“Small businesses are hurting, and seemingly every day this administration continues to make life harder on workers and entrepreneurs.” -U.S. Rep. Michael Cloud, Sept. 5, 2023
If you review Rep. Cloud’s past statements, you will discover a steady stream of misleading partisan information when it comes to the state of our economy. Cloud knows the economy is doing well, and that inflation is now down to 3%, but will not admit it due to politics.
As Economic and Consumer Policy Subcommittee Ranking Member last year, Cloud illustrated that he was more concerned with politics than with small businesses. He ignored Trump’s total mishandling of our economy (including unnecessary tax cuts for the rich) and other facts (see details below) while stating – “Democrats’ reckless spending has led to record inflation.” (Sept. 22, 2022).
The truth is that the Biden administration’s economic strategy is working well without creating a recession, a major feat. The most recent U.S. economic figures are now out. And, despite the negative reaction of Hudson and the like, they are very positive for our nation.
Per Acting U.S. Secretary of Labor Julie A. Su: “Over 13.5 million jobs have been added since President Biden took office, and we are moving into a new stage of stable and equitable economic growth that is delivering on the promise of good jobs for all and lowering costs for working families everywhere.”
However, in large part due to right-wing propaganda from Cloud and other GOP leaders, much of the American public doesn’t believe reality. They think that the economy is sinking: “Most Republicans (54%) say that conditions are ‘very poor,’ with only about 15% of Democrats saying the same” (“CNN Poll: Half of Americans think the economy is getting worse, despite months of stronger economic news,” Aug. 3).
Here are the recently released economic figures:
Unfortunately, when I speak with MAGA Trump supporters, they either A) do not believe the above facts or B) have never heard these facts because they only watch Fox and/or access radical MAGA social media.
These conservatives, many of whom are working class and relatively uneducated per polling, prefer to believe what they hear on Fox, Newsmax and OAN. Specifically, they believe the lie that the economy was great under Trump and sank under Biden. And GOP Congressmen like Cloud continue to purposefully mislead the public by saying things like voters are concerned about the economy due to Biden.
What is the truth? In the words of one commentator “Trump didn’t build something new; rather he inherited a pretty good situation.” (“Data show Trump didn’t ‘build’ a great economy. He inherited it., Aug. 3, 2020). In fact, during the last year of the Trump reign, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) actually went down 3.4%. And prior to that GDP growth was much less than other Presidents (“No, Donald Trump didn’t lead ‘greatest economy in the history of the world’,” Oct. 8, 2021). Under Trump, the economy lost nearly 3 million jobs. The unemployment rate was over 6% and our trade deficit increased 40% … while our national debit increased by $7 trillion due to Trump’s tax cuts and spending increases.
What can be done about this lack of acceptance of reality by MAGA people is the question facing not just the Democrats but our nation. How can we ever come together if one segment of our population is fed “alternate facts” (i.e., lies) by politicians like Cloud and propaganda-driven media … and therefore refuses to believe the truth? I am not optimistic that things will change in the short term, at least with Donald Trump leading the GOP and no one in GOP leadership willing to challenge him on the issues.
Jack Bernard is a retired corporate executive who worked extensively with hospital systems throughout Texas.
Credit: Source link
