ANDREW BATES: Trump killed our economy in just 100 days. Democrats must act now

Are you better off now than you were 100 days ago? My 401(k) sure as hell isn’t. 

On January 20, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris left Donald Trump an economy that was outmatching every competitor. In October, The Economist magazine called America’s economy "the envy of the world," praising us for leaving "other rich countries in the dust." 

But America is now on track to have the lowest economic growth and the highest inflation of any leading nation.

In January, Trump guaranteed, "we will turn the economy around very quickly," "the United States is going to take off like a rocket ship," and "inflation" would fall. He also claimed he’d stand up to a wealthy establishment that was taking advantage of middle-class families.

TRUMP STEAMS AHEAD ON THESE CAMPAIGN PROMISES AS HE REACHES 100 DAYS IN OFFICE

The only promise he kept from those pre-inauguration pledges was to "turn the economy around very quickly" -- in the worst way. Trump’s "rocket ship" exploded at takeoff. And the only Americans spared from his debris are crony capitalists who are effectively paying him bribes for exemptions from an agenda that is devastating consumers and businesses.

It’s been 100 straight days of breaking his word. 

At the Republican National Convention, Trump said, "I make this pledge to the great people of America. I will end the devastating inflation crisis immediately" and "drive down prices."

Democrats have an opportunity to prove to the American people that we are listening to them; that their top priority -- the economic success of their families -- is also our top priority. 

But we’re all paying higher prices because of the biggest middle-class tax hike in modern history -- Trump’s tariffs. By definition, a tariff is a regressive tax that disproportionately hurts the non-wealthy. And Trump admits the revenue the government makes from his tariffs will be redistributed to fellow billionaires through the tax plan congressional Republicans are rushing to pass. 

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Trump’s tariff taxes are also killing the manufacturing jobs he claimed they would protect - at Mack Truck factories in Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania, at auto plants in Michigan and Indiana, and elsewhere. It’s no surprise that a majority of American manufacturing workers oppose Trump’s tariffs. At the same time, Trump is knifing the policies that actually had been revitalizing American manufacturing, like Biden’s bipartisan China competitiveness law and the Inflation Reduction Act.  

Trump’s broken promises and self-inflicted economic losses don’t end there. He and congressional Republicans are plotting Medicaid and Affordable Care Act cuts. Trump let the richest man in the world cut Social Security benefits. Trump’s also slashing the investments that are the lifeblood of our technological and medical innovation edges. All of this is to make room for the tax cuts for the rich that his tariff taxes finance.  

And even though the rule of law, American courts, and the independence of the Federal Reserve are critical to keeping the United States as the top economy in the world, Trump is eroding all of those pillars. He’s even raging against judges and other leaders he himself nominated, including Supreme Court justices, law enforcement officials, and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.    

Taken together, Trump is weakening our economy so profoundly that he’s setting-off the deadliest exodus of investment away from America since the 1940s. The dollar’s status as the world’s reserve currency -- an anchor of our economic strength that China or Russia would literally kill for -- is in crisis and slipping away. 

But while most of the country is suffering from this nosedive, Trump and his family are benefitting. They are exploiting their elite private clubs and businesses to sell safety from his economic train wreck -- like immunity from his tariff taxes. 

This weekend, as polls from NBC News, The Washington Post, ABC News, the Associated Press, and more all backed up Fox’s own polling about the unpopularity of Trump’s economic record, news broke that his son, Donald Trump Jr. is starting an exclusive new D.C. club literally called "Executive Branch."

Politico reports that this club for the "ultra-rich" will "cater to the business and tech moguls who are looking to nurture their relationships with the Trump administration." Membership costs $500,000. Days before, Trump himself announced that the top owners of his $TRUMP meme coin would be rewarded with a private dinner at his own D.C. club -- generating an estimated $100 million for himself. 

The Trump Crime Family is practically charging businesses for "protection" from itself. 

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President Trump is double-crossing our nation, rapidly draining the American Dream that every other generation sacrificed to make possible. Which means Democrats have an opportunity to prove to the American people that we are listening to them; that their top priority -- the economic success of their families -- is also our top priority. 

We’ll do that by opposing Trump’s price-raising middle-class tax hike that funds welfare for the rich. And by fighting to make the American Dream affordable -- lowering costs like health care, child care, and elder care by having billionaires and rich special interests pay their fair share in taxes. 

We’ll get Americans together with a shared national mission to make our economy stronger than ever by empowering our middle class and ensuring the industries of the future are falling over themselves to invest and build in America -- not running away, like Trump has them doing. 

That’s the shake-up we need and deserve. 

Democrats will also recognize that the way we communicate -- and especially, the way you make people feel -- is just as important as what we have to say. 

That means going everywhere, both online and geographically, across the country. It means being open about who we are on a personal level and proudly owning that the values we’re advocating for are in line with the best traditions of American culture. 

Some Democrats -- not most, but some -- have mistakenly spent more time tearing America down than lifting it up, and alienating huge swaths of our country with divisive, counter-cultural elitism -- demeaning people of faith or even male voters as a whole. But that is not who we are. 

There is nothing more American than pushing for an economy and society that provides opportunity and respect for everyone who works hard and plays by the rules. Just like there’s nothing more American than ensuring that elected leaders are subject to the rule of law and held accountable when they violate our rights.

After getting elected based on false promises, Trump is leeching wealth from the middle class. He’s also breaking the law to steal our freedoms, like the right to a fair trial or to disagree with our government. 

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Speaking of faith, his behavior reminds me of something I learned growing up in the Moravian Church in Winston-Salem, North Carolina: "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits."

The fruits of these 100 days are rotten. So is the political future of congressional Republicans, who continue to choose Trump’s incompetence and corruption over the interests and values of their constituents.

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