PolitiDose Told The Real Story About Donald Trump in Commentary in 2015 and 2016.

In 2015 Donald Trump announced he would seek the GOP nomination for President of the United States.  That was 8 years ago and the general news media (TV, Radio and Printed) are still enabling Trump with massive news coverage of being a viable candidate despite his traitorous acts as a Presidential nominee and President of the United States.  The latest example was CNN's town hall meeting with Trump just this week after a jury found Trump guilty of sexual abuse and defamation of a woman and fined him $5 million.  CNN gave Trump  another forum to lie about the verdict, lie about the election of 2020 and the riot at the Capitol on January 6.

PolitiDose was not fooled by Donald Trump and said so in commentary in 2015 and 2016, commentary that explained 8 years ago how Trump and the GOP were one and the same liars.  Also, how Trump as a presidential candidate asked Russia to spy on America seeking Hillary Clinton's emails.  That was a traitorous act the media said little about.  But PolitiDose commentary told the story when Trump made the traitorous comment.  And when Trump the President tried to overthrow the government on Jan. 6, PolitiDose also told that story of his traitorous act when it took place.  The full corruption of Trump and his toxic rhetoric was also exposed by PolitiDose commentary those two years early on.  

During those telling two years the media treated Trump as a star and devoted most of their news cycle to him and his lies.  It was the media who helped create Trump and his toxic influence and are doing the same thing today billing him as a legitimate Presidential candidate.  It's the same as supporting a known and convicted fraud and ignoring what America really needs at this difficult time.  The media's support for Trump and his party's un-American attitude and anti-American government ideology is totally unacceptable in a democratic society.  

Eight years ago PolitiDose understood what Trump and the GOP were all about and said so in commentary.  The media did not, let it all slide and today are still enabling Trump and the GOP's toxic and corrupting ideology to flood the air waves.  Yes, my fellow Americans, understanding the mistakes of the past is still the key to a better future.  There are hose who will never learn because they do not want to.  So stay tuned to PolitiDose, your daily dose of political commentary.    

This commentary written by Joe Lorio 

Conservative Opinion Writer Byron York Is Still Ignorant Concerning The Federal Budget.

 In a New Orleans Advocate column dated May 10 titled, "Recession and the 2024 Campaign" York of the Washington Examiner continues to display his ignorance concerning federal spending in the federal budget.  His ignorance is also displayed in his comments concerning the GOP's predictions of an economic recession they have been pushing for the past 15 months that has failed to take place.  Is it really ignorance or just the plain fact that York is a ditto head of the Trump/GOP alliance that enjoys dealing in misinformation to his public audience and reader ship?

York writes Biden's federal spending has been stratospheric.  But, stratospheric federal spending actually defines what took place on Trump and the GOP's watch when federal spending hit the $4, $5 and $6 trillion mark in only 4 fiscal years for the first time in American history.  And as of this day, federal spending under Biden has not exceeded Trump's spending and in fact Biden's very first fiscal year budget came in 8% lower than Trump's last fiscal year budget which was $6.8 trillion.  Trump's third fiscal year budget came in at $6.5 trillion.  Biden's first budget came in at $6.2 trillion.  

Trump and his GOP were the very first administrations to cross the trillion dollar threshold 3 times and in only 4 years.  Reagan crossed the threshold one time being the first President to cross the trillion dollar mark.  Bush 43 crossed it twice being the  first to cross the 2 and 3 trillion mark.  In 8 years Clinton never crossed the trillion dollar mark and Obama never crossed the 3 trillion mark in his 8 fiscal years.  

What York, Trump and  the GOP will never talk about is the record deficit number Trump added to the national debt in just 4 short fiscal years, $8.2 trillion.  No other administration has come even close to that number in any one term.  The large increases in federal spending and the national debt since Reagan was elected can be defined as devastation on the republican watch and the record backs it up.  York and his ditto heads have nothing to offer the American people but deception.  And sadly, they like it that way.  

This commentary written by Joe Lorio 

Governor Edwards Should Veto "Don't Say Gay" Legislation If Passed By The GOP Controlled State Legislature.

 If and when the GOP controlled state legislature passes "Don't Say Gay" legislation, Governor Edwards must have the character and courage to veto such legislation and stand tall against the GOP's assault to discriminate against certain people's right of privacy, the pursuit of happiness and to live their own lives like all Americans.  Anything less than a veto should be unacceptable.  

The drive to deny constitutional rights both statewide and nationally by the GOP ditto heads are so un-American in nature, real leaders have to stand up, be counted and fight the good fight to protect all citizen's right to live their own lives.  The corrupted GOP has no business to try and regulate other lives, nor do they have any moral authority to do so.  

Governor Edwards turned around the failure of 8 years of GOP control when elected and moved the state forward.  And now as he prepares to leave office, he cannot afford the state to slip backwards again and allow such harmful legislation to become law.  Leaving office on a positive note by displaying character and courage will define the difference between good government and those who want to use government to deny people their right to live their own lives.  

This commentary written by Joe Lorio

The U.S. Economy, Job Creation and the Unemployment Rate for April 2023.

 The U.S. Labor Department announced that the economy added 253,000 jobs in April and the unemployment rate came in at 3.4%, down from 3.5% in March.  It was the 27th consecutive month of positive job growth under the Biden administration.  The Department also reported that wages were up 0.5% from March.  The economy continues to create jobs at a monthly average rate much higher than recorded before COVID.

The unemployment rate has stayed in the 3% range for 15 consecutive months since February 2022.  That is the lowest string of unemployment since the Lyndon Johnson administration when it stayed in the 3% range for 20 consecutive months in 1966-1967.  And for those who are ignorant on such matters, in the last 94 years only one Republican President has left office with a lower unemployment rate than when he took office and that was Ronald Reagan.  Every other Republican President, Hoover, Nixon-Ford, Bush 41, Bush 43 and Trump left office with a higher unemployment rate than when they took office.  No democratic President during that same period of time left office with a higher unemployment rate than when he took office.  And for the record, the nation lost 6.4 million jobs on Hoover's watch and 2.7 million jobs on Trump's watch.  

The jobs and unemployment numbers for April, once again shocked the negative voices of doom and gloom who were looking for a major slowdown and still predicting a recession to take place same time this year that keeps getting pushed back from their original prediction of the third quarter of 2022.  The negative voices still are incapable of saying anything positive about the economy.

The media in general is just as bad as the negative voices giving priority to negative news instead of the positives concerning the economy.  They know democratic administrations have a long historical record of creating jobs and putting America to work but never report the facts even though the numbers back it up.  They also know the GOP has no such record and are afraid to report it because their record is a disaster.

Even good economic conditions and results. when they exist, needs attention to keep progress moving forward for the country and its people.  No economy is self sustaining.  But we have a Federal Reserve, many corporate leaders and other negative voices who think you have to destroy jobs, raise unemployment and ruin the economy to make it better.  That is pure nonsense with no original thought and those are the same people who could help move the economy forward with a different policy attitude and support of the President's policies that turned the economy around for the better.

It is past time to get behind and support the President's policies that have worked and to support those issues that will keep the economy creating jobs, lowering unemployment, raise wages, reduce inflation and put the country in position to balance future budgets.  With political understanding we can keep the economy growing.  A positive attitude, policy and working together will get us there.  A negative attitude and division will not.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio  

The U.S. Economy: President Trump's First Two Years Vs. President Biden's First Two Years.

President Trump took office at a time the U.S. Economy was in it's 8th consecutive year of economic expansion, job creation was positive and unemployment was down 3.1% on President Obama watch.  Budget deficits were falling and federal spending was increasing at lower level than the previous administration.   There was no economic recession on the horizon to worry about.  During Trump's first 24 months in office the GDP (Gross National Product) grew at an average of 2.5% per year.  Unemployment was down 7/10th of 1%.  It was 4.7% when he took office and 4% two years later.  Job Creation for Trump's first 36 months in office (before COVID) averaged 183,333 jobs per month.  

President Biden took office with an economic recession and COVID pandemic in full swing, job creation in negative territory, an unemployment rate of 6.3%, negative GDP, the largest federal spending spree in the history of the U.S., increasing deficits and a record number increase in the national debt for any Presidential term.  During President Biden's first 24 months in office the GDP averaged 4% per year.  The unemployment rate was down 2.9%.  It was 6.3% when he took office and was 3.4% two years later.  Unemployment has stood in the 3% range for 14 consecutive months, the longest stretch since the Kennedy-Johnson years.  Job creation in Biden's first 24 months averaged 458,000 jobs per month, a record for any 24 month period.

The 24 month period tells us how each President's administration performed after what they inherited from the previous administration and how they responded.  We know the full details of how the Trump administration ended because it is already in the history books and is not a flattering one. 

The story tells us the country and its people did well the first 24 months of the Biden's administration despite inflation and the negative voices of doom and gloom who refuse to talk about the positive accomplishments that took place in America.  The President's report card is not the final judgement, but that day will come when his full term can be measured and recorded. 

This commentary written by Joe Lorio 

The GOP Trys To Define Others and It's Opponents In Order To Influence Public Opinion and Divide The Country.

 A good example over the years in their attempt to define democrats as "liberals" but define the term as something other than the true meaning of "liberal."  They use the word to divide the people and misrepresent what "liberal" really stands for.  A large part of the GOP's reason to do so is that they cannot articulate what their own party stands for or compete with the facts on the issues because of their own extreme ideology.  

President Kennedy, who was very articulate in his speech and was willing to debate the merits of "liberalism" vs. "conservatism" with U.S. Senator Barry Goldwater who was running against Kennedy for a second term said this about being a "liberal" in his book, "Profiles in Courage."  (in which Kennedy defined the true meaning of "liberalism.")  IF BY A LIBERAL THEY MEAN SOMEONE WHO LOOKS AHEAD AND NOT BEHIND, SOMEONE WHO WELCOMES NEW IDEAS WITHOUT RIGID REACTIONS, SOMEONE WHO CARES ABOUT THE WELFARE OF THE PEOPLE-THEIR HEALTH, THEIR HOUSING, THEIR SCHOOLS, THEIR JOBS, THEIR CIVIL RIGHTS AND THEIR CIVIL LIBERTIES-SOMEONE WHO BELIEVES WE CAN BREAK THROUGH THE STALEMATE AND SUSPICIONS THAT GRIP US IN OUR POLICIES ABROAD, IF THAT IS WHAT THEY MEAN BY A "LIBERAL" THAN I AM PROUD TO SAY I AM A "LIBERAL."

Now, with the Republican party in decay and toxic under their leader Donald Trump, they discovered a new word to try and define the democratic party for the people using the word "woke."  After losing the popular vote 7 times in the last 8 Presidential elections, participating in Trump's corrupted administration that tried to over throw the 2020 election, supported Trump's effort to turn America into an autocratic governing body , created a fiscal calamity and economic recession that lost 21.5 million jobs, the GOP thought they needed a new word to define the democratic party so they hung their hat on the word "woke" to try and redefine the democratic party for the people.

President Biden who is not even close to President Kennedy when it comes to being articulate, demonstrated the true "liberal" spirit and definition with his policies that moved the country and its people away from the Trump/GOP failures of the previous 4 years.  And every step to true progress in moving America forward began with the "liberal" philosophy and the record speaks for itself.  

This commentary written by Joe Lorio 

The Real Story of Louisiana's Congressmen Steve Scalise and Garret Graves.

Two opinion columns published in the New Orleans Advocate of 4/23 and 4/25 by opinion writer's Stephanie Grace and Mark Ballard concerning Scalise and Graves missed the real story about the GOP's attempt to hold America hostage over the "debt ceiling" and how speaker of the house Kevin McCarthy turned to Graves to lead the effort instead of majority leader Scalise.

The real story tells the tale of how McCarthy, Scalise and Graves, who served during the Trump administration and voted with Trump the majority of the time was part of a administration that became the biggest spending administration in the history of the U.S. and still raised the "debt ceiling" without demanding any budget cuts or less spending.  It was also their administration that increased the national debt $8.2 trillion in 4 fiscal years, the largest ever number in the national debt during any Presidential one term.  

In the 40 years that Reagan, Bush 41, Clinton, Bush 43, Obama and Trump served, $17.7 trillion (65%) was added to the national debt by those 4 GOP Presidents.  $9.7 trillion (35%) was added to the national debt by those two democratic Presidents.  Year to year federal spending in the last 50 years was down four times.  Three times during the Obama administration in fiscal 2010,2012 and 2013.  It was down once in Biden's first fiscal year ending 9/30/22.  No GOP administration in that same time period ever reduced year to year federal spending.

McCarthy, Scalise and Graves are still supporters of Donald Trump, voted for his $1.5 trillion tax cuts financed by deficit spending which the government is still paying for.  They cared nothing about the fiscal disaster they created during their own administration, and to think editorial writers speak of Graves and Scalise as assets for the state of Louisiana in Congress.  No one can be supporters of Trump and be an asset.  

The GOP's hypocritical bill passed the House by a vote of 217-215 but will not become law because the GOP has no record of reducing federal spending or reducing deficit spending.  In other words, the GOP cannot "walk the talk."  Democratic administrations have a proven record of reducing federal spending and deficit spending and as a result can and already have "walked the talk."  The latest example was Biden's first fiscal year budget which ended 9/30/22 where federal spending was down 8% from Trump's last fiscal year budget.  And the deficit was down over 50% from Trump's last fiscal year budget.  

The numbers and the records, really do matter.

Note:  Past PolitiDose commentary break down all  the numbers and the source of information used concerning the federal budget, deficit spending, the national debt, federal spending and etc.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio

The U.S. Economy, Job Creation and The Unemployment Rate for March 2023.

The U.S. Labor Department reported that the economy added 236,000 jobs in March and the unemployment rate came in at 3.5%, down from 3.6% in February.  It was the 26th straight month of positive job growth for the President's administration.  The Department also announced that wages increased 0.3% in March over February and that the year over year growth was 4.2%.  Also, February job creation was 326,000 and not the 311,000 jobs earlier reported.

The economy continues to create jobs with a stable unemployment rate not seen in 50 years and wages continue to grow.  Yet, the negative voices keep up their 15 months of doom and gloom chatter of recession, the collapse of the banking system and everything else they can think of.  CEO's and executives of some of the largest corporations are part of the negative chatter, have urged the Feds to raise interest rates high and fast that would cause job layoffs and higher unemployment and threaten the progress of the U.S. economy.  Some of those corporations are so large they could have been a force for lowering inflation long ago and they dropped the ball for the sake of greed and higher profits.

There was a time in America before the internet and social media when good news about the economy was reported in a positive atmosphere of accomplishment and pride.  now the opposite is taking place even though the negative voices have been wrong about the economy since the President took office.

The official U.S. economic arbiter on recessions  for the past 50 years has been The National Bureau of Economic Research and they announced that the last time the U.S. entered an economic recession was in February of 2020, a month before COVID hit, and that recession ended the 10 year period of economic expansion.  The negative voices of today were silent about that information.  And that really says it all.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio 

Pollster Ron Faucheux Gets Caught Up In Poll Numbers.

 Faucheux's opinion column of 4/3 in the New Orleans Advocate titled, "A shocking picture of American values, trends" says in his first sentence, American values have fallen off a cliff based on a recent Wall Street Journal NORC poll.  He then goes on to say the survey data cannot be easily explained away.  But being a pollster himself, Faucheux knows polls do not reflect the real answers because questions asked and answered are based on so much misinformation gathered over the internet and social media that the public is exposed to every day.

A good example is Fox News and their viewers.  The network is rated #1 for cable news and for many years running thanks to their viewers.  However, everyone knows Fox news is based on lies and misinformation but viewers do not care and even believe the lies and misinformation.  The same applies to the conservative media in general.

The most important poll to see where the people stand as a nation are the Presidential elections where the vote (poll) is taken nation wide and not based on sound bites.  And in the last 8 Presidential elections, the democratic Presidential candidate won the popular vote in 7 of those elections.  Bush 43 was the only GOP Presidential candidate to win the popular vote and in his second term during that time period.  

Regular polls you hear about almost every week are slanted that change with the wind and are affected by the questions asked which may not be relevant.  The pollsters have failed to recognize the people's true feelings when the popular vote (poll) went against Trump in both Presidential elections and by large margins, especially against Joe Biden.  And that really says it all.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio 

Another Steve Scalise Editorial Full of Misinformation and Untruths That Is His trademark and The GOP's Usual Pro Oil and Gas Rhetoric.

 In a New Orleans Advocate editorial of April 4 titled, "American families need cost of energy lowered" was the typical hype past statements by Scalise and the GOP concerning their in-bed relationship with the Oil and Gas industry.  Scalise's bill passed the GOP controlled house titled, Lower Energy Costs Act is the latest example of folly.

Scalise claims that his legislation will produce more drilling and production, more timely offshore lease sales and reduce regulations that would end up reducing the price of oil and gas and lower inflation.  But we know the price of a barrel of oil and gallon of gas is not connected to inflation.  Just this week, OPEC announced a production cut and immediately American oil  and gas industry followed and the next day prices increased in the U.S. 

It is also a fact that the La. Dept. of Natural Resources and Office of Conservation published the offshore drilling activity historical data monthly and yearly and it reveals that the average offshore rig count during President Obama's first term was 33 working rigs and during his second term it average 38 working rigs per year.  During Trump's four years the offshore rig count averaged 17 working rigs per year.  So, Louisiana and the oil and gas industry did much better during the Obama administration even though Scalise said President Obama's moratorium after the BP Oil spill and blowout would cause an exodus of offshore rigs from the Gulf.  The industry did not do so well under Trump because why drill when they received a 14% reduction in their corporate tax rate thanks  to Trump  and the GOP.  Scalise never mentions that America became the world's leading producer of oil on President Obama's watch and that oil hit a record price at the time on  the watch of President George W. Bush.  Where were Scalise and the GOP during the oil and gas meltdown on Trump's watch?  They were running the show.

It is nothing new for those who follow the facts, the oil and gas industry has its best years during democratic administrations and in the past 42 years the Clinton administration saw the largest yearly number of offshore rigs working the Gulf of Mexico when it averaged 90 working rigs per year.  It was also the most stable price time for a barrel of oil and a gallon of gas.

If the bill ever arrives on the President's desk, President Biden should veto the bill for three reasons.  The President knows the facts, the bill is just another Social give away to big oil and the President will not back off his green energy policy of phasing out fossil fuels over a period of time.  

And that really says it all.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio