To the editor:
In Laura Tamagno’s letter to the editor on Jan. 25, she says “the Trump Administration delivered… four years of peace and prosperity.”
Her claim: Unemployment among minorities, including women, was at or near record low under Trump.
According to The Washington Post on April 7, 2023: During the Biden presidency, “the Black unemployment rate sank to the lowest point on record in March, 5%, a testament to the economic recovery following the pandemic. The figure is even more surprising, considering that just three years ago, at the height of the coronavirus pandemic (during the Trump presidency)… the Black unemployment rate had soared to 16.8%.” The Washington Post reports “Trump is the first president in modern history to see a net loss of jobs during his time in office.”
Her claim: Trump’s tax cuts garnered primarily working-class to middle management jobs.
ProPublica reports, “Americans with the highest income reaped most of the pass–through tax break benefits in 2018” (from Trump’s tax cuts). Just this one provision meant:
The top 1% of Americans by income obtained $24.8 billion total tax savings.
The rest of the top 10%: $12.3 billion total tax savings.
Everybody else: $6 billion total tax savings.
According to Policy Genius, “low income working families saw the least benefit.”
Her claim: Real wages grew and households earned an average of $6,000 more annually under Trump.
ProPublica also reports, “Official government statistics report only a $1,400 increase in median household income over the first two years of the Trump administration.” Trump generally claimed a $5000 annual increase, however this figure appears based on a limited monthly survey which had major methodological shortcomings.
Her claim: Economic growth was high and inflation was low under Trump.
According to CNN Business, “Trump inherited one of the strongest job markets in American history from Obama. COVID-19 put an end to that. Unemployment shot up to 14.7%, up 10 percentage points from when Trump took office.” Food prices rose 5.9% under Obama, 6.1% under Trump.
Her claim: We were energy independent and the largest exporter of natural gas worldwide under Trump.
According to Forbes, “It is technically correct to say the U.S. became energy independent while President Trump was in office. U.S. exports grew from 0.61 quads (BTUs) to 3.48 quads. They continued to increase under President Biden to 3.62 quads. It is stressed, however, that the U.S. continues to import an average of 9.3 million barrels of crude oil and finished products per day.” The year 2022 “marked the highest level of U.S. energy independence since before 1950.” This of course is during President Biden’s presidency.
Her claim: There were no new forever wars under Trump.
According to NPR, President Trump waited until the very end of his presidency to fulfill his promise to end the war in Afghanistan. He signed an agreement with the Taliban, not the Afghan government, to withdraw troops but left it to Joe Biden to get the job done.
According to The New York Times: “Trump suggests NATO, America’s most important military alliance, is a drain on our resources. (He) has talked repeatedly of leaving.”
Her claim: The Abraham Accords established unprecedented cooperative relations in the Middle East under Trump.
According to NPR, “Trump unveiled the Abraham Accords in September 2020.” The Biden administration supports the “normalization between Arab States and Israel,” but unlike Trump, he is unwilling to marginalize the Palestinians.
Her claim: Our southern border was secure under Trump.
According to the Cato Institute: “President Trump’s top policy priority was supposedly ‘border security…’ But government data show that he failed to improve it. Border Patrol recorded 41% more successful illegal entries in fiscal year 2019 than in 2016.”
Her claim: There is astronomical inflation under Biden.
According to PBS: “Inflation has tumbled from a peak of around 9% in June 2022 to 3.4%.” “What’s more, paychecks have outpaced inflation over the past year… adjusted pay is 2.5% higher than before the pandemic.”
According to The Boston Globe on Jan. 29, 2024: “U.S. recovery outperforms rest of world.”
At the Mobil Gas Station on Route 1 Southbound in Saugus, gas was $2.86 a gallon last week.
Her claim: There has been rampant crime under Biden.
According to The New York Times on Dec. 29, 2023: “The country is on track for a record drop in homicides and many other categories of crime are also in decline, according to the FBI.”
Her claim: Biden added a $1 trillion dollar annual payment on our ever growing debt.
According to the U.S. Treasury: “As of December 2023 it costs $288 billion to maintain the debt… the national debt has increased every year over the past 10 years.”
According to the Committee For A Responsible Budget: “Nikki Haley claimed that President Trump added $8 trillion to the national debt while Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said that Trump added $7.8 trillion to the debt… We estimate the 10-year cost of the legislation and executive actions President Trump signed into law was about $8.4 trillion, with interest.”
Her claim: An (in)Justice Department weaponized against the citizenry under Biden.
According to the Humphrey School of Public Affairs, “Attorney General William Barr stands out to his critics as one of the country’s most partisan attorneys general, repeatedly serving the political and personal interests of President Trump.” On the Truth Social platform, Trump claims “Biden directed a witch-hunt” regarding the $83 million dollar judgment against him in the E. Jean Carroll case. The New York Times reports that in 2019, E. Jean Carroll filed a defamation lawsuit against Donald Trump. This of course was during the Trump presidency.
Her claim: Biden’s allegiance to the globalists, the elites.
According to the AFL-CIO: “Biden becomes first president to walk a strike picket line; joins UAW in Michigan.”
According to MSNBC, “UAW president blasts Trump, says Trump didn’t stand with working class.” Slate reports “…Trump will speak to nonunion workers at a nonunion parts manufacturer called Drake Enterprises, at the invitation of the company’s management.”
Pat Cardenas
