Secretary of Treasury Scott Bessent appears on CBS’s Face the Nation for an inflation and affordability debate with narrative engineer Margaret Brennan.
The primary narrative can be seen in Brennan’s emphasis of the new democrat catch phrase “affordability.” Having gaslit the American electorate over the issues of Joe Biden’s economic/energy policy which created record inflation, the same media who ran cover for Joe Biden have switched during the Trump administration to calling the subsequent high costs an “affordability” crisis.
In essence, Biden’s economic, energy and monetary policies drove 2021/2022 inflation to record levels, this made all prices rise massively. Those high prices are now the “affordability problem.” WATCH:
[Transcript] – MARGARET BRENNAN: Good morning and welcome to ‘Face The Nation.’ We have a lot of news to get to, and we begin with the Secretary of the Treasury, Scott Bessent. Good to have you here.
TREASURY SECRETARY SCOTT BESSENT: Morning, Margaret.
SEC. BESSENT: Mr. Secretary, a lot of people are out there holiday shopping. Here is how the President described back in April, what to expect from this season.
[SOT]
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Maybe the children will have two dolls instead of 30 dolls, you know. And maybe the two dolls will cost a couple of bucks more than they would normally.
[END SOT]
MARGARET BRENNAN: Was the President’s prediction then, correct?
SEC. BESSENT: Margaret, it’s actually been a very strong holiday season, and the- you know, we’ve seen across all the income cohorts thus far. And so there’s nothing to say that there are two dolls instead of 30 dolls.
MARGARET BRENNAN: The President was wrong to predict lower numbers of purchases and higher prices?
SEC. BESSENT: The economy has been better than we thought. We’ve had the 4- 4% GDP growth in a couple of quarters. We’re going to finish the year, despite the Schumer shutdown, with 3% real GDP growth.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, the maker of Tonka Trucks, their CEO, said it’s going to cost 40 bucks for their toys right now because of tariffs and inflation, it was 30 bucks the year before that, 25. Prices in the toy space are accelerating, and people are feeling that.
SEC. BESSENT: Well, Margaret inflation is a composite number, and it’s roughly the same year over year. And if we were to look at all imported goods, imported goods inflation is below the inflation number.
MARGARET BRENNAN: The inflation number, you mean the–
SEC. BESSENT: The PC- the PCE number which is about 2.9%. Imported goods inflation is about 1.8. It’s the service economy that’s generating inflation, which actually has nothing to do with tariffs.
MARGARET BRENNAN: But when we hear from for example, the President, when he says that affordability is a con job by Democrats, that seems to just not be resonating with consumers that have been polled by CBS. 60% of Americans polled by this network told us President Trump makes prices and inflation sound better than they really are, and his approval rating in the economy is now down to 36% in our latest poll. On inflation, approval is even lower, 32%. Don’t you need to show that you feel the pain?
SEC. BESSENT: Well, Margaret, I think the President’s frustrated by the media coverage of what’s going on–
MARGARET BRENNAN: This is the polling of average Americans.
SEC. BESSENT: –No, no- yeah, but I think the average Americans, they are hearing a lot from media coverage. And I will tell you that affordability has two components, there is inflation, and then there is real incomes. Real incomes are up about 1% and what we’re not going to do is say that Americans don’t know what they’re feeling. We’ve been working on it every day. I was on your show on March talking about affordability. The- we’ve made a lot of gains, but remember, we’ve got this embedded inflation from the Biden years, where mainstream media, whether it’s Greg Ip at the Wall Street Journal, toxic Paul Krugman at New York Times or former Vice Chair, Alan Blinder, all said it was a vibecession. The American people don’t know how good they have it. Now, Democrats created scarcity, whether it was in energy or over regulation, that we are now seeing the- this. affordability problem, and I think next year we’re going to move on to prosperity.
MARGARET BRENNAN: You do think there is an affordability problem?
SEC. BESSENT: Sorry?
MARGARET BRENNAN: You do believe there’s an affordability problem?
SEC. BESSENT: Oh, I think the Biden administration created a terr–
MARGARET BRENNAN: No, but now we’re nearly 12 months in, you said the President would own the economy at this point.
SEC. BESSENT: I said that the Biden administration created the worst inflation in 50 years, and maybe for working Americans, the worst inflation of all time. And we have pulled that number down- that Strategas research does something called the common man index. Under Biden, the accumulated inflation number, as measured by CPI, was about 20%. Their index showed 35. This year for the first time, the common man index is below the inflation index because the basket of goods for working Americans, food, gasoline, rent is coming down. So I wrote an essay March 12, 2024, and it talked about the three I’s, immigration, interest rates and inflation. Immigrant- mass, unfettered immigration, depressed wages caused housing prices to go up. President has closed the border that is fixed. Interest rates have come down. The bond market just had the best year since 2020 and now we are working on inflation, and I expect inflation to roll down strongly next year.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, I mean, grocery prices are up nearly 3% compared to last September. The President seems to be acknowledging that grocery prices, or at least beef prices, are a challenge, because he put out this order just yesterday saying they’re going to investigate corporate price gouging for high beef prices. Isn’t suing the food companies the same thing the Biden administration did, and it didn’t really work? How is this any different?
SEC. BESSENT: Well, nothing- nothing the Biden administration did worked–
MARGARET BRENNAN: So why are you doing it?
SEC. BESSENT: Because this isn’t the same thing. If they- if they had done this, if they’d done it properly, we’d be in a different spot. And like, beef is one component. Thanksgiving Turkey was down 16%.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, I know you are working on the trade front, and for American farmers and the prices that they are experiencing, that they’re feeling a pinch about not having a market to sell into, necessarily.
SEC. BESSENT: Not- not anymore.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, the agricultural Secretary just said that the President is going to announce a bridge payment for farmers this week to give them short term relief while you’re working on these- finalizing these trade packages. There are these low crop prices, and the soybeans in particular, I know you spoke with China’s Vice Premier Friday. Are they going to speed purchasing up?
SEC. BESSENT: Well, they’re not going to speed purchasing up. They’re in the cadence that we agreed to. Soybean prices are up about 12 or 15% since the agreement with the Chinese. They are going to buy 12.5 million metric tons. But Margaret, I’m involved in the agricultural industry. I run a soybean farm, and I can tell you–
MARGARET BRENNAN: You own one, you invest in it.
SE. BESSENT: Sorry?
MARGARET BRENNAN: You own or invest in–
SEC. BESSENT: –People in my family go out and work on it. I actually just divested it this week as part of the- my ethics agreement, so I’m out of that business. But I probably know more about any Treasury Secretary than- about agriculture since the 1800s and I can tell you that what farmers need is certainty, and we have put that in place with this trade deal. 12 and a half million metric tons this year, 25 million metric tons for the next three years, for soybeans, also sorghum, the- and lumber.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So those purchases, just to clarify, those will be this year, because I heard you say this past week that some of the purchases wouldn’t take place until February.
SEC. BESSENT: Well, for the- for the season, so the crop year.
MARGARET BRENNAN: The season year?
SEC. BESSENT: Yep.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Okay. But why- if everything’s fine, then why do farmers need a bridge payment from the Agricultural Department?
SEC. BESSENT: Sorry?
MARGARET BRENNAN: Why would farmers need a bridge payment from the Agriculture Department, then?
SEC. BESSENT: Because these prices haven’t come in, because the Chinese actually used our soybean farmers as pawns in the trade negotiations. And we are going to create this bridge because, again, agriculture is all about the future. You’ve got to start financing for planning next year when things will be very good.
MARGARET BRENNAN: I want to ask you about something that was announced this past week, the Trump accounts, and building on this concept so parents, as I understand, are going to be able to open these accounts via the Treasury for their kids, their tax deferred investment vehicles to U.S. citizen children under 18, get $1,000 from the government for babies born between 2025 and 2028. So there are going to be restrictions on what the money can be used for college tuition or their first house, is that right?
SEC. BESSENT: No, it is- the federal government for children born in the period you just described, is going to put $1,000 into these Trump accounts, it will be invested in a widely diversified, low cost index, and then it will be available–
MARGARET BRENNAN: In the stock market, in an exchange traded fund or mutual fund.
SEC. SCOTT BESSENT: So in essence, it is a trust fund. It is a piece of the American economy for every child, and they will be able to take it out when they’re 18, or they can convert it to a more IRA-type program and keep it for their retirement.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So there won’t be the restrictions I mentioned there about how they use the money?
SEC. BESSENT: No.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Okay, so there was also a broadening of this- this past week, with the Dell Foundation making a significant investment in the American children. So how is this going to work? Why structure it this way, instead of a savings account, for example?
SEC. SCOTT BESSENT: Well, a savings account just gets interest. This is the compounding power of the stock market. As Warren Buffett says, don’t- don’t bet against the American stock market, don’t bet against the economy. And this is going to bring a whole group of new investors into the market. We’re going to couple it with a big amount of financial literacy, so that children understand what they own. The incredible gift by Michael and Susan Dell will be the- is a program that philanthropists’ foundations can do to top up these accounts. And we are expecting, we’re already at- Treasury is already in discussions with foundations, with major philanthropists to top up these accounts. It could either be for all children, or you can specify it by zip code, a school district, or you can do what the Dells did, and say that it will be- won’t apply to the zip codes of the top 20% of earners.
MARGARET BRENNAN: And more information is going to be coming out on how to use this and access it?
SEC. SCOTT BESSENT: Yes, in the coming weeks, we’ll do that, and then the official kickoff will be July 5.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Before I let you go, I want to ask you about this massive fraud out in Minnesota, and the state welfare program has been under federal investigation since all the way back in 2022. The President told you, though, this week, to look into Somalis who, quote, ripped off that state for billions of dollars. He said they contribute nothing. What exactly are you investigating?
SEC. SCOTT BESSENT: Well, Margaret, to be clear, the initial fraud that was discovered by the IRS for which I’m the Acting Commissioner- is discovered by IRS Criminal Investigations Unit. This was not an endogenous thing that the state of Minnesota decided. We had to go in and clean up the mess for them, and this is part of the continued cleanup. A lot of money has been transferred the- from the individuals who committed this fraud, including those who donated to the government- Governor, donated to Representative Omar and donated to AG Ellison, but they’ve been transferred to something called MBs–
MARGARET BRENNAN: Mortgage backed securities, what–?
SEC. BESSENT: Sorry?
MARGARET BRENNAN: Transferred to what?
SEC. BESSENT: These are money- the- bureau services, and they are wire transfer organizations that are outside the regulated banking system, and that money has gone overseas, and we are tracking that- the- both to the Middle East and Somalia to see what the uses of that have been.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Okay, but you have no evidence of that money being used to fuel terrorism, which is what some conservative writers are alleging?
SEC. SCOTT BESSENT: That’s why it’s an investigation. We started it last week. We’ll see where it goes. But I can tell you that, you know, it’s terrible. You know, Representative Omar tried to downplay it. Said, oh, it was very- the- it was very tough to know how this money should- should be used. She was gaslighting the American people.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, we’ll talk to her.
SEC. BESSENT: Yeah. But, you know, when you come to this country, you got to learn which side of the road to drive on. You got to learn to stop at stop signs, and you got to learn the- not to defraud the American people.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, there are plenty of- plenty of criminal behavior from communities well beyond the immigrant community, but we’ll talk about this with Representative Omar shortly. Thank you, Mr. Secretary.
SEC. BESSENT: Good.
[End Transcript]
“…[racial leftist] narrative engineer Margaret Brennan.” <-Never ask a zebra to change it’s stripes because it is unable to do so.
It’s going to take more than one year to fix the damage inflicted by Biden & Co.
Some things can’t be fixed, people who were making $10-15 an hour are now making $20-30 an hour… and expect that as a baseline which is also now baked into expanding inflation at the grocery stores, etc.. regardless of economic policy.
Can’t be fixed without deporting immigrant communities such as the Somali community with unemployment around 40% (though 84% employment for males aged 25–64), Welfare participation from 42.4% receiving SNAP nationally to about 70% of Somali households in Minnesota relying on public benefits.
Not to mention alleged fraud ranging from $1 to $8 billion since 2015 stolen in MN alone by the Somali community, with the help of democrat gov’t officials.
To make things improve greatly, we need mass deportations of around 30 to 40 million.
To fix the problems intentionally created by prior administrations and Congress (who are largely on the take] one must pull out the rotting plant, root and all…then toss it out of the garden where it belongs. PDJT and SecWar Hegseth are doing that with drug/human trafficking cartel boats winging their way to our shores, turning them into fish food…and yet The Left and Dems are advocating FOR the Cartels and their evil activity. Only one way to fix that, except Blue city dwellers keep voting these people into office.
Despite PDJT having the bilge pumps running full open 24/7, might take a while to right the heeled-over ship taking on water.
Judges 9:45, salt the earth.
Agree 💯. Also a minimum 10 year moratorium on all immigration. Our immigration system is suicidal.
Anyone with half a brain should know it’s going to take time to undo the damage. Unfortunately about half the country is brainwashed by leftist presstitutes like Margaret Brennan.
Probably not a single dem voter could tell you the meaning of “disinflation” (without looking it up) or know how difficult it is to achieve.
Trump & his admin have largely gotten inflation under control, but to actually reduce prices is not easy, especially when there are so many forces fighting against it.
its decades of corruption
not just a term or two or three
Charlie Kirk repeatedly warned that the Republican Party risks losing Generation Z support if it fails to address the affordability crisis, emphasizing that economic hardship is driving young voters toward radical political solutions. His warnings gained renewed attention following the election of New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, whom Kirk described as a “distress signal” from Gen Z demanding economic action.
Humm.. don’t think a brick up the side of her head would make any difference..
It would to the brick.
She’s thick as a brick.
Or so I’m Tulled.
I’m just feeling like a dead duck today
I saw that
Not to her.
But it might make the rest of us feel better.
The media itself has become insufferable. Margaret takes it even further…the absolute worst of the worst.
I beg to differ. It is almost impossible to decide which of them is worse.
They are all insufferable pigs who facilitate the democrats in creating problems and then conduct interviews like this one where they try to gaslight people into believing they are journalists.
Did you see Leslie Stahl’s ugly little face as she egged on the mental-health-challenged MTG?
What about all the illegal immigrants Democrats let in that drove down wages for Americans? Bessent should be hammering that home as an “affordability” issue, you can’t buy things if you have less money!
They also affected rents and home buying.
2021-2022-2023-2024. Biggest financial heist in history.
Democrats are crooks and thieves robbing us of our prosperity …. we need a national divorce from them before they sink the entire country.
How bout resurrecting DOGE again?
Well, almost.
The year 1913 really set it all up.
I still believe (unpopular opinion) that baked into the ’embedded Biden inflation’ were price increases above inflation, but blamed on inflation if that makes sense.
Now about Tonka Trucks.
From the transcript: Well, the maker of Tonka Trucks, their CEO, said it’s going to cost 40 bucks for their toys right now because of tariffs and inflation, it was 30 bucks the year before that, 25. Prices in the toy space are accelerating, and people are feeling that.
The toy company Basic Fun has the licensing rights to produce Tonka Trucks. Basic Fun restructured via bankruptcy in the summer of 2024. So, it is a fair question to ask if all that price increase is actually only due to tariffs and inflation. 🤔
Ah, good question. But, it’s all Trump’s fault, ya know! These insufferable media companies and their willing Democrat operatives posing as “journalists” said not a thing about any of this crap during the sleepy joe administration. They should be sued out of existence.
The media has participated in the robbery every bit as much as the democrats.
My kids got toys, but mostly clothing, books and experiences for gifts. Often a new hat and mittens I’d made. They never believed in Santa, I grew up with parents who made it clear that the birth of Christ was the reason for the season. So it was easy to copy that. Including not spilling the beans.
The holidays didn’t break the bank, because I planned and budgeted.
Don’t suppose Minnesota stealing ??.?? billion dollars would have any effect on inflation?
Idk why I chose to listen to it today but she witchier than usual. Why does he bother doing interviews with her unless he’s trying to convert the lost liberals. Yes some prices are down but others are ridiculous. I bought a few cans of back up carrots yesterday in case I don’t have time to make a meal and they were .95 a can. I used to pay .50 under dementia patient. If they’re investigating companies for gouging, come to NY, there number 1 culprit is the Dollar General but the rest of the grocery stores are up there! Sure wages went up a little but half is taken back in taxes and everything skyrocketed beyond the raise!! We’re on the lower end of what they call “middle class” and we are still behind! Car insurance, healthcare, property taxes and electricity have created a big hole!
I said that the other day: Are grocery stores ripping us off, blaming tariffs for the high prices.
I’m finding ‘normal’ prices have increased significantly since 2021. But I seldom pay normal prices, I buy on sale and I used to stock up on canned veggies at 3 for a buck. Now if I really watch I can get them for 2 for $1. I never pay full price for them.
Now with increases across the board… watching sales and stocking up is the only way I can keep my grocery budget low and still eat a wide variety of food. Just not as much beef or junk food as in the past.
Bought a lot of canned beef before Biden came into office, as well as chicken.
Costco has the best, and most affordable.
Might want to consider canned meats, instead of fresh.
Stores for a long time.
I am eating 2025 meals for 2019 prices.
Hopefully President Trump will get things under control soon, but with the US beef herd at a low ebb, 2026 will likely hand us even higher prices. 2027 may be worse.
It could pay to squeeze out a bit of cash for canned meats now, to save money in the future.
“Well, there are plenty of- plenty of criminal behavior from communities well beyond the immigrant community, but we’ll talk about this with Representative Omar shortly. Thank you, Mr. Secretary.”
Margaret Brennan’s baby-shit brown outfit is completely apropos.
“Representative Omar” is representative for her country Somalia only, by her own admission.
I like the idea of Trump accounts. When our children were born, Wife and I purchased Bonds for them and gave them their Bonds when they turned 18 to use for what every they wanted. One bought a car, One put the money into savings and another used it towards college. Wasn’t a bunch of money , but it was a substantial amount that they could use for something an 18 year old needed.
I am on the fence.
Saving is certainly something to encourage, but it bothers me that the government is putting it into the stock market.
Kinda seems like another way to prop up the stock market and funnel more Americans into it.
Unless a person really knows what he is doing, the stock market seems to be a shearing shed, where the ignorant go to get fleeced.
What a huge problem the Biden Admin created. It’s going to take time to unravel what’s happened and set things straight. I’m hoping to see real change next year, but then again, being an election year, I expect more chaos and shenanigans than anything else.
For the regular person, gas prices coming down is very helpful, but things like homeowner’s insurance, property taxes, and health insurance have all gone up, which eats into the small gain of gas prices. Groceries are still very high, as are consumable goods. There remains an “affordability” crisis and we’ve all got to hang on and support the President until things get straightened out. That’s my take.
What about the high interest rates?
Why, how dare they! And why should we not expect this from they, the usual suspects?
Sometimes it is better to just “Shadow ban” these tiresome sources.
Food prices, except for beef haven’t climbed much under Trump. They made some enormous jumps under Biden.
I always buy on sale and when sales prices increase by 25%, 50% or even 100% I take notice.
Hamburger and London broil I used to get at below $2 a pound, now is $4 is a lucky find. Generic cans of veggies were 4/$1, now the same sales are 2/$1.
Cases of Coke/Pepsi used to be four cases for $12 or less. Now the same things are $18-20 on sale.
Chips used to be $1 bag on sale, now if you are lucky a sale will be $2, but you have to buy 3 or 4 to get that price.
So we eat a lot less junk food.
Was at a diner the other day and over heard the owner state that beef prices are decreasing for him. Wonder if the distribution systems (resturant versus grocery store) is the reason? Will food prices for resturants decline before food prices for grocery stores?
Sales on soda…2L bottles, must by multiples of 2, 4 or even 5, for a sale price. Guess what, I have rediscovered water. Brand name soda, over 1.50….store brand, 1.50…
I don’t want multiples…so I do without…
We’ve cut way back also on junk, but monitor the prices to catch sales. We still like chips & soda sometimes. Canned sodas are nice to be able to pack for a ‘picnic’ lunch when we are out. It makes stopping for fast food easier to avoid if there are treats with the packed sandwiches.
Cans are better than 2 liters for us because we’ll open a big bottle and it will go flat before it’s used up.
Popcorn makes a tasty snack!
Fewer calories, and if you make it at home, it’s just popcorn, some sort of oil to pop it in and salt.
Wholesome, pronounceable ingredients.
I pop corn n beef tallow – very good flavor and a healthy alternative to seed oils.
My first question was going to be, is the government contractually obligated to appear on NBC?
Because giving NBC business (viewer eyeballs) is basically a government subsidy, and a waste of time for Trump’s staff. I know we have to fight back on this vicious malinformation, but that interview was an endless attack.
But I guess it’s a matter of fairness, you can’t just appear on Fox as the “conservative” station, or the Dems would yell. But they would just yell anyway.
So maybe Trump’s staff could just do NPR or PBS interviews, then no one would get any advertising revenue, because no one pays attention to those outlets.
Agree. Politicians, regardless of party, are drawn to these shows like moths to light. Better to go on a few podcasts and leave legacy shows to wither on the vine.
Unfortunately the fading and discredited MSM can still set the agenda and narrative. Ds talking about ‘affordability’ when they caused massive inflation, is a complete joke.
Yes, the commie policies of the Autopen put in place forces that are still acting out. The immediate trillions of extra dollars pumped into the system caused prices to shoot up. (Btw, inflation is too much money chasing too few goods.)
But their imported 30 million illegals (who were subsidized) are mostly still here, and to this day consume housing and food (higher demand –> higher prices). They are huge net negative: drain on public funds, worse quality of life, higher theft (–> higher prices or stores closing), and on and on…
But the dems are clever, lay low for a few months, then jump up and yell, “Shazaam! This is the Trump economy and he doin’ bad thangs!”
In case you never noticed, that is standard practice: cause a problem, then declare they must be elected to fix it.
I’m sorry. but I just can’t stand to listen to Margaret Brennan. Her every word ooozes with TDS.
I read the transcript. Did not even want to hear her nasty vibes.
A stark contrast when compared to his nitwit predecessor Janet Yellen.
“wire transfer organizations that are outside the regulated banking system”
Exactly the mechanisms by which extra-territorial payments are funneled to outfits like Al Shabaab, totally in concert with Islamic practice.
Yeah, I noticed that also..they’ll be moving to bitcoin transfers soon and trying to hide that
The Democrats are much better at elevator pitches for people with a 6-year-old’s mentality and catchy simple to understand phrases like “No Kings” and “Affordability”. Scott Bessent and all of Trump’s people need to dumb down their message so even retarded people like Tim Walz can understand.
This article is from 2018 about millions of dollars flowing from Minnesota to Somalia with absolutely no interest from the government:
“Millions of dollars in suitcases fly out of MSP, but why?”
“On the morning of March 15, Fox 9 chased a tip about a man who was leaving the country. Sources said he took a carry-on bag through security that was packed with $1 million in cash. Travelers can do that, as long as they fill out the proper government forms.”
“Fox 9 learned that these cloak-and-dagger scenarios now happen almost weekly at MSP. The money is usually headed to the Middle East, Dubai and points beyond. Sources said last year alone, more than $100 million in cash left MSP in carry-on luggage.”
https://www.fox9.com/news/millions-of-dollars-in-suitcases-fly-out-of-msp-but-why
The corruption is off the charts in Minnesota
Marge is disgusting. Carrying water for the corrupticons at every turn.
Sect. Bessent did a great job, but it would be nice if he put some of these monetary terms in “layman’s language.”
He’s a smart man, but most people don’t understand these terms.
President Trump being on the side of Main Street vs Wall Street has been the subject of multiple articles on here. Yet, here we are again, with Scott Bessent trying to convince us that the stock market is the economy in the US, touting savings accounts for babies and long term stock investment. The ‘401k economy’ over the last 30 years has led to not a market economy, but a corporatist oligarchy. The business/customer relationship has been replaced with the sense that one is a subject dealing with a quasi-government entity when engaging with corporations. The ethical degradation of commerce has led to crap like Rocket Money where you have to pay someone to cancel all the rip offs you are subjected to through autopay. I resist autopay as much as I can, but some corporations will not take payment any other way now. I pay with credit card, and they STILL send me a bill months after I cancelled something. I’m on the phone with a foreign call center for multiple hours trying to get it straightened out. You can’t tell me it’s not a strategy of their billing departments hoping to catch you not paying attention, especially with the way the first thing on their call script is to implore you to go on autopay. Anyway, I sidetracked because I knew I’d get a ‘whatabout’ from someone’s response. The main problem in our society now is that very recently the top 1% in wealth passed the whole of the middle class in their percentage of wealth in our economy. This isn’t tenable. What can I do? I’m a white male, and I believe in free speech, so I can’t be a Democrat. But I will never support the Wall Street approach, which plays the primary role in our economic and political problems now.
Thoughtful…and every point accurate.
So what can we as seniors do, when our income is fixed, except for the modest amount we’ve saved in anticipation of making a modest (not exorbitant) return on those savings without venturing into risk…i.e. Wall Street.
We simply do not have the time to wait for things to recover should a sudden shock eradicate any monies we’ve committed to the WS casino..
He speaks of the “common man index” and the basket of goods which is used to calculate the inflation level.
I’m assuming that’s a different “basket of goods” from the one the Fed uses; because theirs excludes everything we need…not want…to purchase to live, those items Secretary Bessent then mentioned as being used in his measure.
We cut our cloth to our financial circumstances. For the Obama years we kept cutting because 0 to negative interest rates. For the Biden years, with modest interest rates (in no way “high” as has been insufferably insisted upon), we have managed to keep what’s left of our seed corn stable…just…as inflation/unaffordability cancel it out. But now we are personally headed in the wrong direction once again, where I’ve got the “scissors” out, and we find we are chopping away at what’s left of the cloth we started out with.
I am not complaining…simply outlining our situation. We are in a better place than so many others.
Having said all of the above, I would pray one thing from the one man who with grit, purpose, and energy has sacrificed his life at this moment for the sake of the country and people he loves…..
That President Trump cease trumpeting how great everything is.
In the real world where everything takes time to trickle down, the benefits he is working so hard to deliver haven’t begun to reach most. Yes, we are seeing a few pennies drop off a gallon of gas, but with everything else ? Not so much, if at all.
Voters form their opinions and support based on the lives they are living and the cost. And their voices are loud, getting louder.
The reality is not matching the constant exuberant rhetoric.
We’ve got midterms next year. I pray that in the lead up, this Dem talking point, “unaffordability”, which actually does match the reality of tens of thousands, will be moot…because by the time voters cast their ballots, their lives will be immeasurably, undeniably better.
40 years ago, my husband and I started our married life with $500 to our name. We worked hard, finished (trade) school, saved religiously, spent frugally and invested wisely. We are solid middle class, my husband being a mechanic and me a seamstress. We paid off our 30 year mortgage, 7.something%, in 12 years, maxed out our retirement account contributions, except for the house, we stayed out of debt and we stayed married. Our daughter, with her STEM degree, is making more in her first year of employment than her father made his last year before retirement.
I know a couple million doesn’t go as far as it used to, but I ain’t complaining. We ARE the American Dream and it’s not dead.
The ‘invest wisely’ part trips up many. Seek professional help.
The stock market has always been apart of the economy going back more than 500 years. It performs a function in the financing of business, etc. The commodities market was essential for our agrarian economy and still plays the function of hedging prices.
Pick individual stocks based on solid principals and watch your investment grow.
Brennan would do well to read the Bible carefully.
Can a Cushite (Somalian or Ethiopian) change his skin
or a leopard its spots?
Neither can you do good
who are accustomed to doing evil.
Jeremiah 13:23
Prices went up quickly under Biden as petroleum was made scarcer. This made everything exponentially more expensive by few degrees of separation. Takes longer to bring them under control than to ruin them.
MARGARET BRENNAN appears to enjoy self-flagellation by proxy. She gets beat up every time she talks to Scott Bessent.
Trump is making the same mistake that Biden did. Things are not good out here and trying to convince people they are creates a credibility gap.
Please specify what you mean by “mistake” and “out here”. If it is California, you got that right. Call your Governor and super-majority Democrat legislature. Good luck. Just last week, Trump got rid of Biden’s EV mandate and help save the auto industry with tariffs and interest deductions on American built autos. That surely was not the “same mistake”.
I will add “good morning Margaret”
to my “hello Karen”
to the deserving
Why does our side dignify these propaganda outlets with our presence?
Does anyone remember early on the Fox News guy asking Bidon about high prices and Bidon thinking the mike was off, muttering how stupid the question was because inflation is good! All of it was deliberat and they had the idiot Bidon thinking it was all good! The man has no shame at all
The Ilhan Omar take on the MN fraud was hilarious.
“My poor Somalis didn’t know it was illegal!” (She thinks it would’ve been fine if it was legal?) (The MN government attacked whistleblowers because it thought it was legal?)
“In government operations this large, a few minor mistakes will be made!” (It’s just a coincidence that all the many ‘mistakes’ profited her Democrat friends?) (Billions is minor; look at all the trillions they haven’t stolen yet?)
We did a little scouting trip last weekend, to check out GAS Prices. In our city the gas was $2.89 a gallon. 3 miles south (out of our city) it was $2.39 a gallon. 3 miles north (out of our city) it was $2.45 per gallon. ALL within a 10 mile stretch of highway…All in the same State and County. So what is the difference? City Tax and Corporate Greed.