As Democrats and their fake news media continue to attack President Trump for taking out the world’s worst terrorist Qassem Soleimani, the people of Iran are flooding the streets protesting their “scoundrel” and “murdereing” regime.
Over 1,500 student protesters were murdered in November standing up against Khamenei and his minions.
Those brave children received less sympathetic press than the dead terror leader Qassem Soleimani.
Some of the innocent Iranians who were slain at the hands of the Khomeinist regime special forces and snipers during recent protests.
This will shock Democrats but on Saturday THOUSANDS of brave student activists took to the streets in Iran and chanted, “Soleimani is a murderer!”
"Soleimani is a murderer. His leader is also a murderer" – chants by Iran’s students today rip through the recent false claims by @CNN, @HardballChris & @nytimes‘ @farnazfassihi that Iranians support Soleimani.
As Iranian activist Hanif Jazayeri reported — the protests against the regime were so huge on Saturday that even the official news agency associated with the Iranian Guards reported on the demonstrations.
Today’s #IranProtests are so huge that even Fars News Agency, affiliated to the Revolutionary Guards, just published a report saying protesters chanted for regime change & tore banners of Soleimani. Meanwhile @MSNBC‘s @HardballChris had falsely claimed he was a hero to Iran’s ppl pic.twitter.com/VnxU74vwM6
At the Amir Kabir University, a number of students, estimated to be between 700 and 1,000, walked out onto the street and moved to the north side of Hafez and Taleghani intersections. Initially, the Naja agents provided the opportunity for the students to rally and chant, but then with the entrance of the main street and the closure of this spot and the heavy traffic disrupted the students.
The students started with the slogan of mourning today and finally with the slogans against the country’s authorities the rally turned into a radical and radical protest atmosphere.
A crowd of protesters chanted destructive slogans that led to the incitement of a number of people to tear down the banner of Haj Qasim Suleimani.
President Trump issued a statement of support in Persian to protesting Iranians on Saturday after anti-regime protests broke out in Tehran and other locations in Iran in response to the government finally admitted to shooting down a passenger jet with 176 mostly Iranian passengers just after the plane took off from Tehran’s airport the night Iran launched missiles at U.S. forces in Iraq. The protesters called for the end of the Islamist regime.
“To the brave and suffering Iranian people: I have stood with you since the beginning of my presidency and my government will continue to stand with you. We are following your protests closely. Your courage is inspiring.”
به مردم شجاع و رنج کشیده ایران: من از ابتدای دوره ریاست جمهوریم با شما ایستاده‌ام و دولت من همچنان با شما خواهد ایستاد. ما اعتراضات شما را از نزدیک دنبال می کنیم. شجاعت شما الهام بخش است.
To the brave, long-suffering people of Iran: I’ve stood with you since the beginning of my Presidency, and my Administration will continue to stand with you. We are following your protests closely, and are inspired by your courage.
دولت ایران باید به گروه‌های حقوق بشر اجازه بدهد حقیقت کنونی اعتراضات در جریان مردم ایران را نظارت کرده و گزارش بدهند. نباید شاهد کشتار دوباره ی معترضان مسالمت آمیز و یا قطع اینترنت باشیم. جهان نظاره گر این اتفاقات است.
The government of Iran must allow human rights groups to monitor and report facts from the ground on the ongoing protests by the Iranian people. There can not be another massacre of peaceful protesters, nor an internet shutdown. The world is watching.
لشکرکشی شبانه نیروهای سرکوب برای خاموش کردن صدای اعتراض به دروغ و جنایت و آدمکشی. شعار می دهند: این #انتقام_سخت رو از من و تو می گیرن pic.twitter.com/rxx4z1uNd9
On Thursday, Campus Reform uploaded a video in which Eduardo Neret asks students at the University of Tampa “about student loan debt, and how it should be paid for.”
Neret begins by asking various students how much debt they carry from their student loans. The debts vary among respondents, from $0 to $5,000 to $24,000 to simply “a lot” of student loan debt.
“So, there have been a lot of talks in society and in politics about the federal government wiping out student loan debt,” Neret states. “Does that sounds like a good idea to you? Would you be for that?”
The students’ initial replies were unsurprising:
“Yes. 100%.”
“Yeah, yeah I would.”
“Absolutely.”
“Yeah, totally.”
“I think that everybody that goes to school should be able to go to school debt free and be able to start off their career with no debt to owe to anybody.”
A female student wearing a Budweiser T-shirt suggested raising taxes “for other people or something.” She then noted, “but that’s like other people paying for your stuff, you know?”
Neret then offered a solution to those who stated that they didn’t have any student loan debt:
Since you don’t have student loan debt, something we’re asking students is, would you be willing as someone who has no debt to pay a little bit more so that some of your peers who do have debt could get that erased off? Would you be willing to maybe pay more tuition, pay more taxes so that someone could get their debt lowered?
At Neret’s suggestion, some students were hesitant.
“Probably…maybe, maybe?” said a female student wearing a blue and white striped shirt.
When Neret asked what was keeping her from committing to the idea, she replied: “Cause like, I have to make my own money, so like, if I make my money, like, I kind of want to keep my money that, like, I make, and not have to, like, give it to my friends.”
A male student with black glasses simply stated “No.” When asked why he wouldn’t pay more taxes or tuition, he elaborated:
Because I’m paying my price just like everybody else is, and, you know, as long as it’s equal, then, you know, it is what it is.
Some students demurred, noting that it’s “not their money,” rather, it’s their parents who are paying for tuition. Other students did say they would be willing to pay extra.
Neret pressed several of the students, asking why it would be acceptable for taxpayers to pay more, but not necessarily students who don’t have any debt.
One student replied: “Everyone’s gonna pay taxes sooner or later, so, like, you know, it’s just fair for people to, I guess, help students out that are gonna be our future workers.”
A student with a Calvin Klein backpack had the following exchange with Neret:
NERET: Why do you think it’s maybe more fair for someone in the real world, like a taxpayer, to pay more, but not maybe someone on a campus?
CK: Because they have their own other issues that they’re still paying for, even if it’s not student debt. So, they have to take care of themselves as well.
NERET: But don’t you think maybe someone who’s working and has a family – don’t you think taxpayers have things to take care of, too?
CK: Yes, so I guess I’m not really exactly sure what I would say, but I agree that they do have things that they need to take care of, too.
Finally, three students offered different takes.
“I’d be in favor of, like, more things that would limit the amount that they can take out in loans, and then lowering the interest rates, and actually making school cheaper,” said a female student wearing a blue fleece.
When Neret asked her why she wouldn’t “be in favor of just wiping” out student debt entirely, she responded:
Because, like, the people took out those loans, so they have to pay it back, and it’s like, if they don’t, are we just gonna go into more debt for the government to pay it back?
A male student wearing a wrestling shirt stated that it wouldn’t be fair to raise tuition on everyone else, adding, “I think the bigger issue is making it harder to get the student loans. I think the issue with ‘anybody can get as much as they want’ is what’s causing this.”
Another male student said that while it would be great to exit school debt-free, he doesn’t believe debt erasure would be “good for us as a nation,” given the already enormous debt the United States holds.
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR), a staunch ally of President Donald Trump, told Breitbart News on Saturday that he thinks “Trump Derangement Syndrome” is fueling the fervor among Democrats and the establishment media who are criticizing President Trump’s decision to eliminate Iranian Quds Force terrorist leader Qasem Soleimani.
“First and regrettably, the Democrats and the media really do suffer from something like Trump Derangement Syndrome,” Cotton said when asked why the media and left are so upset about this. “They can look at something that is unequivocally good, like removing a terrorist mastermind from the battlefield, and if Donald Trump did it, it must be bad. That’s true in domestic policy for sure, but regrettably it appears to be true in foreign policy and national security matters as well.”
Cotton then ripped the Democrats for veering more leftist than even former President Barack Obama was, noting that openly socialist leaders like Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and other far-left Democrats like Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) are running the show in their party now.
“Second, the Democratic Party has just lurched farther to the left—even farther than Barack Obama himself,” Cotton said. “Some of the comments that Bernie Sanders has made, saying that Qasem Soleimani’s killing by Donald Trump is like Vladimir Putin killing dissidents or journalists – or Elizabeth Warren refusing to call Qasem Soleimani a terrorist but referring to him as a high-ranking government official of a foreign country – goes to show just how far they have lurched to the left and just how far down the path they have committed to appeasement with Iran. You can see the difference over the last two weeks: Appeasement during the Obama era got us Iran rampaging through the Middle East, targeting our troops, undermining friendly governments. Confrontation, action—by killing Qasem Soleimani—got Iran to pull in its horns, at least temporarily.”
After noting too that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi compared Trump eliminating Soleimani to Iran trying to take out Vice President Mike Pence, Cotton ripped former Vice President Joe Biden as just as extreme on the left as Sanders or Warren—a sign that the Democrat Party has shifted to radical extremes.
“Remember, too, Joe Biden—the supposedly centrist or moderate candidate for president—said it was a terrible mistake and destabilized the Middle East when in fact it was Iran led by men like Qasem Soleimani who have been destabilizing the Middle East through the decades,” Cotton said. “I’m reminded by what Secretary of Defense Bob Gates said about Joe Biden: He has been wrong about literally every foreign policy question for four decades, only now we have to correct it and say wrong for five decades.”
Cotton this week published an op-ed in the New York Times laying out his reasoning as to why President Trump was justified in ordering the strike that eliminated Soleimani. Asked about it, and to summarize his case for the legal justification of the strike, Cotton explained that Soleimani was a U.S.-designated terrorist who had killed hundreds of Americans in Iraq and was there plotting to kill more.
“Qasem Soleimani and the terrorist organization he led, the Quds Force, are U.S.-designated foreign terrorists,” Cotton said. “Qasem Soleimani was in a foreign country, Iraq, which is an active field of conflict where our troops are present based on the invitation of the host government, specifically to plot the deaths of more Americans. Our troops have the inherent right to self-defense, wherever they are present, and the Commander has the authority under his Constitutional powers as Commander in Chief to protect our troops and to protect our interests.”
Cotton, who served in Iraq as a platoon commander in the 101st Airborne Division before his election to Congress, further explained that Soleimani has not only killed hundreds of Americans in Iraq but has also been behind many other acts of brutality against the United States over the years.
“In Iraq alone, over the last 17 years, Qasem Soleimani killed over 600 Americans,” Cotton said. “As you say, he specialized in a particularly lethal kind of roadside bomb called the Explosively Formed Penetrator. I can tell you in my time over there as a platoon leader in the 101st Airborne in Iraq, the EFP was the single most deadly weapon we faced and there was really no defense against it. If you hit one, it would kill you or significantly hurt you and your troops. But, Qasem Soleimani has a lot more American blood on his hands than just in Iraq. They’ve been conducting the same kinds of attacks in Afghanistan. They’ve supported anti-American militias in places like Syria. He and his proxies have been behind attacks on our embassies in places like Beirut, along with the Marine barracks in Beirut. And remember he was met at the Baghdad airport not by an Uber driver but by Abu Mahdi al Muhandis, his chief terror proxy in Iraq who himself was responsible for the bombing of our embassy in Kuwait in 1983. Qasem Soleimani and his terror proxies have the blood of literally thousands of Americans on their hands.”
Earlier this week, Iran responded to Soleimani’s killing by launching a dozen ballistic missiles at U.S. installations in Iraq—causing minimal damage and killing nobody. In response, President Trump addressed the nation flanked by military leaders laying out how the U.S. will impose new sanctions on the Islamic Republic of Iran in the wake of all this—and, as Cotton notes, making clear what the boundaries are from here on forward.
“The president’s red line remains clear: If Iran harms any American, anywhere, whether directly or through its proxies, the United States will hold Iran accountable and there will be severe consequences,” Cotton said. “We will not try to deny that they are responsible for attacks through terrorist proxies and we will not fail in the face of Iranian aggression. We shouldn’t assume that Iran is going to change its colors forever. Yes, they are now afraid again of the United States. But in a month or three months or six months, we shouldn’t be surprised if Iran begins to test the boundaries again. Fortunately, though, Iran now knows there are very firm and very clear boundaries that they cannot step across, unlike was the case during the Obama era.”
What’s more, the night Iran launched the ballistic missiles at U.S. based in Iraq, the Islamic Republic of Iran also shot down a Ukrainian passenger jet killing nearly 200 people on board in the crash that resulted. Iran originally denied it, but has since—as of Saturday morning—admitted being behind shooting the plane down, blaming incompetent personnel. Cotton dismissed attacks by some on the American left that Trump was somehow responsible for Iran doing this, noting that Iran is “solely responsible” for shooting down the plane.
“You mentioned the terrible and tragic shoot down of the Ukrainian airlines flight,” Cotton said. “Iran just admitted that they were responsible for that this morning. They blamed it on incompetent air defense personnel. Iran is solely responsible for that tragedy that killed more than 170 souls. I would also point out that if Iran is so incompetent that they’re shooting down civilian aircraft, why is this a military that we should be fearful of? It is a third rate power that has no chance of standing up to the United States military.”
Cotton, in this exclusive interview with Breitbart News, also addressed the House Democrats’ efforts to impeach President Trump. The House, before Christmas, adopted two Articles of Impeachment against the president after a hurried and controversial process of hearings, secret depositions, and lackluster fact-finding. Since the House adoption of the Articles of Impeachment, Speaker Pelosi has withheld their transmission to the U.S. Senate for a trial, claiming she was trying to leverage Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell into agreeing to Democrat demands for trial witnesses. On Friday, though, Pelosi relented, caved, and gave in, announcing she will transmit the articles to the Senate next week – even though McConnell gave her nothing she asked for.
“I’ve been astonished watching the prosecutors get cold feet after saying the impeachment of the president was an urgent national security priority,” Cotton said. “We expected Speaker Pelosi to send over the Articles of Impeachment eventually. She had locked herself into a box led by her far-left. I gather that the House will send over the Articles next week, and then the Senate will do the job that the House didn’t do, which is the Senate will act as the cool and deliberate sense of the American community, not as the enraged partisan majority you saw in the House of Representatives.”
When the trial happens and concludes in the U.S. Senate, Cotton said, he expects the Senate will acquit President Trump of all charges—and that he expects a bipartisan vote against convicting the president. The House votes against both of the Articles of Impeachment were bipartisan. On the first one, Abuse of Power, two Democrats—Reps. Collin Peterson (D-MN) and now former Democrat Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-NJ)—joined all Republicans in voting against it, while Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) voted “present.” On the second one, Obstruction of Congress, Peterson and Van Drew again voted against it and Rep. Jared Golden (D-ME) joined them in voting “no,” while Gabbard again voted “present.” Van Drew left the Democrat Party and joined the GOP over this matter.
“I think there is nowhere near the 67 votes required to convict on these Articles of Impeachment,” Cotton said. “As in the House of Representatives, I expect more Democrats will vote with the president than Republicans will vote against the president.”
‘Jeopardy!’ Under Fire After Accepting Answer Stating Bethlehem Is in Israel
Amanda Edwards / Getty ImagesGame show host Alex Trebek poses on the set of the “Jeopardy!” Million Dollar Celebrity Invitational Tournament Show taping on April 17, 2010, in Culver City, California. (Amanda Edwards / Getty Images)
The popular game show “Jeopardy!” has come under fire on Twitter after a contestant said Bethlehem is located in Palestine and was told her response was wrong.
In an episode that aired Friday, host Alex Trebek asked contestants where the Church of the Nativity, which is said to mark the birthplace of Jesus in Bethlehem, was located.
The church is in the West Bank, which has been at the center of a decades-long dispute over whether the land rightfully belongs to Israel or to the State of Palestine.
The West Bank was captured by the Arab nation of Jordan during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, but has been occupied by Israel ever since the 1967 Six-Day War.
“Built in the 300’s A.D., the Church of the Nativity,” the ambiguous clue read. Contestants had to correctly provide the location for the church.
The Arab American Institute’s Omar Baddar recorded the segment and expressed his disappointment in the game show.
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“Unacceptable!! Bethlehem is in the Palestinian territories which Israel illegally occupies (Katie Needle got the correct answer & was robbed),” he wrote.
He added: “@Jeopardy owes an apology for endorsing Israel’s universally-condemned illegal takeover of Palestinian lands.”
Unacceptable!! Bethlehem is in the Palestinian territories which Israel illegally occupies (Katie Needle got the correct answer & was robbed). @Jeopardy owes an apology for endorsing Israel’s universally-condemned illegal takeover of Palestinian lands.pic.twitter.com/Ym99YziM4k
Australia Slaughtering 10,000 Camels To Combat Global Warming
Cezary Wojtkowski / Getty ImagesProfessional sharpshooters in Australia are expected to eliminate 10,000 wild camels, like these seen in the Outback. (Cezary Wojtkowski / Getty Images)
Nearly 10 years after Australian camels (and their methane emissions) were identified as a factor in climate change, 10,000 of the country’s wild dromedaries now face a slaughter.
The cull, which was scheduled to start Wednesday, comes as part of an effort to help conditions in fire-ravaged Australia.
According to the Independent, the camels are drinking up valuable water and exacerbating the country’s drought.
Citing The Australian, the outlet also noted that the camels are being slaughtered over their greenhouse gas contributions.
The animals have become a major nuisance in their never-ending search for water. They often trample fences and wreak havoc in their pursuit of even the smallest amount of moisture.
Camels in Australia have few predators, so they are able to reproduce and eat native vegetation practically unchecked.
Professional sharpshooters are expected to eliminate the 10,000 camels, which are not a species native to Australia.
Shooting camels to help slow climate change isn’t a new idea.
According to an NPR report from the faraway year of 2011, a single camel can produce greenhouse gasses equivalent to over a ton of carbon dioxide.
Even then, the solution was to gun down the animals.
The welfare of the camels themselves was another reason given for the cull. The animals are so numerous that their death by trampling or thirst is not uncommon.
Camels were first imported to Australia by explorers and pioneers. The animal’s hardy constitution and adaptation to dry conditions made it an invaluable transportation and pack animal in the arid outback.
Although the 2011 report suggested that over a million camels could be killed to ease the environmental pressure, the 10,000 that will be culled represents only a fraction of that.
It remains to be seen if the slaughter will help Australia’s drought or have any impact on world temperature.
In 2009, the Iranian government arrested and imprisoned us and
sentenced us to death by hanging because of our evangelical Christian faith. We
recounted that experience in the book, “Captive
in Iran.”
We have experienced first-hand the cruelty of the Iranian
regime, including the intelligence officers and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard
Corps forces who were responsible for brutally torturing our best friend,
Shirin Alam Hooli, a Kurdish activist, and her execution by hanging, among many
of their other cruel actions.
The Revolutionary Guard is notorious in Iran as a force behind all suppressions, arrests, tortures, and mass killings of many Iranians, including in the most recent protests last November, in which well over a thousand (and likely more) were killed, and many more were arrested. Also, the force is responsible for terrorist actions across the Middle East in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, and beyond.
For many Iranians, including us, it was a relief to hear
that Maj. Gen. Qassim Suleimani, the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard
Corps’ elite Quds Force, was killed last week in a U.S.-led strike. Suleimani has
blood on his hands of not only Iranians, but also U.S. service members, Iraqis,
Afghanis, and Syrians.
Most people in Iran are celebrating the death of a man who
murdered innocent Iranians as recently as the November protests. Unlike what is
shown in the Western media, people inside Iran are sending out videos through
social media that show they are privately dancing at their homes, celebrating
the death of Suleimani. Some even bake and give each other cookies to show
their happiness.
In November, thousands of Iranians were brutally killed by
the regime’s agents, particularly by the Revolutionary Guard forces under the
leadership of Suleimani.
Many families lost their loved ones, including young
children, during the suppression of the protests. Some could not even get the
bodies of their children released or were forced to pay the price of the bullet
(thousands of dollars) to get their bodies returned.
Other families, including that of Pouya Balhtiari, were not
even allowed to mourn or have a funeral for their children because the regime
was afraid many Iranians would join and that would lead to another protest
against the regime.
If the people of Iran had the freedom to attend the funerals
of those who were killed during the recent protests, we would likely see
millions of Iranians show up and support the anti-regime movement.
It is important to understand that the crowd that gathered
for Suleimani’s funeral does not represent the Iranian people at large.
Supporters of the regime and those who truly mourn the death of terrorist Suleimani
are in the minority.
Most of those shown on state television are either paid by
the regime—such as Basijis—or forced to attend by regime security forces. On
Monday, four people were arrested because they expressed their happiness at
Suleimani’s death on social media, according to Iran
International.
Since the death of Suleimani, the regime has shut down
schools, bazaars (shops and places of businesse), and public offices and forced
people to attend the funeral. They bused school children to the funeral and
even forced them to cry for the TV cameras.
The regime also ordered all traffic to be directed to the location
of the funeral so that even those who didn’t want to participate had no choice
but to join the crowd. It stopped all subways and trains and forced riders to leave
the stations and join the crowd in the streets.
The funeral was just a big show orchestrated by the Iranian
regime to make it appear that Suleimani was beloved by the Iranian people, and that
they want revenge for his death—which is not what we’re hearing from firsthand
sources and Persian news sources.
We know from our time in Iran that the regime uses threats
and force to make people attend ceremonies like this to show massive support
for the government. In school, our principals forced us to say, “Death to
America and death to Israel” every day before class and to attend speeches
whenever the president or other government authorities came to our city—and we
would be expelled if we didn’t attend. The same was true for high school and
university students.
In general, if people do not attend such gatherings, they
will lose their jobs, public benefits, and even risk their lives and security.
Meanwhile, much of the Western media seems to be partnering
with the Iranian government in spreading the propaganda that there is massive popular
support for the regime. Western media focused on the huge crowds mourning the
death of Suleimani and tried to show that people in Iran are angry about his
death and want revenge.
The reality is that most Iranians love the United States,
and Americans and would like to establish a friendly relationship with Israel
and the U.S. and live in peace with other nations.
Iran has been captured by this hostile regime and the mullahs
(religious leaders) for more than 40 years. Many Iranians who have been
suppressed by the regime have shown, through their protests, that they oppose the
regime and want to see it replaced.
Most Iranians, including us, thank President Donald Trump
and his administration for standing with the Iranian people and adopting
policies that are weakening the regime’s power within Iran and in the region.
We also thank Trump for putting an end to Suleimani, a monster terrorist, and
other terrorist leaders who accompanied him.
Numerous videos of protests in Iran over the government shootdown of a passenger jet over Tehran that killed 176 people have been posted online Saturday. Translations posted with the video say the protesters are demanding the resignation of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei. The protesters were also heard to be chanting, “Our enemy is here, they tell us lie by saying it is America.”
Sharif university is a well known university in the world, 14 top genius grad. students of this university were in Ukraine Airplabe. Ppl are gathered in front of sharif university and chanting “ our enemy is here, they( regime) telling us lie by saying it is America.” 1.11.2020 https://t.co/a1rdMvgmQE
#BREAKING Now in Tehran, Iranian students from the best universities of Iran- Amirkabir University of Technology, Sharif University of Technology & Tehran University, are protesting against Iran Islamic regime following #PS752Scandal. #IranProtestspic.twitter.com/C1dfk0dmN7
Protests are reported in Tehran's Sharif University as well. Students are chanting : "Khamenei have some shame! Get your hands off our country".
Iranians are furious with the regime after it shot down a civilian aircraft due to recklessness that claimed more than 176 lives pic.twitter.com/cIc9pX9Ntm
Students at Tehran’s Sharif University chant, "Mullahs MUST get lost"! This comes after the regime admitted to downing flight #PS752 that killed 176 people. A number of the victims were Sharif Uni. alumni. #IranProtestspic.twitter.com/TMweI34tlW
— باید رفت….. People united will never be defeated (@Ali_Az_Abadan) January 11, 2020
How about this one? Regime apologists, what do you have to coverup this one? Today, Sharif University. They chant “Our shame our shame, our scoundrel leader”. #IranProtests#IranTruthhttps://t.co/Ob61lGDvBB
Demonstration of Sharif and Amir Kabir University students and students’ departure from Tehran to Tehran Student slogans: We did not kill to compromise praising the killer leader#IranProtestspic.twitter.com/1wJ4aIVAXk
Bottom Half of Households Nearly 50% Richer Under Trump
Brittany Greeson / Getty ImagesSupporters cheer in the crowd as President Donald Trump speaks at a “Keep America Great” campaign rally at the Huntington Center on Jan. 9, 2020, in Toledo, Ohio. (Brittany Greeson / Getty Images)
By Jack Davis Published January 11, 2020 at 8:16am
The Trump economy is giving the greatest benefits to those who have been at the bottom, according to new data from the Council of Economic Advisers.
Data released by the CEA shows that over 11 quarters from the end of 2016 through the first half of 2019, the net wealth of the top 1 percent of American households rose 13 percent. However, that rise is dwarfed by the 47 percent increase seen by the bottom 50 percent of America’s households over that same period.
🚨🚨🚨 Under @realDonaldTrump real net wealth held by the bottom half of households has grown by nearly 50% — that’s over 3 times the rate of increase for the top 1% of households! pic.twitter.com/6UJInbh7zA
In tandem with a jobs report that showed America’s unemployment rate remained at a record low in December, the White House released a report revealing that since January 2017, when Trump took office, Americans at the lower end of the wage scale have seen transformative wage hikes.
The report said that on average, workers’ pay has been rising faster than that of managers, and wage gains for Americans without a bachelor’s degree are rising faster than those for Americans with a bachelor’s degree or higher.
And, in keeping with Trump’s campaign promise to lift up black Americans, “average wage growth for African Americans now outpaces wage growth for white Americans,” according to the White House report.
America’s labor force is growing because Americans who were not formerly even looking for jobs are now employed, the report said.
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“In the fourth quarter of 2019, 74.2 percent of workers entering employment came from out of the labor force rather than from unemployment, which is the highest share since the series began in 1990. This influx of workers has brought the labor force participation rate for prime-age adults (ages 25-54) up to 82.9 percent in December—1.6 percentage points above the rate in November 2016,” the report said.
Speaking Friday on Fox News, commentator Stuart Varney called December’s 3.5 percent unemployment rate “historically, extremely low.”
Varney also called the stock market’s gain of 11,000 points since Trump’s election “an explosive rally” and argued the market’s growth is part of an expansion of the wealth of the American economy by $12.8 trillion.
Pointing out that the economy added an average of 176,000 jobs per month in 2019, the White House tried to put this number into context.
“To put that growth into perspective, the U.S. economy needs to create around 70,000 jobs a month to keep pace with working-age population growth. Any employment growth above this level is typically from workers coming off the sidelines. With employment gains surpassing 100,000 in 34 of the 37 months since the 2016 election, and the economy adding jobs in each month, this is precisely what is happening under President Trump,” the report said.
The Labor Department’s December jobs numbers, meanwhile, showed that women now are the majority in the American workforce.
“Why is today a milestone? It’s a milestone because it’s really heralding the future and not just telling us where we are today,” Betsey Stevenson, a professor of public policy and economics at the University of Michigan, told The Washington Post.
Larry Kudlow, director of the National Economic Council, said the jobs report has political ramifications.
“This stuff will translate in the election, I’m surprised the Democrats are so pessimistic painting a picture of a deep recession,” Kudlow told The Post. “The key point here is 3.5 percent unemployment continues, and that is a very low number historically and shows you still have a healthy economy and healthy job market.”
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