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COSTA’S CORNER
“An amazing quality of life for all of our citizens is within reach. We can make our communities safer, our families stronger, our culture richer, our faith deeper, and our middle class and more prosperous than ever before. [applause] but we must reject the politics of revenge, resistance and retribution, and embrace the boundless potential of cooperation, compromise, and the common good.
Together we can break decades of political stalemate. We can bridge all divisions, heal old wounds, build new coalitions, forge new solutions, and unlock the extraordinary promise of America’s future. The decision is ours to make. We must choose between greatness or gridlock, results or resistance, vision or vengeance, incredible progress or pointless destruction. Tonight, I ask you to choose greatness.”
Donald Trump, State of the Union 2019.

Let’s be honest here, I am not a huge fan of Donald Trump, but I recognize that in the first two years he has done more than his predecessor had done in two terms and for better or worse, he is our President. I said it when Obama was elected, his success is our success.
Trump succeeds, the country should prosper and so far, it has so let’s move past the stupid tweets and the immature bickering and look at his speech and see it for what it was, a chance to bridge the divides between parties. Compromise and get things done, the ball is now in the Democrats court and let’s see how bad they fumble it.
I believe that this was the best speech President Trump has given so far and it has to have brought those moderates out there closer to agreement and understanding. As Lincoln famously said, “A country divided cannot stand”
Depending on which news source you believe in, you will hear talking heads going on about Trump putting an olive branch out there but that branch only extends as far as you agree with the President. I don’t agree. The President put compromise on the table. He understands there is a divide and that needs to be bridged and by giving up something, he hopes to get something. He has already compromised on several issues and the Democrats have taken him to town on those compromise. The liberal media has destroyed him for agreeing to certain concessions to open the government and not get full funding for his wall.
No matter what President Trump does in the next two years, the left will never accept it as enough. To me, the fractious nature of politics and the overall sense of two countries under one roof is all on the Democrats from this point on.
This was the genius of last night’s speech, put the onus on them. The President said before God and Country he is willing to talk and negotiate. Shame on the Democrats for not taking him up on it.
As I said yesterday, State of the Union addresses rarely do much to the markets, so I am holding steady.

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