Does Trump get credit?
Re: “Yes, President Trump’s policies are good for Latinos too,” July 11 commentary
Amid all the rancor, ridiculous political cartoons and letters, appears an article by Steve Cortes, CNN’s political commentator and a member of Trump’s Hispanic Advisory Council. This is a breath of fresh air to read the facts. To those who choose to ignore the facts, please reread this article. President Donald Trump is not against immigration or Hispanics, he is against “illegal” immigration which includes “illegal” Hispanics. Cortes sets the record straight on Latino unemployment figures. Thank you Denver Post for publishing this on your op ed page.
Kay Robbins, Denver
Columnist Steve Cortes has high praise for President Trump’s jobs record, noting, “The economy added 213,000 jobs in June according to the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) report.” If he had looked a little deeper into BLS data he would have found that more than 200,000 jobs were added in many months during the Obama administration. Most recently, in 2016 that was true for February, March, June, July, and September.
He is further agog that “the number of employed Americans has grown by an incredible 2.4 million people over the past year.” Actually, that number is not so incredible at all. In 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and in 2015 more than or nearly 2.4 million jobs were added. A little context helps our understanding.
If the “Again” in “Make America Great Again” means “like when Obama was president” then Trump is doing OK.
Gary Waldman, Aurora
I read with interest Steve Cortes article touting the improved Latino employment numbers due to “Trump’s bold economic policy of sweeping tax cuts and aggressive deregulation.” Surprised that there have been significant changes during Trump’s short time in office, I went to factcheck.org to see what sense I could make of it.
According to factcheck.org, Trump’s numbers are right, but itap generally a stretch for presidents to take credit for job creation. Trump’s tweet and Cortes’ comments imply that Trump caused low unemployment rates, but these rates have been falling steadily since around 2010 … early in President Obama’s tenure in the White House.
Carol O’Brien, Lakewood
Independent candidates unite America
I was inspired on Monday seeing several Colorado independents declare candidacy for our state legislature. I hope The Denver Post will report on this movement. Your readers are missing out.
Great hope comes when Americans understand this sensible, workable way to unrig a system where political power and personal ambition are more important than courageously working for the common good. Around America, the formerly “red” and “blue” are bonding through Unite America to put people and country above political party.
Their strategy? When a few “uniters” — free from party bosses — are elected into evenly divided legislatures, their votes will force listening and cooperation. In 2016, I could no longer in good conscience serve as my Denver precinctap party lead. Like other Coloradans, I find increasingly less hope in party loyalty and must stand against embarrassing, ineffective, hyper-partisanship. The time seems so ripe for this intelligent fix for our broken political system.
Tom Hancock, Denver
Gardner’s knee jerk
After the announcement of Brett Kavanaugh for the vacant Supreme Court seat, Sen. Cory Gardner stated that “I hope my colleagues on both sides of the aisle will thoughtfully and thoroughly review … rather than making a knee-jerk decision based on politics and nothing else.” Here is his statement about Obama’s selection of Merrick Garland who was denied a hearing: “The Obama administration continues to use the judicial and regulatory systems to push through its legislative agenda, shifting the balance of power the founders established.”
We are not braindead yet. Enough with the hypocrisy! There are no checks or balances in our government. There are just the Republicans who are in total control and I fear are remaking our democratic republic into a theocratic oligarchy.
Jeannie Dunham, Denver
