The economy is developing into something called a K-shape, which means, in effect, people at the top, no surprise, have their wages increasing while those at the bottom are showing at least a 1% decrease. There is a far greater number in the lower bracket than in the upper bracket, so the impact is substantial on the overall economy. If this trend continues then the buying power of those in the lower bracket, the majority of Americans, will result in less spending, and ultimately, that will have a negative impact on the economy. This is something we should be watching (remember, over 60% of GDP is based on consumer spending).
Mr. Trump announced two weeks ago that he was going to reduce tariffs to drive down at least some food prices. How’s that working? Lots of complaints about high food costs continue.
The agricultural community is now starting to raise significant questions about the deportations that Mr. Trump has demanded, particularly in California which has a tremendous need for migrants to pick the numerous crops which they grow and need to harvest. Deportations are also beginning to develop a deep concern in other agricultural areas, particularly dairy farms as the same situation exists and in the absence of migrant labor it will be impossible for those farms to continue operations. Milk prices go where? Up.
Clinical trials were slashed by Mr. Trump that focused on Black and Hispanic patients with the administration advising scientists that they believe these trials were discriminatory, and therefore, wasteful spending. Another bit of racism directed at Blacks and Hispanics, yet no one calls him out.
The vote in Congress to release the Epstein files is likely going to be a cruel joke, maybe even a hoax, as Mr. Trump describes it.
Trade data indicates that there was a substantial reduction in both imports and exports in August of this year with imports dropping 5.1% and exports falling $500,000,000 to $179,000,000 as the rest of the world purchased fewer American goods, cars and car parts, as well as gold. There was some offset to this through US services including travel.
The CDC changed the wording on its website to effectively confuse and contradict experts regarding the issue of autism and its causes. Mr. Kennedy continues to take positions which are irrational and dangerous and I wonder if he understands the risks that he is taking by satisfying anti-vaxxers but putting their children and other children at severe risk, not to speak of the adults that he is also influencing in a negative fashion.
Last week the Coast Guard decided that it was changing the definition of hate crimes, and then 24 hours later changed it back to what it was. Someone recognized the foolishness and the idiocy of the positions that they had taken.
The recent jobs report managed to further confuse all of us, in part because not all the information is available due to the fact that Mr. Trump has eliminated jobs in those sectors of the government that provide information. There were apparently 119,000 jobs created, which was above what was anticipated. At the same time, the unemployment rate went up to 4.4%. This puts in jeopardy the next rate cut and raises substantial questions about Mr. Trump and his elimination of many of the reports which are important not just for the Fed, but for many corporate decision makers throughout the United States.
Recently I read a note about how Japanese Americans were responding to the detention camps and deportations which arose out of their experience in World War II, and how they perceived it as being unfair and apparently now perceive the deportations as unfair. It strikes me, unfortunately, that these are materially different issues in that those being deported now are not US citizens, while the vast majority of the interned Japanese were.
The continuing saga of Secretary Kennedy and the CDC with regard to childhood vaccines raises to me a very interesting question. There is no doubt that some percentage of the population will have an adverse reaction to any vaccine. There is equally no doubt that without the vaccines there will be a significant number of deaths. It appears Mr. Kennedy wants to bet on children’s lives.
The tragic shooting of the two National Guardsman in DC was immediately turned by Mr. Trump into anti-Afghan rhetoric. What he forgot, and I saw at least one former member of the military, Special Forces, who indicated that the work and service of the Afghans for that unit that this man belonged to provided to the US military were incredible and could not have been done without.It appears from other reports that this gentleman was having a deteriorating mental health crisis which could have been, at least in part, brought on by the rejection of the Trump Administration of those who helped us in Afghanistan. That feeling of rejection and isolation could be, in fact, the cause of him taking this action.
Republicans typically say that irrespective of the number of children killed in any incident, we can’t take away any First Amendment rights or limit them in any way. How does that square with the reaction to the DC murders by Republicans? It doesn’t.
Mr. Trump also created another potential crisis for rural hospitals in that many foreign doctors are now rejecting offers from rural institutions in the United States because of a feeling that they cannot trust the US administration to honor its commitments, and to at some random moment decide that their visas were rescinded, and they were going to be deported.This is just more evidence of the irrational knee-jerk behavior that comes from the Trump Administration.
The recent bursts of anger by Mr. Trump in which he demeaned female reporters as he taunts them with grammar school and high school comments about their physical appearance and intellectual capacity is unfortunately displaying what we have long suspected - that he never matured beyond that age level. Unfortunately, he is the President of the United States. By the way, where were their employers and colleagues to defend them?
The changing of wording on the CDC website relative to autism is very troubling in that, again, there is no scientific support for the hypothesis put forward by the Secretary other than from the quacks who support him and are looking for recognition in the media.
The most recent jobs report indicates that private payrolls declined 32,000, while economists were anticipating a 40,000 increase, so a swaying of 72,000 jobs, which is certainly significant. The economy continues to twist and turn and be virtually impossible to predict.
The Venezuelan boat attacks raised a significant number of questions. The Geneva Convention is quite specific in terms of the duties of participants in battle as to their responsibilities to individuals who in effect, can’t fight anymore, which is certainly the case of the men floating in the water or hanging onto the boat. It is also important to remember Senator McCain’s strong advocacy of the Geneva Convention and his refusal to condone enhanced interrogations. His reasons were that he felt a compulsion to follow a convention that we were signatories to, and secondarily he worried about the impact on our troops if they were ever captured. This, from a man who was tortured after being captured, so we better remember his words.
Elise Stefanik is now at war with Speaker Johnson over a piece of legislation which purports to require DOJ to advise Congress of any investigation of Congressional candidates for office. It appears that Ms. Stefanik is doing anything she can to get in the news, and to appear being productive which is a dramatic change certainly from the last year and a half, as she was focused on either becoming Vice President or the Ambassador to the UN. It has become painfully obvious to anyone paying even the slightest attention that Ms. Stefanik has no interest in New York 21, nor in New York State, and is only running for Governor in hopes that that will be springboard to higher office.
Bill Owens is a former member of Congress representing the New York 21st, a partner in Stafford, Owens, Piller, Murnane, Kelleher and Trombley in Plattsburgh, NY and a Strategic Advisor at Dentons to Washington, DC.
The views expressed by commentators are solely those of the authors. They do not necessarily reflect the views of this station or its management.
