Kansas Kid said:

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flown-the-coop said:

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AgDev01 said:

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Sid Farkas said:

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The Left got everything they wanted: runaway govt spending, overregulated construction, and an education system designed to reward the education establishment, not student learning.

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And because of that Trump was elected. What has he done to fix it?

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Cut government spending, cut 12 regulations for every one added - particularly in construction, and eliminated the Dept of Education.

Promised delivered.

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I must have missed the news about the Dept of Education ACTUALLY being eliminated because they are still handing out loans and a number of regulations from the Dept still apply to US schools. Near me they filed Title IX violations against 4 school districts.

So much for that promise being kept. (Yes it has seen a workforce reduction but that wasn't the promise).

As for government spending being cut, wrong again.
U.S. federal government spending for fiscal year-to-date (FYTD 2026, spanning October 2025 through July 2026) reached $6.28 trillion, an increase of $309 billion (about 5.2%) compared to $5.97 trillion over the exact same timeframe in the previous fiscal year (FY 2025)

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Formal elimination requires Congress.

Most Title IX investigations and enforcement has been handed over to the DOJ.

"Workforce reduction" = >50% reduction with more planned

And the YOY budget increase inflation adjusted or not?

and Congress can do their job to implement Trump plans. Trump has pushed as hard as he can even in the face of activists judges.

But yea, it's all just Orange Man Bad problem promises.

Too funny.

nortex97 said:

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Old McDonald said:

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if you remember way back in fall 2024, dems were in a similar position. CPI near target, unemployment near historic lows, GDP above trend, equities up sharply, but despite all that economic sentiment was in the toilet and dems got crushed.

the lesson from that election was that the level of prices (shorthanded to "affordability") is far more salient to voters than abstract economic indicators they don't feel directly. trump and republicans won the election largely on promises to make things affordable again and then implemented policy (tariffs, war in iran) which did the opposite. they will likely lose the house and possibly the senate because of it. perhaps they should have learned their lesson.

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CPI near target in 2024? Bidenflation was a thing. That's why Americans rejected Democrats in 2024.

No. Latest CPI YoY is 3.4% (July 2026). Biden peaked at 9.1% with a term average near 5%. Cumulative prices rose ~4.3% in Trump's first 18 months versus ~12% in Biden's. Current rate exceeds the ~3% at inauguration, driven partly by energy.

— Grok (@grok) August 18, 2026

CPI inflation rate, November 2024
2.73% year-over-year (blue)
3.82% monthly (annualized)

Have been saying this for a while, but I think above target inflation is the way it's going be for the foreseeable future. pic.twitter.com/IoFMuctSG7

— David Andolfatto (@dandolfa) December 11, 2024

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OM loves his "lying" revisionist history.

schmellba99 said:

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one safe place said:

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CDUB98 said:

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Quote:

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Why would voters want to give the DSA-Dems more power to harm the economy while Trump is president?

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You're looking at this too rationally, and from a place of comfort. No disrespect intended.

The poor and lower middle class are getting crushed. They will irrationally look to anyone who promises to solve their problems. They often do not have the emotional control to think through things.

The DSA is promising a utopia where the rich get eaten and the poor get everything. They latch on to that messaging, not knowing the reality of their eventual demise under that system.

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The poor and lower middle class have been supporters of democrats forever. The democrats have always appealed to them via promises of freebies.

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This.

And the poor and typically lower middle class are always getting crushed - mostly because they make crap financial decisions or simply don't have marketable skills to pull themselves out of the poor or lower middle class.

You could drop $1MM in the bank account of every single person that falls in those two categories and within a year 95% (or more) would be in the exact same position as they were before getting the $1MM. They are poor because they make stupid financial decisions. Nothing will ever change that.

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Facts. But this same group will keep *****ing because they can't stop making dumbass decisions. No mirrors in their cheap ass apartments or in mom's basement.

Bingo.

Gee, I wonder why?

The United States has been in a silent economic depression since 2001.

Household net worth is at an all-time high in nominal terms, but when priced in gold, we're at the nadir of the Great Recession and right back to where we were in 1988. https://t.co/aiuhu2uNLZ pic.twitter.com/aj2In6gE63

— Christian Heiens 🏛 (@ChristianHeiens) August 18, 2026

My issue is that insane spending is obviously part of their plan...but it is dangerously close to happening in any case at this point.

Trump is America First. There is no refuting this.

DOGE wasn't killed in 6 months, its still happening its just not making headlines because Elon stepped aside.

There. I refuted it.

DOGE ceased operations a month ago lol

PaulsBunions said:

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DOGE ceased operations a month ago lol

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So it did. Lol.

It still didn't get killed in 6 months. Lol.

Silent For Too Long said:

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PaulsBunions said:

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DOGE ceased operations a month ago lol

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So it did. Lol.

It still didn't get killed in 6 months. Lol.

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DOGE was disbanded in 2025. officially, last month.

when someone is told they are shutting operations down, they stop working. their official last day is later.

so was their work killed when the operations were shut down? or was it on the last day?

either way, we have zero arrests for government waste and had the opportunity to clean the swamp. that didn't happen.

flown-the-coop said:

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Kansas Kid said:

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flown-the-coop said:

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AgDev01 said:

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Sid Farkas said:

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The Left got everything they wanted: runaway govt spending, overregulated construction, and an education system designed to reward the education establishment, not student learning.

---

And because of that Trump was elected. What has he done to fix it?

---

Cut government spending, cut 12 regulations for every one added - particularly in construction, and eliminated the Dept of Education.

Promised delivered.

---

I must have missed the news about the Dept of Education ACTUALLY being eliminated because they are still handing out loans and a number of regulations from the Dept still apply to US schools. Near me they filed Title IX violations against 4 school districts.

So much for that promise being kept. (Yes it has seen a workforce reduction but that wasn't the promise).

As for government spending being cut, wrong again.
U.S. federal government spending for fiscal year-to-date (FYTD 2026, spanning October 2025 through July 2026) reached $6.28 trillion, an increase of $309 billion (about 5.2%) compared to $5.97 trillion over the exact same timeframe in the previous fiscal year (FY 2025)

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Formal elimination requires Congress.

Most Title IX investigations and enforcement has been handed over to the DOJ.

"Workforce reduction" = >50% reduction with more planned

And the YOY budget increase inflation adjusted or not?

and Congress can do their job to implement Trump plans. Trump has pushed as hard as he can even in the face of activists judges.

But yea, it's all just Orange Man Bad problem promises.

Too funny.

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You are the one that said Trump kept his promises to end the education and to cut expenses. When facts don't line up the goal posts move to well he cut the DOE workforce and we should look at spending on an inflation basis.

Well let's look at it that way. Even the so called eliminated department increased spending despite moving a number of programs to other departments so the real increase is higher than actual (see below). Even the staff reductions are overstated when you realize some of them went to other departments. I welcome any reduction of government spending but what we were promised and what many of us want is for the department to be eliminated either in actuality or reduced to the point at which it is a shell of its former self and its former programs eliminated not just shuffled off to a different cabinet department.

"The U.S. Department of Education's enacted discretionary funding for fiscal year 2026 is $79 billion, representing an increase of roughly $217 million over the $78.7 billion enacted for fiscal year 2025."

As for total expenses, the "cut" was over a 5% increase. Are you saying Trump has inflation running above 5%? I ask that because there are a lot of ways to calculate inflation so I will let you decide if inflation is above 5% which is bad or if the so called cut of expenses was really an increase.

If this were my kids, I certainly wouldn't be letting them say promises kept.

Kansas Kid said:

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You are the one that said Trump kept his promises to end the education and to cut expenses. When facts don't line up the goal posts move to well he cut the DOE workforce and we should look at spending on an inflation basis. Only Congress can formally end. When yout cut the workforce by over 50% and cut the expenditures by even more, and have it on a path to elimination, then I am not sure what else you want. Like it or not, there were functions assigned to the Dept of Education that required some sense of transition. I would imagine you would be one of the first to come back and say what a disaster Trump created in Title IX enforcements, grants, programs for special education and such because he just fired everyone and locked the doors with no plan. See people always claiming "Trump has no plan!" whenever he takes quick, decisive action.

Well let's look at it that way. Even the so called eliminated department increased spending despite moving a number of programs to other departments so the real increase is higher than actual (see below). Even the staff reductions are overstated when you realize some of them went to other departments. I welcome any reduction of government spending (unless Trump does it, then it does not count) but what we were promised and what many of us want is for the department to be eliminated either in actuality or reduced to the point at which it is a shell of its former self and its former programs eliminated not just shuffled off to a different cabinet department. Congress rejected Trump's proposed cuts to Dept of Education but Trump and MacMahon have managed to curtail many of the outlays associated with those budgets. The outlays that have occurred have been redirected to more worthwhile cause.

"The U.S. Department of Education's enacted discretionary funding for fiscal year 2026 is $79 billion, representing an increase of roughly $217 million over the $78.7 billion enacted for fiscal year 2025."

As for total expenses, the "cut" was over a 5% increase. 5% of 80 billion is $4 billion, not the 300 million with is less than a 0.5% increase. Again, see above. Are you saying Trump has inflation running above 5%? I ask that because there are a lot of ways to calculate inflation so I will let you decide if inflation is above 5% which is bad or if the so called cut of expenses was really an increase.

If this were my kids, I certainly wouldn't be letting them say promises kept.

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You need to go back through your posts and numbers.

Please help you kids understand reality, our system of government, and what POTUS can do and what the responsibilities of Congress are.

That may help you understand things better as well.

theJonatron said:

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Silent For Too Long said:

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PaulsBunions said:

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DOGE ceased operations a month ago lol

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So it did. Lol.

It still didn't get killed in 6 months. Lol.

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DOGE was disbanded in 2025. officially, last month.

when someone is told they are shutting operations down, they stop working. their official last day is later.

so was their work killed when the operations were shut down? or was it on the last day?

either way, we have zero arrests for government waste and had the opportunity to clean the swamp. that didn't happen.

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So who are you voting for?

flown-the-coop said:

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Kansas Kid said:

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You are the one that said Trump kept his promises to end the education and to cut expenses. When facts don't line up the goal posts move to well he cut the DOE workforce and we should look at spending on an inflation basis. Only Congress can formally end. When yout cut the workforce by over 50% and cut the expenditures by even more, and have it on a path to elimination, then I am not sure what else you want. Like it or not, there were functions assigned to the Dept of Education that required some sense of transition. I would imagine you would be one of the first to come back and say what a disaster Trump created in Title IX enforcements, grants, programs for special education and such because he just fired everyone and locked the doors with no plan. See people always claiming "Trump has no plan!" whenever he takes quick, decisive action.

Well let's look at it that way. Even the so called eliminated department increased spending despite moving a number of programs to other departments so the real increase is higher than actual (see below). Even the staff reductions are overstated when you realize some of them went to other departments. I welcome any reduction of government spending (unless Trump does it, then it does not count) but what we were promised and what many of us want is for the department to be eliminated either in actuality or reduced to the point at which it is a shell of its former self and its former programs eliminated not just shuffled off to a different cabinet department. Congress rejected Trump's proposed cuts to Dept of Education but Trump and MacMahon have managed to curtail many of the outlays associated with those budgets. The outlays that have occurred have been redirected to more worthwhile cause.

"The U.S. Department of Education's enacted discretionary funding for fiscal year 2026 is $79 billion, representing an increase of roughly $217 million over the $78.7 billion enacted for fiscal year 2025."

As for total expenses, the "cut" was over a 5% increase. 5% of 80 billion is $4 billion, not the 300 million with is less than a 0.5% increase. Again, see above. Are you saying Trump has inflation running above 5%? I ask that because there are a lot of ways to calculate inflation so I will let you decide if inflation is above 5% which is bad or if the so called cut of expenses was really an increase.

If this were my kids, I certainly wouldn't be letting them say promises kept.

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You need to go back through your posts and numbers.

Please help you kids understand reality, our system of government, and what POTUS can do and what the responsibilities of Congress are.

That may help you understand things better as well.

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Says the person that claims POTUS kept his promises to eliminate the DoE and reduce spending. You claimed that. Not me. So what you are admitting is Trump lied when he said he was going to eliminate DoE because he can't even do it.

I see you don't live in the real world. You live in fantasy land where you can claim victory even while losing.

Cool.

Quote:

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So who are you voting for?

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I don't know yet, but I do know I'm going to hold signs with other concerned citizens outside the RNC next month. Maybe if there's enough of us, Trump will turn it around and solidify his legacy.

I really hope he does.

If anyone wants to join, feel free to PM. It's about to everyone, but my reasoning is not because I want to be a blue haired he/she saying tRuMp Is BaD.

It's because I want what was promised to us.

I want the deportations.
I want spending under control.
I want the Epstein list.
I want the damp drained.

I don't want new wars.
I don't want Flock cameras.
I don't want "data centers" with little plans to how it will affect our power grid and prices for electricity.

Surely we could make our voices heard and numbers seen. Maybe some of these old men can have a grinch moment and their hearts grow 3 times the size.

And if not, well, I tried and I continue to trust Christ's plan.

This is The Trump prosperity graph.

Even if you start at Dementia Joe's lowest point of destruction, Trump beats him by 20% in that time period. What took Joe 2.5 years - with a massive tailwind - took Trump 1.5.

Affordability is a huge issue and its legit.

The Rs make the problems worse.

The Ds would make it a catastrophe.

And the general public doesn't understand the most basic economics, so our pendulum swing arc of government control oscillates between stepping in dog crap to skinny dipping in the sewage.

All public school history and economics curriculum should be scrapped and replaced with Tuttle Twins videos.

theJonatron said:

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Silent For Too Long said:

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PaulsBunions said:

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DOGE ceased operations a month ago lol

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So it did. Lol.

It still didn't get killed in 6 months. Lol.

---

DOGE was disbanded in 2025. officially, last month.

when someone is told they are shutting operations down, they stop working. their official last day is later.

so was their work killed when the operations were shut down? or was it on the last day?

either way, we have zero arrests for government waste and had the opportunity to clean the swamp. that didn't happen.

---

They still operated until July of 2026.

theJonatron said:

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Quote:

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So who are you voting for?

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I don't know yet, but I do know I'm going to hold signs with other concerned citizens outside the RNC next month. Maybe if there's enough of us, Trump will turn it around and solidify his legacy.

I really hope he does.

If anyone wants to join, feel free to PM. It's about to everyone, but my reasoning is not because I want to be a blue haired he/she saying tRuMp Is BaD.

It's because I want what was promised to us.

I want the deportations.
I want spending under control.
I want the Epstein list.
I want the damp drained.

I don't want new wars.
I don't want Flock cameras.
I don't want "data centers" with little plans to how it will affect our power grid and prices for electricity.

Surely we could make our voices heard and numbers seen. Maybe some of these old men can have a grinch moment and their hearts grow 3 times the size.

And if not, well, I tried and I continue to trust Christ's plan.

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You have interesting list of more government and less government.

Haven't verified this but I'm sure it's accurate:

Inflation by Presidency. Guess where @POTUS ranks. I’ll give you a hint, it ain’t at the top. pic.twitter.com/AgsI9fWP86

— Tiffany Savage 🇺🇸 (@patriot_savvy) August 18, 2026

nortex97 said:

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So, we hear a lot about 'affordability' as something that is terrible, and the DSA dems will work to solve and it is all Trump's fault. But how accurate is that narrative?

U.S. import and export prices collapse into negative territory pic.twitter.com/WEBU9NUVCc

— Latinx Adjacent Doctor PhD (@TonerousHyus) August 18, 2026

Is the economy actually in a good or poor shape?

The US economy keeps setting records, but it has almost stopped hiring.

Payrolls grew 1.2% a year over the previous decade. Since the start of 2025, they are up just 0.2% annualized. Unemployment, the prime-age employment rate, quits, and hires have all flatlined.

Call it a… pic.twitter.com/o7u5kWb0Q7

— Kurt S. Altrichter, CRPS® (@kurtsaltrichter) August 18, 2026

I don't think 'cost of living' is adverse/deteriorating despite the Iran war/gas prices above $3 per another thread. Why would voters want to give the DSA-Dems more power to harm the economy while Trump is president?

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Need to refund and deport H1B and all visas downstream to open up the entry level job market

Red wave this fall

Book it

Quote:

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You have interesting list of more government and less government.

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The only item there that requires more government is deportations. I'm sure some fellas would jump at the opportunity to do deportations themselves, but that would be kidnapping. We can't permit states to do it themselves, because California, NY, IL would be flooded with no end in sight

schmellba99 said:

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The concept of a smaller starter home is absolutely foreign to most people today. They demand a 4 bedroom, 3 bath, 3 car garage luxury home instantly. And it has to have every bell and whistle possible. Kids don't share bedrooms anymore either. The entire concept of what is normal and the idea that you start small and work your way up as you grow in your career and increase your income is absolutely foreign.

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When my wife and I got married, there were several subdivisions that had entire sections of starter homes. While I haven't taken a look at subdivisions in 30 years, I don't think they do that any more.

When my son was looking for his first house (single guy back then) everything he found was either a couple notches above a strarter home (with a corresponding increase in price) or it was 80 to 100 years old which meant there were way too many things that needed to be done with the house.

When I was still doing tax returns, I saw a good bit of what you are describing. Often, couples in their mid 20s were buying new homes that were nicer than any home their parents had ever owned. Way nicer. I will never forget this gal brought in her tax stuff for she and her husband (both mid 20s), and among the paperwork was the closing statement of their new home. $750,000 or $775,000 price. I had done her parents return for 25 years or so and I pulled their file and they had paid about half of that for a home about 6 or 8 years prior. To top it off, the parents had giften them $100,000 or $150,000 to put toward the new home.

theJonatron said:

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Quote:

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You have interesting list of more government and less government.

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The only item there that requires more government is deportations. I'm sure some fellas would jump at the opportunity to do deportations themselves, but that would be kidnapping. We can't permit states to do it themselves, because California, NY, IL would be flooded with no end in sight

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What if they're not kids?!

Well at least Trump drained the swamp

Prescription drug prices plummet as America stops paying the world's drug costs.

Quote:

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President Donald Trump's Most Favored Nation policies and TrumpRx platform have produced the largest annual drop in U.S. prescription drug prices in over 60 years, the steepest since 1963, according to the administration. The update follows years of price increases across much of the sector which had Americans footing the bill for other nations' usage.

"Without even twisting an arm, without trying to pass a new bill, he [Trump] brought all these players together with TrumpRX to lower the cost of prescription drugs, and he continues to do that because this guy understands leverage. He understands the bully pulpit," Rep. Jimmy Patronis, R-Fla., told Just The News.

TrumpRx has already generated $700 million in patient savings. GLP-1 drugs that previously exceeded $1,000 monthly now start at $149; many other high-cost medications (insulin, inhalers, fertility drugs, cholesterol treatments) have fallen 5090%. Prescription prices are down 3.9% since Trump took office and have declined every month of 2026.

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Democrats hardest hit.

The grocery store is the Republican's biggest enemy right now. Brutal.

LMCane said:

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4.1% unemployment, inflation at 2.9% with the stock market at record highs and gasoline under $4

Joe Biden would have thrown Doctor Jill off Air Force One to have those numbers.

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Does your unemployment number include those who have quit looking for jobs?

There seems to be a significant number of voters who don't seem to care about party platforms or policy aims. They vote based on how they think they are doing at the moment. As a lot of you point to, functionally, there are only two parties. When the one they voted for last doesn't seem to be helping them, they vote for the other. We'll see how that goes in November.

CDUB98 said:

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Ultimately, the problem remains the same, and neither party is going to fix it.

SPENDING

Chucking trillions in debt out every year is the main, underlying cause. It's an undefeated law of economics. The only thing the two sides argue about now are what to spend it on.

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Well stated.

AGHouston11 said:

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Well at least Trump drained the swamp

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Drained the reflecting pool twice now and people still complain.

Also drained out Cassidy, Cornyn and others. Drained USAID.

I guess you can complain he hasn't locked up Hillary nor released the Epstein client list.

ts5641 said:

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The grocery store is the Republican's biggest enemy right now. Brutal.

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People saving more on taxes and drugs than they are paying in higher gas and brisket.

Quit being gaslit.