Campaign Debates

 Hey Joe:

Here is an idea about how you can approach the election and the debates.

First off, don't yell at the orange headed person, just ask him a question about what he plans to do. See below for a question. 

I suppose it will be OK to yell if yelling makes your words flow more freely, but it might be better if you speak mildly and slowly since your words carry great weight. You ARE the President, you speak the truth.

I suggest you address the feelings of pressure and despair that many of us feel at the kitchen table to the GOP blocking your effforts to make life easier. To do that, y'all gonna need to preach and teach a bit.

Like this: "I know a lot of you are worried about inflation. But it is a real thing and not just a made up number. When prices go up and your income doesn't, it's really easy to feel like you're failing your family. You work hard and don't spend a lot on frivolous things, but sometimes you have to tell your kids they just have to make do for awhile. It aint right. And, it is NOT your fault. As your President I feel your anxiety and despair and I am working real hard to make your life better. 

You might wonder about this: 'Why can't you just lower prices of stuff we really need?'

Or maybe this: 'Can we just get enough income so we can pay our bills?'

Or this: 'How about food prices? We can use a break here.'

I get where you are now, and I want to make it better for us all. But, the reality is that government can do only so much and has real limits.

Let's start with food prices. Can I as your President just make lower food prices? The answer is 'Maybe I can in the long run, but I cannot change prices directly.' We have a system where businesses set prices they charge using their best guesses. If they charge too much, then folks will go to a cheaper store and pay less.

Then businesses will lose sales and then maybe they will lower prices to meet the competition. Then your family can get more stuff for less money. That's the American economic idea we have; however, things don't work that way every time.

There is no pressure on stores to lower prices if the folks who sell food don't have any competition. So, they don't lower prices and we all suffer. Our job as government to make sure there is enough competition to keep prices fair. I am working very hard to control monopolies by enforcing the laws we have already.

But, big businesses don't like that. They prefer to keep prices high to  make more profits at your expense. So, they get together and stop any government actions to make the fod busiess more competitive. They do that by lobbying Congress to kill laws to encourage competition and discourage enforcement of the laws we already have. 

Yes, that is against the law. BUT, the GOP and billionaires just shrug off the law and regulation and keep prices too high. AND, you can guess what else: trump takes lots of money from those same corporations and billionaires. You can bet your bottom dollar he will NOT act to stop monopolies from raising prices.

So I'm asking Mr. Trump now: Will you commit to enforcing our anti-monopoly laws here tonight if you win the election in November?

I don't think he will agree to do that here tonight; I'd be doubtful even if he said he would do that. 

We have some hope regardless of what he does. Here's the hope: we can vote Democrats into office who agree that prices are too high and then we can enforce the laws as they are written. We all need your help to control monopoly behavior. Here's how: Vote Democrats into office so we can lower prices at the market.

Here's an example: "The FTC found evidence that a US oil exec colluded with OPEC in 2021 and 2022 to cut production and drive up prices. The price-fixing scam is estimated to have cost Americans an extra $2,100 per year. When I say corporate greed is driving inflation, this is what I mean." Robert Reich, former Labor Secretary. 

I'm afraid we see similar tactics and goals when it comes to raising wages with Union pressure. Billionaires just HATE that. They will use everything they can dream up to prevent wages from rising. 

It just makes no sense. They will sell more stuff and make higher profits when workers have higher wages. They're kind of stupid that way.

I'll leave further discussions about labor unions, higher wages and union busting tactics to another day. Billionaires just want more of your money, period

Thank you for your time.