Op-ed:

Even Great Presidents Make Mistakes...Part One

By Diane Sori / The Patriot Factor

The article posted here is the authors opinion alone, and does not necessarily represent the views of blogspot.com or Google   

...And to that, with all due honor and respect I say, “No, Mr. President you are wrong.” Why so...because as a businessman you had to know that no juggling of numbers of “tariff” raised revenues would ever be large enough to significantly filter down to “We the People's” pocketbooks let alone bring down the gross national debt, the prices at the grocery store and at the pump. Simple math alone does dictate that to be fact.

Donald Trump's intentions and motives in focusing on the “tariffs” cannot be questioned for he truly did believe the issue needed to be addressed...which it certainly did...it was just that, in my opinion, his timing was off in doing so what with so many American's monetarily still hurting.

And now when you add that President Trump wants part of the income from the “tariffs” to pay $2,000 dividends in seven year annual increments to low and middle income Americans, he has ignored the fact that in doing so it would actually counter his original intention of the “tariffs” helping to bring down the growing...Read entire article here.

Op-ed:

Even Great Presidents Make Mistakes...Part One

By Diane Sori / The Patriot Factor

 The article posted here is the authors opinion alone, and does not necessarily represent the views of blogspot.com or Google   

Let me begin by saying that I voted for President Donald J. Trump three times, and would vote for him a fourth time if it was constitutionally allowed. I also think that as president he has done an amazing job when it comes to securing our southern border, removing those here illegally, cracking down on crime in America's cities, cutting bureaucratic wasteful spending, and in his striving to bring global peace. However, here I must add that Donald Trump, in his position as president, is not perfect...nobody is...in regards to what are two areas of growing concern to many Americans, as in the economy and the Israel/Hamas ceasefire that is anything but a ceasefire let alone a pathway to lasting peace.

In this 'Part One' of what is a two part series, I will first focus on the economy. And with that said, remember back to the 2024 presidential campaign when then candidate Donald Trump promised to reduce government expenditures by eliminating certain agencies; slashing federal regulations; ending spending on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives; and cutting what he called “fraudulent spending”...all of which were indeed promises kept. In fact, as per the U,S. Treasury Department, “year-over-year federal spending growth” has declined during Trump’s first year of this current term. Score one for our side I'd say.

Also during that same campaign, Trump promised to end inflation, lower prices at the grocery store and at the “ pump,” as well as lowering the national debt. Has any of that happened to a significant or lasting degree...in a word,“no.” And why not...because for President Trump the word “tariffs” seemingly took over all vestiges of economic logic. And while I do agree that the “tariffs” needed to be addressed as per Trump's rightfully stating that we were being “taken advantage” of for far too long in regards to “tariffs,” I did, however, state on day one when Trump's “tariff” proposal was announced...and got much flack for it...that I believed now was not the right time to address the “tariffs.” And my reason given as to why was that the economy needed to be addressed first as American families and workers were still financially hurting after the four disastrous Biden/Harris years.

In fact, I believed then as I do now that a better way to lower grocery prices overall, without having to resort to “tariffs,” would have been if Trump had initiated a countrywide effort to help increase the production of our own home grown food supplies. How so...by his fostering in both the concept of “fair competition,” while also addressing the food supply chains rightfully called “inefficiencies.” And this could have simply been done by Trump's easing, or outright eliminating, some of the still in effect overburdening regulations that stifle efforts to increase what is our domestic food supply.

Simply, if the supply of domestic goods is readily available and fairly priced, then the  consumers demand for cheaper made foreign goods will start to wain, thus leaving the “tariff” issue to safely be addressed at a later time.

Now as for the price at the ” pump,” that too is being affected by the newest Trump “tariffs.” How and why so...because just like with grocery prices, gas prices do tend to go up as “tariffs” increase, especially in regards to imported “refined products.” Simply, any increase in the cost of imported energy...in this case it's in regards to diesel gasoline and crude oil...does tend to see the consumer paying higher prices at the pump. And while prices, for a short time, did drop but mostly on “regular” gasoline, the price drop was but pennies per gallon. Translation: not enough dollar savings has been acquired to really help the average American consumer at the “pump,” especially with many cars now on the road still needing “high test” not “regular” gasoline.

Here's but one example. As I was writing this article, here in south Florida my husband just paid $3.52 per gallon for high test gasoline to fill his 22-gallon tank car, for a total of $77.44. We used to pay around $3.60 per gallon earlier this year when Trump took office for a total of $79.20. Simply, my husband saved but a mere 8 cents per gallon to fill up his tank for a grand total savings of $1.76 per tank full...a quite laughable savings I'd say...a savings that cannot even buy someone a full carton of eggs.

But in regards to both grocery and gas prices I'd be remiss if I didn't say that the economy...and everything else Trump inherited...was an economy in total shambles, which in and of itself should have put the economy front and center of the Trump agenda not the “tariffs” which, in my opinion, just make a bad situation even worse for many Americans.

But something that must not to be forgotten in this discourse is that, thanks to President Trump, inflation itself has come down a bit even while prices at the grocery store and at the “pump” are on the rise up again. And why...partially because of the “tariffs” as a fair amount of imported goods (like coffee, fruits, seafood, nuts, cheese, and beef for example) do stock America's grocery store shelves. Remember, “tariffs” are basically a tax on imported goods which the taxed countries then pass on to we consumers by a rise in a given goods price.

And to give additional credence to my previously stated “economy first” then the tariffs opinion, many leading economists...economists like Thomas Sowell, Jeremy Siegel, and Joseph Stiglitz (winner of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences.)...have also opined that in Trump's imposing the “tariffs” before addressing what were the underlying economic conditions was a mistake. And why so...because in his focusing on the “tariffs” in regards to their being revenue generating, Trump believed that it would help to correct what he considered to be a U.S. “trade deficit” while also helping to bring down the national debt. But with a “trade deficit” simply meaning that one country buys more goods and services from another country than it sells to that given county, more monies flow out of the country to pay for the imports than comes into said country as a payment for the exports.

“The impact of imposing these tariffs will have the effect of depressing U.S. economic growth, contributing to a higher rate of inflation, and those effects will be worse if the other countries retaliate in kind.”                                          

- Marcus Noland, executive vice president of the 'Peterson Institute for International Economics'

Think of it this way, the raising of “tariffs” on imported goods...Trump's still economic focus...will in the end be passed on to we the American consumers courtesy of a price rise initiated by the countries supplying said goods. And why the increase...because those countries need additional revenue to offset the Trump imposed increase in “tariffs” in order for them to be able to afford to purchase American exported goods which could, in turn, actually lead to a rise in inflation.

Now add in that Trump believed that his “tariff” objectives would, in ten years time, see a four trillion dollar reduction in the national debt (numbers shifting on paper), but the truth is that these “tariffs” would have done nothing of substance to lower said debt. And how did I know this...because I knew that while “tariffs” do generate a certain amount of income, the amount they generate is but a small portion of what are much needed government revenues. And when coupled with the fact that “tariffs” typically raise billions, not trillions, of dollars in revenue, it was easy to surmise that the numbers themselves simply would not allow for a truly meaningful reduction in the national debt no matter the time limit placed. And this is exactly what I said would be the outcome as soon as Trump announced his “tariff” plan.

A background in rocket science is not needed to figure that outcome out, a simple understating that two plus two will always equal four serves the purpose well. 

So even with the “tariffs” that were already in place before President Trump's newest round of “tariffs” was announced, the fact remains that our national debt did continue to increase not decrease, and the real time numbers prove it.

One case in point is that as of early November 2025, the U.S.gross national debt registered at approximately $38.09 trillion which is a $2.18 trillion increase over 2024's gross national debt, with the corresponding average daily increase being around $5.97 billion. And while interest payments alone remain in excess of $1.2 trillion, this allowed the debt-to-GDP ratio to keep rising because “tariff” generated revenues only offer a temporary fluctuation in deficit relief.

Simple translation: you cannot rob Peter to pay Paul when the tangible monies needed to do so are simply not available...or in this specific case are but a fraction of what would be needed to meaningfully bring down the national debt.

And yet while the “tariffs” were and still are being touted by President Trump as a possible solution to some of America's and Americans money woes...and know he does so with good intentions...the average American still sees no long range benefits being filtered down to their personal pocketbooks. And many have come out to voice that very opinion including FOX News' very own Laura Ingram who, during a recent on air “Ingram Angle” interview, pressed President Trump on American voters' growing what she called “anxieties” about the economy, affordability, inflation, and rising grocery and gas prices, to name but a few. And when she brought up the “tariffs” Trump's response was that, “the economy is the greatest we've ever had” while dismissing polls and voter anxieties as but a “con job” or “fake.”

And to that, with all due honor and respect I say, “No, Mr. President you are wrong.” Why so...because as a businessman you had to know that no juggling of numbers of “tariff” raised revenues would ever be large enough to significantly filter down to “We the People's” pocketbooks let alone bring down the gross national debt, the prices at the grocery store and at the pump. Simple math alone does dictate that to be fact.

Donald Trump's intentions and motives in focusing on the “tariffs” cannot be questioned for he truly did believe the issue needed to be addressed...which it certainly did...it was just that, in my opinion, his timing was off in doing so what with so many American's monetarily still hurting.

And now when you add that President Trump wants part of the income from the “tariffs” to pay $2,000 dividends in seven year annual increments to low and middle income Americans, he has ignored the fact that in doing so it would actually counter his original intention of the “tariffs” helping to bring down the growing national debt. Why so...because as per the non-partisan “Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget” (CRFB), the huge amount of monies being diverted via the payouts would push the national debt to 127% of the GDP by 2035, and possibly see it eventually rising to 134% of the GDP. Not good folks, not good at all.

Simply, the man, the president, I truly admire and was proud to vote for three times lost, in my opinion, his focus on exactly how to bring down the rising costs we Americans see on a daily basis in regards to grocery store prices and at the “pump.” Dwelling so deeply on the “tariffs”*  was not and is not the sole answer to our Biden/Harris inherited economic problems...the issue of the “tariffs” could have waited, and I'm glad that key economists on both sides of the political aisle are now saying exactly what I said months ago. I only hope, in my opinion, that this timing mistake does not affect the 2026 midterms in a negative way.

In “Even Great Presidents Make Mistakes...Part Two,” (which will be published on Monday, December 1st, due to the Thanksgiving holiday), I will focus on a key foreign policy mistake President Trump made, and why it might well affect the 2028 presidential ticket...but for now, case closed.

_______________________________________________________ 

* Tariffs are a particularly bad way to raise revenue...a must read by The Brookings Institute 

Copyright © 2025 Diane Sori / The Patriot Factor / All rights reserved.

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For more political commentary please visit my RIGHT SIDE PATRIOTS partner Craig Andresen's blog The National Patriot to read his latest article, One Dumpster Fire After Another.

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RIGHT SIDE PATRIOTS...LIVE!                                                        Tomorrow, Tuesday, November 18th from 7 to 8:30pm EST, RIGHT SIDE PATRIOTS Craig Andresen and Diane Sori discuss 'Even Great Presidents Make Mistakes...Part One'; 'One Dumpster Fire After Another'; and important news of the day. Hope you can tune in to RIGHT SIDE PATRIOTS on https://rspradio1.com Click 'LISTEN LIVE' starting at 6:50pm EST, show begins at 7pm EST.

Op-ed:

Even More Winning...Courtesy of a 4.1% GDP

By: Diane Sori / The Patriot Factor / Right Side Patriots on American Political Radio

“Once again, we are the economic envy of the entire world.” 

- President Donald J. Trump on the GDP reaching 4.1 percent 

President Trump said he “inherited a mess” courtesy of Barack HUSSEIN Obama...and he did both on the foreign policy and the economic policy front. And while we know what a disaster Obama was foreign policy wise, his supporters to this day still want us to believe that it was Obama's handling of the economy then that has allowed the economy under Trump to soar now. But that is simply not true for during the Obama years while he was busy raising havoc in the Middle East and tying our military's hands behind their backs, the GDP hit a low of 1.6% growth in 2011 to a high of just under 2.9% growth in 2015, then falling back down to 1.5% by the time Trump took office.

But last Friday the Commerce Department reported that the nation's economy surged in the April-June quarter to an annual growth rate of 4.1 percent...nearly double the 2.2 percent growth rate in the first quarter. Tremendous numbers indeed fueled on by consumer spending and exporters hurrying to get their products delivered before certain tariffs took effect. And that 4.1 percent number reflects the best year of growth in well over a decade...and it's especially noteworthy when it's been accomplished in but a year and a half into the Trump administration.

And to the Democrats chagrin that number has nothing to do with Obama and has everything to do with Trump's radical changes in America's economic policies...policies which helped folks to open up new businesses thus allowing more jobs to be created which in turn led to an increase in consumer spending...and it's spending that accounts for 70 percent of all economic activity.

And it's important to remember that the GDP and jobs are forever tied together as consumption is the strongest indicator of economic growth and true economic growth cannot happen if people don't have jobs along with the corresponding income by which to be able to buy...or to consume...products. And while most of those of the liberal persuasion believe that an increased demand for goods and services can come from greater government spending alone, without the dollars in one's pocket to buy what's demanded in no way equates into being able to purchase what's demanded, therefore economic growth remains stagnant at best. In fact, demanding without purchasing power actually highlights the disparage between the so-called have and the have nots.

When he first became head of the Treasury Department, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said that Obama’s economic policies were to blame for the slower-than-normal growth the U.S. had experienced since the financial crisis of 2008. Well not only was he right about Obama's economic policies and his out of control government spending being a serious “economic dislocation” from reality, but that said policies were the direct cause of economic growth being below potential which resulting in a disproportionately high number of folks unemployed especially in the African-American and Hispanic communities.

And it's President Trump's economic policies that have turned that “dislocation” around. Business investments have gone way up thus leading directly to more new businesses being created and new jobs opening up, which in turn aided both blacks and Hispanics looking for work. In fact, since Donald Trump has become president the African-American community has seen its previously double-digit unemployment rate fall to 6.8 percent...the lowest ever recorded...with the Hispanic community seeing its unemployment rate dropping a full point from 5.9 percent to 4.9 percent...meaning the Hispanic numbers are close to its lowest level since recorded job histories for both communities started in 1972 and 1973 respectively.

But Democrats, the likes of Nancy Pelosi and Debby Wasserman Schultz, still to this day relish in mocking what became known as Trump's 'Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017' as being mere “crumbs” in worker's pocket's. Imagine...to Democrats a $1.5 billion tax cut is "crumbs," but if they truly want to see what “crumbs” look like they just need to remember back to Obama's so-called “stimulus package”...a package that did next to nothing to stimulate economic growth or to create desperately needed jobs. And while unemployment numbers at times did drop a bit while Obama was in office, it surely was not because of the “stimulus” but because more workers stopped looking for jobs than there were jobs actually created. But now thanks to President Trump there are across the board more jobs being available than there are folks looking for work.

And yet the Democrats still refuse to give Trump's economic policies credit for the solid economic gains we now as a country are experiencing, including the rise in dollars in our weekly paychecks along with the lowering of taxes. And both of these benefits, which specifically aided the middle class, helped to raise the GDP which currently stands at the a fore mentioned 4.1 percent with some economic indicators...one being business cycles...projecting it to go even higher in the second half of this year. But to fully understand how we reached that amazing 4.1 percent mark and before I tell you about the economic naysayers, let's first have a little economics 101 rehash.

Briefly, the GDP...the Gross Domestic Product...is the total market value of the goods and services produced within these United States in a given year as well as its being one of the prime indicators gauging the “economic health” of our country's economy. And it's the GDP which helps set the pace for how economic growth affects jobs, businesses, and investments and visa-versa for each affects the other equally. Bad jobs numbers coupled with both low business investments and low business creation numbers brings down the GDP as much as good numbers...as of June the unemployment number was but 4 percent...raises the GDP, which is happening now. And when the number of exports vs. the number of imports is factored in, Trump's bringing companies back to America with his slashing of overburdening tax regulations contributed greatly to the GDP reaching 4.1 percent.

And it's not just the GDP number that proves Trump's economic policies regarding trade, taxes, and other economic related issues are indeed working but also the fact that the narrowing trade deficit (to a tune of a $50 billion reduction) is evidence that his tariffs and other “get-tough policies” are generating the results he said they would. And not to be forgotten is that overall business investment grew at a solid 7.3 percent rate in the second quarter while government spending posted a 2.1 percent rate thanks to a budget deal that added billions to defense and domestic spending.

All good news...all thanks to President Donald J. Trump... and 'We the People' aren't tired of winning yet.

And let's not forget the other all-important indicators that our economy is on the rise as in actual labor market data (the “real” jobs numbers); the overall yet still underrated positive performance of the stock market; the relatively low inflation rate of 1.9 percent; the fact that exports rose at a 9.3 percent rate while imports grew at but a lowly 0.5 percent rate; and that trade deals continue to be reached especially in regards to the all-important energy sector...giving hope that the United States will soon become a key energy exporter.

"High rates of growth, and the productivity that drives it, are likely distant memories from a bygone era." So said  Bill Gross of the Janus Capital Investment Group.

And while most on the right relish in all the good economic news as they know well that a strong GDP is paramount to the economic success of we everyday Americans as it directly impacts our standard of living while increasing tax revenues without the burden of tax hikes...what of the Democrat naysayers who say this growth cannot and will not be sustained in the long run.

First, it must be remembered that these folks have short memories for they chose to forget that during Obama's 8-years in office the economic growth rate was on average a sub-par 1.5 percent during his first term and 2.1 percent during his second term...basically just a stagnant economy.

And the Obama years also saw growth in the labor force being less than half the rate of the previous four presidencies (62.8 percent compared to 67.1 percent in the late 1990s) with wages...what's referred to as “real compensation per hour”...for the most part also being stagnant growing at but 0.6 percent which is well below the 1.1 percent annual average of the preceding administrations. And then there's the annual growth in labor productivity (output per hour worked) being 0.9 percent during the Obama years, less than half the rate of the previous period...as in the George W. Bush years. And all this added to the GDP under Obama never reaching even 3 percent...which would have equated into a modest but respectful gain...with some economists now saying with Obama as president our country saw the worst economy since the Great Depression.

Now as for the naysayers...let's start with but three economists beginning with Larry Summers who was Director of the National Economic Council under Obama, who said when Trump's preliminary budget originally forecast a 3 percent economic growth, that it was, "Fair enough if you believe in Tooth-Fairies." Then there's Maya MacGuineas, President of the Committee for A Responsible Federal Budget, who said that Trump's 3 percent prediction was nothing but "wishful thinking and fuzzy math." And lastly, Robert Brusca, senior economist at FAO Economics stated that, "No, pigs do not fly...'Donald Trump is dreaming.” I wonder what these three economists say now.

And as for Democrat politicians who actually want both America and Trump to fail...Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said of both the Treasury analysis and President Trump's original 3 percent growth prediction as being “nothing more than one page of fake math.” And House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi was in full meltdown mode as she tried to downplay the 4.1 GDP by trying to pass it off as nothing but more “crumbs.” Not even expecting the GDP to reach the projected 3 percent, Pelosi tweeted out, “For 18 months, @realDonaldTrump has put the interests of wealthy Americans over working people. Today is no different. Important fact he refuses to acknowledge? He's presided over a drop in the real wages of American workers.” Well at least Pelosi gets that jobs are tied into the GDP...clueless wonder that she is.

And Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) sent out his own tweet saying that, “You can believe in MATH or you can believe in the #TrumpBudget. You cannot do both.” Well not only do I beg to differ but a 4.1 GDP proves that you indeed can do both.

So the bottom line is this, and bygone eras be damned, $7 trillion dollars has been added to the economy thanks to President Trump's economic policies culminating in the GDP reaching 4.1 percent; the Democrats as expected are cringing at the thought that Trump succeeded where Obama failed; and 'We the People' are not yet tied of winning...with even more winning surely to come.

Copyright @ 2018 Diane Sori / The Patriot Factor / All Rights Reserved.

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For more political commentary please visit my RIGHT SIDE PATRIOTS partner Craig Andresen's blog The National Patriot to read his latest article Socialism 101 and the Ultimate Irony

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RIGHT SIDE PATRIOTS...LIVE!

Today, Tuesday, July 31st from 7 to 9pm EST on American Political Radio, RIGHT SIDE PATRIOTS Craig Andresen and Diane Sori discuss 'Winning...Courtesy of a 4.1% GPD'; 'Socialism 101and the Ultimate Irony'; and important news of the day.

Hope you can tune in at: http://listen.samcloud.com/w/73891/American-Political-Radio#history