Deja Vu All Over Again

Friday, June 28, 1924.

On the evening of September 21, 1980 a Presidential Debate between incumbent Jimmy Carter and California Governor Ronald Reagan was held at the Baltimore Convention Center (Apparently, you could still go out at night in Baltimore back then). Despite clear differences in personalities, that debate, it seems to me, bore several similarities to last night's. First the incumbents, Carter and now Biden, had abysmal first terms and ratings to match. Their economies were in terrible shape. Inflation and interest rates had skyrocketed and, internationally, we'd become a feckless laughingstock. Remember the helos getting stuck in the sand while tasked with rescuing hostages from Iran? Sounds like Biden's Afghan retreat, no?

Second - the incumbents were eviscerated in the debate. In Carter's case, it was the clever, affable Reagan who took the peanut farmer to the woodshed. Remember "there you go again". And..."Are you better off than four years ago?"

Last night the same thing happened. A veritable train wreck. I think, in modern parlance, one might call it a "hot mess". But it was Biden, not his opponent, who disemboweled himself. Yes, Trump twisted the knife, but it was Joe himself that inflicted the grave damage. Looking every bit the "elderly man who remembers poorly" (words of Robert Hur, Special Counsel, in the classified documents in the garage next to the Corvette inquiry).

Biden with eyelids blinking like a hummingbird repeatedly slurred and stammered. Misspeaking then correcting himself time and again.

As I awoke the morning after, my first thought was I wonder how many liberal, leftwing, progressives (aka Democrats) actually sat through the entire debacle. I know, if I was a Bidenite, I would have switched after 20 minutes to watch Uruguay blow out Bolivia (5-0) in a sport I only watch once every four years in a match without a single player I know.

So here is my "net, no discount" take...

1. While better than other debates, Trump has plenty of room for improvement...in at least three areas. First cut out the insults. The derogatory remarks.  Please stop - they are unnecessary and are damaging because they inflame fence-sitters and embarrass would be supporters. Second, stop with the half truths and exaggerations. The facts are in Trump's favor. Use them. Third, he needs to better prosecute the four or five main issues with clarity, force and consistency. Not rant or ramble. Crisp, logical and crystal clear.

2. Biden must go...but we knew that before last night. Was the real reason for such an early debate to expose Joe for the incompetent he is BEFORE he gets the nomination? Always said the Left is way more devious and clever than Conservatives.

3. The question is who can replace? I guess Whitmer from Michigan is best possibility. C ackling Kamala is a farce. Newsom's record in California, if you can believe, is worse than Biden's. This will be interesting and the Dems have only 50+ days to get it right. On August 19, they convene in the Windy City to nominate. Remember what happened to them in 1968 in Chicago? Doozy. Please tell me Michelle is not the answer. She scares me.

4. If, for some unfathomable reason, the Libs stay with Biden, I would suggest the decision is based on an unshakeable faith in their ability to rig the election. Sticking with senile Joe will be the surest sign the fix is in!

5. One more complication. If Joe gets broomed, what happens to Kamala? Black woman, first female VP. Will she be forced to jump on the hand grenade? Heard someone say they'll buy her off with Supreme Court appointment. Will it ever stop - the total degradation of our system?

Stay tuned.

A postscript - I like the new debate format. No howling from the audience. No rambling on an open mike. No talking over your opponent. Clearly it helped stifle Trump, which gave Joe a chance to hang himself. Best strategy for Trump is force Joe to try to talk.

National Debt. Trump v. Biden

In the aftermath of last week's debate, the Dems are reeling. They are throwing the kitchen sink as they try to somehow mitigate Biden's abysmal performance.

They are claiming he had a cold. He was overprepared. He had a bad night. But the biggest canard is that Trump is a liar and that it's somehow better to have an honest, senile leader than a liar. So much for Biden's endless lists of untruths. No American soldiers died on my watch (except in Jordan, Afghanistan, etc.). I finished at the top of my class in law school. I'm a six handicap. Border Patrol endorsed me. Etc. etc. And the best of all - my uncle was eaten by cannibals.

Now don't get me wrong - Trump is the P.T. Barnum of presidential candidates. But ole Joe ain't far behind. (again, policy trumps personality)

One of the most repeated allegations hurled at Trump concerns the federal debt. Libs continually accuse Trump of adding more to the debt than Biden. Let's take a quick look at the facts - and the context.

First, in his first three years, the debt increased by $2.7 Trillion under Trump. Under Biden it's been increased by $4.1 Trillion.

Second, while projections of the four year increase under Biden are almost identical to the four year increase under Trump ( $6 trillion range), there's a catch.

As you may recall, Trump's 4th year included a little hiccup called Covid. The unprecedented pandemic that required emergency, with a capital E, spending and support. Joe Biden had no such cataclysmic event.

Joe's increases came from:

• Student loan forgiveness.

• Expansion of Obamacare to cover illegal immigrants.

• Extension of Covid-related Medicare coverage, which bloated rolls long after the pandemic ended.

• The Inflation Reduction Act that includes huge expenditures in green energy regulations and requirements.

You see the problem with government spending is that scorekeeping is a sham. Except with emergency acts, most proposed government spending acts are scored by the CBO as to future impact on deficits and debt. A 10-year horizon is used typically. Increased tax revenues and other economic benefits are estimated.

Rarely is the American public privy to the final results. Most of the protagonists to the spending are long gone by the time the 9th inning rolls around. Constant revisions (we've mentioned these before in CME) are the rule and obfuscate original intent. For example, initially, the Inflation Reduction Act was forecast to reduce the Budget deficit by $238 billion over the next decade. Recently, it was rescored and the result? An increase of $800 billion. This is after the CBO had just finished revising its estimate to add $400 billion in February. More to come? You bet. Up or down - I'll let you guess.

Again, I am not trying to exonerate Trump. If I had one wish, it's that he would carry a cheat sheet with a few real facts and pull it out when he's inclined to extemporize. His record compared to Biden's is clearly superior, so stop arming the opposition. No need to pull a Chi Chi Rodriguez, who, when asked about his tendency to exaggerate, replied, "I don't exaggerate. I just remember BIG." Stop remembering big and heed Sergeant Joe Friday - "Just the facts, Mam." They are plenty good enough.

Cuts Both Ways

If anybody should be applauding this week's SCOTUS decision regarding presidential immunity, it should be Joe Biden.

Now, a future hyperaggressive prosecutor may not criminally prosecute Biden for his disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan, for making available billions of dollars to the hostile Iranian regime, nor for sending tens of billions of dollars to Ukraine while he and his son were under investigation for taking money from Ukrainian-related entities. 

Nor may he be charged with allegedly perpetrating a fraud upon the United States or the American people with respect to his physical and mental health, nor for purportedly selectively prosecuting Trump and Trump’s political allies, such as Peter Navarro and Steve Bannon.

Can You Imagine?

Joe Biden functioning as Commander in Chief five years from now at age 86? Wow, talk about scary.

Hot Flashes

From DNC...can't get off Joe. Cost way too much to reprint all those mail-in ballots!

Recent studies show at MOST only 3% of the estimated 16.8 million illegal immigrants in the US now are under "any" type of federal supervision. (Center for Immigration Reform)