US Midterm Elections. Lies, Exaggerations and Obfuscations

As the midterm elections approach politicians have commenced to do what they do best. I often say that for all their faults, and there are many, politicians are very good at two things – getting elected and getting re-elected. In order to succeed at those two things all good politicians learn how to tell the voters what they want to hear, or at least what they think voters want to hear. At the very least, they shade the truth. Of course, we, the voters, are cognizant of this, yet since candidates of both political parties do it, we accept it and just vote for whom we like the best or dislike the least. Once elected, more often than not, candidates ignore or shade their campaign promises. Honestly, can you recall the last time a candidate fulfilled all his campaign promises? I think not.

In the current election cycle, however, the Dems have raised this to a new level, not all of them but certainly President Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and a few others that are running for office. Their lies, exaggerations and obfuscations are so obvious that it is insulting to voters that they think we would “fall” for them. Do they really think that voters are that dumb, forgetful and oblivious? Apparently so.

Below please find a few of the most egregious examples.

1. The southern border is secure. This shameless and unabashed falsehood has been repeated continuously mostly by President Biden, VP Harris, and DHS chief Alejandro Mayorkis. Anyone who has a tv or can read is aware of the flood of illegals crossing our border on a daily basis. Plus, in addition to the ones we see how about the ones we don’t see, don’t catch? Anyone can ascertain that our country is being flooded, at will, with criminals, drugs and terrorists. Several Dems facing tough re-elections, such as Henry Cuellar (Tex) and Catherine Castro Mastro (Nev), have suddenly awakened to the crisis and have begun to speak out. Where have they been? Moreover, many who have supported open borders for three years have suddenly gone silent. Basically, we have no viable border. Many migrants, including young children, have drowned while trying to cross the Rio Grande. Yet, the Administration refuses to even acknowledge that we have a crisis. This reminds me of the famous quote by Chico Marx: “Who ya gonna believe, me or your own eyes?” When Marx said it, it was so ludicrous that it was funny. No one’s laughing now.

2. Declining gas prices is an accomplishment. This is a classic. Yes, gas prices have been declining recently. But, a gallon of gas at the pump averaged $2.39 when Biden took office. It rose to over $5.00 in some areas thanks, in large part, to his shutting down the Keystone Pipeline. Now it has fallen to around $3.40 in my area, but that is still a significant increase during Biden’s tenure. Furthermore, Biden has had to dip into our strategic reserves to get the prices that low. In addition, if we have a cold winter gas prices will increase considerably further causing more hardship.

3. The inflation rate is declining. This is a classic way one can finagle statistics. Yes, according to the CPI the inflation rate in August declined to 8.3% from a high of 8.5%, but it remains at an unacceptably high rate. Anyone who has filled their gas tank or gone to the market recently knows that. The economy simply cannot sustain an inflation rate this high.
4. Student loan forgiveness. There is no world in which this is equitable or beneficial. How is it fair to those who paid off their loans? How is it fair to those who attended a community college in lieu of an expensive four-year university? How is it fair to those who worked their way through college? How is it fair to those who skipped or cut short college for economic reasons? In essence, they will be paying the bill for the profligacy of others whose loans will be forgiven. After all, the money has to come from somewhere. Plus, it is a boondoggle for universities, who will continue to raise their tuition prices, and it is inflationary.

The foregoing are just a few examples. There are many more. Crime, defunding the police, leaving Afghanistan. The list goes on and on. Virtually every decision President Biden has made has hurt the very people Candidate Biden pledged to help – the middle class, working class and seniors. Rather than being the “great unifier,” he has become the “great divider.” In speech after speech he has denigrated “MAGA-Republicans” and any others who oppose his policies as “terrorists,” “anti-American” or “racists.” Basically, that is half the country.

CONCLUSION

In reality, the Dems do not have any legitimate issues to run on. They cannot point to any successes, and there are many failures as outlined above. They are trying to “trump up” the January 6 protest, abortion and Donald Trump, himself, as issues. I’m not sure if they will be successful. The “witch hunt” January 6 “investigation” did not disclose any “smoking gun.” Also, how can they explain the inconsistency of why they considered the January 6 protest to be such a critical issue, but not the dozens of riots and acts of lawlessness in many of our cities last year? Hopefully, the voting public will come to realize that the Supreme Court has NOT outlawed abortion as Dems have been claiming but rather left it to the individual states to decide. Those who oppose that decision should stop “ringing their hands” and lobby Congress to pass a national abortion law. Surely, Biden would sign it. That is how our constitution was meant to work. Furthermore, Donald Trump is not on any ballot in 2022, and it is not even certain he will run in 2024.

The Dems are hoping voters will forget their unpopular positions on issues during the last three years or vote for their candidates despite them. Also, they are banking on the support of a largely biased media. Unfortunately, sometimes, that strategy works. It looks like it might be working this year. Based upon performance, the GOP should have a decisive edge and should gain majorities in both Houses. However, currently, most polls are showing that despite the historically poor performance of the Biden Administration over the past three years the midterms elections will be extremely close.

That said, a lot can happen between now and November 8.