That is really what 2026 will come down to – can Trump present reality more comprehensively to voters than Democrats their fantasy?
As I live in a Battleground State I am started to be inundated with campaign ads. The Democrats are running on “Trump’s endless wars and high costs”. Now, to be sure, there is a war and there are high costs…but lets take a look at some reality here.
As for the war: Iran today announced their new demands we must meet in order for them to open the Strait. MSMers are covering this all rather breathlessly. But, thing is, the Strait is open. Iran has no capacity to enforce any demands. It is all just theater – which the American (and overall Western) MSM is participating in – because they hate Trump. The reality:
Saudi Arabia’s crude oil exports have surged this month despite a sharp escalation in fighting with Iran-backed militants, according to data from the trade intelligence firm Kpler.
Riyadh is exporting 6 million barrels per day in September, the highest level since the Iran war began about seven months ago. The kingdom’s crude shipments have recovered to the monthly average of 2025.
Keep in mind that in total exports out of the Gulf pre-war, Iran accounted for a huge share of it. That is now completely stopped. So, sure, someone can say that oil exports are still down from pre-war, but when they say that, they’re just lying. They’re not giving the full context of the situation – in that Saudi is back to pre-war levels, Iran is at zero percent of pre-war…and they’re at zero because we haven’t given Iran permission to use the Strait. The only nation it is closed for is Iran. Because we closed it.
Because we control the Strait. Not Iran.
An Iranian official issuing demands should produce gales of laughter. It doesn’t because the world wants Iran to win this, so they can get after Trump.
As for costs – yep, gas and food prices remain high. We hit a modern peak for inflation in 2022…when Guess Who? was in office; it was 8 percent. It is 3.3 percent so far in 2026. Still too high, but we’re not getting that gigantic shock that the Democrats gave us in 2022. It would be lower except gasoline prices have recently spiked, likely via market manipulation (overbidding the price, shut downs of refineries) because there is no shortage of oil. Can’t do much about it short term, but it isn’t anything like an inflationary crisis crushing the middle class. But if you watch the MSM, it is – they are filled with stories about it. All complete fantasy.
To be sure, anyone who consumes MSM product is going to keep believing it – ignoring the evidence of their lying eyes. By this time, anyone still watching the TV news or the major news outlets is simply incapable of independent thought. They are the merest sheep waiting for the Idiot Box to tell them what to think. Can’t do much about that, either. Morons gonna moron. We can address changing the requirements for enfranchisement in the future…for now, the vote of an ignorant fool counts.
But the result of the election will not come down to idiots believing the TV but how many such idiots there are and how many intelligent people Trump and the GOP can drag to the polls. I know – sounds kinda silly, but the results will be determined by who gets the most votes!
Completely disregard all polls – smart poll analysis guy I know on line decided to look into who isn’t responding. Turns out, its us. Republicans don’t respond to polls. This is because we know they’re drivel. We’ve seen it just too many times – they always overstate the Democrat. When the “error” is all one way, it isn’t an error – it is a lie. And if a lie, then a lie produced to make us work against our own interests. Like the RINOs out there shouting we have to start pouring money into deep Red States just to barely survive November…that, along with polls, is the op: to get us to panic, go into a defensive crouch and let the Democrats win the battlegrounds by default. This is exactly the model the Democrats used in 2018. But this time we’re not falling for it. Today I saw a GOP-sponsored ad against Dina Titus (D-NV); she represents a D+2 seat which she won in 2024 by 7.5. Trump, MAGA and the MAGA part of the GOP aren’t going into a panic…they are fighting to win.
I feel confident. To be sure, even if you could existentially prove to me we’ll lose, I wouldn’t change a thing except to demand Trump do more, faster. We’re winning. We’re eating into the Democrats real power – welfare fraud and illegal votes. Over time, they’ll have less and less capacity to win…because in reality they haven’t won in ages. Only fraud has kept them afloat. If all the fraud were stopped tomorrow, they’d probably wind up with about 100 seats in the House after November. The party of letting illegals in, criminals out and surrender on the world stage isn’t popular. At all. Can’t be. If the truth were told, they’d be finished for good. And Trump will now spend the next two months – and about a billion dollars – telling the truth.
UPDATE:
So the reality is there is a war. We continue to spend billions of dollars and put thousands of our troops in danger. The war was extremely unpopular to begin with to start with and has gotten more unpopular the longer it lasts. The reality is prices are high. Inflation was at 2.8% when Biden left office and 3.4% now. Not a huge difference, except Trump promised to bring prices down on day one. Gas and Diesel prices are especially high and it’s pretty obvious that the prices are the direct result of Trump’s war. People are mad at Trump and the Republicans.
Actually inflation was at 3% in January, 2025 according to the Bureau of Labor statistics, so a 3/10ths of a percent rise, almost all of which is gas and diesel, and you’re right. A lot of people are upset by that, but the previous administration’s green energy policies were designed to raise the price of gas and diesel and eventually eliminate them altogether. So, the election may well come down to who votes in the greatest numbers, those who don’t want to go back to the hell we experienced from 2021 to 2025 or those who are upset about the price of gas and the prospect of taking the leading state sponsor of global terrorism off the world stage once and for all. It’s an easy choice when you look at it rationally.
Voters are also upset with Trump’s trade wars with our allies. Why go after Canada and Europe while kissing up to Russia and North Korea. And building monuments to himself instead of trying to turn around the economy isn’t a very good look for Trump.
Oh, Casper Casper Casper—please do yourself a favor and stop with the silly platitudes. Yes, we know your concept of politics is shallow and superficial and dictated by the likes of The Guardian, but do you really have to keep reminding us of how vapid you are?
Fortunately we have a strong president who excels at identifying problems and seeks solutions to them, who doesn’t fret about what might be “a very good look” for him. You know what’s a “very good look” for Trump? It’s accomplishing a massive reset in Central and South America, with nations rejecting Leftism and adopting the Trumpian approach to economics and politics. A “very good look” is the expansion of American influence and allegiance from the Canadian border to the tip of Argentina, and alliances with the leaders of those countries. (More complicated than fluctuating gas prices, true, so way beyond the scope of Casper’s attention span.)
Then there is the reset in the Middle East, as Trump has established new alliances—both political and economic—with nations we have not previously shared goals or policies. (But…but…but…”GAS PRICES” whimpers poor Casper.)
In Casperworld, to hell with national security due to removing Iran as a nuclear threat. To hell with building a strong platform of alliances around the world. To hell with weakening the influences of China and Russia while increasing the influence of the United States. To hell with starting the long process of equalizing trade agreements with other nations, to remove the onerous and unfair imbalances that have affected the American economy for decades. To hell with the process of getting more industry and production back into the United States instead of leaving it, and its tax revenue, abroad where we have to pay to import the products produced. To hell with building a strong and muscular and effective national defense based on a functional military. To hell with moving billions if not trillions of money out of fraud and into the economy, to reduce the burden on American taxpayers.
All of this is so far above Casper’s head he is probably not even aware of it, even if he could understand it or its long-range implications for the future of our nation. No, what he is capable of grasping is those green numbers and the impression fed to him by his masters that monuments to the greatness of this nation are really just “to Trump” and, of course, how something might “look” to the mouthbreathers out there.
What allies? You think we have allies?
Japan. Israel. That’s about it – the rest are leeches simply hoping we’ll keep footing the bill for them while they play around with Islamism and anti-Semitism.
“Thousands of troops in danger”. Where?
Yes, the conflict has always been “unpopular” with Democrats, their kneejerk response to anything ever done or even suggested by this president. And, of course, to the superficial, there is no more damning phrase than “unpopular”. The shallowness of Casper’s political acumen is pretty accurately summed up in what he evidently thinks is a meaningful comment: “People are mad at Trump and the Republicans.”
Well, these little Twinkies are ALWAYS “mad at Republicans” and have been instructed to hatehatehatehate Trump ever since he stopped being a Democrat and became the biggest threat to the American Left in its history.
A perfect example of Casper’s depth of understanding of world events is his phrase “Trump’s war”. The poor guy still doesn’t understand the reasons for the conflict (not a “war”) with Iran, and probably never will, because it is a lot more complicated than those green numbers on his local gas station. It’s “obvious” to HIM and people equally ignorant that ” the prices are the direct result of Trump’s war”. He can’t explain how, or why, but it just kinda SEEMS like they must be related. It’s not an oil shortage, because there is plenty of oil. It’s not the ability to transport oil, because that has been resolved. So what IS it, and how is it related to “Trump’s war”?
Give Casper a silly, meaningless slogan and he’ll be quoting it for years.
The poor guy still doesn’t understand the reasons for the conflict (not a “war”) with Iran…
That’s interesting. Trump himself called it a war yesterday on Fox News, saying, “I think what’s going to happen is we’re going to win this war very soon, and as soon as we win it, it’s going to go… the oil will go down, way down to what it was before the war.” (Which is interesting for another reason, since he previously claimed we had already won the war.)
And Mark referred to it as a war in the piece you are commenting on, writing “Now, to be sure, there is a war.” Is Mark wrong as well? I’m just trying to understand how this war is not a war when even the president calls it a war.
You find the most inconsequential things to argue about. Just out of curiosity, if we were to all concede that it’s a war, would that satisfy you and maybe you could just go away?
Of course he wouldn’t. He would just veer off into some other exercise in bickering and quibbling.
Wow, you really have a strong position playing the semantic game regarding the “war”. You seem to get stuck on stupid quite a bit.
Any comments though as to the “affordability” of California?? You know, considering Democrats are running on affordability.
“Thousands of troops in danger”. Where?
At our bases in the Middle East, many of which are so badly damaged that we’ve been forced to abandon them. (I realize Jeff Childers will not tell you any of this.)
For instance:
A month before President Trump launched his war against Iran, construction crews broke ground on a multimillion-dollar renovation of sailors’ barracks at the U.S. base in Bahrain, the Navy’s regional headquarters. The project, backed by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, was just the latest American investment in the vast campus, which has enabled U.S. forces to project power across the Middle East for decades.
Then, in the opening hours of the Iranian conflict, the future of the barracks, along with the rest of the installation, was thrown into doubt.
On Feb. 28, Iranian missiles and one-way attack drones rained down on food, fuel and ship repair depots at the base. High-tech command facilities were demolished. Living quarters were deemed virtually uninhabitable. No deaths were reported, but roughly 1,500 service members and family members were evacuated, leaving behind their vehicles, pets and belongings.
Nearly seven months later, the base that the military once called the busiest 152 acres in the world remains effectively off limits to nonessential personnel. “We’re not getting back in there anytime soon,” Adm. Daryl Caudle, the chief of naval operations, told one displaced sailor during an Aug. 31 global town hall held from Fort Meade in Maryland. “I just want to be completely honest with that.”
And once we got rolling, we realized how really foolish it is to keep a forward base with civilian family members there. Yeah, we probably won’t go back. It only made sense to have that base when Iran was friendly (we took over the place in 1971 from the Brits, when Iran was friendly). Given modern combat realities, the base is just a target the Iranians can hit…that we kept that base after 1979 shows the power of bureaucratic inertia. Your base is supposed to be largely invulnerable…so now 5th Fleet is managed out of Diego Garcia, which the Iranians can’t hit. Our base during the Battle of Okinawa in 1945 wasn’t anywhere near Okinawa, for instance. Perhaps if the Iranian regime falls it might be ok to set up some activities there again but its a tactical trap of a place…nothing vital should be there.
And now you complain that I think we should call a war a war? You used to be in the military. You know better. That’s what gets me about you, Spook. You actually do know better, and yet… I don’t mean to pick on you, but sheesh.
It wasn’t a complaint, but of course you know that. I just think, in the overall scheme of things that are important to people trying to decide who to vote for, whether we call it a war, a conflict, a targeted military campaign, or whatever, is pretty inconsequential. You seem to think it’s of extreme importance that we call it a war. Who the fuck cares?
I really don’t know what to say when you impugn my military service, other than it makes you look very small, especially since my main reason for serving was to protect the right of people like you to speak your mind.
Now I realize it’s difficult for you to discuss consequential issues and policies because you’d come up on the short end of the argument most of the time, but it would sure be a refreshing change. OR, you could just leave and go pester someone else on some other blog.
Well the first lie is that this is a war, as Casper dutifully parrots. There is no fighting going on at the moment with the exception of Saudi Arabia attacking the Houthi’s. This is and was a targeted military operation that now has Iran bleeding out with zero capability of fighting back. To suggest that this is a “war” is akin to saying men can become women.
Canada and Europe have been taking advantage of the American taxpayers for decades. FFS we are $40 trillion debt so we can’t continue large trade deficits with our “friends”. Time to level the paying field and open up new markets for Americas business’s, which Trump is doing.
Gas prices are too high which is Trumps only stumbling block but Casper you have yet to answer my question about CA. Why haven’t Democrats brought about the utopia they seek in CA?? They have one party rule in CA for the last couple of decades so I am curious to know why the cost of living is so high, why the homeless population is out of control, why people are leaving, why their gas prices are so high, why housing is unaffordable, etc. Please regale us.
Prices are higher in Hawaii too – always have been. When my late wife and I were there in 1984, the price of everything was significantly higher than at home because EVERYTHNG has to be brought in my either ship or plane. PLUS, Hawaii is in the top ten of the highest inflation states. So, when Casper talks about the cost of things, his viewpoint is distorted by where he has chosen to live.
Don’t forget gas prices in Europe. The EU average is $9.10 per gallon. Only Japan and India are lower than the United States.
Yes Spook I do live in Hawaii and prices are higher here. that said we raise chickens for the eggs, get a lot of local fruit and vegetables and have a source for local pork.
Fentanyl deaths are down 55% from their peak.
But I guess we should have elected Kamala so that they’d remain high, right?
Mark, what evidence do we have that Fentanyl deaths wouldn’t have dropped under Harris.
Mark, he is right. What evidence DO we have that a President Harris would not have abruptly and completely revised her stance on open borders and started to crack down on the flow of drugs across the border? What evidence DO we have that she would not have done a complete 180 and acted to energetically interdict undocumented border crossings and their associated drug cargos? What evidence DO we have that she would suddenly have developed respect for the law and pressured Leftist DAs to actually prosecute drug cases? It’s not as if a record of inaction is an absolute 100% guarantee of continued indifference. After all, she MIGHT have been magically anointed with pixie dust and become competent and effective.
Poor Casper, still yearning for the bliss of having The Cackler in the White House, babbling her incoherent nonsense and totally ignoring the demands of her job, as she did when she was the Border Czar. His is a life of shattered dreams and disappointment. as he gazes back at What Might Have Been and grieves. Oh, how he grieves for the glory that he is so sure would have been a Harris presidency. One has to wonder if he has followed her trail of incoherence and verbal incontinence since the election. But then, as one eager to be identified with Maizie Hirono, he might have been impressed by the brilliance of her commentaries. After all, she and Maizie have a lot in common.
that said we raise chickens for the eggs,
Of course you do. Just out of curiosity, what do you figure your cost is for a dozen eggs after factoring in the cost of the chickens, a chicken coop, bedding, feed, etc.?
“Just out of curiosity, what do you figure your cost is for a dozen eggs after factoring in the cost of the chickens, a chicken coop, bedding, feed, etc.?”
We sell a couple of dozen eggs a week which pretty much pays the feed costs. Fencing was about $500 three years ago. Coup cost about $600. Price of chickens vary depending on where we get them and the breed. I’d guess we probably just break even. We do give a lot of extra eggs to neighbors and friends.
“After all, she and Maizie have a lot in common.”
You are correct. Both Harris and Hirono are incredibly accomplished and intelligent women. Both are lawyers and have served in a number of public offices.
“Both Harris and Hirono are incredibly accomplished and intelligent women”
And here Casper stakes out his position and explains it. Nothing more needs to be said. Nothing more CAN be said to such a delusional perception of the woman often referred to as the stupidest woman in Congress and the woman who can’t string together a coherent sentence.
Once we understand Casper’s standards, as explained by him, we can understand his skewed perception of the rest of reality.
Gas prices, by the way, are not controlled by Trump. They are set by a group of people in the City of London, the Brent Crude Futures Trading Table. (BTW, the City of London is a separate entity within the boundaries of London, its economic center.)
There is no way I can explain futures trading because I simply do not understand it. And neither do any of the chattering masses blaming Trump for gas prices.
There is a theory, promulgated by the Prometheus Group, that there is a kind of secret war between Trump and the United Kingdom’s grasp of global politics. We do know that Lloyd’s of London threw its hat in the ring when they announced that they would just not insure shipping in the Strait of Hormuz (instead of merely raising its rates, its usual response to a problem) a gambit met by Trump’s promise to have the United States insure this shipping, but it was a signal that England wants to put a thumb on the scale of American politics, at least as far as affecting Trump’s efforts. Certainly a decision by Brent to keep gas and diesel prices high would be a contributor to that, but that is mere speculation on my part.
Well the first lie is that this is a war, as Casper dutifully parrots.
lol. He’s using the same term President Trump uses.
I don’t
There is colloquial terminology and then there is technical definition. The word “war” has been used countless times to colloquially describe a conflict that does not meet the actual definition of “war”.
I wonder if this would fit on a billboard:
Clearly, when “someone” whimpers “what has Trump done to help the American people” an economy responsible for rising household income and more ability to buy homes isn’t considered helpful to Americans. But then evidently neither are lower taxes, reduced nuclear threat from Iran, work on balancing trade deficits (which will bring about lower prices on imported goods) or expansion of American influence around the world. Or any of the other dozens of Trump accomplishments like slashing fraud in government spending.
Clearly, when “someone” whimpers “what has Trump done to help the American people”
They are either completely dependent on government for their existence and are seeing the end of the gravy train, OR they are like Casper and just simply rush here to repeat the droppings that have appeared in their email inbox.
This is why I hate Democrats. Cap and justanidiot contend affordability is what voters will vote on and they seem to think Democrats offer that yet when asked about CA affordability, we hear crickets, instead they want to argue whether or not it’s a “war”.
NEVER trust a Democrat. They lie as easily as they breathe
Apparently it now costs 2.4 million Iranian rials to buy one dollar…because Iran is winning n’ stuff…
Just heard Hakeem Jeffries, who is a special kind of stupid, say that the cost of living is just too high under Trump and Democrats plan is to lower costs. They don’t tell us what that plan is, but based on their results in the States they govern, I think they will have a hard time selling it. Casper and justanotheridiot have stayed far away from my questions concerning Californias cost of living. Well it turns out, every Democrat state is expensive. What say you Casper?
Top Most Expensive States
Hawaii: Ranks as the #1 most expensive state with high costs driven heavily by geographic isolation and shipping premiums, featuring a cost of living index around 185.0.
Well, no wonder the Voters Casper knows are unhappy about the high cost of things. I guess you can raise chickens or just vote with your feet – OR live where you want to live and not complain.
Cluster,
Going down to the beach in about half an hour. Seventy Two degree air temperature , warm water, beautiful views. It will cost us about four dollars in gas. The misery continues.
Well, bless your heart. You seem to put a lot of value in bragging about your alleged wonderful lifestyle but then I guess that is just another aspect of your pursuit of “popularity”.
Now look up life expectancy by state and poverty rates. You will find red States dominating the bottom of both lists. That said, all the states are getting hit with high gas and diesel prices and other items right now because of Trump’s war and tariffs.
So you’re saying the not only are people in blue states paying a higher cost of living, they are also living longer to enjoy that misery. That doesn’t sound like fun. Thanks though for at least admitting that Democrats have no plan to lower costs.
Living in Hawaii is hardly misery and I would definitely rather live here than go through another Wyoming winter, And Democrats do have a plan to lower costs. Get us out of the stupid war and get rid of the tariffs.
I understand and agree with the choice to avoid Wyoming winters. After paying my snow dues I am a happy snowbird, moving to Florida when I can expect some fat white water to fall in Wyoming. It’s a choice, in spite of some higher costs of living (based mostly on my choice of where to live in Florida) but the advantages are in the excellent government of the state by the best governor in the country, the attitude toward law and order, and the steady movement toward more and more state sovereignty and individual liberty. I now divide my time between the two best-governed states in the country, Wyoming and Florida, happily bypassing my native state (Colorado) as it plunges deeper into its Dem-led death spiral.
“get out of the stupid war” is just another Leftist slogan, based on the knowledge that those who bleat it are totally ignorant of its reason for the conflict, its increasing impacts on the entire political makeup of the Middle East, and its increase in our own national security. It’s just one of those silly slogans, like “Hope and Change”, that suck in the willfully gullible who are perfectly willing to substitute glib catchphrases for actual thought and comprehension.
And no doubt Casper is equally ignorant of the function of tariffs, or he would support the effort to balance the trade deficit and support the rebuilding of American industry by removing the perceived benefits of moving operations to other countries.
So that’s the plan? Lower the cost of living by allowing people who oppress women and kill gay people to reconstitute their ideology and to go back to trade deficits with partnering countries? That’s the plan??
And Casper, you’re not living in Hawaii, you’re existing in Hawaii. You simply can’t afford to do too much. I am glad that you found a hook up for cheap pork though, that’s exciting. And I’ll remind you that you’re paying taxes to a State that has catered to billionaires … Zuckerberg and Oprah thank you.
And Casper just a reminder, every Democrat voted against no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, and no tax on social security. That’s how much they care about workers and seniors.
They also just voted against a bill to ban insider trading for members of Congress and their families, after voting against every single effort to restrict opportunities to commit election fraud.
But then, they have to, because without the opportunity to get rich by taking advantage of information gained through membership in Congress, after being placed in Congress through manipulation of the election process, there is no reason for anyone to run as a Democrat.
“So that’s the plan? Lower the cost of living by allowing people who oppress women and kill gay people to reconstitute their ideology”
Trump doesn’t give a rip about gays or women and there is no reason to think things will get better for the Iranian people if this war continues.
“And Casper, you’re not living in Hawaii, you’re existing in Hawaii. You simply can’t afford to do too much.”
Pretty nice existence though. Going down to the beach later today and maybe a hike in Volcanos National park later this week. The food I get here is both fresher and better tasting than anything I can get on the mainland. Tell m3 what I can’t afford to do here that you can do on the mainland.
BTW, we hate the billionaires here and would love it if they all went away. All they do is make things more expensive.
When Casper parrots the voices in his head, that tell him what another person *really* thinks, it’s always kind of fascinating, in the way driving past a train wreck is. The odd reality-free claim of “knowing”, somehow, that Trump “doesn’t give a rip about gays or women” (in spite of his pattern of appointing gay men to top positions in his administration as well as hiring and promoting women) is really a lesson in delusion—and then the leap to claiming that the denial of these realities would in some way affect “the Iranian people” is such a wild leap outside the gravitational pull of sanity that the only reaction has to be “HUH?”
Casper doesn’t just drink the KoolAid, he collects it and ferments it into a toxic (but evidently intoxicating) brew he then eagerly chugs before waddling over here to expound on what is in his little bubble.
The only reason you think Trump is hostile to gays and women is because the TV told you he is. There is zero indication that he’s in any way bad with either group…as is evidenced by very strong, independent minded gays and women willingly working for him.
Not just working with him but representing him in highly placed positions of status and authority.
Exactly – for instance, I think all of us are thrilled with Bessent over at Treasury. And, hey, I have my objections – his kids were born via surrogacy, which I think should be banned. So, its not all adulation…but in his job, as Treasury Secretary, he’s all anyone could want. Knowledgeable, courageous, determined. I can see him easily as Secretary of State in a Vance cabinet. That is, like Trump and, honestly, all of us, we can separate out the bits we don’t like from the public servant doing the job well.
I see surrogacy as merely a form of adoption. I have friends who had babies and put them up for adoption—back in the day this is what teenage girls did when they got pregnant and I knew girls who went through this and later in life met others who had also had this experience in their youth.
Reasonable people can disagree! My view is naturally rooted in my Catholic faith but I can see it from both points of view…but my biggest worry is that it becomes a sort of puppy mill for rich men who want a biological legacy but not the hassle of becoming husbands and fathers.
“I understand and agree with the choice to avoid Wyoming winters.”
Something we both agree on.
“get out of the stupid war” is just another Leftist slogan”
I don’t see any way this war has improved national security or did anything that helps our country. Two thirds of the country agrees with me.
“And no doubt Casper is equally ignorant of the function of tariffs, or he would support the effort to balance the trade deficit and support the rebuilding of American industry by removing the perceived benefits of moving operations to other countries.”
We have lost manufacturing jobs since Trump took office, so obviously the tariffs aren’t working. I am okay with targeted tariffs to protect specific industries within the country but putting them on everyone doesn’t help the country.
“Two thirds of the country agrees with me.”
Ah, yes, the philosophy of governing by consensus of the unknowing—a staple of the Left
“We have lost manufacturing jobs since Trump took office”
“In a speech, Trump touted his administration’s economic policies, which he said have brought manufacturing jobs back to Michigan, which remains a hub of the U.S. auto industry.
Those policies have included steep tariffs at times on major trading partners, like Canada and Mexico, which are closely intertwined with the U.S. auto-production supply chain. The White House has repeatedly insisted that Trump’s aggressive trade policies will spur a “reshoring” boom in manufacturing, boosting factory jobs here after decades of declines. (THAT IS, THE DECLINE IS NOT RELATED TO TRUMP OR HIS POLICIES BUT IS A CONTINUATION OF DECADES OF DECLINE.)
But since President Trump started his second term, the economy has lost 75,000 manufacturing jobs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics — a 0.6% decline.
“Manufacturing has not revived to a significant degree,” said Moody’s Analytics Chief Economist Mark Zandi. He said it’s a trend that started in the 1980s. “The job losses continue. Tariffs and other policies that have been put in place have not reversed that.” (AGAIN, THE DECLINE IS CONTINUING AFTER STARTING IN THE 1980S. )
But tariffs may still be helping U.S. manufacturers, said economist Laura Veldkamp at Columbia Business School. “[Tariffs] made it more profitable for American manufacturers to set up and produce here,” she said.
Tariffs on imports diminish the competitive advantage of using lower-cost labor in places like Mexico or Malaysia. So more goods are made in the U.S. now: “Manufacturing output has gone up 1.1% over the last year,” Veldkamp said.
But the industry is doing more with fewer people.
“Manufacturing activity is very mechanized, automated. So even if you see a pickup in output, and we’ve seen that particularly in the tech sector, in the defense-aerospace industries, doesn’t translate into jobs, because these factories just don’t employ a lot of people,” said Zandi at Moody’s.
The story is a little different in the crucial U.S. auto industry, where employment is down more than 2.5% since January 2025.
One big problem is demand for new vehicles has been weak, because many consumers can’t afford them, said Ned Hill at The Ohio State University’s Manufacturing Institute.
“The average price has been bouncing just under $50,000. You have to be solidly above the middle of the income distribution to buy an average car,” he said.
Looking ahead, though, “Some of these jobs may come back,” said David Whiston, a U.S autos analysts at Morningstar. “There are some automakers looking to onshore production to the United States. And then that can create jobs for auto suppliers.”
Whiston pointed to recent plans announced by GM in Kansas and Tennessee, and Toyota in Texas.“
To simplify for Casper, “big” manufacturing—that is, autos and heavy equipment and machinery, etc.—takes a while to ramp up. A mediocre middle school teacher from a small Western city would not be expected to understand this—at least not if he has made the choice to obediently accept truncated reports from his minders—but the true measure of the amount of manufacturing returning to the United States has to be measured in development of new factories. etc.
Some “lost” manufacturing jobs are due to increased mechanization and automation of jobs formerly held by humans, but some are expected to increase as manufacturing is tooled up here in the United States after returning from abroad. Complicated, I know, and so much more demanding than merely parroting thumbnail sketches provided by Leftist media.
We are fortunate enough to have a Big-Picture president, a career problem solver who seeks solutions to problems and then addresses them. And, of course, does this in a manner consistent with the 10th Amendment, not just expanding the size, scope and power of the United States government, which is the goal of the Left.
We have lost manufacturing jobs since Trump took office, so obviously the tariffs aren’t working.
That may be technically true if you just look at the raw numbers, although by far the worse month since January, 2025 was January, 2025 when Biden was still President for most of the month. The overall trend in manufacturing jobs is very positive.
For the permanent record, let’s note that Casper supports a country that oppresses women, kills gay people, and kill citizen protestors. That’s the country Casper defends.
Cluster,
For the record I have never defended Iran or the IRGC. I think the government there is horrible. That said, getting into a war with them is pretty stupid.
Yes, we should have just sat back and watched them continue to develop nuclear weapons, as they brag about their agenda of destroying the United States. We should ignore the lessons we should have learned (and which many of us have learned) which is that when Islam says its intent is to kill us all that means they want to, and plan to, kill us all.
Maybe we should have sent them billions and billions of dollars on pallets delivered by American planes, to enable their expansion of their nuclear abilities. After all, that’s what your hero did.
But on Planet Casper, intervention in the process of developing ways to inflict mass horror and casualties on Americans is “stupid”–not enabling and financing and ignoring it, which has been the Democrat policy. Depriving an aggressor nation of the ability to execute its oft-declared intent to kill all infidels and destroy the United States is “stupid”.
(Keep in mind, here we have the word “stupid” used by a man who praises the intellect of The Dumbest Woman in Congress and the alleged brilliance of the least coherent and competent of recent Dem candidates—and that is a very low bar. In other words, he exhibits a total lack of ability to discern, much less define, “stupid” except as an illustration of his own acumen.)
Casper, reach down in your pants and let us know if you still have your balls.
justanidiot, I retired and moved to Idaho. Capitalism is great!!!!
“still”? Even before the term became well-known, Casper was a known soy-boy as well as the Community Commie. An abundance of testosterone was never an issue with him. He has always wanted to be popular, depending in his “teaching” days on impressing marginalized kids desperate for inclusion and attention, and in his retirement has tried tagging along after the real nasties, parroting insults that from him come across as the verbal equivalent of a pillow fight no matter how hard he tries to morph peevishness into malice.
And he still courts “popularity” as we see in his sucking up to the blog vandals and trying to emulate their nastiness and constantly lecturing us on how we should pay attention to the popularity polls and be concerned about what is “a good look” for the president.
“we should have just sat back and watched them continue to develop nuclear weapons,”
According to the Trump Administration we destroyed their nuclear program over a year ago.
“Maybe we should have sent them billions and billions of dollars on pallets delivered by American planes, to enable their expansion of their nuclear abilities. After all, that’s what your hero did.”
It was 1.8 billion and it was their money that we had been holding for decades. In return they signed the JCPA in which they agree not to develop nuclear weapons until 2030. Trump tore up the agreement allowing them to restart the program.
“Casper, reach down in your pants and let us know if you still have your balls.”
Still there and I retired and moved to Hawaii. Capitalism is great. Especially when you are part of a good union.
“According to the Trump Administration we destroyed their nuclear program over a year ago”
And it couldn’t be rebuilt if it was not totally destroyed? Do you claim that intelligence from our sources as well as Israel did not find evidence of rebuilding and progress toward developing nuclear weapon capabilities? Or do you contend that Trump just decided to attack Iran for no real reason, lacking evidence of a need to do so?
So if we RETURNED billions instead of just giving them our money, that means the money could not be used to fund materials to attack us? Oh, that’s right—they PROMISED they wouldn’t do that. Was it a serious promise? Like a pinky swear? Because certainly no Islamic nation focused on destroying us would LIE about their intent! Not even with the Islamic concept of lying being just fine if its purpose is to advance Islam or deceive infidels.
And they were only bound by this iron-clad, wholly trustworthy, promise till 2030, when they could continue/resume their plans to develop the means to destroy us? Wow, that really puts a whole new face on this, doesn’t it? And you find this compelling? Even remotely valid?
But it gets better, as you go on to explain that the act of “tearing up” the agreement constituted “allowing them to restart the program.”. Which is, BTW, a tacit agreement that the program had been “restarted”—just with the ability to blame Trump for it because he “allowed” it. By tearing something up. With you squealing in outrage when he stopped “allowing” it.
This all seems to make sense to you, though in fact it is just gobbledygook and a mishmash of claims that either make no sense at all or contradict each other. But on Planet Casper, that is fine because it all about criticizing Trump, which is all that matters.
To summarize: We handed them billions of dollars which could reasonably be used to fund their “Kill America” project, based on a “cross my heart I won’t use the money to do that” promise by known liars representing a political movement/religion that encourages lying in the pursuit of killing infidels. (Us.) And then we signed an agreement that they could resume these efforts in 2030 because, well, we must have had a reason to pick that date as an acceptable date for planning our destruction. Any idea what that reasoning might have been? You seem pretty impressed with the agreement, so you must be able to explain and justify it.
And then the act of “tearing up” the agreement by Trump constituted his approval of resuming the program of Kill The Americans, which is what the Iranians needed because, remember, they had been restrained by their pinky swear to wait a few years to do this. The only thing they needed to start right back in was the “tearing up” of that totally binding agreement. Because, you know, it was, like, you know, a really strong agreement. Signed and everything.
Then there is the tacit agreement by you that once Trump gave his blessing to the plan to destroy us they proceeded to resume working on it. BUT…any effort to interfere with this was “stupid”.
There. I think I have summed up your position on our foreign policy regarding Iran. And it’s every bit as goofy and bizarre and disconnected from reality as I would expect from you.
Amazona,
So we agree that manufacturing jobs have gone down under Trump, although your explanation is that it was part of a continuing trend that has been going on for decades.
So if manufacturing was on a downward trend, how is it that we gained over 700,000 jobs under Biden?
https://www.commerce.gov/news/blog/2024/10/manufacturing-booms-thanks-biden-harris-administration-investments
I see you have learned the bicker/quibble tactic from your mentors. That is, to focus on something immaterial because you think it could be spun to reflect badly on Trump and then nitpick it to death.
How many of those alleged 700,000 jobs “created” during Biden’s term were manufacturing jobs and how many were government jobs? How many were part-time jobs? How many were minimum wage jobs? How many were recovery jobs “created” after the catastrophic losses due to the Biden mishandling of Covid?
And BTW, “my explanation” was taken directly from government records. Learn to read. Or at least learn to process and accept what you read even when it doesn’t match your narrative.
“Nonfarm employment continued the largest job recovery and expansion in U.S. history in 2019. Although the annual gain was smaller than the year before, private education and health services and leisure and hospitality exhibited accelerations in job growth.” THIS SAYS, BTW, THAT GAINS IN 2018 WERE GREATER THAN IN 2019, JUST TO MAKE IT CLEAR THAT BOTH YEARS WERE DURING TRUMP’S FIRST TERM
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
And so on. In other words, you can't just toss out a number without context. Well, YOU can, because you are just repeating what you think will be a compelling argument, and that is because you see your role here as arguing, hopefully to detract from the successes of Donald Trump, and not to engage in actual exchange of ideas. bicker bicker quibble quibble You don't belong in a forum of actual discourse of ideas.
Why have you decided to focus on jobs? Is this just next on your little list of things to whine and complain about? For someone so invested in bragging about the glories of your oh-so-special life, you seem oddly obsessed with snouting around to find things to snarl about. Yes, Trump occupies a lot of space in your mind, but instead of wallowing in this why not just let it go instead of wallowing around in your resentment and hostility? It’s downright creepy.
So according to Trump and his administration Iran’s nuclear program was destroyed as of July, 2025.
From nuclear regulators to foreign policy experts to members of the intelligence community, every knowledgeable person is in agreement that President Donald J. Trump obliterated Iran’s nuclear facilities.
International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi: “Given the power of these devices and the technical characteristics of a centrifuge, we already know that these centrifuges are no longer operational, because they are fairly precise machines: there are rotors, and the vibrations [from the bombs] have completely destroyed them.”
CIA Director John Ratcliffe: “CIA can confirm that a body of credible intelligence indicates Iran’s Nuclear Program has been severely damaged by the recent, targeted strikes. This includes new intelligence from a historically reliable and accurate source/method that several key Iranian nuclear facilities were destroyed and would have to be rebuilt over the course of years.”
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard: “New intelligence confirms what @POTUS has stated numerous times: Iran’s nuclear facilities have been destroyed. If the Iranians chose to rebuild, they would have to rebuild all three facilities (Natanz, Fordow, Esfahan) entirely, which would likely take years to do. The propaganda media has deployed their usual tactic: selectively release portions of illegally leaked classified intelligence assessments (intentionally leaving out the fact that the assessment was written with “low confidence”) to try to undermine President Trump’s decisive leadership and the brave servicemen and women who flawlessly executed a truly historic mission to keep the American people safe and secure.”
Former ODNI National Intelligence Manager for Iran Norman Roule: “I am confident that Iran has suffered a catastrophic — catastrophic — blow … and that this has set them back for a very, very long time.”
Former NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe Gen. Philip Breedlove (Ret.): “It went off magnificently … They did it perfectly, so we should have … an expectation that there was significant damage.”
Institute for Science and International Security President David Albright: “Iran can’t make centrifuges and can’t produce, in a sense, the equivalent of the gas … so their program is severely damaged.”
President Trump: “Monumental Damage was done to all Nuclear sites in Iran, as shown by satellite images. Obliteration is an accurate term! The white structure shown is deeply imbedded into the rock, with even its roof well below ground level, and completely shielded from flame. The biggest damage took place far below ground level. Bullseye!!!”
Israel Atomic Energy Commission: “The devastating US strike on Fordo destroyed the site’s critical infrastructure and rendered the enrichment facility inoperable. We assess that the American strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities, combined with Israeli strikes on other elements of Iran’s military nuclear program, has set back Iran’s ability to develop nuclear weapons by many years. The achievement can continue indefinitely if Iran does not get access to nuclear material.”
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir: “I can say here that the assessment is that we significantly damaged the nuclear program, and I can also say that we set it back by years, I repeat, years.”
Iran Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei: “Our nuclear installations have been badly damaged, that’s for sure.”
Vice President JD Vance: “I can say to the American people with great confidence that they are much further away from a nuclear program today than they were 24 hours ago. That was the objective of the mission, to destroy that Fordow nuclear site, and of course, do some damage to the other sites as well, but we feel very confident that the Fordow nuclear site was substantially set back, and that was our goal.”
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth: “Based on everything we have seen — and I’ve seen it all — our bombing campaign obliterated Iran’s ability to create nuclear weapons. Our massive bombs hit exactly the right spot at each target and worked perfectly. The impact of those bombs is buried under a mountain of rubble in Iran; so anyone who says the bombs were not devastating is just trying to undermine the President and the successful mission.”
Secretary Hegseth: “Given the 30,000 pounds of explosions and the capability of those munitions, it was DEVASTATION underneath Fordow … Any assessment that tells you otherwise is speculating with other motives.”
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan “Razin” Caine: “Initial battle damage assessments indicate that all three sites sustained extremely severe damage and destruction. More than 125 US aircraft participated in this mission, including B2 stealth bombers, multiple flights of fourth and fifth generation fighters, dozens and dozens of air refueling tankers, a guided missile submarine, and a full array of intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance aircraft, as well as hundreds of maintenance and operational professionals.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio: “The Iranian program — the nuclear program — today looks nothing like it did just a week ago … That story is a false story and it’s one that really shouldn’t be re-reported because it doesn’t accurately reflect what’s happening.”
Secretary Rubio: “Everything underneath that mountain is in bad shape … There’s no way Iran comes to the table if somehow nothing had happened. This was complete and total obliteration. They are in bad shape. They are way behind today compared to where they were just seven days ago because of what President Trump did.”
Special Envoy Steve Witkoff: “We put 12 bunker buster bombs on Fordow. There’s no doubt that it breached the canopy, there’s no doubt that it was well within reach of the depth that these bunker buster bombs go to, and there’s no doubt that it was obliterated — so the reporting out there that in some way suggests that we did not achieve the objective is just completely preposterous.”
Director Gabbard: “The operation was a resounding success. Our missiles were delivered precisely and accurately, obliterating key Iranian capabilities needed to quickly assemble a nuclear weapon.”
Director General Grossi: “Given the explosive payload utilized, and the extreme vibration-sensitive nature of centrifuges, very significant damage is expected to have occurred. At the Esfahan nuclear site, additional buildings were hit, with the US confirming their use of cruise missiles. Affected buildings include some related to the uranium conversion process. Also at this site, entrances to tunnels used for the storage of enriched material appear to have been hit. At the Natanz enrichment site, the Fuel Enrichment Plant was hit, with the US confirming that it used ground-penetrating munitions.”
Mr. Albright: “Overall, Israel’s and U.S. attacks have effectively destroyed Iran’s centrifuge enrichment program. It will be a long time before Iran comes anywhere near the capability it had before the attack.”
Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ Nonproliferation and Biodefense Program Deputy Director Andrea Stricker: “I think that because of the massive damage and the shock wave that would have been sent by 12 Massive Ordnance Penetrators at the Fordow site, that it likely would render its centrifuges damaged or inoperable.”
American Enterprise Institute Middle East Portfolio Manager Brian Carter: “There is no question that the bombing campaign ‘badly, badly damaged’ the three sites.”
Institute for Science and International Security Senior Research Fellow Spencer Faragasso: “Overall, it may possibly take years for Iran to reconstitute the capabilities it lost at these facilities.”
And your point is…? You cite compelling evidence that the military intervention was successful and now you are posturing as someone qualified to determine how we should tie up loose ends and establish a functional exit strategy? You, with zero knowledge of the facts on the ground, zero understanding of Middle East politics, zero qualifications to opine on any aspect of any military endeavor, are still bleating about your disagreement with the people who actually know what they are doing.
Why? Because this is the Trump administration and you are a slave to the vapid superficiality of Identity Politics. Seriously, Casper, just take the L and go away. You have never had credibility here and you are now working very hard, and very successfully, to generate a negative number on the credibility scale.
So if manufacturing was on a downward trend, how is it that we gained over 700,000 jobs under Biden?
Biden actually claimed 800,000 manufacturing jobs created, and the explanation is pretty simple: the total manufacturing jobs created during the Biden administration is only 175,000 higher than the February 2020 peak “from before COVID-19 forced layoffs.” It’s more accurate to say 625k manufacturing jobs were recovered and 175k created.”
Jesus emphatically proclaimed “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6)
YET, Democrat James Talarico, you know, the guy who Democrats think will win TX, well he has other ideas
James Talarico: “It could be for you a different prophetic voice from a different faith tradition: Buddha, Muhammad, Moses, Lao Tzu, Thich Nhat Hanh, the Dalai Lama. Or it may be a prophetic voice from history: Black Elk, Martin Luther King, Dorothy Day, Dolores Huerta, Toni Morrison, Mahatma Gandhi, Mr. Rogers.”
LOL. Never elect false prophets.
Lindsay Clancy attorney Kevin Reddington should be disbarred. Identifying and attacking the lone juror is one thing, but seizing his cell phone is crossing the rubicon. How are we to have an unbiased juror system if attorneys do this to jurors who don’t agree with them???? Disbar Reddington and convict Clancy. I don’t care how many drugs you’re on, or how depressed you are …. When you kill children, particularly your own, you deserve the death penalty. Period.
I think it’s funny that no one wants to comment on the Lindsay Clancy trial, probably for fear of being labeled a misogynist I suspect. Walking on egg shells not to offend anyone. After all isn’t infanticide the next step from abortion?
RIP Callan, Dawson, and Cora. I am sorry she was your mom.
The Lib jurors have been pretty open in their admission that they did not see this trial as a verdict on whether Clancy knew she was committing murder when she plotted to get her husband out of the house and then methodically strangled her innocent, trusting, children, but was really just a venue for advocating for—well, for SOMETHING. Better mental health care, more hugs and kisses for women suffering from post-partum depression, something.
Yeah, she was sad. But she was fully cognizant of the fact that she was committing premeditated murder and she planned how to do it.
The ghoulish refusal of these “women” to simply rule on these facts, and to choose instead to ratify the decision to kill these children on the basis that their deaths should be used to support wholly separate social engineering agendas, is not only vile and disgusting it seems to be a microcosm of the depths to which the Left has plunged.
The fact is, acknowledging the value of these young lives is too close to acknowledging the value of even younger lives, and would open the door to discourse about when the lives of children are important and, more to the point, protected. A guilty verdict for Clancy would, in the minds of these rabid advocates of the Leftist sacrament of human sacrifice, allow discourse on legal protection for even younger children. And where would it stop? At three years, two years, one year, even at the point of a fully living and viable infant outside the womb? This cannot be tolerated. This must be halted here and now, or the very foundation of the Leftist model could be undermined.
Self-indulgence is the god, and human sacrifice is the sacrament.
Exactly. I am disappointed that so many people want to turn this into anything other than the vicious murder of three innocent children.
The Trump Team just continues to make America better …
America.gov
Access to 100% of government information on one website.
Still waiting to hear why Democrats have not made California affordable yet. And they think they can make the country affordable. Doesn’t make sense.
There are actually Democrats that are still hanging on to the affordability narrative, but other than the price of gas, they haven’t got much evidence.
What is the price of hamburger where you are at? It’s doubled here
You don’t say in what time frame it’s doubled, but I don’t think it’s doubled here since before Covid (2020) I normally buy 90% lean ground beef in 5 lb. packages – $5.88/lb. a couple months ago. I buy it at Sam’s Club, and use my Sam’s Club MasterCard. Sam’s has scan & go from your phone which skips the checkout line, and they email you the receipt. As a result I have itemized receipts going back umpteen years. I checked receipts from last year, 2024 and 2023. It was $$5.57/lb. last year, $4.74/lb in 2024, and $4.18/lb. in 2023. So, in the last year ground beef here has gone up about 5-1/2%. In the last 3 years it’s gone up a little over 40%.
OT but you might want to check what you agreed to when you signed on with the Scan and Go at Sam’s. I used to use that and then when they updated it and I had to sign on again I read the agreement more carefully and it said I would be agreeing to give access to everything on my phone, including photos and contacts. When I asked a manager about this she said that was not true but then she read the actual wording and had to admit that was what it said. She started off saying it was just granting access to the camera, necessary to scan the prices, but had to admit it did say access to everything on the phone. I used to love the convenience of Scan and Go but refused to give a big corporation access to everything on my phone, including my contacts and text messages.
Just out of curiosity I went back to mid-2020. The price per lb. for 90% lean ground beef at the time was $3.95. So, in the last 6 years it’s only gone up 49%. If you’ve doubled in any time frame less than 6 years, you should consider moving to Indiana. Actually, no; we don’t want you. You and Maizie belong together anyway.
You say you raise chickens for the eggs. What do eggs go for in Hawaii at the supermarket?
I bought a dozen large eggs a couple of days ago for $1.67.
Reported last night was that Trump still enjoys 98% support from the MAGA base and this is why we will win. We saw what they did to Trump in 2018-2020 and were not going to let that shit happen again.
Democrats love fear porn …
Maddow: Trump Is ‘An Authoritarian Guy’ Who Is Ensuring A.I. Can Kill Us
I wonder if they have ever thought it through though. If billionaires killed everyone, who would buy their products and keep them rich???
That’s quite the conundrum
I wonder if they have ever thought it through though
About the only thing they’ve thought through is men having babies and then killing the babies. Talk about a conundrum.
So I noticed that my comments were all deleted today. I realize that deleting me makes you feel stronger and in control so I will continue to add a few comments just to make your day.
Thank you for confirming that your intent in coming here is totally unrelated to engaging in discourse but merely to indulge a personal pathology.
AI Overview
No, the Sam’s Club app does not have access to everything on your phone.
App Permissions
This would make sense, but it’s not what the wording said on the agreement I was asked to accept. I haven’t checked to see if that has changed, but at the time I spent quite a bit of time with the store management because they had a hard time believing the app demanded what I said it did and when they actually read it, word for word, they had to agree that was what it SAID. I would not be surprised to learn it had been toned down.