Today it seems really hard to know what the truth is or maybe, a better way to put it is, what is the public’s perception of the truth? I keep hearing the things Trump and the Republicans are better at and I keep wondering where people get their information. I keep hearing things like how Republicans are better with the Economy, Crime, and Security. I have been on this earth for over 70 years and I have seen a total of 13 different Presidents, I have seen the ups and downs and I can say that I don’t really think there are any historical facts that support Republicans are better at those three situations.

In my lifetime there has been 11 different recessions. Of the 11 only one occurred during a Democratic administration and that was during the Carter Administration, all the rest occurred during Republican’s administrations. I won’t say that every recession is the fault of the Administration that was in the White House at the time but I truly think in some cases it is. I encourage everyone to look at what I see as the one economic indicator of inflation which is unemployment, and try and determine how they coincide with the recessions. Today’s news  media makes a big thing out of inflation today but you should look at some of the past numbers like the inflation we had pretty that lasted the entire decade of the 1970s from Nixon through Carter. The news makes it sound like we are in dire straits today and I just scratch my head because we really aren’t. Remembering the suffering of the past, I just can’t see the doom and gloom that many Republicans are talking about. After looking at the numbers I really don’t see why so many voters feel that the Republicans are so much better with the economy than the Democrats. History doesn’t reveal that and just because the Republicans say it doesn’t make is so. Our recovery from the blow Covid gave to our economy we have been doing a pretty good job compared too much of the world. If you think Republicans are so good with the economy why are most of the poorest states Republican controlled states.  If you look at the 10 poorest States you will see 9 are dominated by Republicans. I really don’t think you can be considered being good with the economy if you are not lifting people out of poverty so, I don’t believe the Republicans are good for the economy.

Crime, why do people think Republicans are so good when it comes to crime? I have read that the majority think the crime rates are up when in reality the statistics say the crime rate is down and has been falling under both Republicans and Democrats. Why would people believe that? Could it be because Republicans are telling you that even though it isn’t the truth? What is up is the number of gun homicides. With all the guns on the streets that can’t surprise anyone. Here again people have been told guns will make us safer when it just isn’t true. You can say it is your Constitutional right but guns do not make this country safer. I have read there really is not a good correlation between unemployment and crime. I have also read that 47 percent of unemployed men have been involved with the criminal justice system. What I have read, there is a correlation between poverty and incarcerations. If we look at our most violent cities we will also see our highest poverty. I have always thought there has to be a correlation between poverty and crime and the way to lower crime is not just through our justice system. The best way to fight crime to me would be to provide more opportunity. We already incarcerate more people than pretty much any other country in the world. We incarcerate 37 percent more than Cuba and 66 percent more than Russia. We incarcerate at a 4.3 times the rate we did 50 years ago. Poverty and excessive punishment of the poor and minorities have lead to the rise. Unless we address poverty and the inequity we have in this country we will never lower our prison populations. That is the truth.

I also read people believe Republicans are better with the Security of our nation. I read because of the Democratic border policies terrorists are entering our country along our southern border. I scratch my head on that one. I remember September 11th. I will always remember September 11^th. because I was able to watch it live on TV just like I was able to watch January 6^th live on TV. None of the 9/11 terrorists snuck across the border illegally. They all came in through legal ports of entries. If fact they all entered through our airports. When it comes to our southern border I just think we are being lied to. They like to call these so called illegal immigrants criminals. They like to call them drug mules. None of this is true. Because we are being told so many lies about immigration I am finding it hard to believe anything. Encounters are up during the Biden administration. Does that mean that there are more immigrants or does that mean that the Biden administration is doing a better job? Republicans like to say that Biden has an open border policy which if you look for yourself it isn’t true. I think the real problem is that American businesses have a thirst for cheap labor. Just think of it from a common sense point of view. If the jobs were not here, they would not come or better put if employers didn’t hire them they wouldn’t come. If you want to stop illegal immigration you must stop the people that hire those illegal immigrants. Here is the problem. You have a Presidential candidate like Trump saying that all these immigrants are criminals and rapists when the Trump organization was actually hiring undocumented workers. Go ahead look it up. When Trump was outed for employing undocumented workers, his organization laid the many of the undocumented workers off, some who had been working for him for over 10 years. Until you start severely punishing those organizations from hiring those undocumented workers nothing is going to change. Our border problem is more of a humanitarian crisis than anything else. The biggest problem is we have employers that just prey on these people to cut their labor cost to increase their own profits. I have read that 60 percent of illegal immigrants come in through legal ports of entry. A wall won’t stop it. Our military patrolling our border may slow some of it but not as much as you would think. If you want to put an end to illegal immigration you have to go after the people who are employing them. If you don’t, then you are just kidding lying to yourself.