[Pick6]

I agree that the GOP has earned a thorough humiliation. But humiliation through the nomination of a liberal Democrat and subsequent loss to a very weak, criminal Democratic opponent will be humiliation for all of the wrong reasons.

As for job losses, I believe that you are accepting Trump's word for something that will not withstand much scrutiny. He is right that there is a correlation between time and job loss but correlation and causation are not the same. There is also a strong correlation between federal and state regulations, and tax increases promulgated since 2000 and massive job losses. Trump, like so many politicians before him, prefers to create boogeymen instead of calmly identifying problems and detailing real solutions for them.

Economic freedom (a/k/a capitalism) has lifted more people out of poverty than any other economic system ever devised by man. To blame the economic system that made this country for job losses and embrace protectionist policies that have been proven to cost this country jobs in the past makes no sense.

Politicians love scapegoats and trade agreements are one of Trump's many scapegoats. The irony is, that running as a Washington outsider, Trump is squandering a great opportunity to place the blame for our deteriorating economy where it belongs - on high taxes, over regulation, entitlement programs, and out of control government growth in general. In almost every instance, when the federal government interferes with the private sector, costs soar, and quality of goods or services plummet or shortages result.

Maybe if Trump is elected, he will take advice from people who understand how our economy works but his advocacy of 45 percent tariffs that would wreck our own economy is cause for much concern. Some of his economic advisers believe such threats are just political bluster, but Trump has shown me no inclination to listen to good advice.

If the elites running our economy are so effective, why is out debt out of control? Why are wages stagnant for 20 years? Why is it that college graduates have basically the same job opportunities they had coming out of High School?