House Minority Leader Nancy “Crumbs” Pelosi (D-CA) knows Americans will not want to change direction in the midterms and 2020 if the economy is roaring and Americans are gainfully employed, so she desperately tried to distract from the epic 4.1% GDP growth.
The US GDP for the second quarter accelerated to a whopping 4.1% under the leadership of President Donald Trump.
This is another BIG Trump win.
This doubles the first quarter growth of 2.2%.
#UnitedStates #GDP Growth Rate QoQ Adv at 4.1% https://t.co/sUMfkn31hz pic.twitter.com/lgWEP4WrR0
— Trading Economics (@tEconomics) July 27, 2018
This angered Pelosi. The Democrats don’t want the economy to improve; they hate President Trump so much that they are hoping for a recession.
On Friday, Pelosi posted an article by far-left VOX, who used a bogus Payscale chart to argue American wages have dropped since Trump’s tax cuts.
While everyone was buzzing about the 4.1% GDP growth, Pelosi said, “For 18 months, @realDonaldTrump has put the interests of wealthy Americans over working people. Today is no different. Important fact he refuses to acknowledge? He’s presided over a drop in the real wages of American workers.”
For 18 months, @realDonaldTrump has put the interests of wealthy Americans over working people. Today is no different. Important fact he refuses to acknowledge? He’s presided over a drop in the real wages of American workers. https://t.co/3tcK0qBZRJ
— Nancy Pelosi (@NancyPelosi) July 27, 2018
The bogus Payscale chart was first posted by Bloomberg last weekend.
Wages were supposed to rise after Trump’s tax cuts. Instead, they’ve fallen https://t.co/LactYzTE7a via @bopinion pic.twitter.com/qUdfYQK1En
— Bloomberg (@business) July 21, 2018
The chart was quickly debunked by people pointing out the numbers are based on modeling of unknown validity and the data was at odds with every other source.
“This chart is based on modeling of unknown validity and is completely at odds with government data, which shows real wages rising. Bad week for scare statistics,” said Scott Winship who works on the joint economic committee for Republican Senator Mike Lee.
This chart is based on modeling of unknown validity and is completely at odds with government data, which shows real wages rising. Bad week for scare statistics. https://t.co/uc8hPUiljR https://t.co/gsL4rDGkgs
— Scott Winship (@swinshi) July 24, 2018
“I’m sorry, I just don’t buy this Q2 Payscale data. At all. No other source has given any indication of a collapse in the level of nominal wages or a surge in inflation in Q2,” said Ernie Tedeschi, a former Treasury Department economist focusing on fiscal, monetary and labor policy.
I’m sorry, I just don’t buy this Q2 Payscale data. At all. No other source has given any indication of a collapse in the level of nominal wages or a surge in inflation in Q2. https://t.co/eSMrgZOsEn
— Ernie Tedeschi (@ernietedeschi) July 24, 2018
“Here is the level of average weekly earnings among private nonfarm payroll workers, adjusted for CPI inflation, from BLS. This ought to track Payscale’s “total cash compensation” concept relatively closely over time, though there may be timing differences in specific quarters,” Ernie Tedeschi continued.
Here is the level of average weekly earnings among private nonfarm payroll workers, adjusted for CPI inflation, from BLS. This ought to track Payscale’s “total cash compensation” concept relatively closely over time, though there may be timing differences in specific quarters. pic.twitter.com/recEq2njI5
— Ernie Tedeschi (@ernietedeschi) July 24, 2018
‘It’s absurd to think real wages *fell* by 1.8% in Q2.’
None of this means that real wage growth hasn’t been a long-term challenge for many families; it has.
Nor does it mean that the TCJA caused pre-tax wages to surge in the short-term; it likely didn’t.
It just means it’s absurd to think real wages *fell* by 1.8% in Q2.
— Ernie Tedeschi (@ernietedeschi) July 24, 2018
Even Josh Barro, Business Insider editor and contributor to MSNBC–certainly no friend of President Trump’s, poked holes in Bloomberg’s bogus chart.
@mattyglesias @Noahpinion how confident are we in these Payscale data? Doesn’t this seem out of line with the average hourly earnings track from BLS?
— Josh Barro (@jbarro) July 22, 2018
If inflation was 3% and wage growth ran at 1.2% for a quarter, shouldn’t that knock less than 0.5% off real wages? To lose two points in one quarter you’d need nominal wage growth at 8 points less than inflation, annualized.
— Josh Barro (@jbarro) July 22, 2018
To get to an annualized rate of -7, don’t you need a gap of 7 between inflation and nominal wage growth, as annualized?
— Josh Barro (@jbarro) July 22, 2018
