Liberals play partisan games with economic news
Thanks to President Donald Trump's bold policies, it appears that the United States will avoid a recession this year − one that so many liberals were predicting only months ago.
Will Democrats put politics aside and applaud as the American economy shows a strength and resilience that so many of them doubted? Probably not.
The Bureau of Economic Analysis on July 30 released more good news about our nation's vibrant economy. Gross domestic product grew a healthy annual rate of 3% in the second quarter after recording a less than 1% decline in the first three months of this year. Fears of a recession should now dissipate like morning haze after the sunrise.
Nearly all markers of a strong economy are in top form. Unemployment is low, hovering at 4.1%. The past three months have seen steady job growth. Average hourly earnings for U.S. workers grew 3.7% over the 12 months ending in June.
Consumer spending is expected to rise, and there's been a modest uptick in consumer confidence. The Consumer Price Index, which measures inflation, increased 2.7% over the 12 months ending in June, far below the 40-year high recorded in President Joe Biden's term.
Even the average price of eggs has dropped dramatically, to $3.31 per dozen, down from a spike to $8 in February and back to roughly the same price level as a year ago.
Stock indexes continue to grow at a strong pace, recovering from the sell-off this spring driven by concerns over Trump's tariffs. The Nasdaq and S&P 500 have set multiple record highs in July, a boon to millions of Americans with retirement accounts and other investors.
On the tariff front, Trump's new trade deal with the European Union should be a catalyst for further economic growth, particularly in the energy and construction sectors.
If this is what a recession looks like, let's keep it coming.
Critics said Trump was destroying the economy
Despite such healthy economic markers, I doubt I'll see many kudos offered to the Trump administration for powering past a recession, which the left predicted in doomsday terms.
Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman wrote in May that Trump and "MAGAnomics" were "destroying the economy and waging war on the middle class and the poor." The headline thundered that Trump was "making America backward again."
Opinion: Trump's EU trade deal ushers in a golden age for blue-collar workers
Interestingly, Krugman claimed that the U.S. economy was in good overall shape when Biden left office in January. He charged Trump with wrecking the economy in a mere three months. Now, that the data clearly shows otherwise, will Krugman admit his errors? I doubt it.
Krugman, to be fair, wasn't the only so-called expert spouting off about our supposedly crumbling economy. CNN published an analysis in April with a headline that claimed "Trump took the US economy to the brink of a crisis in just 100 days."
That same month, the Center for American Progress bemoaned that "President Donald Trump's decision to unilaterally launch a global trade war could be one of the worst economic statecraft blunders in American history."
Opinion newsletter: Sign up for our newsletter on conservative values, family and religion from columnist Nicole Russell. Get it delivered to your inbox.
I read these articles in the mainstream news media and wonder if we share the same universe. Do progressives not see the same healthy economic markers that millions of other Americans and I see?
The answer, of course, is that they do see − but they are too blinded by partisanship to admit it.
Good economic news should be nonpartisan
I don't have a problem with liberals criticizing Trump. Sometimes he deserves it. But when it comes to obvious wins like a blossoming economy, the constant derision is tiresome and pedestrian. A robust economy under any president is good news for Americans, regardless of their party affiliation. Right?
I didn't care for Biden's leftist policies. But I didn't cheer when the economy struggled. It was bad news not just for Biden but, far more important, also for our nation and its citizens.
More than a year after Biden entered the White House, annual inflation spiked to 9% in June 2022, the highest rate in four decades. Americans were hit with sudden increases in food, housing and transportation costs.
Opinion: Nvidia CEO says Trump gives America an advantage. Hear that, progressives?
Compounding the pain, the Federal Reserve acted to cool inflation by raising interest rates, which pushed up consumers' payments for auto, housing and credit card loans.
Democrats tried to blame decisions made in Trump's first term, including federal spending used to fight consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. But Biden spent more even as the pandemic began to wane.
In 2024, more than half of American voters said the economy was the issue that mattered to them the most. It's why Trump won more than 77 million votes and returned to the White House.
Now, he is delivering on his promises to rebuild our nation's economy. But not everyone is happy about it.
It's too bad liberals can't separate economic success from Trump's party affiliation. I can't help but wonder if they wanted a recession so they could blame Trump even more.
Nicole Russell is a columnist at USA TODAY and a mother of four who lives in Texas. Contact her at nrussell@gannett.com and follow her on X, formerly Twitter: @russell_nm. Sign up for her weekly newsletter, The Right Track, here.
You can read diverse opinions from our USA TODAY columnists and other writers on the Opinion front page, on X, formerly Twitter, @usatodayopinion and in our Opinion newsletter.
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Dating back to 2015, Bank of America Securities Head of US equity and Quantitive Strategy Savita Subramanian found that the largest 50 stocks in the S&P 500 (^GSPC) have outperformed the benchmark index by 73 percentage points. Subramanian points out the last notable run of similar outperformance for the 50 largest stocks in the index came in the late 1990s leading into the bursting of the dot-com bubble. Subramanian thinks a similar tide shift might be coming to markets now. "History would suggest there is more to go in cap-weighted dominance," Subramanian wrote in a note to clients. "But if the Fed's next move is a rate cut, and if the Regime indicator is shifting to a Recovery, we think the run may be closer to done." BofA's "regime indicator," which includes a variety of factors such as corporate earnings revisions, inflation data and economic growth projections, has started to point to the recovery phase. This combined with a Federal Reserve that markets believe will cut interest rates by at least half a percentage point before the end of year, is a positive setup for value stocks, Subramanian argues. And the largest stocks in the market right now are "anti value." "[Federal Reserve] easing has been accompanied by Mega caps lagging more than leading, and higher inflation should support a broadening of the S&P 500 beyond defensives/secular growth," Subramanian wrote. Private club operator Soho House going private in $2.7 billion deal Shares of Soho House (SHCO) jumped as much as 16% on Monday after news that the private members club operator is set to go private, Yahoo Finance's Jake Conley reports. Conley writes: Read the full story here. Shares of Soho House (SHCO) jumped as much as 16% on Monday after news that the private members club operator is set to go private, Yahoo Finance's Jake Conley reports. Conley writes: Read the full story here. 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Walmart earnings China's $11 trillion stock market is a headache for both Xi and Trump US warns that India is 'cozying up' to Russia Tesla almost halves UK lease fee as sales slump: Report Goldman: S&P 500 earnings have blown past forecasts Bond market's rate-cut bets hit decisive stretch with Powell Novo Nordisk stock rises after Wegovy gets new US approval US-listed shares in Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk (NVO) are gaining before the bell, as investors welcome a US boost for its flagship Wegovy. Novo is also reportedly planning to hold off from charging more at next year's launch of pill versions of its weight-loss injections, a departure from usual practice as President Trump puts pressure on pharma companies to cut US prices. Reuters reports: Shares in Novo Nordisk rose on Monday, after the Danish drugmaker got US approval for its weight-loss drug Wegovy to treat a serious liver condition. That was positive news for Novo which has lost more than one-third of its market value in recent weeks. ... Three weeks ago, investors wiped $70 billion off its market value, after Novo — which became Europe's most valuable listed company following the launch of Wegovy in 2021 — issued a profit warning and named a company veteran as new CEO. On Friday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted accelerated approval for Wegovy to treat metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis, or MASH, making it the first GLP-1 class therapy cleared for the progressive liver condition that affects around 5% of adults in the United States. Read more here. US-listed shares in Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk (NVO) are gaining before the bell, as investors welcome a US boost for its flagship Wegovy. Novo is also reportedly planning to hold off from charging more at next year's launch of pill versions of its weight-loss injections, a departure from usual practice as President Trump puts pressure on pharma companies to cut US prices. Reuters reports: Shares in Novo Nordisk rose on Monday, after the Danish drugmaker got US approval for its weight-loss drug Wegovy to treat a serious liver condition. That was positive news for Novo which has lost more than one-third of its market value in recent weeks. ... Three weeks ago, investors wiped $70 billion off its market value, after Novo — which became Europe's most valuable listed company following the launch of Wegovy in 2021 — issued a profit warning and named a company veteran as new CEO. On Friday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted accelerated approval for Wegovy to treat metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis, or MASH, making it the first GLP-1 class therapy cleared for the progressive liver condition that affects around 5% of adults in the United States. Read more here. Powell at Jackson Hole, Walmart earnings: What to watch this week The investing world is gearing up for Jerome Powell's comments at Jackson Hole — the most important Fed monetary policy speech of the year, says Yahoo Finance's Myles Udland. The Fed chair's appearance dominates the week's calendar for markets, which also brings a clutch of retail giant earnings. Myles reports: Read more here. The investing world is gearing up for Jerome Powell's comments at Jackson Hole — the most important Fed monetary policy speech of the year, says Yahoo Finance's Myles Udland. The Fed chair's appearance dominates the week's calendar for markets, which also brings a clutch of retail giant earnings. Myles reports: Read more here. Goldman team likely to stay in Trump's crosshairs President Trump has recently offered a few choice words on the work from Goldman Sachs' economics team, led by long-time economist Jan Hatzius. The team is unlikely to garner some praise from Trump today. Here's what Hatzius and his team served up in a new note on Monday morning: "After the recent downward revisions to payrolls, our estimate of trend job growth is now clearly below even that . And while the picture could change again for better or worse, future revisions to job growth are more likely to be because the birth-death model is likely a bit too generous, changes in trend payroll growth can initially be partially misattributed to changes in seasonal factors, revisions to the raw payrolls data tended to be negative in past slowdowns, data from ADP raise doubts about officially reported payroll growth in healthcare, and the household survey is now overstating immigration and employment gains. Like the slowdown in activity growth this year, the slowdown in job growth appears to have arisen from more than just the direct effects of trade and immigration policy changes. We are particularly worried that 'catch-up hiring' in a few industries now appears over and job growth outside those industries has fallen to around zero. And while job openings remain at a decent level, they started to decline again earlier this year." President Trump has recently offered a few choice words on the work from Goldman Sachs' economics team, led by long-time economist Jan Hatzius. The team is unlikely to garner some praise from Trump today. Here's what Hatzius and his team served up in a new note on Monday morning: "After the recent downward revisions to payrolls, our estimate of trend job growth is now clearly below even that . And while the picture could change again for better or worse, future revisions to job growth are more likely to be because the birth-death model is likely a bit too generous, changes in trend payroll growth can initially be partially misattributed to changes in seasonal factors, revisions to the raw payrolls data tended to be negative in past slowdowns, data from ADP raise doubts about officially reported payroll growth in healthcare, and the household survey is now overstating immigration and employment gains. Like the slowdown in activity growth this year, the slowdown in job growth appears to have arisen from more than just the direct effects of trade and immigration policy changes. We are particularly worried that 'catch-up hiring' in a few industries now appears over and job growth outside those industries has fallen to around zero. And while job openings remain at a decent level, they started to decline again earlier this year." Sign in to access your portfolio
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- Yahoo
Speaker Johnson vows to stop California's redistricting push — but ignores Texas doing the same
House Speaker Mike Johnson says he plans to derail California's proposed congressional map after Governor Gavin Newsom unveiled a proposal to redraw the state's electoral boundaries. Newsom and California Democrats proposed new congressional lines on Friday in an attempt to eliminate potential gains in Texas, where Republicans backed by Donald Trump launched a nationwide redistricting battle with nakedly partisan ambitions ahead of midterm elections in 2026. Johnson accused Democrats of an 'illegal power grab.' 'Gavin Newsom should spend less time trampling his state's laws for a blatant power grab, and more time working to change the disastrous, far-left policies that are destroying California,' Johnson wrote Monday. 'Newsom obviously wants to launch a presidential campaign on the backs of disenfranchised California voters, but it will not work.' But unlike California, Texas lawmakers in the state legislature only need to vote on the maps before they are signed into law by Governor Gregg Abbott. Newsom, meanwhile, must hold a special election this fall so voters can decide whether to suspend the state's independent redistricting commission until the end of the decade to advance the new map. Johnson's statement followed the return of a group of Texas Democrats who left the state to break quorum in the state House, leaving Republicans without enough members present to vote on legislation during a special 30-day legislative session that was requested by Abbott. Dozens of Texas Democrats declared victory on Monday after staying out of the state for more than two weeks, blocking Republicans' Trump-led gerrymandering campaign. But redistricting is on the agenda for a second special session. Texas Republicans are expected to quickly take up — and pass — a new congressional map that would create five more districts likely to elect Republican candidates, which would give the GOP 30 of the state's 38 seats in Congress. In a statement on Monday, the Texas House Democratic Caucus said that members returned 'to launch the next phase' in the redistricting battle. Democrats' return to the state will allow them to create the 'legal record necessary to defeat this racist map in court, take our message to communities across the state and country, and inspire legislators across the country how to fight these undemocratic redistricting schemes in their own statehouses,' Texas House of Representatives Minority Leader Gene Wu said in a statement. GOP lawmakers were explicit that the new map was designed to improve 'political performance,' an act of political or partisan gerrymandering — in which a controlling party carves out maps to 'pack' likely opponents into a few districts, or 'cracks' them across multiple districts, thereby diluting their voting power. Critics accused Republicans of gerrymandering a map on racial lines, effectively letting Republicans choose their voters rather than the other way around. While out of the state, Abbott and state Attorney General Ken Paxton and GOP members of Congress put pressure on law enforcement to haul absent lawmakers back to the state capital in Austin. 'We killed the corrupt special session, withstood unprecedented surveillance and intimidation, and rallied Democrats nationwide to join this existential fight for fair representation — reshaping the entire 2026 landscape,' Wu said. California and Texas, the nation's two most populous states, remain at the forefront of the brewing redistricting war, as Trump pushes Republicans to redraw electoral lines for control of the House of Representatives to avoid a repeat of 2018 midterm elections — when Democrats regained control of Congress and impeached him twice. Democrats — who accused Republicans of illegally diluting the voting strength of Black and Latino voters — are planning to retaliate, triggering a race to reshape the electoral map by the time Americans cast their ballots in 2026. Newsom has stressed that bypassing the state's redistricting commission would be temporary, and that the state would only redraw its congressional boundaries if Texas shot first. At a rally in Los Angeles last week, Newsom said Trump is 'trying to rig the system' and, 'as a consequence, we need to disabuse ourselves of the way things have been done.' 'We have got to recognize the cards that have been dealt,' Newsom said. 'And we have got to meet fire with fire.' Johnson called Newsom's plans a 'slap in the face to Californians who overwhelmingly support' the state's redistricting commission. 'Unlike other states, California must shred its own Constitution to succeed in its desperate gambit to 'end the Trump presidency.' Voters in California and across the nation see through this partisan stunt,' he said. Johnson said his office and the National Republican Congressional Committee will 'use every measure and resource possible' to take on California. The Republicans' congressional campaign arm criticized Newsom's move, accusing the governor of 'shredding California's Constitution and disenfranchising voters to prop up his Presidential ambitions.' 'The NRCC is prepared to fight this illegal power grab in the courts and at the ballot box to stop Newsom in his tracks,' chairman Richard Hudson said last week.
