Posted by This Presidential campaign has been a joke. Both candidates spend more time bashing each other than I can remember during my lifetime (or maybe old age is conveniently generating political amnesia to protect me from despair). However, I don’t remember so many outlandish claims of what candidates would do when they get elected. Eliminate taxes. Forgive loans. Ultimately, promise anything that buys votes.
Trump intends to tariff the world into submission so he can eliminate income taxes (his latest admission at Trump pep rallies). He will generate more jobs by cutting the marketability of foreign manufacturers as ‘too expensive to sell in America’. More jobs, higher income, unlimited consumer spending. Utopia never looked so good.
Harris, the great social savior, guarantees tax credits for investments in manufacturing for the aerospace, artificial intelligence, and quantum computing industries. Somehow this will generate jobs for middle class workers. Of course, there’s always money for education when you forgive all education loans and someone else has to pay. But who is going to pay? And where is the money going to come from? Truthfully, this isn’t a simple black and white issue.
The following lyrics from a 1968 hit song (see, I am old):
| Oh, promises, their kind of promises, can just destroy a life Oh, promises, those kind of promises, take all the joy from life |
Name that tune. Who wrote it? Who sang it? Alright, I’ll tell you.
Burt Bacharach wrote the music, Hal David wrote the lyrics, and Dionne Warwick sang this perfect 2024 campaign theme song. I’m confident they had no idea how it would be appropriate as a Presidential campaign theme. [You can listen to this song here Dionne Warwick – Promises Promises]
After the election, the following lyrics will hit home:
| Oh, promises, promises This is where those promises, promises end I don’t pretend that what was wrong can be right |
The reality is, both candidates are blowing smoke up America’s asses. There is no easy fix for the problems that plague this nation. The economic reality is too complex to be fixed from the top down. It requires hard work from the bottom up. The following insight from Kurt Hamel, a candidate for East Greenwich Town Council in Rhode Island, makes this clear.
| When I think of the school construction challenges ahead of East Greenwich that must be tackled simultaneously alongside the infrastructure required for new housing developments, road repairs, and waterfront aspirations, I hate to be the guy to say it, but a major high school renovation in the next decade is nearly unavoidable. The situation seems impossible. Money is tight, costs are rising, and consensus seems out of reach. We can and should look back on what was accomplished in the past for inspiration. Cole 1.0 was built in 1954, Hanaford in ’58, and Meadowbrook in ’64. Frenchtown and East Greenwich High School were built in ’67 and ’68, respectively. In the span of 14 years, on top of all the problems of that time, approximately 5,500 residents committed to building nearly every educational building we enjoy today – and they did it with slide rules. So here we are. It’s 2024, and we are a town of nearly 15,000. We can figure this out. We can do this! |
[You can read his statement at Opinion: October Sky – East Greenwich News . I learned about this in an email from the Rhode Island GOP]
Neither candidate is capable of telling the truth. You have to search for the truth and make the commitment to defend and communicate it to family and friends. This is my humble effort to do that.
“Good night and good luck” [Edward R. Murrow]
Joe Allen 