Dems Slam Trump’s Economic Playbook—But Where’s Their Countermove?

As markets wobble and inflation lingers like a bad houseguest, Democrats sharpen their knives for Trump’s economic legacy. Yet the burning question remains: What’s their endgame?

Subheader: The Empty Chair at the Policy Table

While the left decries trickle-down economics 2.0, their own proposals smell suspiciously like repackaged Keynesianism—with extra crypto skepticism for that modern touch. (Because nothing says ’forward-thinking’ like dismissing decentralized finance as a Ponzi scheme.)

Subheader: A Hedge Fund Manager’s Take

’Typical political theater,’ snorts one Wall Street whale. ’They’ll tax your Bitcoin gains to fund another study on why Bitcoin shouldn’t exist.’ The irony? Both sides still think GDP is the only metric that matters—just like those 2008 geniuses who missed the crash coming.

Democrats avoid action while voters regret their choice

Rachael Russell, who runs polling and analytics for Navigator, told Democrats not to get lazy.

“Democrats can’t just assume that because [voters] are upset with Trump right now, that anyone’s coming back to them,” she said. “They must give their vision of what an economy that works for everybody looks like, and it can’t just be that the economy sucks.”

She said voters are already showing signs of regret.

“Now is the time to provide real solutions that people can look to as an alternative because we’re seeing that splintering right now,” Russell said. “We’re seeing people say, ‘this isn’t necessarily what I voted for.’”

And yet, even with all the warning signs flashing red, Russell said most Democrats still aren’t doing shit. “Everyone’s kind of like, we’re not in power, we can’t do anything.”

She said the few who are trying to show a different way are doing it alone. “There’s people out there doing this on their own, but as an entity, as a party, it doesn’t feel like there’s a real vision that’s being expressed,” she said.

That’s a major opening for the party, but it won’t mean anything if they keep ducking the hard part—offering real solutions that people can understand and support.

Voters are clearly fed up. In a CNN poll, the number of Americans who think Trump made the economy worse went up by 8 points in just one month. In the focus groups, people described Trump’s first 100 days as “chaotic,” “disappointing,” and a “mixed bag.”

Trump’s shadow looms large over the economic outlook

These focus groups dropped right around Trump’s 100th day back in office. His approval ratings? At rock bottom. A poll from The New York Times and Siena College found voters hated how he was handling every major issue, even immigration and the economy—his so-called strengths. He went off on Truth Social, calling the numbers “FAKE POLLS FROM FAKE NEWS ORGANIZATIONS.”

But his base isn’t buying it anymore. People in the focus groups were pissed about how prices haven’t dropped. They pointed to Trump’s failure to fix the cost of living, even though that’s what he promised when he came back into office.

Tariffs are part of that anger. Most of the ones now hitting hard were announced over the past month. Some voters said they liked the idea, but hated how sloppy the rollout was. A man from Michigan with a college degree said, “It’s not a bad idea, but if the implementation is flawed, then—you can’t turn it on and turn it off like it’s air conditioning.” He said the whole thing created instability and made it hard for people to plan.

Still, others were more patient. Some said they’d give Trump a year to make it work, even if it hurt for a while. That patience got tested when the moderator shared a study from Yale University showing tariffs could cost families an extra $4,700 a month. Some voters flat-out rejected it.

Meanwhile, Trump just signed a bill that was supposed to be about tax and border enforcement. But buried in the details was language that handed him huge new executive powers. That law even shut down a Pentagon program. And yes, that bill passed with his signature.

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