If the midterms were a referendum on whether trans athletes should be barred from women’s sports, or the White House ballroom should be gorgeously renovated, or God should be identified as “nonbinary,” then Republicans would have a clear and confident closing message.

Unfortunately for the GOP, voters are less concerned with the Christian deity’s preferred pronouns than with their own cost of living. Which is understandable: Diesel fuel prices just hit a record high, mortgage rates are climbing, and groceries keep getting more expensive.

Many Republican speakers did address the subject of affordability in Dallas. And the party’s broad narrative is straightforward enough: Democrats created the cost-of-living crisis, Republicans alleviated it by cutting your taxes.

But this is a tough line to sell. Americans might still disdain President Joe Biden’s economic management. Yet they’re far more likely to blame high prices on the current president than the previous one, according to polls.

And not without reason. After all, it was Trump — not Biden — who engineered an oil shock and global trade war. Tellingly, on Wednesday night, all four battleground state Senate candidates — Ken Paxton, Jon Husted, Michael Whatley and Mike Collins — made no mention of the Iran war or of the president’s tariffs.

    • bedwyr@piefed.ca
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      Well, he’s sacrificing the rest of us for Israel. They do have a lot of super pals in the oligarchy and more than their fair share of oligarchs, many with dual citizenship with the US.

      And the contractors obviously, they never met a war they didn’t like in the US.

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        Have there actually been any? Honestly sarcastic question since the news media isn’t doing their job.

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          17 dead, near 800 injured just by late August.

          Plus the government is probably fudging the numbers and misclassifying deaths as they are able.

          I know the navy put out a list of the casualties and their kills of civilians or something and put it at zero not long ago and even administration officials called it a fucking joke to reuters. Couldn’t find the article on search just days later idk, news organizations’ own search functions are worthless.

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              I haven’t seen the truth around government in a long time to be fair, I think they had it and lady liberty chained in a basement running scam centers or something for some time.

              I’m joking but yeah it’s worse, it’s always getting worse respective of party.

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                Journalistic integrity is in the toilet and starting to smell.

                Can I get a courtesy flush?

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            Oh, they’re heavily fudging for sure. And the “news” should be hammering them on a daily basis over it. Even 20 years ago this shit would not have flown. And Bush was still horrendous.

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    This war is now entirely about him saving face, performing as if he knows what he’s doing and is powerful. The reality is that his ego and ignorance was used by Israel to manipulate him into attacking Iran. He’s a dupe, boxed in, and bound to a policy that is accelerating the bleed-out of the US as a project.

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        Well, sure, ever since Kindergarten, Trump has beat up some nerd to force him to do every homework assignment. That’s why he is so profoundly ignorant, he literally knows NOTHING.

        And when you know nothing, you don’t know that the homework you are copying is wrong.

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      I think you are mistaking ego and ignorance principally for the epstein files and other blackmail held by Israel but yes.

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    Nobody who’s struggling right now got a tax cut. The only people who got them make $1 mill/year or more. Everyone else got tax hikes. I can’t believe they’re still getting away with pushing this narrative that is a blatant lie and NOBODY is calling them out on it.

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      Multi-millionaires, billionaires and corporations got their many $5k cheques in the mail already through tax breaks. You missed out, average American? How come you aren’t richer?

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      When one of his accomplices like Mikey Johnson or Kevin Hassett or any of the republicons give that big shit-eating grin and start up with their “big beautiful bill” bullshit, I have fantasies about some passerby slapping them right in their face. Or maybe throwing a Subway sandwich with lots of mayo on it right into their face…

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        Mike johnson would seductively lick that mayo off of himself. Take a finger and wipe his face of it and suck that finger clean for all he’s worth.

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    Affordability and gas prices are his major weaknesses so of course he says they don’t matter.

    This is how narcissists process threat. It’s one of the reasons they seem fearless and act reckless.

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    LOL, this guy is only “prioritizing” the smash-and-grab of America - enriching himself and his grotesque family as he tries to rig the election.

    All while he personally glues tacky shit on the WH walls and babbles about that fucking ballroom.

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    And israel over gaza And fascism over democracy And authotarianism over rights And sharpies over the constitution And business owners over consumers And white over colored And billionaires over poors And harp over melania And kids over adults

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    mortgage rates are climbing

    This shouldn’t be cited as a bad thing with inflation where it is. Interest rates are the primary lever that the Fed uses to control inflation. When interest is higher, inflation cools down. When you lower them it heats up. Not that it’s that big a help when the price of gas is doubling because of *checks notes* an unending war in the Middle East that nobody asked for.

    Constant, nonstop lowering of interest rates ordered by a fucking idiot from 2016-2020 (going to near ZERO) most directly caused the current housing price situation. Guess which idiot I’m talking about. That’s right, the same guy who has been trying to do the same thing for the past two years because when property values go up, so does his bottom line and nothing else in the world fucking matters to the orange dipshit.

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      Not that it’s that big a help when the price of gas is doubling because of checks notes an unending war in the Middle East that nobody asked for.

      Israel asked for it.

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    Now that the war exists, that is the correct choice. However, he’s also not trying to win the war, like at all. So, the US will just keep losing this conflict and suffering higher fuel and commodity costs. It’s all just so, so dumb.

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      The war is unwinnable. We all knew that, he was the only one compromised by Israel enough to be forced into it. Bush, Clinton, Bush Jr, Obama, all knew better and both bush jr and obama all put the brakes on Israel in multiple ways that this administration will not.

      It really is because of the epstein blackmail.

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        It really is because of the epstein blackmail.

        Honestly at this point I think it’s less thatthan the fact that he’s so goddamned stupid.

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          If he wasn’t stupid, he wouldn’t have been blackmailed with video of him raping children though, it’s a chicken and egg situation. But it’s also arrogance and ignorance and a host of other anti-virtues at play, he’s got them all.