After enduring state and local COVID policies that wreaked havoc on the economy, followed by historic inflation that delivered a resounding election victory to Donald Trump, you would think that state and local politicians would learn some economic lessons.
Apparently not. Politicians from blue and red states seem to be getting their lessons from very different schools.
If blue states don’t begin to understand how economics work, they are going to continue to see their power centers dwindle.
In red states, politicians want to enable economic freedom. Property taxes, which impose a heavy, lifelong burden on real estate owners, have been a subject of several politicians looking to improve the opportunity to participate in the American dream of home ownership. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is looking at a state constitutional amendment to potentially eradicate property taxes in the state.
Cliff Maloney, CEO of the strategic grassroots organization Citizens Alliance, explained to Blaze News the significance of this lesson:
When you think about it, you never truly own your home. If you miss just a few tax payments, they’ll seize your property that you saved for and worked so hard to make a home. That’s not freedom — that’s essentially just rent to the state. Our internal data shows that out of the 510,000 Americans we’ve talked to, more than 82% said property taxes are a major concern. They're infuriated that while they're being forced to cut their own budgets to survive in today's economy, local governments refuse to do the same.
While not going quite as far as DeSantis, Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R) is also trying to deliver some tax relief to property owners, with others in the state working to figure out how to get rid of property taxes in the long term.
Maloney also mentioned that Citizens Alliance's door-knocking and advocacy efforts in New Hampshire “led to abolishing 14 taxes and fees, which has produced a dramatic influx of businesses moving to the state from other nearby states that have a higher tax burden.”
All of this stems from smart economic lessons. Lessons that very blue states have failed to learn.
After witnessing the inflationary effects of COVID-era stimulus checks — a result that was highly unpopular politically — one might assume politicians would steer clear of repeating the same mistake.
That’s not the case in New York, where Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) is laughably handing out “inflation refund” checks, a move even other Democrats are calling a political gimmick — not to mention a bad economic move.
RELATED: How California’s crisis could lead to a big political shift
In Virginia, former Democratic Rep. Abigail Spanberger, now running for governor, has pledged to raise the minimum wage to $15, another form of market intervention that creates barriers to employment and increases costs.
In Minneapolis, city leaders are considering adding a 2% fee to hotel rooms in an effort to boost tourism — because, apparently, making hotels more expensive is always a good way to get more people to your city.
Given the importance of the economy to Americans, it’s no surprise that Americans are moving from blue states to red ones. Maloney shared:
We've had the unique opportunity to talk to a lot of new residents during our door-knocking campaigns, and in doing so, our data uncovered that 69% of new residents moved for financial reasons. In 41% of these cases, this was because they were no longer able to afford the skyrocketing cost of living in blue states, while 13% were because of new, better-paying job opportunities.
If blue states don’t begin to understand how economics work, they will continue to see their power centers dwindle. Math doesn’t lie. People are taking their capital and spending power to the states where the math works.
Polling conducted in the wake of President Donald Trump's "total reset" with China, his new tariff deal with the United Kingdom, and inflation's drop to a four-year low revealed on Monday years-high voter confidence in the strength of the economy and a healthy dip in voter pessimism regarding their personal financial situations.
According to the latest Harvard CAPS/Harris poll, 51% of voters — whose top issue altogether after price increases and inflation was the economy — said the economy was "strong." Last month, only 46% said so, and there hasn't been a majoritively positive response to this question since July 2021.
Fifty percent of voters expressed confidence the president's policies will lead to stronger economic growth.
Despite this perceived strength, 51% of respondents suggested the economy was nevertheless on the wrong track. When broken down by political affiliation, 72% of Republican respondents, 15% of Democratic respondents, and 28% of independent respondents alternatively said the economy was on the "right track."
Over the past few years, the percentage of Americans who said the country on the whole was on the "right track" dribbled around 30%. However, that number skyrocketed from 28% in January, when Trump took office again, to 42% the following month. It is now at 42% again after a dip in April.
'President Trump is a skilled steward of the economy.'
Last month, 45% of voters said their personal financial situation was getting worse. Pollsters found this month that such pessimism had dropped to 39%, while the percentage of respondents who said they were "just as well off" or that their situation was improving climbed four and two points, respectively.
"The majority of Trump's policies continue to see strong support especially on immigration and government efficiency, even though there is concern Trump has exceeded guardrails with executive orders and tariffs," Mark Penn, co-director of the Harvard CAPS/ Harris poll, said in a statement.
Penn added, "If he is able to successfully lower the price of prescription drugs and hold down the fort on inflation, he will be able to unlock 10% more of voters in his approval rating."
Steve Miran, chairman of Trump's Council of Economic Advisers, said in a statement to Blaze News, "The Harvard/Harris poll is a reflection of the fact that Americans know that President Trump is a skilled steward of the economy."
"The president's policies to preserve low tax rates and reduce them further, cut red tape, create energy abundance, and renegotiate America-last trade deals will combine to create a Trump economic boom — just like they did during his first term," continued Miran. "The best way to create jobs is to create incentives for businesses to hire and invest, and that's what the president's policies do."
'If it fails, Americans will be subject to a $4 trillion tax hike.'
While there is plenty of optimism around the poll results, entrepreneur and business expert Carol Roth told Blaze News that "it's tough to get a read on the consumer right now" and noted that "while the Harvard CAPS/Harris poll went into a slim majority, other consumer polls are near record lows."
"Inflation cooling has been a welcome trend for consumers, as has the tariff pause that led the market to recapture what was lost from the Liberation Day announcements," continued Roth. "But there are concerning signs with debt delinquencies rising."
RELATED: Inflation dips to 4-year low despite trade war hysteria: 'Americans are breathing a sigh of relief'
When asked whether Congress' passage of the tax bill was critical to maintaining this confidence, Miran told Blaze News that "the One Big Beautiful tax bill is a critical part of this policy suite, and if it fails, Americans will be subject to a $4 trillion tax hike, the biggest in history. That's why it's absolutely essential that we get it over the line, and we will."
'We need deregulation and tax cut permanence.'
Eighty percent of respondents said the U.S. government "should move in the next few years" to balance the budget. When asked whether reductions in government spending or increases in taxing were the way to reduce the budget deficits, 78% signaled a desire for spending cuts.
"While getting more certainty and permanence with tax cuts is critical, the big beautiful bill needs a massive diet, and failure to substantially cut spending by the GOP could undo progress on inflation and worsen our already fragile fiscal foundation," said Roth. "We need deregulation and tax cut permanence as well as trade deals and the end of tariffs to engender more growth, as well as some serious fiscal responsibility from Congress to make sure that the economy doesn't get crushed by our ever growing debt burden."
The Harvard CAPS/Harris poll found that 47% of respondents approved of the job that Trump was doing, with 87% of GOP voters approving and 83% of Democrats and 50% of independents disapproving.
The president received highest approval for his handling of immigration and on "returning America to its values," and 52% of respondents said he was doing a better job than his predecessor.
The Republican Party, meanwhile, enjoyed a positive approval rating of 52%, its highest approval rating since March 2023, whereas the Democratic Party, although no longer plumbing record approval lows, still remained 10 percentage points behind, bogged down in part by the 28% of Democrats who evidently don't like what their party is doing.
The White House did not respond to Blaze News' request for comment by publication time.
Editor's note: Carol Roth is a contributor to Blaze News.
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On April 2 — Liberation Day — Donald Trump did exactly what he had promised for over a year: He imposed a slate of reciprocal and punitive tariffs on America’s trading partners.
The left and corporate left-wing media erupted in predictable fashion, and the stock market plummeted. Before a single tariff was announced, doomsayers in the press predicted economic collapse. CNN warned the economy was “flashing yellow lights,” and the BBC claimed Trump’s move risked “economic turbulence — and voter backlash.” A former Biden economic adviser forecast disaster.
Confidence among working Americans remains high. And that confidence will continue driving this economy forward.
When first-quarter GDP numbers showed a 0.3% contraction, the media pounced. They blamed the tariffs — despite the fact that none had taken effect by March 31, the end of the quarter.
While liberal economists celebrated the downturn and declared a recession imminent, they failed to look at the numbers. A closer analysis shows the economy remains fundamentally strong.
The GDP dip came primarily from a 5.1% drop in federal government spending. In other words, a major cause of the decline was the one thing fiscal conservatives have long demanded: smaller government. Isn’t reducing government spending, or at least the growth of government spending, a good thing?
Meanwhile, the rest of the economy showed strength. A Harvard University/HarrisX poll released Monday found that 51% of registered voters believe the economy is "strong" for the first time in four years.
The numbers back up their belief. Nonfarm payrolls rose by a seasonally adjusted 177,000 in April. The unemployment rate held steady at 4.2%. The household survey — used to calculate the jobless rate — showed an even larger gain, with 436,000 more Americans reporting that they held jobs. All told, the economy added 556,000 jobs in the first three months of Trump’s second term.
That growth comes despite the Department of Government Efficiency cutting more than 120,000 federal jobs. Private-sector employment continues to expand even as Washington shrinks — a trend critics said was impossible.
RELATED: Debt spiral looms as Trump tests tariffs to tame rates
What about inflation? Didn’t the media insist tariffs would bring back the dreaded 1970s stagflation?
Instead, the Consumer Price Index in April came in at 2.3% — the lowest level since February 2021, just before “Bidenflation” took off. The drop came as prices fell for food, gas, used vehicles, and clothing.
Grocery prices alone dropped 0.4%, the sharpest decline since late 2020. Egg prices plummeted 12.7%, their biggest single-month fall since the Reagan era. In other words, the items working families care about — food, fuel, and clothing — are more affordable now than under Biden.
Meanwhile, Trump’s trade strategy is forcing results.
The United Kingdom quickly reached a trade deal. Other countries have accepted temporary “tariff holidays” in exchange for coming to the negotiating table. China and the United States agreed to a “tariff truce.” Canada slashed its U.S. tariff rate to nearly zero. According to Bloomberg, U.S. exports and manufacturing should surge in coming quarters.
Since Trump’s return to office in January, his critics have eagerly predicted economic doom. They cheered “transitory” inflation. They hyped “Bidenomics.” They got both wrong.
They’re wrong again.
Confidence among working Americans remains high. And that confidence will continue driving this economy forward — tariffs, tantrums, and all.
“Prices would rise — sharply — they said, reigniting an inflation crisis that tens of millions of Americans had elected [President Donald Trump] to solve,” CNN’s David Goldman wrote on Friday. “But that massive, tariff-induced inflation spike hasn’t materialized. Not even close.” Indeed, it hasn’t. But who exactly is Goldman referring to when he says, […]
While liberals hide indoors in fear of the falling sky, the rest of us recognize it’s actually beautiful outside in a new day brought by the Trump administration.
For the last four years, Americans and their homeland suffered the consequences of disasters created or exacerbated by whoever was in charge.
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