Two views of Bidenomics
I’m a no-compromise peace and justice person, for the most part. I served time in three prisons and many jails, coast-to-coast, offering nonviolent resistance to militarism, including against nuclear weapons and against the invasion of Iraq.
Joe Biden is not a peace person.
If Donald Trump is the alternative, however, I’m going to vote for Biden.
I didn’t used to be such a sellout. I voted for Barry Commoner when Ronald Reagan was running, even though Reagan was a nuclear loose cannon. A friend then told me, “OK, clearly, you are not as scared as I am.”
So finally, 40 years later, I get it. Hold my nose, no need for an herbal emetic, vote for Biden. Ugh.
Trump makes extravagant economy claims, and he leaves out Biden’s, frankly, astonishingly strong economic track record. Fact-checking Trump’s claims about “Bidenomics” vs Trump’s record result in findings from “slightly exaggerated” to false, false and more false. Campaigns are supposed to highlight candidates in their best lights, but not by lying. As we are learning from the civil case in New York, Trump’s routine practice is fraud and lies.
Should we vote based on how a president might affect our financial future? For families, it’s hard not to. For all of us, it should be one of the factors in motivating us; we should never lose sight of the rest of them, from our own values-based assessment.
As an average-income American, I at least want the facts. Looking at the record, I see that under Trump, even when he “owned” both legislative branches in the 115th Congress, he and his cronies like Mitch McConnell only managed one piece of significant legislation—giving rich people and huge corporations massive tax breaks. As for the usual lavish Trump promises about his big accomplishment, none were true. What else is new?
Do we want another four years of failures that Trump’s 2017-2021 term inflicted on us or do we want another four years of Bidenomics—low unemployment, wages increasing faster than inflation and no recession in sight?
Dr. Tom H. Hastings is coordinator of conflict resolution BA/BS degree programs and certificates at Portland State University.
