Joe Lowe: Trump Represents GOP, Offering Lies in Face of Democratic Achievements
Published 2016-01-21 by
Cory Allen Heidelberger
South Dakota Democratic Party Vice-Chair returns with another essay on the need for Democrats to stand up with simple truth against the Republicans’ ceaseless malarkey. Last fall he launched a defense of President Obama against GOP mythmaking; now he offers a critique of the Republican Presidential candidates’ detachment from truth.
Captain Chaos and the Rest of the GOP Crew
Joe Lowe, SDDP Vice-Chair
It is time to speak again about letting the GOP drive the narrative. This election is one of the most important in our country’s recent history. What’s at stake? The soul of America. Many of the GOP candidates believe that each person is responsible for his or her lot in life. I believe it is a shared responsibility. That is why I am a Democrat.
We are a great party and have much to be proud of. For more than 200 years, our party has led the fight for civil rights, health care, Social Security, workers’ rights, and women’s rights. We are the party of Barack Obama, John F. Kennedy, FDR, and the countless everyday Americans who work each day to build a more perfect union. Let’s look at some of our accomplishments:
Under the leadership of Democratic President Woodrow Wilson, the U.S. Constitution was amended to grant women the right to vote. The 19th amendment granted women’s right to vote.
In the 1930s, Americans turned to Democrats and elected President Franklin D. Roosevelt to end the Great Depression. President Roosevelt offered Americans a New Deal that put people back to work, stabilized farm prices, and brought electricity to rural homes and communities.
Under President Roosevelt, Social Security established a promise that lasts to this day: growing old would never again mean growing poor. It was largely opposed by Republican legislators.
In 1944, Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the G.I. Bill—a historic measure that provided unprecedented benefits for soldiers returning from World War II, including low-cost mortgages, loans to start a business, and tuition and living expenses for those seeking higher education.
Harry Truman helped rebuild Europe after World War II with the Marshall Plan and oversaw the formation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
In the 1960s, Americans again turned to Democrats and elected President John F. Kennedy to tackle the challenges of a new era. President Kennedy dared Americans to put a man on the moon, created the Peace Corps, and negotiated a treaty banning atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons.
President Johnson’s enactment of Medicare was a watershed moment in America’s history that redefined our country’s commitment to our seniors.
In 1976, in the wake of the Watergate scandal, Americans elected Jimmy Carter to restore dignity to the White House. He created the Departments of Education and Energy and helped to forge a lasting peace between Israel and Egypt.
In 1992, after 12 years of Republican presidents, record budget deficits, and high unemployment, Americans turned to Democrats once again and elected Bill Clinton to get America moving again. President Clinton balanced the budget, helped the economy add 23 million new jobs, and oversaw the longest period of peacetime economic expansion in history.
In 2008, Americans turned to Democrats and elected President Obama to reverse our country’s slide into the largest economic downturn since the Great Depression and undo eight years of policies that favored the few over the many. Under President Obama’s direction and congressional Democrats’ leadership, we’ve reformed a health care system that was broken and extended health insurance to 32 million Americans [“Our History,” Democrats.org]. Source: Democrats .Org
To defend and promote our accomplishments and values, we must fight the GOP’s effort to drive the narrative with falsehoods and flat-out lies. Each of us has to stand up and ensure the truth is known when we speak to our friends and neighbors
I want to address some of the facts surrounding Mr. Trump—Captain Chaos. These are not my facts. Many of the facts come from the Wall Street Journal article “Trump and His Debts: A Narrow Escape” [Jan. 4, 2016]. Here are some of the highlights:
Mr. Trump touts family values, but if you weren’t in a coma during the ’90s, you know about Ms. Maples. The aspiring actress’s affair with the mogul 17 years her senior that precipitated the “divorce of the century” [Judith Newman, “Marla Maples Finds Her Groove,” New York Times, Nov. 14, 2012].
Summer 1990: Trump is deep in debt over his opulent Taj Mahal Casino in Atlantic City, NJ . He agrees with a group of lenders to restructure 2.1 billion of loans.
Fall 1990: He struggles to pay the interest on Taj Mahal casino and negotiates with his bondholders. He also told contractors, who were owed money, after the restructure, to accept a 30% cut in what they were owed or risk losing more.
July 1991: Places his casino under bankruptcy protection.
1991: Sells his personal Boing 727 and Trump Princess Yacht.
March 1992: Places two more casinos, Trump Plaza and Trump Castle, into bankruptcy.
1993: Uses part of the proceeds of a Trump Plaza note sale to repay debt in New York.
1993: Sues his co-owner of the Grand Hyatt Hotel in New York, the Pritzker family.
1994: Sells 70% of a West Side Manhattan tract to Hong Investors.
Trump touts his great business prowess, but like his candidacy for President, that prowess doesn’t fit the facts. Trump counts on showmanship to distract from those facts, and the polls show far too many Republicans fall for it.
Trump isn’t the only Republican hiding facts with showmanship. Let’s look at some of the misshapen GOP rhetoric presented in the last GOP debate:
Ted Cruz claim:President Obama’s preparing to send $100 billion to the Ayatollah Khamenei.
Ted Cruz makes it sound if we are giving the largest foreign aid payment to Iran. In reality, we have secured a seven-nation nuclear deal that commits Iran to curbing its nuclear activities. The deal allows Iran to regain access to about $100 billion of its own money that was frozen by international sanctions.
Jeb Bush comments on the prisoner release: Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush said he saw “weakness” in the Obama administration’s dealings with Iran. “Let’s take a step back here,” Bush told a town hall meeting in New Hampshire. “The bigger issue is that we’ve legitimized a regime who shows no interest in actually moving toward the so-called community of nations.”
In truth, the U.S. has not been alone in shifting its pose toward Iran, which is part of what would make undoing it difficult. The nuclear deal was negotiated alongside France, Britain, Germany, Russia and China, a coalition that managed to hang together through lengthy discussions and difficult domestic politics. Since then, Iran has joined in international talks seeking an end to the Syrian civil war. White House officials say they see those talks as a test of whether other conversations are possible [Source: “Prisoner Swap Puts GOP Candidates in a Tough Spot,” AP, Jan. 16, 2016].
Again, the GOP Presidential candidates are critical yet offer no other solutions except the normal hawkish talk. In this case diplomacy did work and it did not cost us American lives like the 6,840 U.S. service members that have died in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom [Source: Washington Post—Faces of the Fallen].
Trump claim about Syrian refugees. “When I look at the migration, I look at the line, I said… where are the women? It looked like very few women. Very few children. Strong and powerful men, young and people are looking at that and they’re saying what going on?”
Trump must have looking from the same spot where he saw Muslims dancing in the street after 9-11. According to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, of the 4.6 million Syrian refugees, men ages 18 to 59 make up 21.4%. The rest are women and children, or people over 60 or older [Source- Associated Press- Fact Check-“Misshapen rhetoric in Thursday’s Republican debate,” January 16, 2016].
Captain Chaos and his fellow GOP Presidential candidates are living in an alternate world where they constantly misshape the facts. They perpetuate fear as their main tool to gain support in the polls. In addition many are playing the Evangelical card. I do not believe one of the prime tenants of the Christian Religion is to spread hateful statements about Blacks, Latinos, and persons of other faiths.
For our party much is at stake, and I am asking you my fellow Democrats to get involved and not give the election away. Stand up to those that are spreading falsehoods, both at the state and national level. We are a great party with great values, and one of those values is our commitment to telling the truth.
We have outstanding Democratic presidential candidates and well as Paula Hawks, who is running for US Congress. The need you support. I am also asking you to come together after our presidential candidate is picked and support either Hillary or Bernie. Don’t walk away from being involved just because your candidate did not prevail. Whoever leads our ticket, we Democrats cannot give this election away. Let’s fight for the facts and fight for our values.
Joe Lowe
Vice Chairman
South Dakota Democratic Party
Dana, I’d rather have Joe as Governor than as Senator. But he models the kind of fire we need our candidates to bring. If you want a fire, call the fireman!
Dana P
Cory….oh yes, no question about Joe for Governor. (Wismer, nice person, but Joe was a much, much better candidate….sadly, old news)
I was throwing that out there because:
A) Don’t want to see Thune run, AGAIN, un-opposed.
B) Don’t want to see Noem run, AGAIN, against someone who isn’t going to at least put up some kind of campaign against her. It would be like running un-opposed. (yes Paula Hawks, I’m talking about you) (Varilek at least, did make a valiant effort.)
And oh yeah, “Fireman Joe” is what is needed here. No question!
mike from iowa
If you want a fire wouldn’t that necessitate a call to an arsonist or a bomb-thrower,aka rwnj?
leslie
Dd-horse feathers! Spectator-republican drivel. You quote Wiki except its highlight that “Wilson had a substantial role in enactment and ratification of the 19th amend.” !
Dana, whoever chooses to run against Thune should follow Lowe’s tactic of calling out the GOP bushwah and offering a rational coherent Democratic narrative.
Mike, picky picky! Enjoy the irony! :-)
Leslie, DD, see also this article from the Wilson Center on President Wilson’s change of heart in the right direction on women’s suffrage:
Will Trump, Cruz, Bush, or any other contemporary Republicans show the same good sense as Wilson in changing their backward, fearful, anti-democratic views to embrace truth and democracy?
moses
Porter for U.S. Senate
Douglas Wiken
Give ’em hell, Joe.
Les
Barrack is no Jack Kennedy. Kennedy did not allow the war machine to control him or our country.
Kennedy would not have allowed nafta or tpp to tap the middle class.
Kennedy would not have signed the bank degregulation.
They will eat Joe if he thinks he can throw this tripe out there. He has some points but mixing tripe with good points for quantity does not a good case make.
Joe’s cup is about half full. He doesn’t broadly alienate pubs but doesn’t ask them to look at what Dems have to give. SD Dems won’t elect anyone without SD pubs and indies.
Jenny
JFK would be a moderate republican by today’s standards. He stalled on Civil Rights, lowered taxes, sent thousands of troops to Vietnam. JFK would not even be considered moderately democrat by today’s standards, just like Obama is not the liberal ‘pubs claim him to be.
Porter Lansing
i.e – Dana, whoever chooses to run against Thune should follow Lowe’s tactic of calling out the GOP bushwah and offering a rational coherent Democratic narrative.
~ to expand – EVERYONE should follow Lowe’s tactic of calling out the GOP bushwah and offering a rational coherent Democratic narrative. A valid tool to fight Republican bullies is ridicule compounded by more ridicule. Ridicule of your every neighbor who is spewing the right wing bushwah.
mike from iowa
The war machine has had their hooks in our gubmint since Ronnie Raygun’s failed presidency. It isn’t Obama’s fault. He has had to fight Islamic terrorists and domestic terrorists and quite often his own party who run every time wingnuts make noise about being unpatriotic and giving Defense everything plus the kitchen sink.
mike from iowa
ps Track Palin’s ptsd-if he has it-is not Obama’s fault,either.
grudznick
No go, Joe Lowe. Your militant libbyism will never stand up to young Ms. Hawkes’ calm leadership and steady hand at the tiller.
jerry
Joe Lowe would be a very good candidate for US Senate. He is a progressive and could follow on the coattails of Bernie Sanders in this election. Moreover, Joe could begin to galvanize South Dakota voters who are sick of republican politics. The independents and new Democrats that want change. If he would happen to not win, his name is there for the governorship just around the corner. Joe Lowe would be a great candidate.
Les
Yes, Jenny. Much has shifted in party representation. As the handlers demand. Kennedy had sent 16,000 advisors. He was not a friend of the military complex.
The war machine has had their hooks in government for centuries, mifi.
Joe is an interesting fella but he needs to understand what it takes to win and get in it to win it. Talk is cheap.
RW was on his feet and came as close to doing it right as any Dem in recent enough history for most here to remember.
Don Coyote
Wrong tie color and a sloppy four in hand knot. OK give Lowe credit for a sloppy half windsor but really? I could tie those while driving with my knees on my way to my high school job as carry out at a grocery store. I’d expect better for a formal photo.
And Wilson was no friend of the suffragette movement. If it wasn’t for Republicans the 19th Amendment would never have passed.
leslie
Again blog republicans, susan b. Anthony’s NWSA was openly critical of republicans and partisanship in the 170 year woman/black vote complex historical struggle. Wiki
Claiming ownership ignores this. This Republican Talking Point Is Just That.
In his first term, Wilson had taken a lukewarm attitude toward women’s suffrage. In 1917, suffragists picketed the White House and berated Wilson for paying mere lip service to their cause.
Several arrested suffragists went on a hunger strike. When Wilson learned that they were being force-fed in jail, he finally decided to champion their cause wholeheartedly.
In his Sept. 30 speech, Wilson said, “We have made partners of the women in this war. … Shall we admit them only to a partnership of suffering and sacrifice and toil and not to a partnership of privilege and right?” [Andrew Glass, “Woodrow Wilson Endorses Women’s Suffrage on Sept. 30, 1918,” Politico, 2007.09.30]
Lowe’s comment about suffrage passing under Wilson’s leadership is accurate. Don’s comment that he was “no friend” of suffrage describes an earlier Wilson, not the change that Wilson underwent and not the current status of the two parties. Like the Republican Party our man Lowe describes, Don and DD misrepresent facts with a selective historical memory.
mike from iowa
And today’s wingnuts treat women like chattel or worse. And for the life of me,some women don’t seem to mind or care about their status.
Who was that very famous Dem wh said, “Ask not what you can do for your country but what your country can do for you.” Why that’d be Monsieur Heidelbger!
Winston
“If it wasn’t for Republicans the 19th Amendment would never have passed.”
HAHAHAHAHA……And then there was silence for nearly ninety years, then they gave us Sarah…. Gee, thanks (?)
Oh, I forgot about Margaret Chase Smith… That was in the middle of the ninety years….Most Republicans may not believe in evolution, but devolution they have mastered. Once the party of Lincoln, now the party against affirmative action, civil rights (a preference for states’ rights… You know, like a good Confederate), and the “Black Lives Matter” movement….
Now criticism can be layered at the hands of the Democratic party, too. Once the northern party willing to make peace with the Confederacy or in the case of southern Democrats in favor of slavery, but since then, we have become the party of the New Deal and the emergence of the middle class, the party of civil rights, equal rights for women , and no longer the “War Party” thanks to the Bush family in particular. The Democrats have evolved, obviously. There is no debate about it. The Republicans, however, have devolved and have become nothing but the political franchise of the wealth class at the expense of everything they once were or could have been masked as the true defenders of liberty when their actions speak of enhanced exclusion through their super wealth apologies and political/economic agendas.
if we are going to have a serious political discussion? let’s start by agreeing to not “fudge” the facts.
any claims by any Democrat that Democrats lead anything in women’s suffrage is NOT-based in reality: http://spectator.org/articles/35608/republicans-and-womens-rights-brief-reality-check
When I see an article start out with such patent dishonesty, the rest doesn’t even get a considerstion.
C’mon, Melvin. Don’t be so inconsiderate. lol
Why oh why, isn’t Joe Lowe the “D” representative running against Noem or Thune this time?
Darnit!
DD, you make a reasonable historical point. However, the parties have clearly changed their orientation, with Republicans fighting to take the vote away from as many people as they can and Democrats evolving from their socially conservative positions of the early 20th century to the defense of real democracy today.
Dana, I’d rather have Joe as Governor than as Senator. But he models the kind of fire we need our candidates to bring. If you want a fire, call the fireman!
Cory….oh yes, no question about Joe for Governor. (Wismer, nice person, but Joe was a much, much better candidate….sadly, old news)
I was throwing that out there because:
A) Don’t want to see Thune run, AGAIN, un-opposed.
B) Don’t want to see Noem run, AGAIN, against someone who isn’t going to at least put up some kind of campaign against her. It would be like running un-opposed. (yes Paula Hawks, I’m talking about you) (Varilek at least, did make a valiant effort.)
And oh yeah, “Fireman Joe” is what is needed here. No question!
If you want a fire wouldn’t that necessitate a call to an arsonist or a bomb-thrower,aka rwnj?
Dd-horse feathers! Spectator-republican drivel. You quote Wiki except its highlight that “Wilson had a substantial role in enactment and ratification of the 19th amend.” !
Lowe for the US Senate!!!!
Dana, whoever chooses to run against Thune should follow Lowe’s tactic of calling out the GOP bushwah and offering a rational coherent Democratic narrative.
Mike, picky picky! Enjoy the irony! :-)
Leslie, DD, see also this article from the Wilson Center on President Wilson’s change of heart in the right direction on women’s suffrage:
https://www.wilsoncenter.org/article/woodrow-wilson-and-the-womens-suffrage-movement-reflection
Will Trump, Cruz, Bush, or any other contemporary Republicans show the same good sense as Wilson in changing their backward, fearful, anti-democratic views to embrace truth and democracy?
Porter for U.S. Senate
Give ’em hell, Joe.
Barrack is no Jack Kennedy. Kennedy did not allow the war machine to control him or our country.
Kennedy would not have allowed nafta or tpp to tap the middle class.
Kennedy would not have signed the bank degregulation.
They will eat Joe if he thinks he can throw this tripe out there. He has some points but mixing tripe with good points for quantity does not a good case make.
Joe’s cup is about half full. He doesn’t broadly alienate pubs but doesn’t ask them to look at what Dems have to give. SD Dems won’t elect anyone without SD pubs and indies.
JFK would be a moderate republican by today’s standards. He stalled on Civil Rights, lowered taxes, sent thousands of troops to Vietnam. JFK would not even be considered moderately democrat by today’s standards, just like Obama is not the liberal ‘pubs claim him to be.
i.e – Dana, whoever chooses to run against Thune should follow Lowe’s tactic of calling out the GOP bushwah and offering a rational coherent Democratic narrative.
~ to expand – EVERYONE should follow Lowe’s tactic of calling out the GOP bushwah and offering a rational coherent Democratic narrative. A valid tool to fight Republican bullies is ridicule compounded by more ridicule. Ridicule of your every neighbor who is spewing the right wing bushwah.
The war machine has had their hooks in our gubmint since Ronnie Raygun’s failed presidency. It isn’t Obama’s fault. He has had to fight Islamic terrorists and domestic terrorists and quite often his own party who run every time wingnuts make noise about being unpatriotic and giving Defense everything plus the kitchen sink.
ps Track Palin’s ptsd-if he has it-is not Obama’s fault,either.
No go, Joe Lowe. Your militant libbyism will never stand up to young Ms. Hawkes’ calm leadership and steady hand at the tiller.
Joe Lowe would be a very good candidate for US Senate. He is a progressive and could follow on the coattails of Bernie Sanders in this election. Moreover, Joe could begin to galvanize South Dakota voters who are sick of republican politics. The independents and new Democrats that want change. If he would happen to not win, his name is there for the governorship just around the corner. Joe Lowe would be a great candidate.
Yes, Jenny. Much has shifted in party representation. As the handlers demand. Kennedy had sent 16,000 advisors. He was not a friend of the military complex.
The war machine has had their hooks in government for centuries, mifi.
Joe is an interesting fella but he needs to understand what it takes to win and get in it to win it. Talk is cheap.
RW was on his feet and came as close to doing it right as any Dem in recent enough history for most here to remember.
Wrong tie color and a sloppy four in hand knot. OK give Lowe credit for a sloppy half windsor but really? I could tie those while driving with my knees on my way to my high school job as carry out at a grocery store. I’d expect better for a formal photo.
And Wilson was no friend of the suffragette movement. If it wasn’t for Republicans the 19th Amendment would never have passed.
Again blog republicans, susan b. Anthony’s NWSA was openly critical of republicans and partisanship in the 170 year woman/black vote complex historical struggle. Wiki
Claiming ownership ignores this. This Republican Talking Point Is Just That.
Hey, Don: you don’t get to lodge fashion complaints until you start submitting a photo of yourself with every comment so we can respond in kind.
As for Wilson’s endorsement of women’s suffrage…
Lowe’s comment about suffrage passing under Wilson’s leadership is accurate. Don’s comment that he was “no friend” of suffrage describes an earlier Wilson, not the change that Wilson underwent and not the current status of the two parties. Like the Republican Party our man Lowe describes, Don and DD misrepresent facts with a selective historical memory.
And today’s wingnuts treat women like chattel or worse. And for the life of me,some women don’t seem to mind or care about their status.
Today’s wingnuts—key point, Mike! When we go to vote, history is nice, but we have to ask, “What have you done for me lately?“
Who was that very famous Dem wh said, “Ask not what you can do for your country but what your country can do for you.” Why that’d be Monsieur Heidelbger!
“If it wasn’t for Republicans the 19th Amendment would never have passed.”
HAHAHAHAHA……And then there was silence for nearly ninety years, then they gave us Sarah…. Gee, thanks (?)
Oh, I forgot about Margaret Chase Smith… That was in the middle of the ninety years….Most Republicans may not believe in evolution, but devolution they have mastered. Once the party of Lincoln, now the party against affirmative action, civil rights (a preference for states’ rights… You know, like a good Confederate), and the “Black Lives Matter” movement….
Now criticism can be layered at the hands of the Democratic party, too. Once the northern party willing to make peace with the Confederacy or in the case of southern Democrats in favor of slavery, but since then, we have become the party of the New Deal and the emergence of the middle class, the party of civil rights, equal rights for women , and no longer the “War Party” thanks to the Bush family in particular. The Democrats have evolved, obviously. There is no debate about it. The Republicans, however, have devolved and have become nothing but the political franchise of the wealth class at the expense of everything they once were or could have been masked as the true defenders of liberty when their actions speak of enhanced exclusion through their super wealth apologies and political/economic agendas.
http://tinyurl.com/hrbbdlh
Devolution of the wingnut party. Absolutely,100% true and accurate. Not to mention hilarious.