audio version of the segment here > Bringing down the cost of living
Jay Weber show transcript 11-17-25
So…President Trump got the message: he’s got to focus more on bringing prices down-and faster- because the American people are fickle and have short attention spans.
And that’s just the truth.
This isn’t something new. Or something that i haven’t said before- dozens- of times over the course of years:the average American voter simply isn’t ‘all that informed’ or all that worried about ‘who’ or ‘which presidential administration’ caused ‘what’.
They just want the current administration to make it better.
And so, here we are, with the Biden-era inflation still a problem…even though the cost of living has come down ‘around the edges’ during the first year of trump’s term…
But it hasn’t come down fast enough for consumers-
And in fairness-trump’s immediate pivot to tariff wars once he got into office disrupted things and make it less likely that any immediate price drops were going to see on some items…etc.
And so, long story short: the high prices are now seen as trump’s problem and the GOP’s problem: after all-they are the ones in charge now.
This was the ‘one result’ that came out of the midyear elections a few weeks ago: the republicans are in legitimate electoral trouble if the American people don’t see more progress on prices and cost-of-living issues by late next summer.
Correct?
And so- the president’s aides have urged him to focus more on affordability- especially at the grocery store-
And so, on Friday, we got a declaration that the trump team will be lowering tariffs on a host of imported food products-including beef, coffee, bananas, etc.
Even so, the tariffs aren’t the biggest reason that beef prices spiked: it’s the lower beef herd here in America.
Coffee has seen a 33 percent increase in price over the last year….and this-is- primarily due to Trump tariffs. Vietnam and Columbian growers got caught up in the political crossfire.
But the items that were on trump’s list for ‘tariff relief’ on Friday are mostly products that are not grown here- or at least not in a major way.
But the truth is- a president doesn’t have too many great ways to lower the cost of things-once inflation takes hold.
President Biden gave us a good example of that when his green energy policies and inflation drove gas prices up to nearly four dollars a gallon.
He and his pathetic team tried to bring prices down by selling off a significant amount of our national reserves- right?
And if you remember, their movements only brought the price of gas down by about two or three cents a gallon. Big whoop.
That was a stupid and fruitless move by a desperate presidential team…and one that could impact national security-
But it illustrates how Trump and his team are going to get ‘really inventive’ here, when it comes to affecting prices.
Inflation, though, can’t be easily ‘managed’ out of an economy.
It’s why is rapped Trump and republicans for running on a promise to quote ‘lower prices’ last fall. It’s stupid to make that promise.
You can lower inflation-but for the most part-after a country or economy has suffered a bout of inflation-the prices don’t go down, again.
A run of inflation tends to set a ‘new floor’ for the cost of things.
And yes, prices can and will come down a bit on some of the goods and services that were driven up by inflation. But probably not enough to impress the public. No.
Most market forces are beyond the control of any president or congress…and republicans might find that out the hard way by this time next year.
Let’s hope that loosening tariffs, having new tax cuts kick in related to the big, beautiful bill, etc....will do what’s needed to see the cost of living start to drop again-
But that ‘change’ is more likely to come in higher wages and the people’s paychecks stretching further than it is in ‘price drops on most goods and services.
But- at least notice that when inflation boomed- Biden and his team did nothing.
They sparked this madness and then did nothing for three years to try to tame it, or get price increases under control.
Meanwhile, trump and his team have already lowered gas prices significantly be encouraging more drilling and deregulating.
They’ve already cut some deals with the pharmaceutical industry to bring drug prices down and are working on more.
They are looking for ways to drive down the cost of Obamacare and were already working on that before the democrats chose to shut down government and pretend it was about ‘them’, the dems, wanting to stop the runaway costs for consumers that ‘they’ caused.
And so, trump and his team are actively trying things. And that includes ‘bullying’ the fed and trying to get Jerome Powell and those members to be bolder and think differently.
Last week, trump snapped at reporters who were asking about ‘affordability’ and it left the impression that the president thought this was a false or made-up issue.
I don’t believe he does, but the head of the conservative ‘American enterprise institute’ gets it right when he says:
One of the least affordable things right now is housing. We’ve got all sorts of Americans who cannot even ponder buying a home. Or a better home. Due to high prices and high interest rates.
Those are things that are very difficult for a president to control. You can only ‘message’ optimism and have it move the needle ‘so much’.
But this pivot back toward taking it seriously and letting the American people know ‘we are trying’ is good to see. I want to see president trump focus more on this than….Venezuela…or…getting his political enemies…or even ‘mass deportations…or anything else that has dominated the headlines.
He and his team are doing all sorts of great work. Wonderful.God bless them and let them do it. Message the wins when you have them.
But-keep focused-
Keep focused- on bringing down the cost of living.
I, for one, am glad to see a strong president like this who is also ‘flexible’. Trump’s pivot on the tariffs being put on certain items had critics on both sides of the aisle ‘pouncing’ on him, of course.
They all wanted to insist this was a tacit admission that tariffs don’t work…and trump is pivoting…or trump is admitting defeat.
Trust me: none of those political nonsense matters in the end. What matters is that he and his team are genuinely trying to implement smart policies and do what’s best for the country.
And if that means breaking some eggs along the way- that’s okay. It’s bound to happen…
But it’s okay so long as you admit it and pivot.
I have famously said for years on this show: democrats never, ever, ever, never admit their mistakes. Most often, they stupidly double down or triple down and just keep on going.
Or-they flip-flop and pretend the damage that they did isn’t their fault.
I have no problem with a president like trump…who is trying to do major things to solve this country’s major problems in a very short period…in ‘pivoting’ or backing off, occasionally…given the current conditions.
My god-that’s what smart people do. That’s what good leaders do. That’s what some of history’s greatest and most historical leaders have done.
Let the petty snipers snipe.Their whining won’t matter either way.
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