2018.... a successful year for Trump. Victor Davis Hanson...

2aguy

Diamond Member
Jul 19, 2014
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Yep...looking at the U.S. and the World, having Trump in office made all the difference....

and now the democrats will do their best to destroy the country.....

Victor Davis Hanson - Actually, 2018 was a pretty good year

In truth, aside from the Washington hysterias, 2018 was a most successful year for Americans.

In December, the United States reached a staggering level of oil production, pumping some 11.6 million barrels per day. For the first time since 1973, America is now the world's largest oil producer

Since Trump took office, the U.S. has increased its oil production by nearly 3 million barrels per day, largely as the result of fewer regulations, more federal leasing, and the continuing brilliance of American frackers and horizontal drillers.

It appears that there is still far more oil beneath U.S. soil than has ever been taken out. American production could even soar higher in the months ahead.

In addition, the United States remains the largest producer of natural gas and the second-greatest producer of coal. The scary old energy-related phraseology of the last half-century -- "energy crisis," "peak oil," "oil embargo" -- no longer exists.

Near-total energy self-sufficiency means the U.S. is no longer strategically leveraged by the Middle East, forced to pay exorbitant political prices to guarantee access to imported oil, or threatened by gasoline prices of $4 to $5 a gallon.

The American economy grew by 4.2 percent in the second quarter of 2018, and by 3.4 percent in the third quarter. American GDP is nearly $1.7 trillion larger than in January 2017, and nearly $8 trillion larger than the GDP of China. For all the talk of the Chinese juggernaut, three Chinese workers produce about 60 percent of the goods and services produced by one American worker.

In 2018, unemployment fell to a near-record peacetime low of 3.7 percent. That's the lowest U.S. unemployment rate since 1969. Black unemployment hit an all-time low in 2018. For the first time in memory, employers are seeking out entry-level workers rather than vice versa.

The poverty rate is also near a historic low, and household income increased. There are about 8 million fewer Americans living below the poverty line than there were eight years ago. Since January 2017, more than 3 million Americans have gone off so-called food stamps.


 
It may be a good year for lies and supposins but in truth the world is in worse shape geopoliticaly because of tRump.
 
It may be a good year for lies and supposins but in truth the world is in worse shape geopoliticaly because of tRump.


How do you figure? Did you read the piece?

Abroad, lots of bad things that were supposed to happen simply did not.

After withdrawing from the Paris climate accord, the U.S. exceeded the annual percentage of carbon reductions of most countries that are part of the agreement.

North Korea and the U.S. did not go to war. Instead, North Korea has stopped its provocative nuclear testing and its launching of ballistic missiles over the territory of its neighbors.

Despite all the Trump bluster, NATO and NAFTA did not quite implode. Rather, allies and partners agreed to renegotiate past commitments and agreements on terms more favorable to the U.S.

The United States -- and increasingly most of the world -- is at last addressing the systematic commercial cheating, technological appropriation, overt espionage, intellectual-property theft, cyber intrusions and mercantilism of the Chinese government.

The Middle East is still chaotic, but it is a mess that is now far less important to the U.S. for a variety of reasons. Energy-wise, America is not dependent on oil imports from corrupt Gulf monarchies or hostile Islamic states. Strategy-wise, the new fault lines are not Arab and Islamic cultures versus Israel or the United States. Instead, it is internecine strife within the Islamic world, mostly with Iran and its Shiite satellites opposing the Sunni Arab monarchies and more moderate Middle Eastern regimes.
 
Obummer LOVED $4.00/gal gas. His energy secretary Steven Chu wanted $7.00/gal gas. Probably because neither one of them had to buy it...

MAGA!
 
And another look at Trump's successful year...

KHACHATRIAN: Don’t Listen To The Media. President Trump Had A Strong 2018

From the economy to the Supreme Court to foreign policy, this past year has been replete with home runs for the 45th president.

Economy

Defying skeptics in the media, reputable economists, and Paul Krugman, Trump achieved GDP growth of 4.1% in 2018.

Trump helped stimulate the fastest economic growth since 2014 by reducing the corporate tax rate from 35% (the highest in the developed world) to a far more competitive 21%. In September, the national unemployment rate fell to 3.7% – the lowest it’s been since 1969. Furthermore, over the last year, businesses and corporations saw tremendous growth in profits fueled by Trump’s deregulation and tax cuts.
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Trade

Through the entirety of his run for the presidency, Trump railed against the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), vowing to renegotiate it and leverage more favorable terms for the U.S. economy. This year, he accomplished just that, renegotiating NAFTA with Canada and Mexico.

As part of the deal – called the USMCA – Trump opened Canada’s nineteen-billion-dollar diary industry to American markets, eliminating prior provisions that gave Canadian milk products an edge over their American competitors. Trump’s negotiations with Mexico and Canada also helped boost the domestic production of automobiles.

Over in the East, China capitulated to mounting pressure from Trump, agreeing to crack down on the production and trafficking of fentanyl. In 2017, the lethal, synthetic opioid was responsible for nearly 30,000 deaths in the US – 60% of all opioid overdoses in the country.

Foreign Policy

In stark contrast to every past president since Bill Clinton, Trump not only promised to move the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, he actually moved it, recognizing the historic Jewish city as the capital of Israel.

Under Trump’s tutelage, the U.S. withdrew from the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC). The nominal human rights organization long eschewed its own title, filling its board with egregious human rights violators such as Egypt, where dissidents and journalists are imprisoned, and Cuba, where political opposition has long been stifled into oblivion.

And then there was the Iran deal — the zenith of Obama’s foreign policy. The Iran nuclear deal was signed hastily, and with many shortcomings. It removed a bevy of financial and military sanctions that could be used as bargaining tools; it provided no clear method to verify Iran’s adherence to the deal; it provided no means to stop the rogue regime from funneling its unfrozen asset to terrorist organizations; and it even admitted that in 10 years, Iran could begin development of nuclear weapons.
 

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