What gets in the way as well is often not a matter of reality, but rather personal perspectives. For example, if you have someone who has always earned low wages in a fast-food restaurant or retail store, they are going to tend to view the world in a very different way than someone who is a middle-class earner.
On top of that, in order for someone to truly evaluate what is happening politically, one has to be able to be honest with themselves, honest about the assessment, and able to step away from one side or the other and do our own homework. Because we also have to know that the media is not going to always tell us the truth any more than our politicians themselves are going to do it.
In other words, we can't even take our guy's word for it. We have to decide for ourselves what is working and what is not, and not separate ideas by political party, but acknowledge ideas by how successful they are or aren't.
I bring this up because of discussions we have about former president Trump and current president Biden and my personal observation that I just don't think anyone is being honest with ourselves about the facts. Granted, I come at this with a little bit of obvious bias. I supported Trump and I dislike Biden, and I am also a conservative republican.
But let that not sway you from my general point here.
The thing is, sometimes there are things that are simply undeniable on an intellectual, informed level. When it comes to Trump, many of us can agree there were things he got right and there were things he got wrong. Same thing with Obama to be fair. The same goes for any president or politician we have ever known.
Let's take gas prices. We cannot deny that gas prices were cheaper when Trump was in office and is more expensive today under Biden. I think, if we are being honest, that there are also key things that one can point to that Obama did regarding policy, things that Trump did regarding policy, and things that Biden did regarding policy that had a very visible impact on what gas prices were in all three administrations and why.
In other words, we normally hold the thought—and fairly accurately—that presidents do not control gas prices. But there are policy decisions presidents can make that do impact prices at the pump to an extent. If gas prices were to have been lower under Trump and then remained lower under Biden after reversing Trump's energy policies on day one of his presidency, then we could safely assume that something other than Trump's policies drove down the price of gas.
Regardless of what side of the aisle one resides on, it should be clear that energy policy had a notable effect on what we pay for gas. Yet on the other side, there are deniers. Their argument is simply that Obama's policies finally kicked in and by the time Trump was out of office, his policies reversed Obama's course.
It's just not the case.
The stock market is another glaring example of one's economic situation over another. And again, just like with gas prices, presidents do not control the stock market. But they can have certain economic policy that either fosters a strong business climate or hinders it.
Granted, under Obama, the stock market did not do badly. In fact it did rather well. But it really did so, mainly, due to quantitative easing which flooded the economy with money to bolster it because the real underlying economy was faltering. It ended essentially in 2014 although a 4th round came after the Covid thing happened.
There was no QE, essentially, during Trump's term and there were clear things he did regarding policy that helped to free up business to operate and grow. It bolstered the economy and created spending activity which also, of course, fueled market returns.
Biden's economic policy has not had the same result. Inflation aside, which cannot be entirely blamed on Biden, but certainly the trillions of dollars added to the deficit under two bills and Biden's energy policy contributed greatly to it.
There are simply things you can point to that determine why something happened. And again, we have to be honest about all of that if we want to make informed decisions the next time we have to decide who is right or wrong to get us headed in the right direction. Or to decide whether or not maybe we made a mistake. Or that we missed an important detail in our evaluation.
We cannot deny failure just because it is our side failing any more than we can deny success because it is not our side succeeding.
When Trump was president, GDP rose. That's a fact. Even after Obama told us 2.5% was the "new normal and we would just have to get used to it." Poverty rates declined under Trump. It's statistically true. Black, Hispanic and women unemployment rates dropped to historical lows under Trump. We can't say that didn't happen. Wages rose considerably under Trump, and we cannot deny that either.
It is not to say Trump was perfect. By no means. But in order to fairly assess his presidency overall, we have to at least acknowledge what he did that worked, and if not entirely give credit to Trump for having done it, but ask ourselves why we are not holding Biden to account for the things he did differently that are not working in the way they did under Trump?
Why would we not say, "Hey, Mr. Biden, what he did in this area worked. Why not keep doing that and instead of focusing on denying what worked and changing course, instead find the things that really didn't work and work on those things?"
Trump's immigration policy worked. In fact, to some extent, Obama's immigration policy was more effective than Biden's as well. Why not keep it? Trump's economic policies mostly worked. Why not keep going with that? Say what you want about Trump's tax cut, his cuts worked much like cuts JFK made and Reagan as well made. Trump's energy policy worked. Why not keep that going as well?
The bottom line is that knowing what's happening and being honest about it serves everyone in pursuing what's best for the country at large. If we can do that, all sides win, and heck, all sides can claim the victory as well.
Both sides have good ideas and bad ideas, and we as the American people are in charge of deciding which ones are good and which ones are bad, and electing people who will do the things that work as opposed to denying them and changing course, which accomplishes nothing.
Is this a call to bring Trump back in 2024? No. Not hardly. It is simply a call to open our eyes, be honest, and listen to both sides, honestly evaluate the results, and elect the next guy to lead us based on the merit of what he offers and on the basis of what the last guy didn't deliver.
If we are able to be honest. America only succeeds if we can honestly evaluate policies that work over which party made the policy, or which side we wish had.
Like the way I write or the things I write about? Follow me on Twitter at @jimbauer601.
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