In
his
run-up to the midterm elections,
the president is crisscrossing the
country in an effort to energize
his base. Unfortunately, he seeks
to inflame his base with multiple
exaggerations, obfuscations,
half-truths, and downright
bald-faced lies. Thus, he told
Oklahoma’s News 9 on October 1,
“So we have the greatest economy
in the history of our country.”
The data
says
otherwise.
Consider the September employment
report, released October 2. The economy
added just 29,000 jobs. Earlier estimates
for July and August were revised downward by
a combined 60,000. July, initially reported
as a month of job growth, now shows a loss
of 10,000 jobs. These numbers hardly support
the president’s extravagant celebration.
The overall unemployment rate was
4.2 percent, a relatively low figure. But
whose unemployment are we discussing? Black
unemployment rose from 6 percent in August
to 7 percent in September. White
unemployment was 3.6 percent. Black workers
were unemployed at nearly twice the rate of
white workers.
Monthly figures fluctuate,
particularly for smaller demographic groups.
One month should not carry an entire
argument. Yet the familiar racial disparity
deserves scrutiny every month. When
politicians celebrate the national
unemployment rate while overlooking Black
unemployment, they erase people whose
economic circumstances complicate their
preferred story.
A presidential declaration does not
pay the grocery bill. It does not fill a gas
tank, cover the rent, or produce a job for
someone who has been looking for months. And
a national economic average tells us
precious little about the distance between
those enjoying prosperity and those
struggling to survive.
What does a “strong economy” mean
to the worker whose application goes
unanswered? What does it mean to the family
drawing down savings while waiting for a
paycheck? Losing employment can mean losing
health coverage, falling behind on housing
payments, and postponing an education. For
households with little accumulated wealth,
unemployment can turn a manageable budget
into an emergency.
On
October
5, the national average price of
regular gasoline was approximately
$4.37 a gallon. In Washington, DC,
it was about $4.45. Nationally,
filling a 15-gallon tank cost
roughly $65. Retail diesel
averaged $6.32 a gallon, adding
pressure to businesses that move
food, equipment, and other
necessities. Prices had eased over
the preceding week, but a modest
decline does not make an expensive
tank affordable,
nor is
it acceptable when precipitously
higher year-over-year from 2025.
Ask a farmer about this supposedly
magnificent economy. John Boyd Jr.,
president of the National Black Farmers
Association, told NPR in September that
filling his tractor cost roughly $1,000. He
was paying about $7 a gallon for diesel,
nearly twice what he paid a year earlier.
“This is a national farm crisis for
farmers,” he said.
USDA projects farm fuel and oil
expenses will rise nearly 29 percent this
year. For Black farmers, whose operations
are generally smaller and whose access to
credit is more limited, another surge in
operating costs can threaten both a
livelihood and the land that sustains it.
You cannot harvest a crop with a
presidential boast.
Trump’s
October
5 diesel order
offers an election-season promise
of relief, with - crucial details
left to Treasury. It directs
officials to pursue tax deferrals
for highway use of off-road
diesel, not guaranteed tax
forgiveness. Tractor fuel already
receives tax-exempt treatment.
Farmers hauling crops may benefit,
but postponing taxes does not
solve high fuel prices.
The
latest
inflation report, for August,
tells a story families know from
their ballooning
bills. Overall prices were up 3.4
percent from a year earlier, but
energy prices jumped 16.3 percent.
Gasoline surged 27.4 percent, and
home heating oil soared 52 percent
- a punishing increase as winter
approaches. Groceries,
electricity, and shelter also cost
more. This is the president’s
“greatest economy?,”
families
paying
more for the necessities they
cannot do without?!
These increases arrive on top of
prices families already found difficult to
manage. Slower inflation does not restore
yesterday’s purchasing power. It means
prices are rising more slowly. People
waiting for their old grocery budget to buy
their old grocery basket understand the
distinction.
An economy can expand while leaving
millions financially insecure. Investors may
celebrate rising asset values while renters
wonder how to renew a lease. A household
with substantial savings can absorb higher
fuel costs. A household counting dollars
until payday has fewer choices. Economic
growth matters, but so does its
distribution.
If the president wants credit for
prosperity, then he should answer questions
about who receives it. Where are the
opportunities for workers excluded from the
celebration? What is being done to close the
racial employment gap? How are families
supposed to manage the cumulative increases
in their basic expenses?
Voters should ask these questions
of every candidate seeking their support.
They should demand specifics about
employment, wages, housing, transportation,
and the ability to build savings. Campaign
enthusiasm is no substitute for economic
security.
Calling this the greatest economy
in our history is an invitation to examine
the evidence. That evidence includes weak
hiring, persistent racial disparities, and
household expenses that continue to climb.
The
president
can keep repeating his false
superlatives,
while
families still have to figure out
how to pay their rising bills. The
question persists: A strong
economy for whom?
