The Baltimore outrage may have come and gone, but anti-Trump Democrats aren’t done crying about it just yet. Nor are they done making empty promises about their agenda. It’s difficult for Democrats to accept their policy results.
Former Vice President Joe Biden vows to “rebuild the middle class.” Sen. Bernie Sanders advocates for “a job guarantee (that) will lower the crime rate, improve mental health, and create a stronger sense of community.” Sen. Elizabeth Warren, meanwhile, has promised to “build an America that works for everyone.”
Yeah, and how’s that working out for cities like Baltimore or Detroit or even San Francisco? The list goes on, but liberal policies have left some of America’s largest urban areas with sky-high poverty rates, rampant criminal activity, drug epidemics, and unprecedented homelessness. In many Democratic-controlled cities, false promises have given way to urban decay typically associated with — you said it, Bernie — “Third World countries.”
In Baltimore, the unemployment rate is upward of 5 percent — higher than that of Maryland overall and the U.S. joblessness figure of 3.7 percent. The Charm City’s poverty rate, however, is nearly twice the national average at 22.4 percent, which leaves Baltimore 21 spots from the bottom of WalletHub’s recent list of the 150 best- and worst-run cities in America.
Even lower on that list are Democratic strongholds such as Detroit (145) and San Francisco (148).
Four in 10 residents of Detroit find themselves below the poverty line, including 60 percent of the city’s children. The Motor City also happens to be the second most dangerous city in America, with 2,057 violent crimes per 1,000 residents.
Which city tops the list? St. Louis, which hasn’t had a Republican mayor since the 1940s.
San Francisco has its own set of problems. America’s tech haven to a select few is really the city of homeless hordes, leftover drug needles, and trash-filled avenues. Since 2017, San Francisco’s homeless population has increased by 30 percent, prompting even the San Francisco Chronicle to describe the situation as a “crisis.” Despite spending more than $300 million to combat said “crisis,” the city is coping with more than 8,000 homeless people on the streets — not to mention the alcohol and drugs that many carry with them.
Is that really the left’s vision for America?
I, for one, prefer President Trump’s vision of job creation, business expansion and economic growth. As the Labor Department’s most recent jobs report confirmed, America’s current economic expansion is the longest in our history. Employers are hiring, wages are going up, and most Americans have a positive view of the U.S. economy. Even CNN concedes that “the strong U.S. economy is Trump’s safety blanket.”
Republicans are following his lead nationwide, and it’s serving the broader economy quite well. Under Mayor Francis Suarez’s leadership, Miami has become the best city for starting a business in the entire country, as entrepreneurs have an easier time obtaining small business permits. Given that Miami-Dade County is home to more than 82,000 small businesses, which employ over half of the county’s workforce, the city’s economic prospects are some of the most promising in the United States.
That is the path to economic prosperity. Believe the Democrats’ empty promises, and we’ll all end up on the path to darkness, danger and decay. The left’s experiment has already been tried, and how is it working out for our largest cities?
We don’t need to elect a Democratic president to find out. Just take a walk in Baltimore or Detroit. Stay at a hotel in San Francisco’s Financial District. Spend $300 a night to bump into homeless people, or step on broken beer bottles and used heroin needles.
That’s the Democratic platform — in practice. We can do better, America. We don’t have to lie with rats.
A vote for President Trump is a vote for economic prosperity. Anything else is a vote for our decline.
