Will President Obama help or hurt Hillary Clinton?
'The O'Reilly Factor': Bill O'Reilly's Talking Points 8/1
On Friday, the Commerce Department gave Americans the bad news. Economic growth now tracking at one percent this year. One percent. That is the weakest start to a year since 2011 and the worst economic recovery since 1949. That report issued just two days after President Obama said this.
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PRES. BARACK OBAMA (D), UNITED STATES: After the worst recession in 80 years, we fought our way back. We have seen deficits come down. 401(k)'s recover. Auto industry set new records.
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O'REILLY: That's true, the big business and the stock market are generally doing well. But on Wall Street, that might not be the case. The Wall Street Journal reports that some corporations are not investing in the future, rather they are taking as much as they can right now. That signals a big business that's not believe the American economy is robust. And who suffers? The worker because jobs are not being created.
So, President Obama can say anything he wants. Try out any stat he wants. But the reality is we are living in a country that today has one percent economic growth. Now, how was Hillary Clinton going to handle that because the economy is the most important issue of the campaign? Here is what she said Thursday night.
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HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Our economy is so much stronger than when they took office. Nearly 15 million new private sector jobs. Twenty million more Americans with health insurance. And an auto industry that just had its best year ever. Now, that's real progress, but none of us can be satisfied with the status quo.
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O'REILLY: Problem is Mrs. Clinton has not defined yet precise economic measures that she would take to change the status quo. Other than a 275 billion-dollar federal investment program in public works. But that's taxpayer dollars. Not private sector stimulation. The same scenario President Obama has been using. Trump, on the other hand, says he will renegotiate all kinds of trade deals and punish corporations who move jobs overseas. Republican candidate also says, he will cut corporate and personal income taxes to stimulate spending and investment.
Hillary Clinton says, she will raise taxes on the wealthy but has not clearly defined her corporate tax view. So you, the voter, have to decide which economic posture you believe will be most effective. Now, on to immigration. It is here that Trump is most militant. If elected, he will build a wall on the Southern border. And bring heavy scrutiny to illegal aliens already living in the U.S.A. There is no wiggle room on that. If elected, Trump would have to do it. Secretary Clinton has a much more nuanced approach.
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CLINTON: Comprehensive immigration reform will grow our economy and keep families together and it's the right thing to do. So, whatever party you belong to or if you belong to no party at all, if you share these beliefs, this is your campaign.
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O'REILLY: These beliefs, I'm not really sure what that means. Right now the Democratic Party has no program secure the Southern border. Apparently the party believes all is well down there. But the Border Patrol Union has endorsed Trump. So, all may not be well. Also, if you read the Democratic Party platform and I'm sure you all have, it basically says that any legal alien who doesn't commit a crime in the U.S.A. should be able to stay. The Bernie Sanders crew wants completely open borders and amnesty for everyone already here.
Does Hillary Clinton want that? We don't know yet. The calculation may be that Hispanic Americans don't want any immigration action other than assimilation. If the Clinton campaign comes to that conclusion, the secretary won't say much about illegal immigration, other than the cliched mantra, comprehensive immigration reform. Which means absolutely nothing. Finally, terrorism. Very big issue as you know. Especially if there is another attack here in America. It's clear Barack Obama's policy toward ISIS and other Islamic Jihadists is to defeat them gradually.
The President does not want to commit ground troops even if they are under an international banner like NATO. Mr. Obama's policy is called acceptable losses. That is in the terror conflict, people will die. But you don't overreact by committing massive forces to destroy ISIS. I mean, look at what's happened. ISIS gained power under the Obama administration. And while it has been recently set back some, it is still the world's most dangerous organization. And these savages sit there in Raqqa Syria just 50 miles away from the Turkish border.
Trump says he will defeat ISIS quickly. But he says, he will not tell us how because then ISIS would know. But there is no question that Donald Trump is far more aggressive at least verbally than President Obama has been on the ISIS situation. So, what is Hillary Clinton do? Here is what she said on Thursday.
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CLINTON: Anyone reading the news can see the threats and turbulence we face from Baghdad to Kabul, to Nice and Paris and Brussels, from San Bernardino to Orlando, we're dealing with determined enemies that must be defeated. We will strike their sanctuaries from the air and support local forces taking them out on the ground. We will surge our intelligence so we detect and prevent attacks before they happen.
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O'REILLY: Well, that is the exact same policy President Obama has. No difference. Today, new polling says Mrs. Clinton did get a bump from her convention. She is slightly ahead of Donald Trump if you factor in the margin of error. But a political scientist at Stony Brook University in New York says that Trump, wait for it, has an 87 percent chance of defeating Hillary Clinton in November. The teacher Helmut Norpoth basis his projection on the primary votes from both parties and past presidential elections.
Now, of course that's speculation, but so are the polls at this point. Americans will not lock in until after Labor Day. And, of course, the three debates will mean everything this year. Finally, Hillary Clinton has to decide how much President Obama's support means to her campaign. It's a given that this election is very personal. African-Americans and Hispanics largely supporting her, white Americans supporting Trump in large numbers. For you far left smear websites out there, that is a general statement of fact backed up by the polls. So President Obama campaigning for Hillary Clinton will, of course, galvanize the minority vote.
However it will also drive more working class white voters into the Trump camp. Mr. Obama is convinced, he firmly believes that his economic programs have saved America from a great depression. But that kind of conjecture means nothing to people who have struggling to pay their bills. Summing up, Trump offers bold change in his speeches. Secretary Clinton offers mainly conventional liberal thinking. She can depart from that to some extent without alienating the party but, if she repudiates any of President Obama's policies, she knows she might alienate him. Is she willing to do that?
And that's “The Memo”.
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