Commentaries seeking to set up Democrats

Taking credit when things go well and blaming someone else when things go poorly isn't new to Donald Trump. It has long been a part of the conservative playbook, long enough to be honed into an art.

Recently the Daily Herald had a conservative columnist, Byron York, who wrote, "Amid good news can Democrats talk down the economy" and on May 14, the paper published a cartoon that shows the Democratic national headquarters talking about hiring the 3.6% unemployed to trash talk the economy.

Putting aside the stupidity of the concept of creating full employment to trash an economy, it is obvious that they are both setting the stage to blame Democrats when the economy turns down.

In Mr. York's column he quotes an economic reporter, a columnist, an economic adviser, a financial reporter, and two Republican strategists. Nothing from a Democratic politician or official.

Grabbing Mr. York's lead, the cartoonist feels free to suggest Democratic officials without naming names or indicating a basis for the observation.

There is no doubt that given time, the economy will hit a slump. How fast and how hard will depend on many factors, including fiscal and social policies and legislation. But to suggest that the Democrats are trashing the economy when the Republicans control so much of our government is weak intellectually and lazy artistically.

Mike Vandeleur

Bolingbrook