Something Is Wrong
Democrats and their fake news media allies will have a field day with the latest jobs report. The Department of Labor reports that 73,000 jobs were created in July.
But something is deeply wrong in the federal bureaucracy that is supposed to provide policymakers with accurate data on the status of the economy.
The job creation figures for June were revised down from 147,000 to just 14,000 jobs. The May report was revised down from 144,000 to 19,000. In other words, the May and June figures were slashed by 90%!
How can they be that wrong? Any private sector employee whose projections are off by 90% would be fired immediately!
During the last year of the Biden administration, the Labor Department issued a highly unusual correction eliminating more than 800,000 jobs that had been previously reported. It was even worse in 2023 when 1.3 million jobs disappeared. That’s astonishing and deeply disturbing.
And that’s why President Trump just ordered the immediate firing of the Commissioner of Labor Statistics.
One administration official suggested that COVID blew up a lot of the federal government’s data collection efforts. These monthly jobs figures depend on companies voluntarily telling the federal government every month whether they are hiring or firing. But the participation rate in the survey has never recovered to pre-COVID levels.
It just goes to show how difficult it is to run the economy based on figures no one has any confidence in. Frankly, I trust President Trump’s instincts more than Chairman Powell’s. (See below.)
The silver lining in today’s report is that wages grew 3.9% on an annualized basis.
What’s Going On?
There has been no avalanche of companies announcing major layoffs. So, what’s going on with the dramatic job revisions?
One possible answer is that hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens working in the United States have been removed. It may be that those job vacancies are not being filled.
There’s another reason—artificial intelligence, or AI.
One company that did announce significant layoffs recently is Microsoft, a major AI developer. Here’s the irony: In spite of record profits, the company cut 9,000 jobs last month in part because AI can do many of these jobs.
Many economists are warning that this will be a growing phenomenon across the country. It could literally cause an economic and social crisis. In fact, the CEO of one of the leading AI companies is even sounding the alarm.
There are a lot of college-educated young Americans living in urban centers and struggling to find jobs that will allow them to get married, have children, and buy a home. Their struggles explain the rise of Zohran Mamdani in New York City.
He’s telling them he’s got the answers. Of course, we know he doesn’t, but low rent and low food prices through government-owned grocery stores are a compelling message to someone who is struggling financially. And, of course, another big populist message of the Left is the promise to erase student loan debt.
Populism: Left Or Right
The Marxist agenda is poison. But young people are flocking to it because of the affordability crisis in America. It didn’t start with Donald Trump. It’s been going on for a while, and it’s gotten worse.
College graduates are still living at home because it’s harder and harder to get a good start in America. Home ownership is out of reach for many Americans.
This must be a high priority for Republicans.
The country is either going to seek Marxist populism or conservative populism. Establishment Republicanism isn’t going to cut it. We must offer people answers—not lectures about the wonders of the free market.
Populist economic policies consistent with broad conservative principles are the only way we’re going to defeat the Marxist alternative from the Left.
Here’s one example of how this debate plays out in the GOP.
When people like me encouraged President Reagan to significantly increase tax credits for working families, the Wall Street Journal was furious. The libertarians were outraged.
What did the Journal attack in Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill? It’s more popular and populist policies, such as no tax on tips and overtime, and an expanded deduction for senior citizens. The Journal’s economic ideologues have historically been hostile to the child tax credit because they say it “doesn’t spur economic growth and investment.”
I disagree. The greatest asset we have are mothers and fathers who marry and bring children into the world. We need to spur family growth and invest in our children.
I know some friends will scream, but I would not have objected if the GOP bill raised taxes on people making $25 million a year in order to provide more relief to working and middle-class families. In fact, when a similar amendment was proposed in the Senate, more Republicans voted for it than Democrats.
Wake up, Jay!
Once again, Federal Reserve Chairman Jay Powell failed to lower interest rates at this week’s Fed meeting. He said the Federal Reserve Board is data driven. But it’s clear the data is unreliable. Powell actually cited the “solid” job growth of recent months that was just obliterated by today’s jobs report!
President Trump calls him “Jerome ‘Too Late’ Powell” because he is too late. The interest rates need to be cut to spur growth in the housing market and get the economy moving again.
Powell may be doing more than anyone else to promote Marxism by keeping interest rates high and keeping young Americans locked out of the housing market.
More On Mamdani
More outrageous comments by New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani continue to resurface. The latest example involves—wait for it—Israel. Shocker, right?
According to Mamdani, Israel doesn’t exist. During a panel discussion on the Middle East, he said, “Israel is not a place; it is not a country. It’s an idea.” I think he’s confusing Israel with the mythical state of “Palestine.”
If you want to see why “demography is destiny,” just look at the funeral of Didarul Islam, the brave New York City police officer who was murdered during the attack on a Manhattan office building this week.
Officer Islam was a Muslim immigrant from Bangladesh. He left behind two boys, and his wife is pregnant with a third child. Mamdani didn’t just attend the funeral—Islam’s family invited him to sit next to them.
This is a man who has mocked the NYPD as “racist,” “wicked,” and “corrupt.” He’s called for defunding the police because “Queer liberation means defund the police.”
Why would this police officer’s family give Mamdani a place of honor in their suffering? There’s a loyalty of blood and faith within Islam that transcends virtually everything else.
Mamdani wants to eliminate an elite police unit known as the Strategic Response Group. They were the first on the scene when the Manhattan shooting occurred. They are first on the scene when there’s a riot, when violence erupts on university campuses, or when there’s a potential terrorist incident.
They are tough and regularly sued by the rioters they arrest. Mamdani cites those lawsuits and claims this elite police unit is costing taxpayers too much money and should be abolished.
So, he’s calling for the elimination of the police unit that deals with people like him—the antisemitic demonstrators on college campuses, the “Summer of Love” rioters, and the pro-Hamas mobs in the streets. That’s who he wants to get rid of.
Not Good
Democrat strategists trying to figure out how to get past the 2024 disaster are reaching for the Maalox. Of all the ideas they might have, I guarantee it’s not the one thing that actually is happening:
- Kamala Harris is dominating the news promoting her new book.
- Joe Biden is giving speeches again, trashing Donald Trump.
- And Hunter Biden is doing the podcast circuit, trashing Democrats who betrayed his father.
Good News
- The Trump Education Department is taking action against school districts in Oregon and Virginia for allowing men to cheat in women’s sports.
- The Trump administration has located and/or rescued 13,000 migrant children that Joe Biden lost. More than 400 child “sponsors” have been arrested for abuse or neglect.
- The Trump administration has tapped two critics of the Biden Pentagon for key assignments. Former Marine Lt. Col. Stuart Scheller is leading a review of how officers are trained and promoted. Former Space Force Lt. Col. Matthew Lohmeier was recently confirmed as Undersecretary of the Air Force.
- Kaiser Permanente and Children’s Hospital of Richmond join the growing list of hospitals that have stopped sterilizing and mutilating children. Thank you, President Trump!
- Planned Parenthood is closing two Texas abortion centers, including one that was among the largest in the Western Hemisphere.