Search Results: mark you down

In 2004 a senior advisor to President George W. Bush famously told journalist Ron Suskind that people like Suskind lived in “the reality-based community.” They believed people could find solutions to problems through careful study of discernible reality. But, the aide continued, Suskind’s worldview was obsolete. “That’s not the way the world really works anymore,” the aide said. “We are an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you’re studying that reality— judiciously, as you will—we’ll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that’s how things will sort out. We’re history’s actors…and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do.”

We are in a moment when the reality-based community is challenging the ability of the MAGA Republicans to create their own reality.

Central to the worldview of MAGA Republicans is that Democrats are socialists who have destroyed the American economy. Trump calls Harris a “radical-left. Marxist, communist, fascist” and insists the economy is failing.

In Pittsburgh Harris laid out her plan for an “opportunity economy.” She explained that she would lower costs by cutting taxes for the middle class, cutting the red tape that stops housing construction, take on corporate landlords who are hiking rental prices, work with builders and developers to construct 3 million new homes and rentals, help first-time homebuyers with $25,000 down payment assistance, enact a federal ban on corporate price gouging on groceries, invest in innovation by raising the deduction for startup businesses to $50,000, and provide low- or no-interest loans to small businesses that want to expand. "Kamala Harris, Reagan Democrat!” conservative pundit Bill Kristol said after her speech

For his part, Trump has promised an across-the-board tariff of 10% to 20% that billionaire Mark Cuban on the Fox News Channel called “insane” and Quin Hillyer of the Washington Examiner warned would "wreck the economy"

The Federal Reserve slashed rates on Wednesday for the first time since early 2020, the clearest signal yet that central bankers believe they are winning their years long battle against rapid inflation.

Fed officials slashed borrowing costs by half a percentage point, an unusually large reduction. The decision lowers rates to about 4.9 percent, down from a more than two-decade high.

The Fed’s move comes in response to months of fading inflation, and it is meant to prevent the economy from slowing so much that the job market begins to crack. Officials have been keeping a cautious eye on a recent rise in the unemployment rate, and by starting off with a big cut, the Fed is effectively taking out insurance against a bigger employment slowdown.

Reinforcing that wary message, the move came alongside economic projections that suggested a more aggressive pace of rate cuts than central bankers had previously predicted: Officials now expect to make another half point of reductions before the end of the year.

“The Committee has gained greater confidence that inflation is moving sustainably toward 2 percent, and judges that the risks to achieving its employment and inflation goals are roughly in balance,” Fed officials said in their statement.

High interest rates slow the economy by making it more expensive to borrow to buy a house or expand business, which weighs on both demand and inflation — but also on hiring. The Fed has been trying to strike a careful balance. Officials have aimed to cool growth enough to ensure that price increases return to normal without cooling it so much that the unemployment rate soars and the economy tips into a recession.

Wednesday’s rate cut marks a preliminary victory. So far, Fed officials have managed to slow inflation notably without causing major economic problems. The unemployment rate has crept up, but it hasn’t jumped painfully. Hiring persists, though it has slowed. Consumer spending remains strong. Overall growth is still robust.