worry where the money comes from.
Then he goes into good old millennial bashing
They are in school, or college, or broke and jobless living in mommy and daddy’s basement eating Doritos, while watching Jerry Springer. They’ve never earned a serious check, let alone signed the front of one. They understand nothing about money or the economy.
We understand the economy just fine, Wayne, that’s why we vote Democrat. We know that the economy does best when a Democrat is in the White House. We also know that the policies you guys have supported since the Reagan years, massive tax cuts on the rich, union busting, reckless deregulation, and leaving antitrust laws unenforced, have not brought us the prosperity you guys promised but instead brought us a shrinking middle class, wages not rising with productivity, and the rich continuously getting richer.
So yes, Republicans and Democrats do live in different worlds. That accounts for most Republicans supporting Donald Trump with fervor and passion and enthusiasm. And virtually all Democrats despising him and being repulsed by him.
Maybe we do hate Trump because we live in different worlds, but mostly it’s because he’s a liar, a bigot, a hypocrite, and a moron.