Quinnipiac Poll Credits Obama For Booming Economy

A Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday finds that 49% of Americans say Obama is responsible for the current boom in the U.S. economy. 40% of Americans say Trump is responsible for the current U.S. economy. How does that make sense if Trump has been president for almost a year? 

The number of American voters giving former President Barack Obama credit for the state of the economy has increased since November. 43% of respondents credited Obama in Quinnipiac’s November poll. That percentage rose to 45% in December.

The poll also finds that 66% of U.S. voters say the economy is “excellent” or “good,” the most positive rating for the economy in the poll since 2001. 

Now, this is where "THE truth" as opposed to "YOUR truth" comes into play. THE truth is that Barack Obama presided over this country for eight years and the economy went nowhere. Then Trump, a pro-business president comes in and the psychology changes in the corporate world and the economy starts to do better. The 49% who will not acknowledge that Donald Trump made the economy better are people who just despise him and don't want to give him credit for anything. So that's why they say, "oh yeah, it's Barack Obama. He laid the groundwork," when he certainly did not. 

You have to look for the truth. The press doesn't do that anymore. President Trump speaks his truth, and this is a criticism of the president. When he speaks it’s usually what he wants the truth to be. He's exaggerated or said things that he couldn't back up in many interviews, but it’s Donald Trump’s version of the truth. Now, sometimes his version is true, but usually when he speaks he gives HIS truth.

Barack Obama in his mind was one of the greatest presidents of all time. That's his truth, Barack Obama's truth. The facts are that he couldn't control ISIS and that the economy for eight years was moribund. But in Barack Obama's mind, his truth is he's a fabulous president.

The anti-Trump press only wants to hear bad things about Donald Trump. They don't look to see what is actually true and what is not. If it's bad, they're going to broadcast it, they're going to print it. That's their truth. Trump is such a danger in their mind to the country that our truth is we have to get him out of there. But it's not the truth. The truth is that on the economy, Americans are being helped by the Trump administration.

Rate of Imprisonment for Black Adults Falls 29 Percent Over Decade

On Wednesday, the DOJ reported that the rate of imprisonment for black adults fell almost 30% over the last decade.

The Bureau of Justice Statistics released its statistics on the United States prison population and the rate of imprisonment among different groups. Among its findings was that black Americans’ rate of imprisonment declined by 29% between 2006 and 2016. The imprisonment rate also decreased for non-Hispanic adult black, non-Hispanic adult white and adult Hispanic prisoners from 2015 to 2016.

Today, President Trump and Jared Kushner met with criminal justice reform advocates giving new hope that action to reverse the nation's burgeoning incarceration rates is still possible. 

A White House official said the meeting was focused on prison reform and reentry, as well as the successes that states like Georgia, Kansas and Kentucky have had in enacting programs aimed at reducing recidivism rates and rehabilitating inmates.

Trump said during the meeting that his administration is committed to helping former inmates become productive, law abiding members of society. 

“Two-thirds of the 650,000 people released from prison each year are arrested again within three years,” he said. “We can help break this viscous cycle through job training, very important, job training, mentoring and drug addiction treatment. … We’ll be very tough on crime, but we will provide a ladder of opportunity for the future.”

The meeting emboldened some advocates who saw it as sign the White House is officially on board with criminal justice reform.

Trump Flies to Maryland for Physical on Friday

On Friday, President Donald Trump is getting his first medical checkup since taking office. The president is to fly by helicopter Friday afternoon to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center outside Washington in Bethesda, Maryland, for the exam. 

There is no requirement for a president to have a physical, but modern officeholders undergo them regularly and release a doctor’s report stating that they are “fit to serve.” 

Questions have been swirling about the health and fitness of Trump, who is the oldest person ever elected to the nation’s highest office. In advance, the 71-year-old president has pushed back vigorously against suggestions he’s mentally unfit, declaring himself “a very stable genius.”

Trump will not undergo a psychiatric exam, the White House said. 

Dr. Ronny L. Jackson, a Navy rear admiral who is the president’s official physician and director of the White House Medical Unit, is coordinating the exam. Jackson provided care for President Barack Obama, conducting and supervising the last of three physicals Obama had during his eight years in office.

In September 2016, during the presidential campaign, Trump released a five-paragraph letter from Dr. Harold Bornstein, his longtime physician, in which the gastroenterologist concluded that Trump “is in excellent physical health.”

Retirement crisis: 37% of Gen X say they won't be able to afford to retire

According to a TD Ameritrade survey 37% of Generation X, those born between 1965 and the late 1970s, say they would like to stop working for good and "fully retire" someday, "but will not be able to afford to."  

43% of those surveyed said "they are behind" in their savings and 49% are "worried about running out of money" once they leave the workforce. 17% say they "aren't saving or investing for anything. 

Only a third expect to be "very secure" in retirement — vs. nearly half of Baby Boomers.

Mail Time!

• "Senator Feinstein's release of testimony to the Senate committee leads me to ask the question: can she not be sanctioned for her behavior?"
• It was a deal in the intelligence committee in the Senate between Senator Feinstein and the chairman, Senator Charles Grassley, that they wouldn't release transcripts of Fusion GPS unless they all agreed and they talked about it. Feinstein broke the deal. You can't sanction or do anything, she just broke the deal. Not good. 

• "Good to hear your voice again, Bill. Finally signed up for premium membership on BillOReilly.com after being bored with cable news."
• I've got to tell you, I got the same situation. You know, once in a while, I'll turn it on just to see and I'm just like, ugh. Move it, move it. 

• "Found Newsmax on my cable. Another place for the truth. I don't think many know about it. I see you are on Newsmax sometimes, Bill, at least they're looking for the truth."
• That's why I'm on. Newsmax is on cable, you've got to look for it. It's also Newsmax.com, go in there and they'll tell you all about it. You know, it's a good operation. Very comfortable talking to them. 

• "I have a question about Holly. Why does her one ear droop? Is that common with corgis?"
• Well, I called Holly's publicist and she quoted Lady Gaga. Holly was “born that way.” Now, those of you who don't know what I'm talking about here, Holly has become an internet star on Twitter @billoreilly. So, we use Holly to impart messages. People seem to like that. But she's got one ear up and one ear down. Born that way. 

Word of the Day: Ninnyhammer