Biggest presidential race?
It’s Tuesday morning (at the time of writing), deadline day, and we have no idea who’s going to be our next president, Donald Trump or Kamala Harris.
Weird thing is, we all have people we know who are die-hard supporter s for either the one or the other. Trump or Harris. In fact, and this isn’t hyperbole. I’ve never seen a presidential election where so many people think the future of this country is on the line depending on who wins.
No doubt, some people are reading what I just wrote and are saying, or thinking, “Damn right.”
All I know is, which admittedly isn’t a lot, no matter who wins, the annual federal budget deficit will continue to increase from its current approximate $2 trillion, and the current federal debt will continue to increase from its current number – approximately $36 trillion.
In other words, no matter who gets elected, they all like to spend like we actually have the money that’s being spent, as opposed to borrowing it.
In modern times, the only president to oversee a decrease in the federal debt was Bill Clinton, who worked together with Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich to make that happen.
That was an example of two political parties working together for the greater good.
Today, it’s a case of partisan politics on steroids.
Weird thing is, it seems like just yesterday, Bush Jr. was battling Al Gore, and we were saying the same thing — it will be the end of this country if (pick a candidate) wins.
Let’s just hope that whoever wins today (Tuesday, Nov. 5), wins in overwhelming fashion so that no one can cast into doubt, as was the case in 2000 and 2020, as to who actually won.
In 2000, voters didn’t discover who the winner was until Dec. 12, after the U.S. Supreme Court ended a Florida recount, which handed Bush Jr. the Oval Office.
W lost the nationwide popular vote by approximately 543,000, but won 271 electoral votes to Gore’s 266, thanks to the Supreme Court ruling, which handed Bush Florida’s 25 electoral votes and put him over the top. At the time, seven of the nine justices had been appointed to the bench by Republicans, including two (Souter and Thomas) appointed by Bush’s dad, giving Democrats room to cry foul. The Court never should have stopped the Florida vote re-count, the Dems declared to no avail.
Elections Do Matter
Elections do matter, some will say, because the question has always been, if Gore had won in 2000, would he have taken this country to war following 9-11, the way that Bush Jr. did by invading two countries, Afghanistan and Iraq, which had nothing at all to do with the terrorist attack.
I don’t think he would, but that’s me.
Thanks to those two wars, Bush Jr., now painting pictures comfortably at his Crawford, Texas, ranch, was able to take the Clinton/Gingrich battle to fight the national debt and flip it on its head, driving up the national debt by approximately $8 trillion more.
Only a few benefitted from those two wars, including former VP Cheney’s company, Halliburton. The families who lost loved ones in battle still grieve.
With regard to the future of this country, in 30 years’ time, what will it be like? Who knows. We’ll be paying more in taxes, no matter who wins, because at some point, the approximate $36 trillion in national debt will have to be paid down.
More boys, or at least those born with male genitalia, will be competing against girls and women in female sports at all levels.
The culture wars will be over. Conservatives will have lost. All our personal pronouns will be “it.”
Free speech will be a thing of the past. The freedom to write what you choose, a lost right. Journalists will be subject to arrest for writing or saying the wrong thing, never really knowing what the “wrong thing” is until it’s too late.
AI will have taken over the world, the country, albeit still giving us the perception of free elections.
All I know is, I hope I’m still around to witness the 2054 race, because then I can say, “Do you remember that race in 2024 between Trump and Harris? Who would have thought it would turn out the way it did.”