Friday, October 11, 2024

As Election Nears, Dems Have Great Economic Story to Tell

Steve Benen - Republicans appear desperate to convince Americans the economy is terrible. The reality, however, is that every major economic metric looks encouraging.

Posted by tonyroma at 09:32 PM | 12 COMMENTS | permalink

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Late last week, for example, a reporter reminded Donald Trump of the latest encouraging data, and asked, "Do you acknowledge that the economy is improving?" The former president replied, "No. It's not." Days earlier, his running mate, Republican Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, told the public that the economy is "an unmitigated disaster."

Inflation has come full circle for the Biden administration. Consumer price growth slowed to its lowest pace since February 2021 - the first full month President Joe Biden was in office, the Labor Department said Thursday in its final inflation report before Election Day.

Inflation data isn't the only encouraging metric. Last week, Americans also received great news about job growth and unemployment. A week earlier, there was a surprisingly good report on U.S. economic growth.

We can keep going. We've recently seen record highs on Wall Street; gas prices are low, retail sales are strong; interest rates are falling; and wages are up.

But why stop there? As The Washington Post's Heather Long explained in her latest column, "[M]any Americans are getting sizable pay raises, and middle-class wealth has surged to record levels. We are living through one of the best economic years of many people's lifetimes."

The U.S. economy is so strong that some Republicans - Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, I'm looking in your direction - have decided to start telling Americans that the real-world evidence is "fake."

A Politico report on the latest inflation data characterized the status quo as "a dream economy," adding, "The latest numbers, released on Thursday, add to a solid economic picture that's coming together just weeks before the 2024 election."

No wonder so many Republicans are lying: The more the public recognizes the truth about the economy under President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, the more likely it is that Trump will lose in 25 days.

#1 | Posted by tonyroma at 2024-10-11 10:51 AM

On top of most metrics heading in the positive direction, Barack Obama kindly reminded America of just why Trump's economy was so good to begin with.

Former President Barack Obama addressed voters who next month may be tempted to vote for his successor, former president and current GOP nominee Donald Trump, based on the state of the economy during Trump's first administration.

Obama acknowledged Thursday at a Pittsburgh rally for Democratic nominee Kamala Harris that "some people think, Well, I don't know. I remember that economy when he first came in being pretty good.'"

Then he added, "Yeah, it was pretty good because it was my economy."

"We had had 75 straight months of job growth that I handed over to him," remembered Obama, under who the economy grew solidly before Trump took over and continued to develop it until the coronavirus pandemic.

"It wasn't something he did," Obama added. "I had spent eight years cleaning up the mess that the Republicans had left me the last time. So, just in case everybody has a hazy memory, he didn't do nothing, except those big tax cuts."

It's amazing how the truth has a nice ring to it, isn't it?

#2 | Posted by tonyroma at 2024-10-11 10:53 AM

All Trump has is Lies... and hatemongering, of course.

#3 | Posted by Corky at 2024-10-11 10:23 PM

Dow and S&P 500 notch record highs as earnings season kicks off

The Dow and S&P 500 notched new highs on Friday, with the broader index closing above 5,800 for the first time as big US banks got earnings season underway.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) rose nearly 1% as JPMorgan Chase (JPM) shares surged.

Yeah, Trump's right. The economy - as reflected by the markets - is abysmal.

#4 | Posted by tonyroma at 2024-10-12 01:39 AM

If you are financially secure, with enough secure income or assets to meet all expenses, in reasonably good health, and adequately housed, preferably in a home you've owned for five or more years, there's rarely been a period in the past 95 years where the US economy has been so good. Inflation is dipping below 3%, unemployment is near the 3% range, even as workforce participation is trending up. The stock market has hit record highs at least 40 times so far in 2024. And interest rates are coming down. Beyond US borders, the USD is the strongest & most coveted in the world. Even gas prices are falling as US production of oil and natural gas hits record highs. So who could complain?

A month ago in Tennessee, I met a woman in mid-40s working two jobs that required a total commuting distance of 100+ miles/day, driving a 12 yr old pickup that got 19 mpg, making her commute cost $75 a week. Her rent and food costs per month and kids and car costs left her no spare change to invest in stocks. When told that the economy was great, she had only disdain. Of course, being fed a daily dose of Fox propaganda didn't help her attitude, but the encounter highlighted the difference between the investor class and everyone else.

#5 | Posted by Augustine at 2024-10-12 09:13 AM

When told that the economy was great, she had only disdain.

And her story is easy to understand based on how those at the lowest rungs of our economy are always the last to see tangible relief in their lives coming out of any economic upheaval.

The fact of the matter is that nothing Trump would have done if he'd been in the same circumstances would have helped the lower classes either. He's proposed nothing to help these people today. Their lives got worse once the Covid measures which provided them real assistance - the boosted child tax credit, childcare assistance - the CARES Act - were all things that helped them get through the pandemic but Republicans would not re-fund because they knew it would drive much of their base towards the Democrats.

Which states still have the same minimum wage from 2009? GOP controlled states. Which states have the most meager public safety nets? GOP controlled states. There are myriad policies Democrats back that can't pass the GOP House majority or the Senate's filibuster.

The most unfortunate thing is that all of the above cannot be distilled down into a soundbite or a 30 second ad. But you can certainly get a message that everything is fubar across in both few seconds and few words, and that's a big part of the reason why we are where we are.

#6 | Posted by tonyroma at 2024-10-12 09:28 AM

Magic bubbleconomy to the moon

#7 | POSTED BY COMMNOTES

It's official. The economy has had a soft landing from the pandemic.

BTW- America has landed 12 men on that moon.

And we first did it in 1969. And no country has ever repeated that feat.

And back here on Earth 1 the American dream is still alive. In spite of Trumpy and his dark maga dystopian view of America.

If you can't remember one thing Trumpy has ever said ... remember this.

THEY ARE EATING THE CATS AND DOGS!

#8 | Posted by donnerboy at 2024-10-12 01:32 PM

#6. Right. Living at lower rungs on the ladder makes it hard for economic good news to trickle down into your life. And there's room to differentiate whose economic policies have been more beneficial. Trump's trillions of dollars worth of tax cuts for billionaires didn't trickle down very far to compensate for their cost to the economy. Biden's CARES Act and other pro-manufacturing and energy-development initiatives have stimulated the economy much further down the economic ladder.

But my encounter with someone from rural Appalachia's heartland was eye opening at just how disadvantaged live can be for those in rural areas where opportunities and resources can be physically out of reach because of terrain and distances. Also exposure to other populations and experiences can be limited. So when Fox propaganda is everyone's media choice in insular communities, it's hard for folks to know anything but what you yo believe anything but what you hear at your church coffee clatch or at the nearest after hours gathering place. This is a clue as to why so many of the rural areas of the country feel left out and why a snake oil con man like Fox-endorsed Trump does so well in places like that.

Q. What can Dems do to regain the hearts and minds of folks like the Tennessee woman whose working hard just to keep up with her rent and monthly expenses even when the economy for the cosmopolitan class is booming?

#9 | Posted by Augustine at 2024-10-13 06:43 AM

"When told that the economy was great, she had only disdain."

You told her the economy was great? As in the US economy was great vs the economy in Appalachia where she lives?

#10 | Posted by Gal_Tuesday at 2024-10-13 07:04 AM

Q. What can Dems do to regain the hearts and minds of folks like the Tennessee woman whose working hard just to keep up with her rent and monthly expenses even when the economy for the cosmopolitan class is booming?
#9 | Posted by Augustine

That's a good question, and I don't have the answer. I would like to point out that Tennessee is one of those states that did not expand Medicaid. Getting the Republican state government to do that would definitley help some of the working poor in TN:

www.cbpp.org

www.tnjustice.org

#11 | Posted by Gal_Tuesday at 2024-10-13 07:14 AM

Lots of working poor in TN:

Report: nearly half of Tennessee households don't earn enough to meet basic expenses

Nearly half of all Tennessee working families cannot afford the basic cost of living in their counties, according to new analyses of Census and federal economic data by the United Way of Tennessee.

The report examined the challenges facing households that earned more than the federal poverty level but, nevertheless, struggle to make ends meet.

While wages have increased in that time period, the 20 most common occupations in Tennessee still pay less than $20 per hour, the report found. These include jobs like sales, truck driving, administrative assistants and elementary school teachers.

Although poverty levels for Tennessee kids have shrunk, the report found that 38% of working Tennessee families with children at home did not earn enough to keep up with basic expenses.


tennesseelookout.com(Photo:%20Getty%20Images),to%20meet%20their%20survival%20budgets.

Tennessee is currently one of five states with no set minimum wage. As a result, the currently observed minimum wage is the federal minimum wage requirement of $7.25 per hour.

However, with the creation of House Bill 1577, it is possible that Tennessee could soon see a minimum wage of no less than $12 an hour, however, the bill has not yet been passed.

www.employerpass.com(FLSA).

#12 | Posted by Gal_Tuesday at 2024-10-13 07:39 AM

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