Photo by David Libeert on Unsplash
The self-proclaimed "King of Debt" is steering America toward bankruptcy.
We all know by now that Trump is a lying conman grifter who knows nothing about how to run the world’s largest economy, is terrible at negotiating trade deals with global partners, and is failing bigly on his promise to eliminate the national debt in eight years.
But if there’s one thing this carnival barking clown likes to hype more than anything, it’s the “strength” of the economy. Having broken virtually all of his other promises to voters, the “Trump Economy” is the key to his re-election chances.
The “Trump Economy” story is one many lazy journalists are buying into because, yes, thanks mostly to a massive, deficit-exploding tax giveaway to the rich and corporations, Trump has been able to continue the Obama recovery for his first three years. But, even if the mainstream media are going along with the con for now, the story is starting to collapse.
Trump knows that the cracks in the “Trump Economy” are starting to show. That’s why his story about it keeps changing. When overall growth slows, he points to the strength of the stock market. When the stock market tumbles, he points to the jobs report. When the jobs report is bad, he cherry-picks data points like wage growth for the bottom 10%. When wage growth for the bottom 10% slows, he goes back to hyping the stock market.
But as Twitter user @Maxonsdad wrote in December 2019: “Trying to show the poor that they're better off by pointing out how well the stock market is doing is like my boss telling me I don't need a raise and showing me his brand new Mercedes as evidence.”
In the months ahead, as things in the “Trump Economy” get worse and worse, our failed president will no doubt play the victim. He’ll blame “Do-Nothing Democrats.” He’ll blame the “Fake News.” He’ll blame the coronavirus.
But the reality is his ignorance and incompetence, combined with his misguided trade wars and ineffective voodoo economics, have already set the stage for the coming downturn.
Whether, by Election Day, we’re talking about a “Trump Slump,” a “Trump Recession,” or a “Trump Crash” remains to be seen. Until then…
29 facts to explain why things are heading south:
- The deficit is $1 trillion. And growing.
- The debt is $23.3 trillion. And growing.
- The economy is slowing: 4th Quarter GDP growth of 2.1% was the slowest since 2016.
- In 2019, GDP growth declined to 2.3%—down from 2.9% in 2018.
- In 2020, GDP growth will slow even further.
- Annual deficits of $1.3 trillion are forecast for the next decade.
- The debt is projected to rise to $31.4 trillion by 2030.
- Trump created 1.5 million fewer jobs in his first 36 months than Obama created in the prior 36 months.
- An estimated 75,000 manufacturing jobs were lost because of Trump tariffs on steel and aluminum.
- Manufacturing was in a recession for all of 2019.
- Industrial production declined another 0.3% in January.
- 12,000 manufacturing jobs were lost in January.
- 24,000 autoworkers lost their jobs between January 2019 and January 2020.
- Farm bankruptcies rose 24% in 2019—the farm bailouts failed.
- 818 dairy farms went bankrupt in Wisconsin in 2019—the highest number ever.
- 11 coal companies have filed for bankruptcy since Trump took office.
- Households headed by high school graduates have lost $0.4 trillion in net worth under Trump.
- Total US household debt grew $601 billion in 2019—topping $14 trillion for the first time.
- Consumer debt, not counting mortgages, is now $4 trillion, the highest ever.
- Consumer spending growth slid from 3.2% in Q3… to 1.8% in Q4… to 0% in January.
- Sales at clothing stores dropped 3.1% in January, the biggest monthly decline since 2009.
- Five million 65+ households are now “severely burdened” by housing costs, spending over half their incomes on housing.
- One out of every six Americans has an unpaid medical bill on their credit report.
- Medical costs are a factor in up to 530,000 bankruptcies filed by Americans every year.
- Under Trump, poverty has increased in one third of all US counties.
- In Alabama, poverty has grown in 27 of 67 counties since 2016.
- In Texas, poverty has grown in 83 out of 254 counties since 2016.
- Minimum wage increases have helped some. But not “Red States” such as Iowa, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, North Carolina, Oklahoma and Texas, where the real value of the federal $7.25 minimum wage has declined 17% since 2009.
- 700,000 SNAP recipients are about to have their Food Stamps cut—further devastating rural communities.
To sum up: The debt is rising. The economy is slowing. Job growth is 15% weaker than it was during Obama’s last three years. Manufacturing is in a recession. Consumer debt is at all-time high. Consumer spending is weak. Medical costs are driving hundreds of thousands into bankruptcy. Farmers are going bankrupt. Miners and steelworkers are being laid off. And, as Trump takes aims at Food Stamps and other programs to protect the poor, poverty is growing in many key Trump strongholds.
Trump can call it “an economic boom, the likes of which the world has never seen before” all he wants. But the truth is far different. The man who couldn’t make a profit running a casino, is now pushing the whole US economy to the verge of bankruptcy.
Unprecedented from The Daily Edge is dedicated to exposing Trump’s and the GOP's corruption, cheating and conning. Because losing in 2020 is not an option.
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