November 16, 2022

"Inside the West Wing, a small group of presidential advisers has been working to develop a plan for how Mr. Biden and the White House will respond to what they expect will be..."

"... a constant stream of invective from the former president now that he is formally a candidate. Mr. Trump started the attacks almost immediately... as he complained about 'Biden and the radical-left lunatics running our government right into the ground.' Mr. Biden will continue to underscore his belief that Mr. Trump is a threat to democracy, advisers say. But his political handlers are determined to show that Mr. Trump’s four years did not yield actual accomplishments for the American people. On Tuesday... Mr. Biden’s political Twitter account posted a video... titled 'The difference between talking and delivering,' showed Mr. Biden signing his $1 trillion infrastructure measure into law, juxtaposed with a compilation of clips of the former president using the word 'infrastructure.'"

From "Trump Is Running in 2024. The White House Has a Plan. The president’s advisers have been working on a strategy for how the White House will respond to what they expect will be a constant stream of attacks from former President Donald J. Trump" (NYT).

Don't show him signing checks. Show the actual infrastructure. I'd like to see these glorious constructions. They must be everywhere. The heart will soar!

If you just show him signing trillion-dollar checks, people will think of inflation.

127 comments:

Michael K said...

Biden strategy. Inflation = good. Energy independence = bad.

Achilles said...

The comparison between the Trump economy and the Biden economy is obvious to everyone.

But this is just a distraction to keep the eye off the ball.

It no longer matters how many voters you have. It matters how many ballots you can collect.

I will be upset with Trump if he just talks about how awesome his economy was and how bad Biden's economy is. That needs to be mentioned but it just doesn't matter.

We need to start collecting ballots now too.

Drago said...

I suspect the Biden team tactics will be received quite warmly by the GOPe-ers that post at Althouse blog and elsewhere who desperately desire a return to the 2012 republican party/uniparty model.

Naturally the working class, middle class Latinos and young black males will remember what things were really like from 2017-2020 so the combined Dem/GOPe/Globalist attack on Trump will fall flat amongst those groups who most strongly support the Trump (it's not really Trump's, its nationalist economics, but if he's the only one pushing it then there you go).

Original Mike said...

"But his political handlers are determined to show that Mr. Trump’s four years did not yield actual accomplishments for the American people."

Good luck.

Leland said...

They are using the White House facility to operate a political campaign.

robother said...

Althouse: "... people will think of inflation."

If the last 2 elections have taught us nothing else, the people who think no longer constitute an effective majority of the voting population.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

1. Signing checks is the most physical activity he can handle.
2. Infrastructure is their best issue!
3. Trump should concede now.

Big Mike said...

Show the actual infrastructure.

Assumes, without evidence, that there will be any.

Gusty Winds said...

Seeing this, the bs headlines from WAPO and NPR, along with Christie ripping Trump to GOP Govs...

They are recreating the "one man against they system" narrative which is what got Trump nominated and elected President in 2016. Deja vous...

Kick ass!!! That was fun!

Hey is Biden allowed to investigate a rival political opponent, or does that get you impeached??? Raid his home! Raid his home! Raid his home!!!

Dave Begley said...

"But his political handlers are determined to show that Mr. Trump’s four years did not yield actual accomplishments for the American people."

Biden has let 2 million illegal aliens invade the country. Gas prices are way up. Crime is way up. Inflation is way up. Are we not to believe our own lying eyes?

Big Mike said...

Mr. Trump started the attacks almost immediately... as he complained about 'Biden and the radical-left lunatics running our government right into the ground.'

The isn’t running this country right into the ground? Could have fooled me. Perhaps all seems normal by the standards of Madison, Wisconsin.

Big Mike said...

They are using the White House facility to operate a political campaign.

@Leland, goes back to the Presidency of John Adams.

gilbar said...

Mr. Trump started the attacks

Trump STARTED it? really Really? REALLY Trump started it? Really?

tim in vermont said...

I liked Pelosi's advice to him, "Just act like you have a cold around pretty women, especially the very young ones." It may not be her precise words, but it's pretty much her advice to him.

Mr Wibble said...

Biden can't run the 2020 playbook in 2024. He has to defend his admin as it is compared to Trump's, which means coming out of the basement.

It will be interesting to see if they try to refuse to debate Trump.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

Show the actual infrastructure.

Google 2000 Mules and you can see a documentary on the democrats infrastructure spending.

Lurker21 said...

Remember "shovel-ready jobs" and "there are no shovel-ready jobs"? Nothing is going to be built by 2024. Will anything even be started by then?

That said, what does the Times have to say about the "constant stream" of "attacks" and "invective" that Trump faced?

tim in vermont said...

I am starting to think that the GOPe should just change its name to "The Washington Generals."

tim maguire said...

Don't show him signing checks. Show the actual infrastructure.

If only they could! The quickest way to show results is to start blowing up racist bridges. People love a good explosion.

I've seen Biden's comparisons--it amounts to no more than hanging COVID around Trump's neck while ignoring the artificial juice COVID gave Biden. Will people buy it? If Gen Z and Millennials lays off the pot long enough to notice they still have all their college debt, they may need a new shiny bauble to reel them in a second time.

Robert Cook said...

"The comparison between the Trump economy and the Biden economy is obvious to everyone."

The "Trump economy" was just a continuation of the Obama economy, and the Biden economy is hampered by global conditions that are not subject to the POTUS' influence, and which began in Trump's last two years in office, (i.e., the COVID pandemic and global inflation that is significantly, if not wholly, a result of the COVID pandemic). If Biden had been president from 2016 to 2020, the economy would have been largely the same as under Trump, and if Trump had become president in 2020, the economy would be largely the same as we are experiencing now.

gilbar said...

Leland said...
They are using the White House facility to operate a political campaign.

so? That's not against the law.
There is OBVIOUSLY, No Law against Democrats doing this They are Democrats.
The Law CLEARLY States:
REPUBLICANS can not use government facilities to operate political campaigns.

No law prohibits Democrats from this.. How Could it? Democrats are ABOVE THE LAW

gilbar said...

robother said...
If the last 2 elections have taught us nothing else, the people who think no longer constitute an effective majority of the voting population.

Achilles said...
It no longer matters how many voters you have. It matters how many ballots you can collect.

would it have been Something? to live in a free country? Instead of a fascist Banana Republic?
I can only imagine

Gusty Winds said...

Achilles said...We need to start collecting ballots now too.

Imagine if Trump fully embraces absentee voting and ballot harvesting telling his supporters to clog the system and vote in absentee volumes just like Democrats. "We have to fight fire with fire!! Ask your neighbors if they have returned their absentee ballot yet!! If they having trouble, you can help them!!"

Libs and the media would freak out and accuse Trump of trying to implement voter fraud and confuse the system...thus proving absentee voter fraud is real and was designed to confuse the voting system.

This is gonna be fun. Make Absentee Voting and Ballot Harvesting Great Again!!!

Mark said...

Does anyone think that much will actually be built by this infrastructure bill? I expect we'll be hearing in just a few years about America's crumbling, underfunded infrastructure and how we need yet another infrastructure bill. Just don't ask what actually got built by the last one. Sure, they'll be a few projects for photos. That's about all. America certainly won't look like it received an extra trillion in infrastructure spending.

hombre said...

It's amazing the political fodder available to politicians not bound by the truth. I was amazed, for example, to learn that Mark Kelly - +94% Biden puppet - had worked tirelessly to secure the border. His work included voting for 87,000 new IRS agents and against 18,000, or so, new border patrolmen.

It will be truly amazing to hear what QuidProJoe has accomplished while in his dotage.

Is there anyone else who wishes these two old farts would retire gracefully?

Patrick said...

I think their best strategy is to ignore him. It would drive him nuts and lead him to increasingly crazy tweets.

Eva Marie said...

Blogger Achilles said...
We need to start collecting ballots now too.
No. Just no. Unless you want to join the J6 crowd in jail. Democrats don’t get prosecuted but Republicans will be.
That’s not the answer. I don’t know what the answer is but this is a sure way to ruin the lives of a lot of good people.

Jefferson's Revenge said...

Robother said iy correctly at 9:14 am

"If the last 2 elections have taught us nothing else, the people who think no longer constitute an effective majority of the voting population."

This is an electorate problem. The real cheating has occurred in the schools over the last two generations. Teachers have pretended to teach and students have pretended to learn. I am not the brightest bulb in the universe but I am constantly amazed at the plain stupidity and blind ignorance of people I run into in day to day life.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

Trump delivered an amazing economy.

Crook Biden and his crook handlers deliver economic disaster, and a war in Ukraine.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

The left are effective liars.

Jim Gust said...

There won't be any infrastructure, Democrats name bills for marketing purposes, not for what the bill actually does. The Inflation Reduction Act will only increase inflation, for example.

Until the Republicans and Trump get serious about election integrity, the Democrats will rule with a free hand.

Achilles said...

robother said...

Althouse: "... people will think of inflation."

If the last 2 elections have taught us nothing else, the people who think no longer constitute an effective majority of the voting population.

No.

People who vote no longer constitute an effective majority.

Trump beat Biden 75 million to 62ish million. The margin surprised the regime and they had to shut down counting and kick observers out to make up for the shortfall.

But the Regime mailed ballots to millions of people and collected them during the 2020 election. There were voters loosely tied to those ballots but they can't actually connect voters to a ballot anymore.

In 2022 they had a better idea of how many votes they had to mail out and collect.

Heartless Aztec said...

Is he signing his own name? Has anybody checked the cheques?

Kevin said...

I'd like to see these glorious constructions. They must be everywhere. The heart will soar!

LOL!

Show pictures of where the infrastructure is supposed to be, but isn't.

Keep asking, "Where did the money go?"

Drago said...

Mark: "Does anyone think that much will actually be built by this infrastructure bill?"

It was never intended to fund the actual building of things. Its another money laundering operation passed by the democraticals to shuttle tax dollars to favored democratical groups who then use that cash to fund democratical campaigns and pay democratical staffers and operatives.

Round and round and round.

This happens during each democratical administration with the full support of the GOPe who are allowed a few crumbs so that the democraticals can call the bill "bipartisan".

I also fully expect Biden to revisit the "Summer of Recovery" theme which the obama/biden admin used for 7 years straight.

Drago said...

tim in vermont: "I am starting to think that the GOPe should just change its name to "The Washington Generals."

That's an insult to the Washington Generals.

Gusty Winds said...

Eva Marie said...
Blogger Achilles said...
We need to start collecting ballots now too.
No. Just no. Unless you want to join the J6 crowd in jail. Democrats don’t get prosecuted but Republicans will be....That’s not the answer. I don’t know what the answer is but this is a sure way to ruin the lives of a lot of good people.


2020 was fraudulent. 2022 saw new lax absentee voting laws, now legal ballot harvesting, and funded post election ballot curing used on a huge scale, especially in AZ and NV. This is a new reality. Ballot harvesting matters in WI.

Democrats go door to door saying "I see you haven't turned in your absentee ballot yet". They even went door to door in Red Waukesha County seeking out the registered Democrats. The GOP did not do the same.

I don't like it either but it is here to stay. Elections are no longer about ideas. It is about collecting ballots from your tribe. Achilles is right. Trump and even Ron DeSantis will have to embrace this to win.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

There is nothing more important that beating the corrupt Nazi left into the ground.

It's more important, even - than Trump's ego.

Achilles said...

Eva Marie said...

Blogger Achilles said...
We need to start collecting ballots now too.

No. Just no. Unless you want to join the J6 crowd in jail. Democrats don’t get prosecuted but Republicans will be.
That’s not the answer. I don’t know what the answer is but this is a sure way to ruin the lives of a lot of good people.


There are a lot of people out there that do not deserve their freedom.

You want to call them good people. Fine. I feel a certain way when these "good people" thank me for my service.

You have to fight for freedom because the fascists are going to fight for power over you.

If you are not willing to fight or sacrifice for it you don't deserve it.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

Tim, you’re using my material Man! I’m flattered. And pissed that it’s true. The analogy extends further, such as the media oohing and ahhing at every move Democrats make, as if they are the Globetrotters. But I can’t say any more until I copyright it.

Re beginning the ballot harvest now: if California GOP can pull their heads out and produce wins like they did in ‘20 and ‘22 then the national GOP can too. That makes a much bigger difference than who we run, sad to say.

Mike said...

Well the committee running the cabal in the White House will have to respond to those "vicious" Trump attacks. The Resident in the Oval Office is a little slow on his feet these days (not to mention that he was never all that bright anyiway). But the committee will answer.

Achilles said...

Robert Cook said...

"The comparison between the Trump economy and the Biden economy is obvious to everyone."

The "Trump economy" was just a continuation of the Obama economy, and the Biden economy is hampered by global conditions that are not subject to the POTUS' influence...

You are just an economically illiterate clown.

I can draw straight lines from Obama's policies to the pathetic economic growth during his presidency.

Trump closed off the cheap illegal labor and reduce regulations and this had the obvious effect of growing working class wages.

Biden just printed money and reduced productivity. If the money supply goes up faster than total goods available to purchase that leads to inflation every time.

But you can't even understand these obvious basic concepts.

You are an idiot repeating talking points fed to you by the media.

henge2243 said...

As we learned from Silver-Alert's last go-around, there is no such thing as a "shovel-ready" federal project and so, less thank a year out from bill signing, there is nothing to show.

n.n said...

Trump will read the NYT on air? That must be a copyright infringement.

n.n said...

Projection is the sincerest form of flattery? NYT is wallowing with pride in her past glory.

Lloyd W. Robertson said...

Signing ceremony. Camera over his shoulder. He signs "Donald Duck."

JAORE said...

"Shovel ready" give or take a decade. Plus MOST are not traditional infrastructure.

Perhaps a video of the Sahara desert with an "Appearing soon" sign...

Gusty Winds said...

Blogger Hunter Biden's tax payer funded Hooker said...
The left are effective liars.

Yes they are. But only to a certain type of receptive ear. Their lies are so effective and exhausting that they now have 2016 and 2020 Trump supporters jumping ship.

As an obvious new Trump hater, and DeSantis supporter...why would you want Trump to not lob attacks at the Biden administration over the next six months and "soften the field" for DeSantis? Trump's attacks on Biden will be TRUE. What's wrong with that?? Seems that helps Saint Ron as well. Let Trump do the dirty work. He's good at it.

You positive you want him to go away now??? Vote him away in the GOP primary when you are given the chance. Big deal.

BillieBob Thorton said...

Ann said:
"Show the actual infrastructure"
There will be no actual infrastructure, the regulations the Bidon's administration is pushing will prevent any construction from ever happening.

Lurker21 said...

Every president builds on what from what came before, even when it doesn't seem that way, but that shouldn't be a reason to deny them credit for what they achieve. I give Obama credit for cleaning up the mess Bush left behind. I give Trump credit for delivering even lower unemployment and lower minority unemployment. Before COVID, we had a great economy and I can't see begrudging Trump for that.

COVID created chaos, but Biden's only made things worse with his massive overspending and war on petroleum. If Trump were president, he would have had to face pressure that Biden didn't, so such inflation as there was would not have gotten out of control as it did. Instead, the media let Biden get away with saying inflation was "transitory" for a year until it wasn't. So, yes, this is Biden's mess and it's different from what we would have had with Trump.

tim in vermont said...

It’s funny how Cook pretends to be a socialist, but simps for the fascist Democrats. That’s why the American left is roundly mocked by the international left, day after day. The Democrats are supporting literal Nazis, and Cook defends them.

“Workers of the world, go fuck yourself! Unless you belong to a Party controlled union, of course.”

Achilles said...

“Do you hear the people sing…singing the song of angry men?”

Trump entered his announcement with the theme song of Les Deplorables.

And Trump is going to push for an amendment to the constitution for term limits on congress.

Fuck yes.

Nobody is going to be able to challenge him in the primary unless they go at the swamp harder than him.

The only person that could beat Trump in the primary is Pinochet. Even better this is going to appeal to disaffected democrats who are pissed at their warmongering leaders.

Buckle up and F your cowardly normal. This corrupt system will not be accepted.

I Have Misplaced My Pants said...

I agree with you, Althouse. I see him signing checks, I think, oh yay, more of my money disappearing into his friends' pockets.

Yancey Ward said...

But signing the checks is all that actually happens since we don't actually build much at all in longer. For a trillion bucks, we will get a handful of solar farms and windmill farms that do jack shit for the future. What it will do is employ an army of fuckwits connected to the political class.

Leland said...

Speaking of government spending on "infrastructure"; I find it interesting NASA launched their first rocket in the past 50 years designed to take humans to the moon, and it is hardly a point of discussion today.

Leland said...

Gilbar, I suppose that means there won't be calls for a special prosecutor like there was under Bush.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

Sadly - I need to preface with "I don't hate Trump."
"Love /Hate " - those are the words used by children when describing their pols heroes.

The left, however, are so in-hate with Trump, they will vote for the crap sandwich that is Biden and Biden-economics and the crap sandwich that is our current downward spiral.

TheOne Who Is Not Obeyed said...

So I guess they've cancelled the recession they were planning for 2023.

William50 said...


Infrastructure bill? Yeah right. Anyone remember "shovel ready jobs"?

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

"The "Trump economy" was just a continuation of the Obama economy, and the Biden economy is hampered by global conditions that are not subject to the POTUS' influence"

Sure. 'Cause energy policy has no bearing on the economy and printing money no effect on inflation. Not your best work, Bob.

Yancey Ward said...

Someone in one of yesterday's thread suggested Trump run in the Democrat primary. That would be epic Trump! I would even change my registration to vote for him here in Tennessee (I don't actually have to do anything other than declare a registration change when actually voting). 41 states allow non-Democrats to vote in their primaries without having to do much more than change to unaffiliated status, and all 57 primaries are open to anyone who is willing to do a registration change. Were I in Trump's shoes, I think I would do this just for the hilarity of it- a good number of his supporters would come over to vote for him in the primaries.

ConradBibby said...

The border wall is a pretty important infrastructure project. Maybe Biden should talk about that.

Anthony said...

Eva Marie said...
Blogger Achilles said...
We need to start collecting ballots now too.
No. Just no. Unless you want to join the J6 crowd in jail. Democrats don’t get prosecuted but Republicans will be.


I'd had the same thought and conclusion.

Anthony said...

Eva Marie said...
Blogger Achilles said...
We need to start collecting ballots now too.
No. Just no. Unless you want to join the J6 crowd in jail. Democrats don’t get prosecuted but Republicans will be.


I'd had the same thought and conclusion.

Michael K said...

Cook's wisdom:

The "Trump economy" was just a continuation of the Obama economy, and the Biden economy is hampered by global conditions that are not subject to the POTUS' influence, and which began in Trump's last two years in office,

Cook has amnesia for all those "Recovery Summers" of Obama. The Biden economy is hampered by the communists in the Biden regime. Anita Dunn, for example.

MikeR said...

"Don't show him signing checks. Show the actual infrastructure." Heh. Thank you, kind professor, for your good tips on how to lie to us. You're right, though, a few pictures of the Eiffel Tower and the Parthenon will liven up the presentation.
But the trillion dollar check is the point. The name on the bill is just the excuse. Stimulus, Ukraine, Infrastructure, Affordable Care, Loan "Forgiveness" (= govt. paying it to colleges). US Federal Government giving our money, our grandchildren's money, to someone politically connected.

Achilles said...

Former first daughter Ivanka Trump said late Tuesday that she would play no part in her father’s 2024 presidential campaign, one day after The Post reported the former commander-in-chief had pleaded with her to be on stage with him when he announced his run.

“I love my father very much. This time around, I am choosing to prioritize my young children and the private life we are creating as a family. I do not plan to be involved in politics,” Ivanka, 41, said in a statement.

“While I will always love and support my father, going forward I will do so outside the political arena,” she added. “I am grateful to have had the honor of serving the American people and I will always be proud of many of our administration’s accomplishments.”



This just gets better and better.

One of the worst failings of Trump was the family influence.

Big Mike said...

Does anyone think that much will actually be built by this infrastructure bill?

@Mark, read Althouse’s third paragraph again, especially that bit about the “glorious constructions” and the soaring hearts. I think she has stuck in the knife and is starting to twist it. Or she’s inhumanly gullible.

tim maguire said...

Robert Cook said...The "Trump economy" was just a continuation of the Obama economy, and the Biden economy is hampered by global conditions that are not subject to the POTUS' influence

I expect you're right that that's the line they'll go with. But do you think anybody will be fooled by it? The idea that Trump benefitted from Obama's sound stewardship is laughable. Trump built his great economy by basically reversing every Obama economic policy.

"WWOD: What Would Obama Do?"
It's probably a good idea to do the opposite.

Owen said...

Robert Cook @ 9:34: "...If Biden had been president from 2016 to 2020, the economy would have been largely the same as under Trump, and if Trump had become president in 2020, the economy would be largely the same as we are experiencing now."

Two complementary claims, very neatly packaged, and quite immune to falsification. They add nothing of substance to the debate, but earn you full marks for rhetorical style.

JaimeRoberto said...

They'll be able to show stacks of environmental impact reports and various other compliance documents. That's what infrastructure means to them.

Tommy Duncan said...

The GOP needs to create a simple ad based on the video of Biden signing the $1T infrastructure bill:

First show images of our pot holed roads with a label "before $1T".

Then show Biden signing the infrastructure bill.

Finally, return to the images of the pot holes with the label "after $1T".

Rabel said...

Announcing and qualifying as a candidate for President will make it more complicated for the corrupt DOJ to arrest him on bogus charges. They want to, badly, justice be damned. He almost has to run for self-preservation.

Howard said...

A Confederacy of Maroons. Ignore the POS. Pretend he doesn't exist. When asked, say you don't comment on the opinions of a seditious traitor and leave it at that.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

Crook Biden delivers 1 trillion dollar BS insider boondoggles that make Solydra look like a big fat nothing.

veni vidi vici said...

They ought to concentrate their energy on improving the lives of Americans, rather than on how best to counterspin Trump.

If the numbers remain bleak in 2024, they're going to be out a job regardless of their silly word games.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

Gusty - My exhaustion with Trump has nothing to do with the left. or at least very little.
Trump just doesn't inspire me anymore.

rehajm said...

It no longer matters how many voters you have. It matters how many ballots you can collect.

Yep. None of the strategy sessions or talking points mean much anymore. We're a nation divided and polarized evenly enough that unless Trump has a strategy to Belichick/Moneyball the vote counts to offset what the Democrats have, he's just a pointless blowhard...

robother said...

Jefferson's Revenge: "The real cheating has occurred in the schools over the last two generations."

Yeah, pretty much. Indoctrination has increasingly replaced education from the 60s forward. The longer a person is in the education system, the greater the allegiance to Team Blue. Of course, Main Stream Media and Hollywood have amplified the message as well. In the name of "Greater Truths" (Global Warming, DEI, Gender) everything else--traditions, law, merit, science, economics--is reduced to lies and spin.

Expressing open doubt about anything necessary to Democrats holding power damages your viability--educational, social and economic. The reasoning capacity that creates those doubts is easier to surrender than the continual effort to conceal. At this point Team Blue has dispensed even with the need for elected leaders to have the ability to think. (See, e.g., Biden and Fetterman.)

Gusty Winds said...

I didn't watch the speech but I'm reading Trump said every member of the military that was forced out do to refusing the poison mRNA shot, should be reinstated with full back pay.

I can't imagine any current DeSantis supporters would oppose this.

Opens the door for DeSantis to support it too.

You sure you want Trump to go away so soon?? He's laying the groundwork.

robother said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
wendybar said...

He doesn't have to worry. Mitch got reelected. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and getting the same results...well, there you go.

Leland said...

Don't show him signing checks. Show the actual infrastructure.

Last year, Representative Lizzy Fletcher (D-TX07) visited her district and asked to inspect a major pipeline installation in Harris County. The pipeline will delivery fresh drinking water from Lake Houston in northeast Harris County to the citizens of Katy, TX in west Harris County. She walked along with workers and talked about how important infrastructure like this pipeline was which is why she voted for the Democrat "Infrastructure" bill. The entire pipeline project is paid for by local taxes. Not even state and local taxes, just local taxes. Not one penny of federal money is being used on the project.

If they show actual infrastructure; I recommend questioning how exactly it was funded.

Fredrick said...

"Show those glorious constructions. They must be everywhere."

Thanks for the mid-week laugh. It reminds me of Granholm when she was the "shovel ready" Governor of Michigan. You can guess what got shoveled.

tim in vermont said...

"When asked, say you don't comment on the opinions of a seditious traitor and leave it at that."

That's one way to deal with Biden, I guess.

tim in vermont said...

If Trump was POTUS, he would have negotiated with Putin and avoided this war, which would have greatly improved the economy. In fact, that's the very reason that the security state has done so much to destroy Trump.

n.n said...

Go Green with a trillion dollars redistributed to flatline.

Bill R said...

Prof Althouse: Shhhhh!

MadTownGuy said...

From the post:

"Don't show him signing checks. Show the actual infrastructure. I'd like to see these glorious constructions. They must be everywhere."

What they don't want to show is the detail of where and how that "infrastructure" money was spent. The smart way to counter their claims is to go through the text of the bill and tabulate all the non-infrastructral payouts.

PM said...

Just woke from a nap where Trump went full Rickles on Biden/Dems for a solid year
then turned his campaign over to DeSantis.

Bart Hall (Kansas, USA) said...

I truly wonder whether Trump might be running interference for DeSantis.

Mason G said...

"how Mr. Biden and the White House will respond to what they expect will be a constant stream of invective from the former president"

Well, I certainly hope there'll be a constant stream. Mr. Biden deserves it. Besides, it's not like the establishment Republicans are going to say or do anything aside from possibly, an occasional hushed "tut-tut". Because that's not who they are.

Jim at said...

The "Trump economy" was just a continuation of the Obama economy,

Oh, really? So it was Obama who waved that 'magic wand' he claimed never existed?

Good to know.

Gusty Winds said...

Blogger PM said...
Just woke from a nap where Trump went full Rickles on Biden/Dems for a solid year
then turned his campaign over to DeSantis.


Blogger Bart Hall (Kansas, USA) said...
I truly wonder whether Trump might be running interference for DeSantis.

This could be the case. Who knows? Either way Trump lays the ground work and does the dirty work for DeSantis and any other GOP candidate that enters the race.

Even if DeSantis is your new savior, he needs Donald Trump to become President. Wishing Trump would go away now is foolish capitulation.

Eva Marie said...

Blogger Achilles said...
“We need to start collecting ballots now too.”
And then later added:
“You have to fight for freedom because the fascists are going to fight for power over you.”
You want to do something illegal? Then - no paper trail (including blog posts). No witnesses. That’s on you.
But for the rest of us. We need to be very careful and we need to distrust anyone urging illegal activity in the name of patriotism.

boatbuilder said...

“Infrastructure” was political bullshit when Trump talked about it, and bullshit on steroids when Biden talks about it.
Actual infrastructure-roads, bridges, etc. is what our taxes should be used to pay for more or less as Job One. With the amount of money that has been sucked out of America by DC, we should have the whole freaking country looking like the Emerald City of DC, where everything is shiny and new and first-class.
Politicians promising “infrastructure” spending are simply admitting that the current and past levels of outrageous government spending were and are not for what the taxpayers thought their taxes were being spent for.
Were they lying then or are they lying now?
Yes, and yes.

n.n said...

If Trump was POTUS, he would have negotiated with Putin and avoided this war,

The war could have ended when Russia saved their legal title, capital investment, and Ukrainians in Crimea, and reconciliation and resolution of democratic gerrymandering through coups without borders/Slavic Spring that disenfranchised half or more of the people; but, the Kiev regime, Zelensky now, doubled-down and attacked Ukrainians... uh, Russians, Russian-Ukrainians, and others in Donbas, and surrounding territories, too. To Russia's discredit, I suppose, they waited eight years for a settlement before answering the plea for support that went unanswered by the international infrastructure and community.

Yancey Ward said...

Bart Hall,

Whether that is the intention or not, it will be the same effect.

Achilles said...

"We will dismantle the deep state and restore government by the people. To further drain the swamp, I will push for a constitutional amendment to impose term limits on members of Congress.

"It’s time. It’s time. And I will ask for a permanent ban on taxpayer funding of campaigns, a lifetime ban on lobbying by former members of Congress and cabinet member. Now I see what they make. They leave the White House or they leave Congress and they’re paid millions and millions and millions of dollars a year. No, you have to have a ban. We want to ban on members of Congress getting rich by trading stocks with insider information.

"And many of our great members agree with that. They actually agree with that. And of course, we will do whatever it takes to bring back honesty, confidence, and trust in our elections. To eliminate cheating I will immediately demand voter ID. Same day voting and only paper ballots, only paper ballots.

"France just had an election. 36 million people voted. It was all done by 10 o’clock in the evening. No complaints. You had a winner, you had a loser. The loser went home. The winner, he’s a friend of mine. Nice guy. But he was happy. But there was no complaints. And if there is a complaint, you check it out and you can fix it very easily. You can find out what’s going on. No. Paper ballots, same day voting, voter ID. So simple. And we want all votes counted by election night. "

None of this is inspiring to the GOPe of course.

tim in vermont said...

It's "traitorous" to oppose the military industrial complex, whose first great traitorous enemy was Dwight Eisenhower.

tim in vermont said...

What could Republicans run on.... let me see...

https://www.wsj.com/articles/target-says-rising-crime-and-theft-are-hurting-its-results-11668628328

BillieBob Thorton said...

Wonder how they will spin rising energy prices. The SOR (strategic oil reserve) is finite. Winter is going to be cold and heating oil in short supply, if you can afford it. Food prices rising. Raw materials for construction have really long lead times and also subject to inflationary pressure. Companies are planning major layoffs (funny how that happens after the election, probably just a coincidence). Escalation in Ukraine. North Korean rocket launches. China threatening Taiwan. Tension in the Middle East. Crime. Drugs.

All Trumps fault. Am I right?

Known Unknown said...

So Trump is attacking but Biden's Red Speech was just about beliefs?

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

The left, however, are so in-hate with Trump, they will vote for the crap sandwich that is Biden and Biden-economics and the crap sandwich that is our current downward spiral.

Which is why targeting independents, republicans and non-registered to register and vote is better than speaking to the brain dead left.

Robert Cook said...

"It’s funny how Cook pretends to be a socialist, but simps for the fascist Democrats. That’s why the American left is roundly mocked by the international left, day after day. The Democrats are supporting literal Nazis, and Cook defends them."

I have never said or pretended I'm a socialist, (though I certainly support such socialist policies as universal healthcare, government negotiation to reduce the cost of prescription medicines, free or low-cost higher education, etc.). I'm not "simping" (whatever that means) for or defending the Democrats. Rather, I'm pointing out that all the "beautiful" benefits Trump claims as his own (and which claims his idolators lap up like manna) were a continuation of and built on an already good economy that grew during Obama's terms following the financial calamity that occurred at the end of Bush's terms. The fable believed by Trump idolators is that He walked into office and immediately reversed a cratering nation and economy, bringing about paradise by "his own liddle self." Nope! Whatever positive things Trump might have done (and which he certainly overstated, as he does with everything) were supported by and grown upon the sound economic foundation left by Obama. Subsequently, the economic shocks that followed the COVID pandemic were (and are) global in nature, and not a unique result of Biden's policies. Economic impacts, good and bad, occur over time, and are rarely (or never) an immediate cause of simply a change in administrations. I repeat: if Trump had followed up a Biden administration in 2020, given the global events as they were and had been at that time, he, too, would be facing a very challenging economic landscape at this time.

My problem with both parties is that neither of them really do what could be done to dramatically improve the quality of life in the US, (e.g., cut the War Department budget by 50% or even 75% and apply those funds to actually constructive purposes rather than trying to control the world, work together to implement a universal healthcare system such as is common in the other advanced nations of the world, make all federal student loans interest free, increase the minimum wage to at least $15.00 per hour, preferably $20.00, and so much more).

In short, both parties are servants of their corporate masters, serving the rich at the expense of everyone else. However, when comparing bad with bad, the Republicans are distinctly more bad than the Democrats. (I'm not sure what "literal Nazis" you claim the Dems are supporting...or did you mean that figuratively?)

Iman said...

Don’t worry, Joe, you’ll soon be “sunsetted” and unable to cause any more harm.

Robert Cook said...

"Trump built his great economy by basically reversing every Obama economic policy."

Can you provide some examples?

DanTheMan said...

>> Perhaps a video of the Sahara desert with an "Appearing soon" sign...

That won't work.

"If you put the federal government in charge of the Sahara Desert, in five years there’d be a shortage of sand." - Milton Friedman

DanTheMan said...

>>Can you provide some examples?

How about becoming energy independent, and then a net exporter of oil and natural gas? Why didn't Obama do those things?
How about moving forward with the Keystone pipeline?
Or drastically reducing the flow of illegals across the border?

All things Obama could have done, and did not.

Curious George said...

"Don't show him signing checks. Show the actual infrastructure. I'd like to see these glorious constructions. They must be everywhere. The heart will soar!

If you just show him signing trillion-dollar checks, people will think of inflation."

Yeah, messaging is what's important. Not dealing with the actual inflation.

chuck said...

people will think of inflation.

My immediate thought would be corruption. Democrats are married to corruption, and it is a happy marriage.

tim in vermont said...

"cut the War Department budget by 50% or even 75%..."

And yet you defend Democrats like Biden and Obama, whose policies have brought us to the brink of WW3.

Drago said...

Achilles: "None of this is inspiring to the GOPe of course."

The last time the GOPe-ers were inspired is when Cornyn/McConnell handed Biden a win on gun control.

More unaccountable abd untraceable billions to the Ukraine/democratical money laundering operation called Ukraine also gets them excited.

Drago said...

Robert Cook: "The "Trump economy" was just a continuation of the Obama economy, and the Biden economy is hampered by global conditions that are not subject to the POTUS' influence"

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent: "Sure. 'Cause energy policy has no bearing on the economy and printing money no effect on inflation. Not your best work, Bob."

On the contrary. For a marxist like Cook, that most certainly was his "best work".

Its hilariously wrong of course but its still the best a Stalinist can deliver.

madAsHell said...

a small group of presidential advisers has been working to develop a plan

Top men!!

veni vidi vici said...

Trump's early announcement allows him to use the media's hanging on his every word coupled with their hatred of all things Republican for the purpose of holding the House GOP majority to account for its promises to conduct all the investigations and such necessary to both determine the truth and as a side benefit, clear his name.

The beauty in the early announcement is not merely the media spotlight he puts on the foregoing "crusade"; it also carries the implicit threat that if the GOP doesn't take its promises seriously and shirks on its obligations to the MAGA base that elected it, Trump will burn the entire party down during the 2024 primaries and campaign.

Thing is, they're scared because they know very well that he's just crazy enough that he could follow through on that threat. Thus, the next two years are going to be exceedingly more excellently hilarious as we watch the Republican Gorkuses in DC sweat - thanks to The Donald, who's truly the greatest showman of our time.

Spiros said...

It's sort of good news for Joe Biden that FTX went bankrupt. Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX wanted to buy the Chicago Mercantile Exchange Group and banking giant Goldman Sachs. The extremely well-connected mega donor, a close personal friend to the Biden clan, would have coasted through the regulatory process. It is also pretty obvious that Mr. Bankman-Fried would have utterly destroyed the "too big to fail" bank. So, in order to avoid a collapse of the financial system and the economy, the federal government would have to bail out FTX and Goldman Sachs. Bad optics!

gilbar said...

Isn't it Interesting?
how people like Comrade Cook ASSUME, that no one has Ever Read ANY Thing they've Ever written?

I don't know, though; no that i write this, maybe Comrade Cook is saying that he's no socialist;
he's a hard core Stalinist?

Wa St Blogger said...

Cook,

All those free money give-a-ways sound so good in a vacuum (ignore the fact that sound can't travel in a vacuum), but the consequences, like many other left fairy-rainbow ideas do damage to the very people they are intended to help.

Reducing the military budgets probably have no direct negative impact to low income and marginal people that I can think of, so I'll give you that one.

More free money for college does not help the underclass. It only give incentive the colleges to increase prices. Note that in 1975, someone could pay tuition at Yale by working 15 hours a week at minimum wage. Today that is impossible - not because the minimum wage has not kept up, but that tuition has outstripped inflation. That is what happened when the government tried to make college affordable by giving cheap loans. Now y9ou want to make the loans cheaper. That will give incentive to people to go to college (yea), but that increased demand will get colleges to raise the price. That is what happened the first time, and will happen again. Students will have interest free loans, but then they will just have bigger ones, prompting guys like you to want to "fix" all that debt and ask to have the loans reduced (maybe students on the hook for 50%) which will in turn drive up costs and students will simply double the debt load since they are only responsible for half of it. Never ending cycle.

Higher minimum wages hurt the marginal employment group. Those people who can't produce $20/hr of value won't be hired. You will have just raised the first rung of the ladder beyond their reach. AND you have penalized small business owners who have to cut their own pay to pay their employees, or worse, hire less and work extra hours themselves. Read some Sowell or Friedman who lay out just why these ideas harm the very people they are meant to help.

Michael K said...


Blogger Robert Cook said...

"Trump built his great economy by basically reversing every Obama economic policy."

Can you provide some examples?


Of course you communist. Try energy independence, lowest ever black unemployment rate, 1.4% inflation. Lots more to list.

Drago said...

gilbar: "I don't know, though; no that i write this, maybe Comrade Cook is saying that he's no socialist;
he's a hard core Stalinist?"

Stalin was apparently a tad too soft in his commie fervor for Cook's tastes.

Maynard said...

Let's not diss Cookie.

He is an honest Commie, not at all like the lefty twits who troll this site.

PM said...

Overheard in the Oval Office:
"Six and phones."
Try again, Mr President.
"Nixon phones."
Um, no. Again.
"Sticks and..."
That's the idea, that's the idea..
"Scones!"



n.n said...

20% funded (not resolvable through shared/shifted responsibility) Medicare/Medicaid/Obamacares are driving progressive prices, and trillion dollar Green deals to flatline and environmental blight exacerbate their progress.

Scott said...

my god Ann - you are so gullible

Crazy World said...

Driving to work today I was wondering why the airplanes were flying in a strange pattern, surprise! Biden needed some fuel to get home.

gahrie said...

Let's not diss Cookie.

He is an honest Commie, not at all like the lefty twits who troll this site.


I don't know about that... Comrade Marvin claims never to have read Das Kapital.