The Patriot Post® · Where to From Here on the Economy?
In Tuesday’s State of the Union Address, President Donald Trump made much of the economic progress he and his administration have made in just 13 months. Memo to the Leftmedia “fact-checkers”: Trump uses hyperbole. This just in, I know.
Some examples:
“We have achieved a transformation like no one has ever seen before.”
“The roaring economy is roaring like never before.”
“What a difference a president makes. A short time ago, we were a dead country; now we are the hottest country anywhere in the world, the hottest.”
You get the idea. The Leftmedia “fact-checkers,” of course, do not get the idea. They’re incessantly huffing well, technically… as they supposedly debunk what he said. If that’s what consoles them as they try to fall asleep at night in Trump’s America, well, to each his own.
No, Trump is not being literal — or at least I’m not taking him that way. His real point is that the economy is strong, inflation is going down, jobs and wages are going up, and the stock market is going gangbusters and boosting millions of retirement accounts. Those things are all true, whether or not they are literally the best or most ever.
Still, most people probably didn’t come away from the address thinking about his economic message. In any case, he’s going to need to do more than just tell Americans that their economic situation is fantastic — especially when Joe Biden-induced inflation has taken such a tremendous bite out of our spending power. Trump’s polling on the economy is rather dismal.
Fortunately, one of the best moments of the speech was when he nailed Democrats to the wall for voting against the Republicans’ tax bill last year. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act made permanent the GOP tax cuts from Trump’s first term, and ZERO Democrats voted for it either time.
“All Democrats,” he said in his SOTU, “every single one of them, voted against these really important and very necessary massive tax cuts. They wanted large-scale tax increases to hurt the people instead. But we held strong, and with the great Big Beautiful Bill, we gave you no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, and no tax on Social Security for our great seniors.”
He knew Democrats objected to “tax cuts for the rich,” which is also why they didn’t — and couldn’t — applaud his tax boast. All they have is class warfare.
So he was ready, highlighting a guest on Tuesday night. He introduced Megan Hemhauser, “a devoted mom who homeschools her children … during the day while waiting tables at night as her husband works overtime operating very heavy equipment.” Thanks to Republican tax cuts, Trump noted, “Megan and her husband will take home more than $5,000 extra just for the year, cutting her tax bill in more than half.”
Millions of Americans will experience similar benefits this year during tax-filing season, and that is great economic news.
The question is what Trump will try to get through Congress this year. The answer from his State of the Union seemed to be “nothing.”
Nearly everything he said was boasting about accomplishments already achieved, with very little time spent advocating new things, and virtually none spent pushing economic policy. He didn’t mention the deficit or debt at all, perhaps because both are a tremendous drag on the economy. Interest payments on our nearly $39 trillion national debt will surpass $1 trillion this year — the second- or third-biggest line item in the federal budget. No one wants to talk about that.
It may be that Trump has largely already done enough to set the nation on a course for prosperity. He’s making a high-stakes gamble, though, if he thinks letting everything play out leading up to November will enable Republicans to keep control of the House and Senate. Democrats created the affordability crisis, but they will take full advantage of it to peel off independent voters who grow tired of Trump’s antics and seemingly detached view of economic perception.