If Only MAGA Voters Could Hear the Truth About the Economy
They would set aside their stupid social issues, and America could indeed be great again
353,000 jobs were added to the economy in January of an election year. Those numbers should scare anyone from running against the incumbent president. In America 2024, however, roughly half of the electorate gets its information in the form of propaganda, and regrettably, this reality is concealed from sight.
After the loss of 14 percent of the nation’s jobs early in the Covid-19 pandemic, the labor market’s endurance despite aggressive interest rate increases has caught economists off guard.
“I think everyone is surprised at the strength,” said Sara Rutledge, an independent economics consultant. “It’s almost like a ‘pinch me’ scenario (Job Market Starts).”
Economists are pinching themselves to ensure they are awake, and 70 million Americans, many of whom this economy has benefited, plan to vote for an ex-president whose every policy made them worse off economically. Trump’s greatest economic “victory,” in fact, was the passing of a massive tax cut that benefited the top 10 percent of Americans while making the rest foot the bill for generational wealth redistribution.
If you were to tell anyone of this good economic news, the average Foxified American would come back at you with slogans and tribal mantras: China owns us; Trump’s economy was the best the world had ever seen; $8 for gas; Run-away inflation; Biden makes Jimmy Carter look good.
Inflation has been bad; even that has fallen and is seemingly under control. Wages are up across the board. Nonetheless, food prices are still 25% higher than a year ago, but none of that has anything to do with Biden’s policies. COVID blew up supply chains, and in the world’s largest economy, when just one week goes by without an essential item being delivered, the effect ripples out far and wide. Add 18 months of such supply-chain issues caused by COVID-19, and the disruptions go on for years. This is why prices on essential items went up so much. The demand was significantly outstripping the supply.
Trump’s effort to downplay the pandemic and his vocal opposition to masking, followed up by his refusal to support vaccines, only served to extend the pandemic’s choke hold on our supply chains. This is a fact. The increase in deaths and then incidents of long-COVID that still linger were all drains on the economy and made worse thanks to Republican opposition to staying safe during COVID. The adverse economic effects of Trump’s chaos were real and lasting. Joe Biden has done a phenomenal job overcoming the worst presidency in our nation’s history.
The sweeping tariffs that former President Donald J. Trump imposed on China and other American trading partners were simultaneously a political success and an economic failure, a new study suggests. That’s because the levies won over voters for the Republican Party even though they did not bring back jobs (Trump’s Tariffs Hurt).
Political Economics
The term “political economy” is a branch of social sciences focusing on relationships between individuals, governments, and public policy. Republicans have reversed this term, creating a beast I call “political economics.” They manipulate the economy for political gains. They usually use their political gains to force restrictive social issues onto society. When things inevitably start getting bad due to their policies, they blow up the social tensions to pass politically favorable economic policies for their core constituents — which usually means cutting taxes for the rich and, in Trump’s case, using tariffs to buy off voters.
The undying support for dirty energy by Republicans is another example of political economics. Because Republicans are so beholden to dirty energy money, they use propaganda and lies to speak about “communist takeovers” and “America is being destroyed” to draw attention away from the long-term positive effects of things like renewable energies. Trump was the environment’s enemy, but since President Biden has made it part of his legacy to invest heavily in green energy, systemic shifts are underway in our country.
“It’s not just job security — it’s also the fear that your own career growth becomes limited by the industry,” said Mr. Moore, who is married with three children in a Houston suburb. He left for a position at an oil and gas services firm that is moving into technologies like geothermal energy and carbon capture. “They’re in growth mode, too,” Mr. Moore added, “It’s just a different phase of the cycle.”
The new gig also came with a 40 percent pay increase, which has allowed him to start paying down debt and think about buying a new house. “It’s like night and day,” Mr. Moore said (Job Market Starts)”.
The country barely survived the four years of Trump. Republicans across the board are afraid to challenge the likely nominee for their Party. One way anti-Trump Republicans could offer mild challenges is to be honest about the nation’s economy. All it takes is a handful of well-known conservatives to praise Biden’s economy while drawing direct comparisons to the weaknesses of Trump’s economy and the likelihood of an easy Biden increases.
The regrettable reality, however, is that no matter how much a Republican dislikes Trump, they have all been raised in the school of thought of political economics launched by Ronald Reagan. Most will choose their Republican tribe over the country — America be damned.