Trump Hearts Inflation
The rest of America is less enthused.
Via the AP: US households, businesses stung by higher energy prices that have pushed inflation above 4%.
Rising gas prices pushed inflation to its highest level in three years last month, a headache for the Federal Reserve and a potential political challenge for the Trump administration as midterm elections near.
Consumer prices rose 4.2% in May from a year earlier, the Labor Department said Wednesday, up from 3.8% in April and the third straight monthly increase. On a monthly basis, prices rose 0.5% last month, after big gains of 0.6% in April and 0.9% in March.
Here’s the chart:
But, never fear, this is actually good news!
To which I can only say: the commercials for the midterms keep writing themselves.
Meanwhile, the population isn’t too impressed:
I will note that the monthly jobs report was better than expected, as per NBC News: U.S. added 172,000 jobs in May, even as inflation squeezed consumers.
Here’s the broader context:
Added jobs were disproportionally part-time.
On the inflation front, to make things worse, the rise in inflation is outstripping the rise in wages. So rather than simply treading water or moving forward less than expected, households are falling behind.
Long, long ago, SNL did a sketch about an interview show called “What Were You Thinking?” One of the guests was Walter Mondale, who said in his 1984 campaign he’d raise taxes. They should do a sequel and have El Taco as the guest.
I know Mondale said Reagan would also raise taxes, but that he wouldn’t admit it. I forget the exact wording.
I think it is pretty clear Trump doesn’t give a fig what happens to other Republicans. Being faced with the reality that even a Republican governing trifecta can’t make his untethered campaign promises come to fruition, Trump has settled on denying reality. Having Democrats to blame for his failures over the balance of his term will prove more useful to him. He only needs to retain enough Senators to acquit him of his third impeachment.