Trump is right about something every once in a blue moon; January just happens to have a ‘blue moon.’ He is bragging about the record stock market levels. There are two problems with his claim that he is responsible for that fact, and that it is indicative of a healthy economy.

First of all the record numbers began under the Obama administration, and are continuing to follow that trend. A record high stock market only proves one thing; the rich are getting richer. Adding in the fact that a number of working class Americans are invested in 401K’s, more than one-half of all Americans have no interest in what happens on Wall Street.

During his campaign, Trump denounced Hillary and Bill Clinton for their connections to Wall Street. This was merely campaign rhetoric and meant nothing. Steve Bannon, who remains a close ally for Trump, made most of his fortune on Wall Street. Steve Mnuchin, Secretary of the Treasury, made his fortune on Wall Street by executing a record number of foreclosures after the housing debacle of 2008. Wilbur Ross also made most of his vast fortune on Wall Street before taking control of the Bank of Cyprus; a bank controlled by Vladimir Putin.

Other billionaires are a part of Trump’s inner circle. Although they did not work on Wall Street, they made much of their money from investments on Wall Street including Rex Tillerson and Betsy DeVos.

Now for Trump’s extremely ignorant and fallacious claim made on the last day of 2017.

Trump tweeted that the stock market would have fallen 50 percent under a Hillary Clinton presidency. Really? Of course he did not offer a single fact to support his statement. He continues to live in the past and attack Hillary instead of paying more attention to many of our nation’s serious issues, including North Korea, Puerto Rico, the Opioid Crisis, Healthcare for all, a divided nation, and a growth in hate crimes across the nation. Trump has his priorities; golf, partying at Mar-a-Lago, Fox and Friends, junk food, his daughter, his wife, and Diet Coke. The American people are not on his list.

If the American people exhibit any wisdom, Trump will be the last Republican President.

Please re-post; thank you.

Op-ed by James Turnage

SOURCE

Image courtesy of DonkeyHotey

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