Tag: economy

Republicans Lose Edge on Inflation, Economy: Poll

Just the News
Donald Trump

Republicans have seen their polling advantage on the economy and inflation disappear in the fallout from President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs, according to a recent survey.

While they maintained a narrow advantage on the economy generally, voters broke for the Democrats on inflation in the latest iteration of the Napolitan News Survey. Only 41% favored the GOP on the economy, compared to 40% who backed the Democrats. Only inflation, however, Democrats led with 42% support to the GOP’s 38%.

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Michael Patrick Leahy and Reporter Tom Pappert Provide Inside Look of President Donald Trump’s Day One Executive Orders

Kaitlin Housler
MPL and Pappert

Michael Patrick Leahy, CEO and Editor-in-Chief of The Tennessee Star, and Tom Pappert, lead reporter at The Star, provided an inside look of an extensive list of executive orders President Donald Trump will sign on his first day in office after having been briefed by incoming White House officials Monday morning.

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Eric Trump Blasts Economic Crisis Under the Biden-Harris Administration ‘Ignored’ by the Media

Kaitlin Housler
Eric Trump

Eric Trump, former President Donald Trump’s son and executive vice president of the Trump Organization, blasted the mainstream media for being ” dishonest ” in reporting the Biden-Harris administration’s shortfalls, especially in the economy.

On Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Labor released revised federal jobs data, which showed that it overestimated the number of jobs created in the U.S. by 818,000 over the year through March 2024.

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Biden Admin Overcounted Job Growth Estimates by Nearly a Million

Daily Caller News Foundation
People working in an office

The federal government overestimated the number of jobs in the U.S. economy by 818,000 between April 2023 and March 2024, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics released Wednesday, stoking fears of a slowdown in the U.S. economy.

Economists at Goldman Sachs (GS) and Wells Fargo anticipated the government had overestimated job growth by at least 600,000 in that span, while economists at JPMorgan Chase had predicted a lesser decline of 360,000, according to Bloomberg. The downward revision follows a trend of the BLS overestimating the number of nonfarm payroll jobs added, with the cumulative number of new jobs reported in 2023 roughly 1.3 million less than previously thought as of February 2024.

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Commentary: Two Years On, the IRA Is Exactly What Its Critics Said It Would Become

Daily Caller News Foundation
Joe Biden

In a recent interview, World Energy Council Secretary General Angela Wilkinson told me that one of the main impediments to the energy transition today is a lack of what she calls “systems thinking.”

“Energy transitions are a change in the organization of society,” she pointed out. “They’re not a simple case of swapping out one technology for another and everything else stays the same. Yet, we have this very simplistic narrative that we can take the oil system, we can put renewables in, it’s going to happen immediately, and nothing else will change. It’s like saying we’re going to take your thighbone out, but we’d like you to run a marathon.”

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Arizona Democrats Say They Want to Cut Costs with New Laws, State Republicans Contend it Would Lead to Higher Taxes

The Center Square
Sen. Juan Mendez and Sen. John Kavanagh in front of the Arizona State Capitol Building (composite image)

If victorious in November, Arizona Democrats aim to institute laws they say would cut costs for Arizonans. Republicans say these measures would only hurt Arizona’s economy and lead to higher taxes.

Only two seats away from having a Democratic majority in Arizona’s legislative chambers for the first time in six decades, the Democratic Caucus has established a plan they say would allow them to hit the ground running in 2025 should they take control of the Legislature. This story is part of an ongoing series of what a Democratic trifecta would look like for Arizona taxpayers.

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Commentary: Government Policies are Exacerbating Evictions

Admin
Eviction Notice

Evictions are soaring, and Americans can’t pay the rent, potentially throwing hundreds of thousands of families out of their homes at a time when homeless shelters are jammed to the rafters with 10 million illegal immigrants.

It’s a useful reminder that the problem with our ruling elite isn’t just President Joe Biden’s dementia. They’ve made a very big bed we’re all going to be lying in.

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Commentary: Biden’s Problems Are the Real Threats

RealClearWire
Joe Biden

Democratic analysts don’t seem to understand why the all-out legal assault on President Donald Trump isn’t working. It’s because they keep talking among themselves and not with the American people.

The American people don’t live and work in the New York-Washington political-media-government bubble. If reporters and analysts listened to Americans, as we do at America’s New Majority Project, they would learn how decisive the choice between President Joe Biden or President Trump is. They would also see how difficult, if not impossible, it will be for President Biden to get easily re-elected.

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Analysis: RCM/TIPP Economic Index Slumps Again

RealClearWire

The RealClearMarkets/TIPP Economic Optimism Index, a leading gauge of consumer sentiment, dropped sharply 3.1 percent in June to 40.5. Since September 2021, the index has remained in negative territory for 34 consecutive months. June’s reading of 40.5 is 17.6 percent lower than the historic average of 49.2.

Optimism among investors edged up 0.4 percent from 46.3 in May to 46.5 in June, while it slumped by 6.0 percent among non-investors, from 40.1 in May to 37.7 in June.

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Vast Majority of Small Business Owners Worried Biden’s Economy Will Force Them to Close

Admin

A large portion of small business owners are concerned about their future amid wider financial stress under President Joe Biden, according to a new poll from the Job Creators Network Foundation (JCNF) obtained exclusively by the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Around 67 percent of small business owners were worried that current economic conditions could force them to close their doors, ten percentage points higher than just two years ago, according to the JCNF’s monthly small business poll. Respondents’ perceptions of economic conditions for their own businesses fell slightly in the month, from 70.2 to 68.1 points, with 100 points being the best possible business conditions, while perceptions of national conditions increased from 50.4 to 53.2 points.

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Exclusive: Sen. Blackburn Discusses State of Economy with Former Trump Advisor

Peter D'Abrosca
Stephen Moore Marsha Blackburn

In a yet-to-be-released episode of her podcast Unmuted, Sen. Marsha Blackburn spoke with former President Donald J. Trump’s economic advisor, Stephen Moore, about the state of the economy, which the senator said is in much worse shape than the Biden administration’s official numbers.

“[R]ight now, Tennesseans are spending about $1,000 a month more than they were spending in 2020 during President Trump’s time,” Blackburn said before introducing Moore. “And repeatedly, I hear these questions. How are they arriving at these inflation numbers when they tell us it’s really not that bad? And we go to the grocery store in the gas pump and go by the clothing store, and prices are through the roof.”

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Exclusive: Senator Blackburn Releases Guide on ‘True Cost of Bidenflation’

Peter D'Abrosca
Marsha Blackburn

While the Biden administration claims that the U.S. inflation rate is only 3.4 percent, Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN)  released a guide disputing that figure, with evidence showing that Americans are suffering far more than the administration is letting on.

“Inflation is a top concern for Tennesseans and Americans,” says a guide called “The True Cost of Bidenflation. “Under the Biden administration, inflation has hit its highest rate in 41 years, and prices across the board are up nearly 20%. Meanwhile, the administration touts that inflation is ‘only’ at 3.4%.

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Ukrainian Aid Costs Each American Household Almost $1,500, Economists Say

Admin
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy with United States President Joe Biden

Even as Americans grow increasingly pessimistic and agitated about their personal finances, Congress is about to ask struggling families to cover the cost of more funding for Ukraine.

The $95 billion foreign aid package adopted Saturday by the House and facing near-certain passage in the Senate includes an additional $61 billion for Ukraine. Once added to the money already appropriated for Ukraine since 2022, the United States will have spent approximately $173 billion.

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Commentary: The Unattainable American Dream

RealClearWire
American flag waving in front of house

Get married, have children, buy a house, and live comfortably on a single income. Not very long ago, that path was the reality, the norm, for the great American middle class.

But America has gone backward in this regard, and struggling citizens know it all too well. Experiencing the kinds of lives enjoyed by our parents and grandparents has become impossible for most Americans, leading to widespread disenchantment and a palpable loss of patriotism and confidence in America.

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Voters ID Inflation, Immigration as Top Concerns Ahead of Presidential Election

The Center Square
People in grocery checkout line

Likely voters are focused on inflation and price increases, illegal immigration and the economy as incumbent President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump prepared for a rematch of 2020 in November. 

The Center Square Voters’ Voice Poll, conducted in conjunction with Noble Predictive Insights, found that given a range of options to identify their top concerns, likely voters said inflation/price increases (45 percent), illegal immigration (44 percent) and the economy/jobs (24 percent) were the issues that matter most to them. 

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Layoffs Continue Nationwide as Economic Concerns Rise

The Center Square
Fired by email

As the economy worsens, multiple industries continue to shed jobs.

U.S.-based companies laid off 82,307 employees in January, a 136 percent increase from the previous month, according to a report by the business and coaching firm, Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc. The Wall Street Journal reported companies are still cutting white-collar jobs in an attempt “to do more with less.”

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Commentary: Unemployment Up Another 760,000 Since December 2022 as Unemployment Rate Jumps to 3.9 Percent

Admin

Don’t look now, but U.S. labor markets appear to be churning in the wrong direction, as the unemployment rate jumped to 3.9 percent in February, and the unemployment level hit a new high for this cycle at almost 6.5 million, up 760,000 from its low this cycle of 5.7 million in Dec. 2022, according to the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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Commercial Foreclosures Increase 97 Percent from Last Year to Near Decade-High

Just the News
Commercial Shopping Space for Lease

Commercial real estate foreclosures increased 97 percent in January 2024 compared to last year, reaching a high that has not been seen in nearly a decade, according to new data.

With 635 commercial foreclosures in January 2024, foreclosures increased 17 percent from December 2023 and 97 percent from January 2023, according to a report last week from property data analyst ATTOM.

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Almost a Quarter of All Jobs Added in 2023 Didn’t Actually Exist

Admin
man in yellow hardhat and work jacket

The original number of jobs reported by the federal government in 2023 was revised down by a total of 749,000 jobs, meaning nearly one-fourth of jobs thought to be created in the year were not actually there, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) analyzed by the Daily Caller News Foundation.

The sum of the initial estimate from each of the government’s monthly job growth reports in 2023 totaled 3,140,000 new jobs, with later reports revising down the number of jobs added by a collective 443,000, according to the BLS. The BLS also announced in August a revision in total employment for March, subtracting another 306,000 jobs.

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Commentary: The High Price of Gaslighting Americans on Bidenomics’ ‘Success’

Admin

Anyone still wondering why voters trust former President Trump more than President Biden on the economy should read what the White House posted on X about inflation last week: “Ahead of the holiday season, costs are down for everything from airline tickets and car rentals to toys and TVs.” Biden and his underlings continue to believe public disapproval of his disastrous economic performance can be improved with happy talk and cherry picked statistics. It assumes Americans can’t remember how much less the cost of living was when Biden was elected.

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Republicans Achieve Highest Marks on the Economy in over 30 Years: Poll

Admin

The GOP holds its largest advantage on the economy in over 30 years, with 53% of Americans trusting Republicans more than Democrats on the issue, according to a poll released Tuesday.

Republicans held a 14-point lead over the Democrats, of whom only 39% of Americans said handle the economy better, according to a Gallup poll. The GOP scored 10 points higher on the economy than last year, marking the largest margin between the two parties since 1991.

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EXCLUSIVE: GOP Presidential Candidate Doug Burgum Blasts Fox Business Debate Moderators: Why Did They Threaten to Shut off My Microphone When All I’m Trying to Do ‘Is Answer the Questions That the Other Candidates Weren’t?’

Tennessee Star Staff

Presidential candidate and North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum joined The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy on Friday to share his thoughts about Wednesday’s debate and to lay out his vision for the country, without the worry that his microphone was going to be cut off.  TRANSCRIPT Michael Patrick Leahy: 7:33 a.m.; broadcasting live from our studios on Music Row in Nashville, Tennessee, in-studio, the original all-star panelist, Crom Carmichael. On the newsmaker line right now, my friend, Governor Doug Burgum of North Dakota, one of the seven candidates who was on the stage Wednesday night at the GOP debate. Governor Burgum, welcome to The Tennessee Star Report. Doug Burgum: Mike, great to be with you. Thanks for having me on. Michael Patrick Leahy: Doug, you and I have known each other for over 40 years. You were a year ahead of me at Stanford Business School. I remember you sort of in the halls talking with the guys that started with Sun Microsystem, and then you went on to be very successful. Went back to your hometown, Fargo, North Dakota, literally bet the farm, started Great Plains Software – very successful. You ended up selling it to…

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Voters Overwhelmingly Side with the GOP on the Economy: Poll

Admin

Republicans hold a commanding lead among voters’ views toward which party handles the economy better as President Joe Biden continues to pitch his economic policy to the American people, according to a new NBC News poll.

Republicans lead Democrats 49% to 28% among registered voters surveyed on the economy, which is the largest lead in NBC polling since 1991, according to NBC News. Biden has sought to sell his economic policy, dubbed “Bidenomics,” to Americans, which consists of high-spending stimulus programs and green energy subsidies.

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Commentary: Could the Baby Boomer Retirement Wave and Labor Shortages Absorb the Recession?

Admin

The national unemployment rate dipped to 3.5 percent in July, according to the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, once again hitting more than 50-year lows.

It’s still peak employment as far as the eye can see. Even with the past two years’ high inflation dropping dramatically and disinflation usually correlating with higher unemployment and a recession, that simply has not occurred yet, despite all the warning signs typically associated with an economic slowdown or downturn.

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Tennessee Launches Dashboard Showing How ‘American Rescue Plan’ Funds Are Being Used

Peter D'Abrosca

The state of Tennessee launched a dashboard with data showing how the state has spent funds granted to it via the American Rescue Plan Act, a federal bailout package for states whose economies were decimated due to lockdowns during the COVID-19 panic. 

The dashboard explains the parameters of the usage of the federal funds, and notes that Tennessee received almost $4 billion of taxpayer money:

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Commentary: As Hiring Slows Down, So Does the Economy

Admin

The U.S. economy added 209,000 jobs in June, according to the latest establishment survey by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, less than expected as 306,000 were added in May, as hiring slowed down nationwide. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate remained about the same at 3.6 percent.

Historically, when hiring slows down by establishments, that usually coincides with economic slowdowns and recessions. In the recent cycle, the 2020 and 2021 recovery from COVID notwithstanding, hiring peaked at about 5.2 percent annualized increase in Feb. 2022. Now, it’s down to 2.5 percent.

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Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce Urges DNR to Move on Permitting Line 5 Pipeline Project

M.D. Kittle

Time is of the essence for the Evers administration to act on a critical energy pipeline relocation project in northern Wisconsin, according to the state’s largest chamber of commerce and manufacturers’ association. 

Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce (WMC) is urging the state Department of Natural Resources to swiftly move forward with a slow-moving permitting process of Enbridge Energy Co.’s Line 5 relocation project in northern Wisconsin. 

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North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum Launches Bid for White House, Joining Crowded Field of GOP Contenders

M.D. Kittle

At a Fargo events center packed with family, friends and neighbors, North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum stressed his small-town roots, his success in building a multi-billion dollar software business on the Great Plains,  governing a growing state, and his vision for an innovative America in announcing his bid for the White House. 

The newly minted presidential candidate joins a crowded field of declared Republican presidential candidates, launching his campaign on the same day former Vice President Mike Pence kicked off his in Iowa. 

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Commentary: Recession Looms as Banks Collapse and the Economy Slows

Admin

The unemployment rate still remains at historic lows of 3.4 percent in April, according to the latest data by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, amid other worrying signs for the U.S. economy including a continued collapse of job openings, a string of bank failure and an overall slowing Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

In the survey, as the population increased by 171,000, those not in the labor force increased by 214,000 as labor participation dipped slightly by 43,000. Those who said they had a job increased by 139,000 after a 577,000 increase in March. As a result, the unemployment rate has actually ticked downward for two consecutive months from 3.6 percent in February, to 3.5 percent in March and now 3.4 percent in April.

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Commentary: The Experts Were the Crisis in 2020

RealClearWire

The quote from Tolstoy’s War and Peace is a useful way to begin addressing the Washington Post editorial board’s confident assertion that “’A collective national incompetence in government’” was at the root of the U.S.’s alleged failure vis-à-vis the coronavirus in 2020. According to the Post quoting from a recently released report (“Lessons from the Covid War”), “The United States started out ‘with more capabilities than any other country in the world,’ but “it ended up with 1 million dead.” Were he still around, one guesses Tolstoy would mock the conceit of the Post’s editorialists.

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Unemployment Rates Drop in Nearly Every Tennessee County

Mac Roberts

In a new release on Thursday, the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development (TDLWD) announced March 2023 decreases in the unemployment rates in all but one county. Meigs County, a rural area situated between Chattanooga and Knoxville with a population of around 13,000, was the only one of 95 counties that saw an increase in its unemployment figure – by 0.7 percent.

Meigs County also had the highest unemployment rate of any county, with 5.6 percent. Most of the other top ten highest unemployment rates were in rural counties, including Bledsoe, Haywood, Lake, Scott, Clay, Cocke, Decatur, Lauderdale, and Grundy Counties.

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Commentary: On Economy, Biden Re-Election Faces Challenges

RealClearWire

As President Biden embarks on his reelection campaign, a majority of American voters are dissatisfied with his stewardship of the U.S. economy. Aware of the general angst among the electorate, Biden is threading the needle by saying he’s running on the strength of his overall record, while vowing to “finish the job” that he started when he stepped into the Oval Office. It’s a daunting task, with an overwhelming majority of registered voters expressing deep pessimism about the economy: 40.2% say the United States is currently in a recession, 17% call it a general state of stagnation, and 10.4% believe the country is in an outright depression.

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Pennsylvania Leadership Conference Poll: Election Integrity Conservatives’ Foremost Concern

Bradley Vasoli

At the Pennsylvania Leadership Conference this weekend, a straw poll of right-leaning activists from across the Keystone State found election integrity tops their public concerns. 

Cybersecurity Association of Pennsylvania President Scott R. Davis, who administered the survey, told attendees at the Penn Harris Hotel west of Harrisburg that 38 percent of those who voted called election integrity the foremost issue facing the state General Assembly. Trailing that topic were the state budget (28 percent) and gun laws (six percent). Eleven percent chose another issue. 

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Commentary: Spending Limits in Iowa Can Provide Property Tax Relief

The Center Square

Property taxes are a concern for taxpayers across the nation. Iowans, just as with many other states, are confronted with skyrocketing property taxes. The reason for high property taxes is local government spending. Spending drives taxes. This is the main reason why past property tax reforms in Iowa have failed to provide relief.

Montana state Rep. Caleb Hinkle understands that spending is driving higher property tax bills. To remedy this solution, he has introduced a local government spending limitation that will help slow the growth of local government spending and provide much-needed property tax relief.

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Fed Likely to Raise Interest Rates, But at a Less Aggressive Rate

Admin

The Federal Reserve is likely to further slow its historically aggressive pace of interest rate hikes at its Wednesday meeting as inflation cools, but consumers will still feel the pinch of higher interest rates, according to economists who spoke with the Daily Caller News Foundation.

The Fed is likely to hike interest rate hikes by just 0.25 percentage points after its Wednesday meeting, setting the range for its target federal-funds rate to between 4.5% and 4.75%, due to slowing inflation, The Wall Street Journal reported. Although consumers may see some relief from inflation as a result of the Fed’s rate hikes, they might give back some of those gains as heightened interest rates drive up borrowing costs, Heritage Foundation economist E.J. Antoni told the DCNF.

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