As I write this, we are two weeks and two days from our election. According to polls, both candidates are running neck and neck. Though I don’t put much, if any, stock in polls I have heard that the economy is the number one issue on people’s minds. Former President Trump says the economy is in shambles. One of his long-time measures was to see if the stock market was doing good. Let’s take a quick look at this.
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As I write this, we are two weeks and two days from our election. According to polls, both candidates are running neck and neck. Though I don’t put much, if any, stock in polls I have heard that the economy is the number one issue on people’s minds. Former President Trump says the economy is in shambles. One of his long-time measures was to see if the stock market was doing good. Let’s take a quick look at this.
The stock market is currently at an all-time high after breaking several records. Let’s look at the market on Dec. 31, 2019. After that, the pandemic started hitting hard. On Market Watch: www.marketwatch.com/story/stock-futures-flat-as-wall-street-prepares-to-ring-out-a-banner-year-2019-12-31, they noted “What are major indexes doing? The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 76.30 points or 0.3%, at 28,538.44, while the S&P 500 index gained 9.49 points, or 0.3%, to 3,230.78. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 26.61 points, or 0.3%, to 8,972.60.” Now, as of Friday, October 18 2024, the DOW is at 43,275.91, a 51.6% rise since 2019, the S&P is at 5,864.67, a 81.5% rise, and the Nasdaq is at 20,324.04 , a 126.5% rise. For an economy that is supposedly in shambles, it is doing pretty darn well.
Yes, the stock market isn’t for all of us but with Trump’s fixation on the market, he should be very happy. As for grocery prices, prices at the pump for fuel, etc., things aren’t quite as good. But the whole world is feeling that pinch. Vice President Kamala Harris has this one of several ways to help. On the Time.Com website: “time.com/7081350/kamala-harris-presidential-platform-policies/ it notes that following: “Harris, who had a front-row seat as voters’ struggles with inflation created political headaches for the administration, promises to curb high prices on everything from groceries to health care. The goal is “to lower your costs by cutting your taxes; to lower housing costs; to lower pharmaceutical costs,” says Brian Deese, who served as director of the National Economic Council under Biden and is now one of Harris’s top economic advisers.”
As we all know, the Federal Reserve is also lowering interest rates. This will help many areas of need. And we also know that inflation rates are coming down. So, several things are in motion. In the same article, Harris had additional plans. “At Carnegie Mellon, Harris offered the most detailed look at her economic plans since taking over as the Democratic nominee. She’s proposing a $50,000 tax deduction to help Americans start more small businesses, and a $6,000 Child Tax Credit for families in the first year of a baby’s life. She plans to extend $35 insulin to all Americans and eliminate degree requirements for 500,000 federal jobs. She wants to invest in research and development in new manufacturing industries, and trim red tape to further the Biden Administration’s overhaul of America’s infrastructure. Perhaps more than any other presidential candidate in recent memory, Harris has focused on solving America’s housing crisis. She plans to offer $25,000 in down-payment assistance to first-time home buyers, a tax credit to incentivize builders, and pledges to build three million affordable housing units in her first term.” So, I think the economy is in good hands.
We all know that former President Trumps says many unusual things. But he seems to be very sparse on talking about his platform. Recently, on a Fox town hall with all women, he was asked about IVF. When told he was getting a question on in-vitro fertilization, Trump said, "Oh, I want to talk about IVF. I’m the father of IVF, so I want to hear this question." Father of IVF? Really? Then he said later to Senator Katie Britt: “And I said, explain IVF, very IVF, very quickly. And within about two minutes, I understood it," Trump said, adding that he told Britt "We're totally in favor of IVF." Wait, isn’t he the father of IVF? Yes, that’s Trump. You can find these statements on MSNBC. The article is: ‘www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-says-hes-the-father-of-ivf-and-that-he-just-recently-learned-what-it-is/ar-AA1ssxIG?ocid=BingNewsSerp’ Or, better yet, you can watch the video of his statement at the town hall on the same site and listen.
As for being a businessman. Do we think he can keep his own thoughts and biases out of his decisions? There is an article on the Forbes web site that explains about what happened when he went to war on tariffs with China during his term. You can find it at: ‘www.forbes.com/sites/eriksherman/2019/12/27/trump-china-tariffs-farmers-subsidies/’. I particularly like the following paragraphs: “Income inequality comes in many forms. A long developing one getting unfortunate boosts between trade wars and cataclysmic weather events is agriculture. The small farmer, to be exact.
They were already doing badly, and then came the tariff wars with China and the loss of a major market. There has been Trump's Market Facilitation Program (MFP), which is a bailout for farmers, but according to an analysis, the biggest operators sucked up the bulk of the money, putting small ones ever further behind.” Did he really mean to hurt farmers in this way? Maybe he didn’t even think about it.
Ponder this question. Former President Trump says he wants things back in the hands of each state. So why does he always go to the Supreme Court if something isn’t going his way? Does he trust the states or not? Does he want autonomy in the states for many federal issues or not? Does he really know what he wants? Can a crazy person really make sane people crazy? Make them into his or her own image? Something to consider.