Trump repeatedly cited manufacturing activity, manufacturing confidence, consumer confidence, and the stock market to claim that the economy was the strongest in history. All of those indicators have suffered major recent declines.
THEN: Trump claimed the U.S. was in a “manufacturing renaissance.”
Trump: “We are in the midst of a manufacturing renaissance—something which nobody thought you’d hear—which means more jobs for our great electrical contractors.”
NOW: A key manufacturing index tumbled by the largest amount in a decade.
Bloomberg: “A gauge of U.S. manufacturing plunged last month by the most since October 2008, a fresh sign of deceleration in the economy amid global strains across the sector. U.S. stocks extended declines and Treasury yields fell after the report. The Institute for Supply Management index dropped to a two-year low of 54.1, missing all estimates in Bloomberg’s survey, data showed Thursday.” Continue reading “Economic Indicators Trump Cited To Show A Strong Economy Now In Decline”
President Trump took aim at the Federal Reserve on Tuesday morning, a move that skeptics said betrayed nervousness about the political dangers of a slowing economy and declining stock market.
The president complained that the Fed should avoid making “yet another mistake,” asserting that its board should read a Wall Street Journal editorial which called for a pause in hiking interest rates.
Fed watchers expect the central bank to raise interest rates on Wednesday for a fourth time this year.
Yesterday, Trump told General Motors workers who are about to be laid off that “it doesn’t really matter” and promised that their jobs would be replaced “in like two minutes.” Ohio workers have heard Trump’s empty promises before, and they aren’t buying it anymore.
Trump said “it doesn’t really matter” that more than 14,000 GM employees were losing their jobs because his “leadership” meant “Ohio’s going to replace those jobs in like two minutes.”
Trump: “It doesn’t really matter because Ohio is under my leadership from a national standpoint. Ohio’s going to replace those jobs like in two minutes… She’s [Mary Barra is] either going to open fast or somebody else is going to go in.”
The Dow Jones industrial average plunged more than 500 points on Thursday, the first day of trading after U.S. authorities secured the arrest of a Chinese technology company executive, fueling fears that the trade war with China is heating up.
News broke late Wednesday that Canadian law enforcement had arrested Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer of Huawei Technologies, a major Chinese tech firm that has been linked to the Chinese military.
U.S. officials have requested her extradition, citing a suspected sanctions violation.
Trump is wreaking havoc on America’s financial situation, but he just doesn’t care.
Once again, Trump exposed the entire Republican Party’s hypocrisy about deficit spending by saying the quiet part out loud.
Trump signed the deficit-financed Republican tax scam into law, ensuring future generations will be forced to pay for tax breaks gifted to Wall Street billionaires.
Trump isn’t concerned at all about the massive debt he’s leaving in his wake, according to a recent report.
“When you hear how great the economy’s doing right now, let’s just remember when this recovery started. I mean, I’m glad it’s continued, but when you hear about this economic miracle that’s been going on, when the job numbers come out, monthly job numbers, suddenly Republicans are saying it’s a miracle. I have to kind of remind them, actually, those job numbers are the same as they were in 2015 and 2016.”
— Former president Barack Obama, in remarks at the University of Illinois, on Sept. 7, 2018
There’s little doubt that the economy is doing well. Regular readers of The Fact Checker know we automatically award Two Pinocchios to anyone who gives sole credit to a president for economic improvements. That’s because the U.S. economy is complex, and the decisions of companies and consumers often loom larger than the acts of government.
Most voters are not feeling any benefits from the growing economy. That’s because Trump and Republicans’ policies are only benefiting those at the top. While wealthy CEOs and big corporations take in record profits, real wages for workers continue to decline. Now, Republicans want to make life even harder for working families by gutting vital safety net programs they rely on, in order to help pay for more tax cuts for the rich.
Most voters are not feeling any benefits from the growing economy. Trump’s economic policies only benefit those at the top.
CNBC: “‘The economy’ may be roaring, but for most voters their economy is not. The difference between those two things reflects the income inequality that has defined America’s modern economy. The positive news Wall Street savors — robust corporate profits, rising stock prices, surging output growth — deliver the greatest rewards to a relatively modest share of more affluent Americans. The rest don’t feel it all that much.” Continue reading “Voters Are Not Feeling Benefits From The Economy”
Americans everywhere are struggling with rising costs and are failing to see their paychecks increase. But instead of reigning in drug costs or ending their health care sabotage that has led to skyrocketing premiums, Republicans want to push another round of tax cuts.
It’s clear Republicans aren’t focused on what matters to Americans. Here are real stories of Americans who continue to struggle with access to care and rising drug prices:
“Does that mean that I don’t get the privilege to live? Does it mean that I don’t get the privilege to work and contribute to our society? Because without access to health care I can’t do those things.” – Texas resident with a pre-existing condition
The following article by Rachel West, Katherine Gallagher Robbins and Melissa Boteach was posted on the Center for American Progress website September 6, 2018:
A man reads the news online in his kitchen, May 2014, in Mitchellville, MD. Credit: Getty, Washington Post, Jahi Chikwendiu
On September 12, the Census Bureau will release its annual data on income, poverty, and health insurance coverage in the United States. These data, collected from the Current Population Survey for calendar year 2017, are expected to show that the national poverty rate continued the downward trajectory it has followed since 2014, measured by both the official poverty measure and researchers’ preferred Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM), which also counts tax credits and certain in-kind assistance as income. Yet despite this expected decrease, experts anticipate that the typical American family experienced only modest income gains in 2017—if any—and that health insurance coverage rates flatlined.
Although any decrease in the share of people facing poverty and hardship is good news, it is important to put that decrease in context. In the Trump economy, corporate profits are soaring in the aftermath of the recent tax law, while working families are being squeezed by stagnant wages and rising health care costs. The 2017 Census Bureau data will fail to capture the effects of recent policy changes—including the historically unpopular tax law, enacted in December 2017—as well as the Trump administration’s many ongoing threats to Americans’ financial security. These include proposed cuts to programs that help Americans meet a basic standard of living, as well as the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court, whose confirmation would be devastating for working-class people, including those living in poverty. Indeed, any good news for working- and middle-class Americans is due in large part to the Trump administration’s failure to impose much of its damaging policy agenda. Center for American Progress analysis showed that if just three of Trump’s proposed budget cuts had been in place in 2015, 2.3 million more Americans would have been in poverty.
This column sets the stage for the Census Bureau’s data release—and provides timely information for fall policy debates—by detailing how working families are faring in the Trump economy, the attack on access to health care, and the continuing assault on important supports that families need to make ends meet.
With each passing month, the Trump administration continues to build an economy focused on rewarding wealthy corporations at the expense of working families.
Trump and the Republican Party sold Americans out. This is Trump’s scheme – to keep America great for the rich and powerful, while making it harder for everyone else to succeed.
Trump fuels corporate greed and will always empower wealthy special interests. Trump’s most consistent policy is to help CEOs and rich corporations while hurting workers and families. Look at all he’s done so far: Continue reading “Trump’s Economy Hasn’t Benefited Workers”
