Tag: USA Today

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USA Today Makes First-Ever Presidential Endorsement ‘Elect Joe Biden’

Former Vice President Joe Biden
For the first time since its founding in 1982, the editorial board for USA Today has endorsed a presidential candidate – Joe Biden. An excerpt:

If this were a choice between two capable major party nominees who happened to have opposing ideas, we wouldn’t choose sides. Different voters have different concerns.

But this is not a normal election, and these are not normal times. This year, character, competence and credibility are on the ballot. Given Trump’s refusal to guarantee a peaceful transfer of power if he loses, so, too, is the future of America’s democracy.

For nearly four decades, the Editorial Board has stood for certain core values: truth, accountability, civility in public discourse, opposition to racism, common-ground solutions to the nation’s problems, and steadfast support for First Amendment rights. These aren’t partisan issues, or at least they shouldn’t be.

Donald Trump has trampled each of these principles, making more than 20,000 false or misleading statements, ducking responsibility for his actions, spewing streams of invective at his critics, trafficking in racial fearmongering, governing more as the leader of the red states than of the United States, and relentlessly attacking the free press.

Everything about Biden’s nearly half-century political career suggests he would do a far better job of respecting these values.

Mentioning Biden’s role in the last economic recovery, the editorial board notes that Trump “did no better than the Obama-Biden administration on job creation, the stock market and economic growth.” Also referenced is the national debt which is now $27 trillion, up more than $7 trillion from four years ago. The op-ed closes with this statement: “We may never endorse a presidential nominee again. In fact, we hope we’ll never have to.”

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Trump Lies Throughout USA Today Op-Ed

In an op-ed for USA Today, Donald Trump tells lie after lie regarding Democrats and health care.

Trump leads with a lie right at the start saying Democrats “want to outlaw private health care plans, taking away freedom to choose plans while letting anyone cross our border.”

Dishonestly called “Medicare for All,” the Democratic proposal would establish a government-run, single-payer health care system that eliminates all private and employer-based health care plans and would cost an astonishing $32.6 trillion during its first 10 years.

As a candidate, I promised that we would protect coverage for patients with pre-existing conditions and create new health care insurance options that would lower premiums. I have kept that promise, and we are now seeing health insurance premiums coming down.

I also made a solemn promise to our great seniors to protect Medicare. That is why I am fighting so hard against the Democrats’ plan that would eviscerate Medicare. Democrats have already harmed seniors by slashing Medicare by more than $800 billion over 10 years to pay for Obamacare. Likewise, Democrats would gut Medicare with their planned government takeover of American health care.

Democrats haven’t ‘slashed’ Medicare spending. How could they? They don’t control Congress.

Trump proposed $350 billion in net Medicare cuts in his budget and there were about $540 billion in Medicare cuts in the House GOP budget plan.

Also, Democrats have never said they want to ‘outlaw’ private health care plans.

And finally, Democrats as a party have never campaigned for totally open borders.

It’s just lie after lie after lie with Trump.

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USA Today: Trump Is Not Fit To Clean The Toilets At Obama Presidential Library

In stone-cold sober language, the USA Today editorial board takes Donald Trump to task for once again finding a new rock bottom for his crassness.

With his latest tweet, clearly implying that a United States senator would trade sexual favors for campaign cash, President Trump has shown he is not fit for office. Rock bottom is no impediment for a president who can always find room for a new low.

A president who would all but call Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand a whore is not fit to clean the toilets in the Barack Obama Presidential Library or to shine the shoes of George W. Bush.

This isn’t about the policy differences we have with all presidents or our disappointment in some of their decisions. Obama and Bush both failed in many ways. They broke promises and told untruths, but the basic decency of each man was never in doubt.

Donald Trump, the man, on the other hand, is uniquely awful. His sickening behavior is corrosive to the enterprise of a shared governance based on common values and the consent of the governed.

[snip]

The nation doesn’t seek nor expect perfect presidents, and some have certainly been deeply flawed. But a president who shows such disrespect for the truth, for ethics, for the basic duties of the job and for decency toward others fails at the very essence of what has always made America great.

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USA TODAY Endorses Clinton; Trump “Unfit For The Presidency”

Hillary Clinton (L), Donald Trump (R)

For the first time in USA TODAY’s 34 year history, the national newspaper has weighed in on a presidential election by endorsing Democrat Hillary Clinton for president.

In doing so, the paper’s editorial board urges all Americans to vote, “just not for Donald Trump.”

From USA TODAY:

This year, the choice isn’t between two capable major party nominees who happen to have significant ideological differences. This year, one of the candidates — Republican nominee Donald Trump — is, by unanimous consensus of the Editorial Board, unfit for the presidency.

From the day he declared his candidacy 15 months ago through this week’s first presidential debate, Trump has demonstrated repeatedly that he lacks the temperament, knowledge, steadiness and honesty that America needs from its presidents.

Whether through indifference or ignorance, Trump has betrayed fundamental commitments made by all presidents since the end of World War II. These commitments include unwavering support for NATO allies, steadfast opposition to Russian aggression, and the absolute certainty that the United States will make good on its debts. He has expressed troubling admiration for authoritarian leaders and scant regard for constitutional protections.

[snip]

Our bottom-line advice for voters is this: Stay true to your convictions. That might mean a vote for Clinton, the most plausible alternative to keep Trump out of the White House. Or it might mean a third-party candidate. Or a write-in. Or a focus on down-ballot candidates who will serve the nation honestly, try to heal its divisions, and work to solve its problems.

Whatever you do, however, resist the siren song of a dangerous demagogue. By all means vote, just not for Donald Trump.