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What should also be pointed out is that deficits were on a downward trend until Trump took office. His tax cuts reversed that trend.

What cherry picking? You raised the issue of independents. My point was that most people evaluate what they know best - their own personal financial situation - as positive. That goes for Democrats, Independents, and Republicans.

Good thing none of that happened during the previous administration or you wouldn't have much of a point.

And 63% say their personal financial situation is getting better. In other words, the thing they have actual personal knowledge of is improving.

That report is from 11 years ago.

Well, first of all the same could be said of you. But in fact, there are other surveys and they all point to the same thing. https://www.axios.com/2024/01/19/us-consumer-sentiment-index-umich Here's another. You notice it shows that 69% of Republicans surveyed thought their situation is at least good, but that 76% of them think the situation for the country is either bad (32%) or terrible (44%) https://today.yougov.com/topics/economy/trackers/state-of-us-economy?crossBreak=republican

But when you ask voters what their personal economic prospects are like, you get a very different answer: Americans' outlooks for the future are also rosy. 66% think that 2024 will be better than 2023, and 85% of us feel we could change our personal financial situation for the better this year. That's in line with Wall Street estimates, which have penciled in continued growth in both GDP and real wages for the rest of the year. Stunning stat: 77% of Americans are happy with where they're living — including renters, who have seen their housing costs surge over the last few years and are far more likely than homeowners to describe their financial situation as poor. https://www.axios.com/2024/01/17/americans-are-actually-pretty-happy-with-their-finances You see the disconnect there? When asked about their personal prospects, which clearly they have a detailed knowledge of, they're optimistic. When asked their opinion about the economy as a whole, pessimistic. In other words most Americans think they're going to do better, but at the same time the economy is going to do worse. Me, I'll go with a diagnositc of with what they know best: their own personal financial situation.

I have no doubt that there is a huge amount of negative feeling towards Hamas. That certainly was the case before October 7, despite Israel's efforts to sustain its popularity. As for that "secure, humanitarian area" that the IDF is referring to, I'm guessing that it's is Al Mawasi. It may be secure, although possibly no longer true, (https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/news-feature/2024/01/31/israel-palestine-gaza-al-mawasi-ground-fighting-reaches-safe-zones) but humanitarian is not the way a reasonable observer would describe it.

I guess your position is one out of three ain't bad. That may be valid in baseball. When it comes to reporting of facts, not so much. And of course, I didn't just cite that incident. And whether I love to bring a subject up or not, is utterly irrelevant to the facts of the case. Trust you to try and make it personal.

And of course, now that you agree there was no such forgiveness, the basis of your criticism of me bringing it up again falls apart, doesn't it? And certainly doesn't justify the IDF's whitewashing of the soldiers who shot the hostages.

How does this support your falsehood that "The families of those mistakenly killed had different opinions and were very supportive of the IDF in the aftermath of that very sad incident." Do you understand the difference between "family" and "families"? Or does only Haim's family count? What's more, even if your false assertion were true, how would that justify a whitewash of an investigation?

Got a link to that so we all can know what that poll was conducted?

Even if you were correct about the opinions of the families, that would be irrelevant. But your error is useful in that it allows for a teachable moment. First the evidence: Slain hostage’s dad says IDF murdered him, calls for recognizing him as fallen soldier Father of Alon Shamriz, 26, says lawlessness led to soldiers mistakenly shooting him in Gaza, mourns what would have been a ‘day of celebration’ had troops saved him https://www.timesofisrael.com/slain-hostages-dad-says-idf-murdered-him-calls-for-recognizing-him-as-fallen-soldier/ Family mourns hostage Alon Shamriz killed by IDF in error, blames government for death After Friday tragedy in Gaza, brother Ido slams failures at funeral in Kibbutz Shefayim: ‘The one who abandoned you also murdered you’; sister: ‘It was supposed to end differently’ https://www.timesofisrael.com/family-mourns-hostage-alon-shamriz-killed-by-idf-in-error-blames-government-for-death/ Here's a video interview from nbc news in which the father of Alon Shamriz says to the Israeli govt "you murdered my son twice." And in that same interview the reporter overheard the mother of Al-Talaika, one of the other hostages killed by the IDF, say to an Israeli politician "I will never forgive anyone on this." But even if they all had forgiven the IDF, so what? Does that justify whitewashing the incident?

Really? I have no concept of what hiring figures mean? I pointed out exactly why your citation of job loss figures was meaningless without citing hiring figures. All you have as a comeback is to tell my that I don't understand what hiring figures mean without explaining why. As for how Americans feel about the economy...the latest surveys of Americans from various sources show that on balance Americans are more optimistic about their personal financial situation than pessimistic. For 24 months unemployment has been below 4%.

Please, share with us the evidence that the White House or anyone disclosed this prior to March 1,, 2021 . I'll give you a tip to help you find the evidence. Confine the search to any time before Mar 1, 2021.

According to this report, it's being done without the necessary legal permission. This from the IDF: "In response to the report, the Israeli Army spokesperson said: "Detonating and destroying buildings is done with approved, appropriate means. Actions that were carried out in different ways during the war will be looked into." That statement might sound reassuring to some. However, the IDF isn't exactly known for its alacrity in investigating troops' misconduct. (See for example their rather farcical explanation of the actions of the troops who shot the 3 Israeli hostages or the killing of an American reporter in the West Bank in full view of foreign witnesses) Given that evident disinclination, what disincentive do troops have to desist?

I'm sure that the War Cabinet deplores this practice. In the same way that the Israeli govt deplores settler attacks on Palestinians. So upset about this that it has left them unable to keep it from happening. Haaretz Exclusive | Israeli Army Occupies Gaza Homes – Then Burns Them Down Information obtained by Haaretz indicates IDF commanders have ordered soldiers to set fire to abandoned Gaza homes without legal approval. Several hundred have already been irreparably damaged https://archive.ph/ZrLP2#selection-453.0-453.192 https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2024-01-31/ty-article/.premium/israeli-army-occupies-gaza-homes-then-burns-them-down/0000018d-6021-d16e-a39f-7f3f01e30000

American manufacturers now employ more people than they did at any time during the previous administration: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MANEMP#0

False: Trump, former first lady quietly received Covid vaccine in January March 2, 2021, 4:36 AM +07 Former President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump quietly received the Covid-19 vaccine at the White House in January, a Trump advisor told NBC News on Monday. It is not clear which type of vaccine they received and they were not disclosed at the time by the Trump White House. The official White House photographer was also not present to document the event, according to an official with direct knowledge. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-former-first-lady-quietly-received-covid-vaccine-january-n1259196 But if you have some actual information to contradict this, please share it. I won't be holding my breath.

Here's some more bad news for you: Revisions show even stronger job growth in 2023 than first reported. Job growth was strong in 2023. Revised data makes it look even stronger. The Labor Department on Friday said that employers added 3.1 million jobs last year, more than the 2.7 million initially reported last month. That makes 2023 the best year for job growth since 1999 — not counting the previous two years, when the labor market was still emerging from its pandemic hole. https://archive.ph/VVh9b

I see that you don't grasp what the figures mean. Increased layoffs by themselves tell us nothing without knowing about hiring figures. For example: "The report also indicated that December’s job gains were much better than originally reported. The month posted a gain of 333,000, which was an upward revision of 117,000 from the initial estimate." https://www.cnbc.com/2024/02/02/us-economy-added-353000-jobs-in-january-much-better-than-expected.html

As has repeatedly been pointed out and to no avail with some, Trump's reelection committee hired 2 teams of forensic experts to find fraud in the 2020 elections, They found nothing that could have changed the final outcome.

Here's the results of a survey taken by an organization that does more than speak to barbers U.S. Consumer Confidence Jumps Again — University of Michigan Sentiment among U.S. consumers climbed in January to its highest level since July 2021, amid falling inflation expectations and hopes of rising real incomes, with greater confidence appearing to be returning to the economy after recent lows. The final reading of the consumer sentiment index rose to 79.0 in January from 69.7 in December, according to data from a survey carried out by the University of Michigan released Friday. The reading matched expectations of economists polled by The Wall Street Journal, which were a little higher than the preliminary estimate made in mid-January of 78.8. https://www.morningstar.com/news/dow-jones/202402025830/us-consumer-confidence-jumps-again-university-of-michigan

Here's a link to the article that doesn't require a subscription to the NY Times: https://archive.ph/VVh9b

First off, now you're saying "Some women" instead of before when it it was just a generalization about women. And how do you tell which women are drawn to powerful men? Does just being with snatching reach of a powerful man mean a woman is attracted to him?