December 23, 2021

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'BIDENOMICS' MAKES A STRONG CASE

FOR DEMOCRATS IN THE MID-TERMS

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Joe Biden signing the pandemic relief legislation in March.

By Jeff Williams, MBA


“The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.”

(Popular quote misattributed to Mark Twain)

Do you hear the cacophony of voices sounding the alarm for the Democratic party in the 2022 midterms? In fact, President Biden has given Democrats a substantive platform on which to run with a broad and historic, progressive economic agenda.


Yet, polls show inflation is a Number One concern. A majority of Americans expect the economy to get worse over the next twelve months. Nearly half of Americans blame President Biden. 


Really? Let’s review:


President Biden signed the American Rescue Plan (ARP) into law back on March 11, one year to the day after the World Health Organization officially declared COVID-19 a global pandemic. The original price tag had been negotiated down (what else is new), but the finished product still produced huge economic achievements. The combination of expanded tax credits, grants to small businesses, education funding, funding for housing, etc., resulted in a swift economic recovery with individual taxpayers seeing higher checking account balances and higher net worth.


President Biden’s economic vision, laid out in the ARP and in the Build Back Better framework, inverts the logic of classic supply-side economics. He counters disproven premises born out of Reaganomics by positing that the primary driver of business investment is not low taxes but high aggregate demand. Further, increasing public spending does not crowd out private investment. A high and rising consumer appetite for goods and services -- be it from government stimulus or higher wages -- force businesses to invest in producing more goods and services.


Acolytes of the Reagan-endorsed philosophy willfully maintain that an economy consigned to low taxes and low government spending is the only way to generate high levels of business investment and an abundance of jobs and economic growth. And if we see rising income inequality along the way, well, it’s a small price to pay for “our” abundance. 


After less than one year in office, Bidenomics is already bucking that theory. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. investment in non-defense capital goods, a.k.a. business investment, has skyrocketed in the last year to over $76 billion. The peak of the Trump economy saw business spending top out at $68 billion. 


No matter how you slice it, the goal of increased capital spending that Republicans have long sought to achieve, has been attained. The rub for them is that it has been attained under economic conditions they thought make it impossible: higher deficit spending, the liklihood of tax increases, growing labor strife and rising inflation. The reports of the death of our economy have been greatly exaggerated. 


In short, the annoyance with inflation is a political pet peeve, not a warning bell for the economy. As Democrats, we would be wise to trust the data instead of reacting to the hysteria.

CCDP FOOD DRIVE

FOR MINNIE'S FOOD PANTRY

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The CCDP canned food drive for Minnie's Food Pantry wrapped up this week with the delivery of donations to Minnie's. Thanks go out to Jo’anna Snowden (CCDP Outreach committee) for organizing the drive!

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JOSHUA MURRAY FUNDRAISER

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Join the Joshua Murray Campaign for an exclusive wine fundraiser event! Murray is running to unseat Chris Hill, the incumbent Collin County Judge. Tickets are limited, so get yours today. Questions? Email info@accountablecollincounty.com or call (214) 669-7682.

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TRUE BLUE TEXANS: Wouldn't you like to receive these gifts this holiday season? And how about a discount? Our holiday present to you: 17% off apparel, mugs, and signs


Use code COLINHLDY when checking out to get the discount - good through December 31!  All profit supports the Coordinated Campaign for 2022 as we register and reach out to more Democrats to expand our base.


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Covid Texas

COVID Update: Collin County has 136,692 confirmed Covid cases. That’s 1,422 more cases than I reported last week and 1,198 of our Collin residents have died (an increase of 8 people since last week). While omicron hasn’t hit us hard yet, it’s coming. Anyone watching what’s happening in New York City now – and remembering early 2020 – knows it’s coming for us next. Boosters seem to be effective against omicron, so get your third shot now. It’s going to get bad, especially since our healthcare system is already overrun and exhausted. Please, for all that’s good in the world, wear your masks and avoid large gatherings! Believe me, I get it, but Covid doesn’t care how tired you are of all the restrictions.

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County Commissioner’s Court: The commissioners heard from attorney Mark Fratter who submitted invoices for work he did for indigent clients in 2018. They clearly don’t care for Fratter and have already had a mediation with him over bills they considered too large. Despite Fratter mentioning these new invoices to the mediator and judges signing off on them, all the commissioners except Duncan Webb refused to pay him. Even Bill Bilyeu, the county manager, appeared to be on Fratter’s side. This isn’t the first time these commissioners have refused to pay lawyers. In 2017, they used their refusal to pay lawyers THEY HIRED to prosecute Ken Paxton as a delaying tactic. It’s solely their fault he has yet to see his day in court. During public comments, Joshua Murray pointed out that the commissioners have been defunding LifePath, our county healthcare provider.

(Read More)

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Allen City Council: In November, the council approved (6-0 with Daren Meis absent) a three-year agreement with the police association via a Meet and Confer process that started in October. Their pay is market plus 2%. They also agreed to shift differential pay (day versus night: $200 differential per month), education pay (which they don’t do currently but think is beneficial), and SWAT team pay ($100 per month). I’m curious if Allen really needs a SWAT team of 18 people. What does it do? Is crime in Allen truly that bad? If not, it seems like swatting a fly with a cannon (which we’re funding).


In the discussion prior to the vote, the 6 council members present fell all over themselves with excitement and could hardly contain their appreciation for the police. (Read More)

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Richardson City Council: The council heard a presentation about recommended tactics to achieve goals for the city. Notable ones include increasing community outreach across different cultures for service on boards and commissions, piloting a program for public artwork on traffic control boxes, and an autonomous vehicle shuttle pilot program for the new IQ (Innovation Quarter) district which the city received a $4 million grant to implement. These all sound great! Some came from direct community input. This demonstrates that a diversity of opinions can lead to great ideas, a lesson many other local city councils should heed. Joe Corcoran asked to increase engagement between the police department and the community. That’s a good idea but only if the community has some power, too. In 2022, Richardson will study city council district boundaries to determine if adjustments are needed.

(Read More)

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Richardson ISD Board of Trustees: The fallout from the resignation of popular Superintendent Jeannie Stone continues. At the board meeting where they unanimously voted to accept her resignation, Board President Regina Harris cried and 90% of the more than 45 parents, teachers, and students expressed sadness, anger, and embarrassment over the board’s action in letting her go. More people protested outside and thousands have signed a pro-Stone online petition. No one believes she just quit. Even State Representative Ana-Maria Ramos, a Democrat who represents the district, showed up to speak in support of Stone and joined others in blaming the board. We now know for a fact that it was a board decision since Karen Clardy, the previous board president who suddenly stepped down in September, broke her long silence and said she quit because … (Read More)

LWAN: We’ve obtained democracy cheaply for far too long. The majority of Americans haven’t suffered for it, so it’s been taken for granted. But if we want to keep our democracy, we’re going to have to fight. This means paying the price of time and energy to ensure we keep the privileges we value. If you want to stave off the encroaching tyranny, then join LWAN (men welcome) to help monitor every city council and school board in Collin County. This is something anyone can do. Frankly, it’s something we all must do. Please contact me to let me know if you’re willing to fight.

Reset Restart Reopening with CCDP Logo

The CCDP office at 1915 Central Expressway, #150 in Plano reopened in December on a limited basis. We'll post expanded January 2022 hours soon.


As always, when not in the office, our staff is working from home and available by telephone at 972-578-1483 or at collindemocrats.org.

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