WTF 10/10/2024

 

Lies and Consequences…  

It’s becoming quite apparent, and much too common, that when the facts don’t meet some Republican politicians viewpoints, or what their “real facts,” that they will lie straight faced and do everything they can to discredit whatever credible report or source that exists that disagrees with their lie.

And it’s now becoming a case of where their misrepresentations of facts… aka lies… not only will endanger lives but in fact has already cost we the people of America lives.

For about the last year or so (most likely it’s been much longer but for my purpose the last year or so will do) most legitimate/reputable polls that were conducted said that the general feeling of most Americans was that the economy sucked, everything cost too much, and employers were laying off people… and… it’s all Joe Biden’s and the Democrats’ fault.

The polls say a lot of we the people believe that to be true about the economy in the United States  despite credible evidence from extremely credible sources that say the opposite.

And a big reason why… if not the reason why… they believe that about the economy is because the Republican propaganda machine… fed and led by the chief of disinformation Donald J. Trump… has done a damn fine job of hoodwinking and hornswoggling we the people’s opinions into believing it to be so.

Just like Trump’s big lie about the stolen election if the facts don’t compute for a stated position then call out the facts as being made up and/or manipulated by the Biden administration to suit the Democrats’ needs when they try and tell the American public that the economy is improving and matters in America are improving for the everyday working person.

The latest Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) jobs report showed that U.S. employers added 254,000 jobs and the unemployment rate dropped to 4.1 percent in September.

Which is a darn good looking, if not strong, picture of the economy.

A picture of the economy that doesn’t suit Trumps’ (or any of the other campaigning Republicans) needs heading into the November elections.

Sen. Marco Rubio, one of Trump’s loyal lapdogs, issued a post on “X” that said, “Another fake jobs report out from Biden-Harris government today… 16 of the last 17 reports have been significantly revised downwards after media helps them with their fake headlines[.] But all the fake numbers in the world aren’t going to fool people dealing with the Biden-Harris economic disaster every day.”

Surprisingly Sleepy Joe made an appearance in the White House Briefing Room and not only welcomed the jobs report and the new  deal to end the dockworkers strike but when answering a question about Rubio’s social media post he pointedly said, “I’m going to be very careful here. If you notice, anything that MAGA Republicans don’t like, they call fake. The jobs numbers are what the jobs numbers are. They’re real.”

Rubio’s “criticism” aligns with Trump’s reaction to August’s revision when he asserted that in an interview with “Fox & Friends” that “(The Democrats) defrauded the people of our country with the job numbers.  You saw that? 818,000 fake jobs they put in the rolls.”

Former Chief Economist of the US Department of Labor and the current president of the Economic Policy Institute Heidi Shierholz says Rubio’s claims (and by extension Trump’s claims) are “deeply corrosive because of the trust put in [BLS] numbers… (that data is) used to set policy, including the Federal Reserve’s incredibly impactful decisions about interest rate policy. We need people to know they’re doing good work and that they should answer correctly to the surveys.”

When asked by various media outlets multiple other economists discredited Rubio’s claims and challenged his assertion that the federal government had manufactured the data for political gain. They also mostly called BS on his claim that 16 out of 17 recent jobs reports had been revised downward after initial reports.  

And this doesn’t even begin to touch upon real facts such as…

In 2023 alone the country’s real gross domestic product (GDP) grew over 3% and that growth is the strongest of any of the world’s most industrialized countries since the COVID-19 induced recession.

Or that multiple reports are being issued every month that say construction and manufacturing are booming…

All this becomes important… these Republican lies, this program of deliberate and destructive misinformation…  because it impacts the November elections and ultimately and more importantly it will impact millions of American lives…

Simply put if Trump and his in-step crony Republicans win… especially if they win control of both houses of congress… then the American public can prepare themselves for the greatest ass-whupping ever done upon we the people’s pocketbooks and the quality of their lives as well as the so-called  American Dream as the dictates of the ultra-conservative Project 2025 initiative will become the basis for all American economic and social policy.

Speaking about lies and consequences…

Trump, among other highly visible Republicans, have spent the last week bloviating about the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, which left swaths of North Carolina and other states in dire circumstances and in ruin while causing the deaths of hundreds of people.

Rather than giving a voice to anything helpful or positive these voices have issued a cacophony of misinformation about the storm and about what the federal government’s response has been.  

On Friday (10/4) Trump doubled down on lies about Hurricane Helene when he repeated the falsehood that the U.S. government is unable to fund the storm response because it used the money on people “who came into the country illegally” and is now “missing $1 billion.”

The White House said his and any similar falsehoods about disaster relief and the government’s response are hurting the relief efforts and could keep hurricane victims from seeking the assistance they critically need.

The basic thing to keep in mind is that these voices aren’t simply folks with different viewpoints on how to respond in a tragic circumstance, but they are actually giving out blatant, completely false and bullshit information and it is being done by people who have access to the best information out there… something called the truth… but elect instead to lie in effort to serve their own… mostly political… purposes and are in fact putting more lives in danger than the actual storm did.

The facts are… 

A billion dollars has not gone missing from FEMA or been redirected to migrants, or Israel.

There has been a massive federal response on the ground, and its aim is to assist people in acute need and take steps to begin rebuilding, not to confiscate land or anything nefarious.

And the  $750 initial payment that has been criticized as being a sad and pitiful amount to be giving to those in desperate need of aid after Hurricane Helene… it is just exactly that… a first and immediate bit of aid so they can eat and get some supplies before the rest of the aid is disbursed…  funding which by-the-by many of the elected peeps who are leading the disinformation charge themselves voted against.

But there is yet a deeper concern that must be mentioned in those who are  spreading these lies are doing more damage than ever by the fact their words are negatively impacting the actual emergency response on the ground. Various FEMA personnel are reporting that they not only have to fear the unknown in what lies ahead in dealing with the physical aftermath of Helene but that now they have dal with the fear of what the potential for threats and violence from people who believe they are not being taken seriously by the government and/or that they needs are being ill-tended to.

The ultimate and very real problem with unleashing the misinformation about the FEMA response that is presently being done is that it will just keep going on going and going and going and going and going… until it becomes the disaster bunny that never ends and keeps on perpetually growing.

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, calls misinformation “a grave threat in the aftermath.”

And in several affected states there are Republican party folks who are all but begging people to ignore the party’s standard-bearer (ahem, Trump) and several of its most prominent members and telling those people… “Yes, help is on the way. Don’t believe the BS.”

South Carolina Governor and Republican Henry McMaster said of the federal response that “It’s been superb,” as he added that he has spoken with Biden, the transportation secretary and the FEMA administrator and that “We’re getting assistance, and we’re asking for everything we need.”

Again the truth…

The federal government has mounted a huge response following routine protocol, sending supplies, meals and more than 1,000 personnel; taking aid applications from affected residents; and coordinating with state and local agencies. Search-and-rescue efforts are ongoing in remote areas. The response faces logistical challenges because of the scope of the damage, across six states, and some residents have complained about waiting for on-the-ground aid.

Trump’s claims, however, have focused on undermining confidence in the federal response and tying his political opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, to that negative picture… as mentioned above Trump has sought to blame the hurricane devastation on immigration, and by falsely claiming that those affected by the hurricane are getting “no help” because the federal government has instead spent its money “on people that should not be in our country.” Trump and his cohorts say that Kamala Harris herself  “stole” money from FEMA and that the now federal government had no funding for responsible disaster relief. Of course all without a scintilla bit of evidence.

Fact: As the vice president Kamala Harris has nothing whatsoever to do with disbursing FEAM funding.. any words to about using disaster relief funding to house immigrants and Harris’ involvement is false.

BUT… yeah in all damn CAPS because you know who did misuse FEMA funds for immigrants?

Yes sir buddy… Donald J. Trump

During his presidency in 2018 he moved nearly $10 million in funding to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to use for detention programs… and… in 2019, the Trump administration, in the middle of hurricane season, told Congress that it was taking $271 million from DHS programs, including $155 million from the disaster fund, to pay for immigration detention space and temporary hearing locations for asylum seekers who had been forced to wait in Mexico and that the monthly reports issued by the FEMA disaster fund show $38 million was plucked and given to Immigration and Customs Enforcement in August that year… just before the prime storm period of September and October.

So who y’all wanna vote for this November?

The lying SOB and his party minions who would sell out you and yours when you need a helping hand the most or a determined and fair-minded woman who has dedicated her life in government and politics to providing people of all walks of life aid and comfort?  

The choice is yours… do it carefully and with a modicum of wisdom.

Another thousand words…