Present Company Excepted

 

New Federal Crime Numbers Show Dramatic One-Year Drop After Trump's First Year of the Second Term

New Federal Crime Numbers Show Dramatic One-Year Drop After Trump's First Year of the Second Term New Justice Department federal survey data shows violent crime victimization fell 25% and property crime victimization fell 19% in 2025 from the rates in 2024 under the Biden administration.

Trump’s Deportations Are Making America Safer

Trump’s Deportations Are Making America Safer The restoration of law and order in America is happening in large part because of President Donald Trump, in particular, his insistence that immigration laws be enforced and criminal illegal aliens be deported. Make no mistake, if the Left seizes power, the borders will open once again, criminal illegal aliens will breathe a sigh of relief, Americans will suffer a surge in violent crime, and the media will be quick with the excuses.

On Same Day as Omar Raid, Trump Issues Dire Warning to Midterm Voters: Don't Let Your State Get 'Ransacked and Destroyed' Like Minnesota

On Same Day as Omar Raid, Trump Issues Dire Warning to Midterm Voters: Don't Let Your State Get 'Ransacked and Destroyed' Like Minnesota: On the same day that Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar's house was raided by immigration officials, President Donald Trump asked the obvious question to voters in Ohio.

Lowman Henry: A reminder — it’s still the economy, stupid

 In 1992, James Carville, a top strategist in the presidential campaign of Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton, coined the phrase “It’s the economy, stupid.” That short sentence summed up the macro winds of that election year and has since become one of the most oft-repeated political phrases — and for good reason.

Except in times of war or other external threats, the economy is the top concern of the American electorate. Issues such as that over constructing a White House ballroom are merely a sideshow to the economic well-being of the average voter.

President George H.W. Bush initially saw his popularity soar to record heights after leading a coalition of nations in the Persian Gulf War against Iraq. At home, however, the economy stalled. As election day approached, voters viewed Bush as being more concerned with foreign affairs than kitchen table economics. His popularity plummeted. Clinton heeded Carville’s advice, focused on the economy, and defeated the incumbent president.

Fast forward to 2024, and the nation was reeling from hyperinflation, high energy prices, and saddled with the cost of dealing with a massive influx of illegal immigrants flooding over the southern border. Polls consistently showed the economy and immigration to be voters’ top concerns. After replacing the incoherent Biden atop the Democrat ticket, Vice President Kamala Harris could not articulate any change in direction, resulting in the election of Donald Trump.

With the 2026 mid-term elections just weeks away, the economy once again has emerged as the top issue. The Trump Administration has dealt successfully with the immigration crisis, effectively stopping the flow of illegal immigration. Despite the Left’s preoccupation with the administration’s aggressive removal of illegals, the issue has receded into the background.

Like Bush, Donald Trump has become embroiled in a Middle East conflict. The difference is President Trump has simultaneously focused on reshoring manufacturing with significant high-profile wins such as the recent announcement heralding the investment of $15 billion to build a new steel plant in Iowa. Over the past two years, such investment announcements have become almost routine.

While Trump has been winning the macroeconomic battle — most statistical measures of economic performance are relatively good — he is losing at the kitchen table. The economic statistic most people see is not the current GDP or even the Consumer Price Index — it is the cost of a gallon of gasoline posted on signs along every highway.

That high prices are a result of the 21.4% cumulative inflation during the Biden presidency is lost because current inflation builds upon that, pushing prices ever higher. The conflict with Iran has prevented the inflation rate from falling, as disruption in the global oil supply has sent gasoline prices back to Biden-era levels.

Trump and Republicans in Congress have made substantial strides in helping the family bottom line. Passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, renamed the Working Families Tax Cut Act, has resulted in considerable tax savings. It expanded deductions, increased the standard deduction, enhanced the Child Tax Credit, and provided tax credits resulting in no taxes on tips, overtime, or Social Security income.

But the higher cost of energy and resulting inflation has offset those economic gains. Preventing a tax hike is mostly invisible, and while significant, simply preserves the status quo. This has diluted the political benefit for Trump and Republican congressional candidates.

President Ronald Reagan defeated incumbent President Jimmy Carter in 1980 due to Carter’s economic “malaise.” Reagan set about implementing the policies needed to turn the economy around. But the U.S. economy is like a giant ocean liner — it takes time for it to reverse course. Reagan’s policies did not have time to take full effect before voters went to the polls in the 1982 midterms, and the GOP suffered significant congressional losses.

This year, Trump and congressional Republicans are fighting the historical tendency for the party of the president to lose seats in the following midterm elections. And, like Reagan, Trump is putting into place the policies that will eventually result in a booming economy. As in the 1980s, such a turnaround will take time. And the GOP has been off message for months given the military conflict with Iran.

Unlike 1982, aggressive gerrymandering has resulted in few true battleground congressional districts. Republicans hold slim majorities in both the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives; thus, a large shift is both unlikely and not necessary to flip party control.

In the remaining days of the campaign, the party that messages most effectively on affordability issues will secure a congressional majority. Trump and Republicans should heed Carville’s sage advice and focus on one issue only: It’s the economy, stupid.

Lowman S. Henry is Chairman & CEO of the Lincoln Institute and host of the weekly Lincoln Radio Journal and American Radio Journal. His e-mail address is lhenry@lincolninstitute.org.

Victor Davis Hanson: The Trump Doctrine: No More Free Defense for Ungrateful Allies

Victor Davis Hanson: The Trump Doctrine: No More Free Defense for Ungrateful Allies

Watergate Had Burglars. Biden Had the FBI.

Watergate Had Burglars. Biden Had the FBI. In March 2022, FBI Director Christopher Wray sent Merrick Garland a memo asking for authorization to open the sensitive investigation known internally as “Plasmic Echo.” Buried in that memo was an astonishing warning: the investigation “could potentially be disruptive to the democratic process if publicly disclosed prior to an election.” Read that again. The FBI director understood exactly how explosive this would look if Americans found out about it before an election. Then he recommended moving forward. Garland approved it.

Toward A Better America

Toward A Better America: Two years into Trump’s comeback, the left’s coordinated media assault is relentless, painting progress as disaster. Yet this era rivals even Reagan’s in reshaping America and the world. How do we cut through the propaganda and hold on to the gains before the midterms decide if the country heads backward or forward?

Republicans Must Either Vote in Droves or Kiss the Trump-GOP Agenda Goodbye

Republicans Must Either Vote in Droves or Kiss the Trump-GOP Agenda Goodbye

Trump’s Student Loan Rules Finally Hold Higher Education Accountable. The Left Is Furious.

Trump’s Student Loan Rules Finally Hold Higher Education Accountable. The Left Is Furious.

Trump Slashes Over $800M in Government Funding Earmarked for Illegal Immigrants: Report

Trump Slashes Over $800M in Government Funding Earmarked for Illegal Immigrants: Report: Trump is eliminating 11 pools of unspent government funds that were earmarked for a number of social outreach programs.

Trump Announces $500 Obamacare Rebate Checks Will Be Sent to Nearly 1 Million Americans 'In Just a Few Weeks'

Trump Announces $500 Obamacare Rebate Checks Will Be Sent to Nearly 1 Million Americans 'In Just a Few Weeks': President Donald Trump said Thursday that one million Americans will receive $500 rebate checks to make them whole again, after being overcharged for Obamacare. 

With Crucial Win at the Supreme Court, Trump Administration Has Path to Security, Transparency Rules in Mail Balloting

With Crucial Win at the Supreme Court, Trump Administration Has Path to Security, Transparency Rules in Mail Balloting

Drug Prices Plummet by Most Significant Margin in 60 Years in Wake of TrumpRX

Drug Prices Plummet by Most Significant Margin in 60 Years in Wake of TrumpRX

Don’t Mourn the Falling SNAP Rolls

Don’t Mourn the Falling SNAP Rolls: When Congress passed President Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill Act last summer, more than 42 million, or one in eight, Americans were on the food stamp program. Since then, that number has fallen by 5 million.

Trump Was Right All Along About Democrats' Late-Term Abortion Agenda

Trump Was Right All Along About Democrats' Late-Term Abortion Agenda The Massachusetts bill is the most recent, but far from the only evidence validating Trump’s unmasking of the “pro-choice” movement for what it really is: pro-abortion, a one-word change that makes all the difference.

Breaking: DHS Identifies 278,000 Foreigners Illegally Registered to Vote in Federal Elections

Breaking: DHS Identifies 278,000 Foreigners Illegally Registered to Vote in Federal Elections: "Since Democrat states refused to share their voter files, the real number is actually much higher than that," Trump added.

U.S. Mint Begins Producing Coins Featuring Trump's Face

U.S. Mint Begins Producing Coins Featuring Trump's Face: President Donald Trump will be appearing on a $1 coin that celebrates America's 250th now being produced by the U.S. Mint.

Trump Is Right: Communism Is America’s Greatest Threat

Trump Is Right: Communism Is America’s Greatest Threat: In his powerful Independence Day address at Mount Rushmore on July 4, 2026, President Trump issued a warning that serves as a clarion call for our times: “Communism is a mortal threat to American liberty. It is the greatest threat to our country, surpassing even World War I, World War II, Pearl Harbor, or 9/11.” He is correct. While other dangers—such as hostile foreign powers, porous borders and fiscal recklessness—demand attention, none poses as significant a threat to what makes America exceptional as the insidious ideology of communism and its less extreme variants. Communism does not merely compete with liberty; it is its mortal enemy, a system designed to extinguish individual rights, crush human potential and concentrate absolute power in the hands of a tyrannical few.

Leftist Professor Goes Viral by Admitting the Hard Truth - Trump Has Destroyed Their Dreams and the Democratic Party Too

Leftist Professor Goes Viral by Admitting the Hard Truth - Trump Has Destroyed Their Dreams and the Democratic Party Too Disillusionment seems to be setting in with some of the left’s most hardened ideologues about the means by which they can combat President Donald Trump.