Laura Ingraham: President Trump's successes in black and white

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Ingraham: Trump successes in black and white

In a scene you likely did not see on one of your local or national newscasts, the White House on Wednesday announced a bold plan to change the lives in America of some of our poorest citizens, those who live in the most distressed, and sometimes the most dangerous, neighborhoods.

Flanked by Sen. Tim Scott and BET founder Bob Johnson, with CNN host Van Jones looking on, the president signed an executive order creating something called the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council. Now, if you think this is just another brick in the bureaucracy in D.C., signifying nothing, think again.

Led by HUD Secretary Ben Carson, it will coordinate efforts across the entire federal government to deliver jobs, investment, and growth in underprivileged areas. By the way, it includes rural areas, too. This means more private-sector money will flow into some of these high-risk or low development areas. And what will that do? In turn, that will deliver jobs.

Of course, the few reporters that were at this announcement weren't interested in the substance of this undertaking. All they were interested in was shouting questions out about Michael Cohen. And unlike most White House events starring Trump, it was not broadcast on cable or on C-SPAN or any of the networks. I wonder why?

I’ll tell you why. Because Trump is delivering results for those who Democrats thought that they had forever co-opted politically. It all smashes the press' relentless drumbeats about how the president just doesn't like black people and is racist.

Media mogul Bob Johnson, one of the most prominent and most successful African-Americans probably on the planet, would disagree with that sentiment. He was on hand at Wednesday’s event to recognize the Trump administration's drive and commitment to help low income Americans.

“Just recently, your Department of Labor signed a historic document that created something called auto portability.  Auto portability is designed to reduce retirement leakage among low income 401(k) account holders who tend to cash out,” he said. “And Mr. President, you should know this, 60 percent of African-American and Hispanic-Americans cash out of their 401(k) accounts. This program will put close to $800 billion back in the retirement pockets of minority Americans. So I just want to applaud you for that.”

And there was no coverage anywhere in the media. I had to play the footage from Wednesday’s announcement on my show just because no one saw it.

Now, you see, there are a lot of politicians out there who traffic in bromides, shining with a veneer of real compassion. Former President Barack Obama was good at making audiences feel good and hopeful with soaring words.

Who cares more about America, particularly the working poor? The guy who delivers results - record low unemployment, opportunity zones and a decent chance for criminal justice reform? Or a party that is all talk and no action? I will take the former any day.

And that's nice. I guess that's Nobel Prize material. But the problem is, talking about hope is beautiful, but it won't bring business into your community. People who can get jobs tend to have more hope. Despair and crime in places like Chicago and Baltimore spiraled out of control during much of Obama's eight years.

I know what some of you are going to say. But Laura, Obama and the Democrats care more than Donald Trump. Look, you can see it. You can feel it. They care. Then you're going to bring up Charlottesville and the s-hole comment Trump made to them drive the point home. OK, even for the sake of argument, I concede those points. The tonality, the wording - maybe I wouldn't have done it that way. Fine.

But I ask the following: Who cares more about America, particularly the working poor? The guy who delivers results - record low unemployment, opportunity zones and a decent chance for criminal justice reform? Or a party that is all talk and no action? I will take the former any day.

Oh, and by the way, the press did find one angle at the opportunity zone announcement that they thought was worth covering. They said Jared Kushner and Trump himself are only pushing these inner-city investment incentives because they will make money off their own real estate holdings.

Please. HUD Secretary Ben Carson swatted this allegation away in an appearance on my radio show.

“These zones were picked by the governors. So they were not picked by Jared Kushner,” he said. “There are all kinds of people in the country who already have real estate in those zones. Will they benefit? Probably. Why shouldn't they benefit? Why shouldn't everybody benefit? Why shouldn't we create win-win situations?”

I want to see more of Ben Carson out there, by the way. I loved what he had to say. And once again, the media proves itself to be absolutely incapable of covering virtually anything about the work the president does to try to restore our country. Not even an inkling of objectivity.

And the president isn't doing this, by the way, to benefit just a few of his pals, or the people who voted for him. He is doing this to try to benefit those who have been served so poorly by politicians of both parties for decades.

Despite everything that is swirling around President Trump - the Democrats’ obsession with impeachment, the indictments, et cetera, et cetera, the president continues to do work that other presidents wouldn't do. And poor working class Americans will be better for it. And that's “The Angle.”

Adapted from Laura Ingraham's monologue from "The Ingraham Angle" on December 13, 2018.