Editorial: At What Point is Enough, Enough

Chronicle News Stock Photo

Remove the United States of America's designation from the storyline, and I would question the country in the subject matter. The supposed free world leader is behaving like a petulant child insisting everyone can only play with his ball, or he will go home (with the ball).

Reading the latest news on the internet or the headlines of newspapers across the country has become increasingly hard to believe we are in the United States of America. History recalls many examples of poor leadership and cultlike behavior. Just look up Adolf Hitler (Germany), Matyas Rakosi (Hungary), Francois Duvalier (Haiti), or Benito Mussolini (Italy). Their cult of personality walked the same path dictators have in the past. Besides the past holding many essential lessons, the similarities are too many to ignore.

How did we arrive at the place we now find ourselves? A sitting American President is trying openly to skirt the will of the American people.

Democracy is the core of America (of the people and by the people). The dictionary definition of democracy is as follows: a government system by the whole population or all the eligible members of a state, typically through elected representatives.

Our country is in serious disarray. At present, there is a worldwide pandemic. Record numbers of Americans are dying. The economy is in the toilet. Unemployment and the ability to pay the rent and put food on the table has reached critical. The current U.S. unemployment rate is 6.9% for October 2020, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). This rate is nearly double the 3.5% rate in February, before the COVID-19 pandemic. The U.S. labor market showed signs of recovery, but it slowed in September, with unemployment at 7.9%.

The country is begging for a leader to emerge. The issue of unemployment remains one of the most critical economic issues facing the country. America faces a reoccurring balancing act to find a cure and safely re-open the economy. After governments shut down the economy in April, the unemployment rate reached 16.7%, the highest since the Great Depression. Often people don’t understand the gravity of a situation until it hits home. The current unemployment rate in Michigan is 5.5 %. In April of 2020, unemployment was 24%. In plain English, "ONE POINT ONE MILLION” people were out of work. The total Michigan population is just over 10 Million. You do the math. Are you seriously questioning who voted for who in Michigan? Nonetheless, many still voted Republican. But that not the part that has me stuck in the opening round unable to pass go. The President doesn’t appear to be aware that everyone is not a millionaire and making daily ends meet is a real priority for us common folk. The present administrations “wait and see, it’ll blow over” handling of the pandemic has made the situation worst, not better. Historically, 79 Million people voted for President-Elect Joe Biden, and 72 Million people voted for President Trump. The 2020 election results are the most massive voter turnout in our countries history.

Losing the popular vote by 6 million doesn’t suggest that President Trump won the 2020 election by any stretch of the imagination. Getting 306 electoral college votes tells who won the election. Not realizing that the American people were looking to you for leadership, your administration mishandled the COVID-19 crisis. American people are dying, and unemployment reached 16 MILLION! Those facts cost you the election, not some imaginary bogey man. Trying to change the American people's will by pressuring Republican-led state legislatures to throw out the vote totals and declare him the winner is shameful, petty, and un-American.

When the CARES Act was slated to expire, President Trump took a photo-opt of him signing an extension promising $300.00 to $400.00 extra to everyone on unemployment. Political sleight of hand equal to that of Houdini himself felled to mention that each state had to approve the money, but they needed to get the federal government's money. In the early 1970s, there were commercials on television, asking, "where's the beef." Now I’m asking, “where the money!”

Are we in the United States of America? The head of cybersecurity for homeland Security who wouldn't parrot the Republican party line is suddenly fired. He dared to publically say someone other than a republican won the 2020 election. Even if there were other issues, the timing of the firing raises more than just a brow. There is a logistical problem with suggesting that the election was fixed. Republicans have control of the senate. Republicans grained political ground in the house of Representatives. Everyone's name was on the same ballot as the President and President-elect Joe Biden. Why would you fix an election and cause yourself political problems? You cannot separate individuals without taking down the whole house of cards.

Talk about if you don’t do what I say; I'm going to take my ball and go home. Recent pollical news reported that Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin had asked the Federal Reserve to return all unused coronavirus relief funds set aside for its emergency lending programs by the end of the year, taking away a lifeline even as a resurgence in COVID-19 cases threatens to upend the nascent economic recovery. The emergency programs, which were set to expire on Dec. 31 unless extended, have doled out billions of dollars in loans to keep the economy afloat. Their mere existence helped restore stability to the financial system after panic over the coronavirus earlier this year threatened to shut down key debt markets.

The Fed and Treasury have joint responsibility for designing and authorizing the programs, some of which were created at the behest of Congress in a massive relief package, called the CARES Act, signed by President Donald Trump in March. The fact of the matter is that people are still economically hurting and dying. Meanwhile, our government leadership discusses things in terms of either red or blue instead of red, white, and blue. Enough is enough. It’s time to stop all of the politics and get back to the business of rebuilding and repairing the economy.

One has to wonder what things would be different had President Trump won the 2020 election. Did Republicans dangle economic possibilities in front of our collective noses? Vote for me, or I'll yank this carrot at the earliest signs of discord?

A fitting Presidential legacy would be to follow through and take care of the American people regardless of who voted for who. If you can’t do anything other than spew mindless banter and play golf, go home. Leave the ball.