We began writing this column series lo these many years ago to help tongue-tied Democrats formulate snappy lines to use when being interviewed on television and/or to use in their campaign ads. These days, however, we have to wonder whether we should just pack it in and not even bother. We say this because Donald Trump keeps providing the best talking points Democrats could ever hope for, serving them up on a weekly basis. And this week's was an absolute doozy.

When a reporter asked Trump if Americans' financial situation was motivating him to make a deal with Iran as soon as possible, Trump responded: "Not even a little bit... I don't think about Americans' financial situation. I don't think about anybody."

This isn't a one-off, mind you. It's not a gaffe. Trump's been saying essentially the same thing in various ways ever since he started his war of choice. He just does not care about the price of gasoline. He does not care about the financial pain Americans (plenty of them who voted for him, it bears noting) are going through right now. He doesn't think about it, it doesn't enter into his decisions, and he could not care less what you have to pay to fill your car up these days.

If that video clip doesn't appear in ads for pretty much every single Democrat running for office this year, then the Democrats might as well just fold their tents and cease to be a political party. For as was wisely said a long time ago: "It's the economy, stupid."

The economic news is bad and is rapidly growing worse, with less than six months to go before the midterm elections. We haven't even hit "summer driving season," when gas prices traditionally go up. The nationwide average for a gallon of gas still stands above $4.50, which is a whopping $1.75 higher than it was in January. And it is all due to one reason and one reason alone: Trump's "little excursion" in Iran. Democrats don't need to make this case and they don't need to explain it as some complicated subject -- it is all painfully obvious to everyone already. All Democrats have to do is remind everyone about it all, as often as they can.

By the numbers, things are looking more and more dire. The inflation rate spiked up to 3.8 percent last month. No surprise there, since gas prices have gone up over 60 percent since the start of the year. Other prices are now following, since all products have to be shipped from one place to another at some point. Which has caused a more-obscure inflation measurement to skyrocket even higher and more dramatically:

Wholesale prices in April rose at their fastest rate in four years, the latest sign that the war with Iran is taking a toll on the U.S. economy.

The Producer Price Index, a measure of the costs that businesses pay for goods and services, rose 1.4 percent in April and was up 6 percent from a year earlier, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said Wednesday. It was the fastest one-month increase in the index since March 2022.

The news came one day after the government reported that the better-known Consumer Price Index rose 3.8 percent in April from a year earlier, the fastest pace of inflation in nearly three years.

The producer index typically gets less attention than the consumer index, which measures the prices paid by everyday shoppers. But economists watch the measure closely, especially during periods of global disruption, because it gives an early look at how costs are filtering through the supply chain.

So while consumers are trying to cope with 3.8 percent inflation, businesses are now dealing with 6.0 percent inflation. Which will soon trickle down into higher prices on their shelves, for just about everything. Grocery prices are already rising on things like beef and tomatoes (which jumped a whopping 40 percent due to the war). This is all hitting the poorest households the hardest, and there doesn't seem to be any end in sight. In fact, things may be about to get not just worse but a whole lot worse:

Without a resolution [to the war] soon, experts expect the fuel crisis to get much worse. Energy producers have been shielding the markets from the full impact of the conflict by drawing down their inventories, in hopes of refilling storage tanks when supply constraints ease. But global inventories will reach critically low levels by the end of May, just as the summer driving season ramps up. That could drive oil prices higher -- up to $200 per barrel, according to some analysts.

And the only thing Donald Trump is doing about it all is what he always does with bad news -- ignoring it, lying about it, and trying to gaslight everyone into thinking everything is actually wonderful and we're all living in a "golden age."

Except that (finally!) this does not seem to be working for him. His polling on the economy and inflation is not just dismally bad, but historically bad:

CNN's chief data analyst Harry Enten on Wednesday stressed that President Donald Trump's net approval ratings on inflation are the "ugliest numbers" he's ever seen.

"The five worst polls ever, for any president, they all belong to Donald John Trump and they have all occurred in the last month," said Enten, who highlighted a new CNN/SSRS poll where Americans gave the president a whopping -48% approval rating on inflation.

"It is a record, simply put, you do not want to have."

He later continued, "The five worst polls ever! Joe Biden's not in there! Jimmy Carter's not in there! All Donald Trump!"

In the midst of all this, many countries are moving as fast as they can to transition their economies away from gasoline and oil, and towards electric vehicles and alternative power sources. Trump, meanwhile, is trying to drag America backwards on this front, which could be one of the stupidest things he has ever done (which is really saying something). He's not only using billions of taxpayer dollars to pay off wind energy developers to just scrap their projects, he's also forcing coal-fired electricity-generating plants to stay open (even though their owners want to mothball them, for obvious reasons). This is so short-sighted it is just mind-boggling.

Speaking of short-sighted, the news media has been going bonkers over an outbreak of a very deadly hantavirus, on one cruise ship. Thankfully, this will likely not become "the next COVID," but that's certainly not due to the assorted quacks, nutjobs, and dingbats we now have running the nation's public health systems. The C.D.C. has been almost nowhere to be seen during all of this, instead of doing what it usually does by taking a worldwide lead on fighting the outbreak. One headline in particular stood out this week (which is fairly self-explanatory): "Trump's Hantavirus Official Is A Penile Implant Specialist, COVID Conspiracy Theorist." Doesn't that just fill you with a warm sense of confidence? Meanwhile, the F.D.A. chief just resigned because he disagreed with Trump pushing to legalize flavored vapes.

Trump just spent two rather unimpressive days in a summit meeting with President Xi Jinping of China, in which not much of anything was decided or resolved. Or, at least, not much of anything that Trump would publicly admit to. The trip had plenty of fanfare, but it all turned out to be more pomp than circumstance. The only big trade deal announced was that China was going to buy 200 airplanes from Boeing -- but even that's in doubt, since Chinese officials wouldn't even confirm it.

Trump went to China in an incredibly weakened state, politically speaking. His war has no end in sight, Iran continues to block the Strait of Hormuz, China's military is just getting stronger while we burn through our stockpiles of advanced weaponry at an alarming rate, and even America's own intelligence services admit that China has emerged with a definite edge from the whole Iran war fiasco. China, to put it in the terms Trump loves to use, seems to be holding all the cards. Which is quite likely why Trump didn't have anything to brag about after all the talking was done.

When Trump returns home, he's going to have to make a decision about what to do next in Iran. So far, he seems to have no plan whatsoever, other than to reject all of Iran's proposals. Today Trump even revealed that he doesn't even bother to read the whole text of these proposals, he just tosses them aside after the first sentence or so.

Will Trump decide to start bombing again? Nobody knows. Will negotiations get more serious and focused? Again, it's anybody's guess. Will Trump finally send over some negotiators with some experience who know what the heck they're doing (instead of his son-in-law and a real estate guy he knows)? Probably not. Will this whole thing drag on for weeks and weeks and weeks with no endgame in sight? Well, that's the safest bet at this point. Especially since Trump does not care what it is all doing to both the American economy and the world's economy.

In other plutocratic news, a golden calf statue of Donald Trump was unveiled at one of his golf courses this week. Oh, pardon us, did we say "golden calf"? We meant "golden idol," obviously. Trump's big idea to paint the bottom of the Reflecting Pool on the National Mall is now going to cost seven times what Trump said it would, which should not surprise anyone at all (it's a no-bid contract Trump apparently awarded to a buddy of his). Minor grifting is still going on throughout the Trump administration, and the head of the Border Patrol just quit under a cloud after accusations of travelling to places like Thailand to buy sex. It's all just par for the course, with the Trump administration, and nobody's ever going to be held accountable for any of it (naturally).

Trump continues to fall asleep seemingly every time a television camera is on him in the Oval Office, but the news media never seems to notice. Trump's 80th birthday will happen a month from now, and the biggest question is whether grandpa will fall asleep in a face-plant in his cake rather than blowing out the candles.

But we have to end on an amusing note, as the folks at The Secret Handshake are up to their hijinks again. They have installed some working video games at a D.C. war memorial where anyone can play their new video game for free (including, apparently, bored National Guard soldiers). The game (which can also be played online!) represents the war with Iran in ridiculous fashion, and (quite appropriately) there is absolutely no way to win the game. There is a way to lose -- if the player chooses to shake Melania's hand -- but there simply is no way to win the war at all. Which, like all of their other art installations, is a brilliant commentary on where America now stands in the world.

 

This one is pretty weird, we have to admit. But we are handing the Most Impressive Democrat Of The Week to a woman who just won her state's nomination for a Senate race -- and immediately plans to drop out of the race.

The state is Nebraska, and there's a reason why we consider this impressive. Nebraska is a pretty deep-red state in general, which means a Democrat probably wouldn't have a prayer of winning in November. The state's electorate is roughly one-half Republican, one-quarter Democrat, and one-quarter independent.

The Senate seat is currently held by Pete Ricketts, a Republican. Cindy Burbank just won the Democratic primary in the state to take him on, but there's an independent in the race too: Dan Osborn. Osborn already tried to win a Senate seat in the state, and while he fell short, he did a lot better than expected. So Burbank is going to just step aside and clear the field for him to take on Ricketts in November, with the full support of the state Democratic Party (who has already endorsed Osborn). Here's the story:

The [Democratic primary] winner Tuesday has no intention to run in November.

Cindy Burbank, a retired pharmacy worker, ran in the primary expressly so she could drop out and clear the field for independent Dan Osborn to take on [Senator Pete] Ricketts. The state Democratic Party endorsed Osborn, a former labor leader who lost running as an independent in a 2024 Senate race but finished 14 percentage points ahead of Democrat Kamala Harris. Burbank filed to run only because she believes the other Democratic candidate, William Forbes, was a "plant" from Ricketts to foil the party's consolidation plans. Both men deny the allegations. Forbes is an antiabortion pastor who said he has voted repeatedly for President Donald Trump.

. . .

November's contest will test whether a deep-red prairie state will stick with a well-known and well-resourced Republican in Ricketts or if an independent can pull off an upset by avoiding the Democratic brand unpopular with blue-collar and rural voters.

The race also offers a dramatic contrast. Osborn is a working-class steamfitter, and Ricketts is a wealthy self-funder whose family owns the Chicago Cubs.

To be blunt, Osborn has a chance. It remains to be seen how good a chance that will be, but Burbank had no chance whatsoever. Her exit from the race makes it a two-way contest. There is no guarantee that Osborn will caucus with the Democrats, but any independent would probably be better than another Republican.

So for her selfless campaign and her bold exit from the race after winning her party's primary, we have to say that Cindy Burbank is indeed our Most Impressive Democrat Of The Week this week. We'll be watching this race closely, because Burbank dropping out will mean it could indeed be a very close race.

[The only contact information we could find for Cindy Burbank was her campaign site, and it is our standing policy not to link to campaign sites, so you'll have to search out her contact information for yourself if you'd like to let her know you appreciate her efforts.]

 

We have two minor awards to hand out and two major ones this week.

To begin with, we have (Dis-)Honorable Mention awards for two rather minor Democrats right here in California.

The first goes to Eileen Wang, who just stepped down as the mayor of Arcadia, California. Up until 2022 she was a Republican, but she then switched to become a Democrat, so she is eligible for an award here. She just pleaded guilty to acting as an illegal agent for China while in office, spreading their propaganda at their direction.

The second goes to a Dana Williamson, former aide to both Xavier Becerra and Gavin Newsom, who just entered into a guilty plea arrangement for lying to the F.B.I., bank fraud, wire fraud, and income tax charges. This all stems from a scheme to skim off campaign contributions and direct it as personal salary instead (which is illegal). Becerra is currently the frontrunner for the Democrats in the California governor's race, so it remains to be seen whether this will have an impact on the race or not (probably not; there are only a few weeks left before the primary election).

But our two Most Disappointing Democrat Of The Week awards go to Senator John Fetterman and Representative Jared Golden, for exactly the same reason.

This week, the Senate held another vote to try to force Donald Trump to end his misbegotten war with Iran. What made this newsworthy (there have been several such attempts previously) was that one more Republican flipped her vote and voted with the Democrats. And because one Republican didn't vote, it wound up as a 50-49 vote. The bad news for Democrats was that the 50 was on the side of voting the measure down. That's pretty close, but the really disappointing thing was that if all the Democrats had stuck together and voted against the war, the measure would have passed. Fetterman, however, voted against it.

Over in the House, a similar vote was held, and just like in the Senate the number of Republicans willing to vote to end the war has grown. But alas the final vote count was only 212-212, the measure failed to pass (ties lose in the House; there is no tie-breaker mechanism). And once again, if all Democrats had voted together, the measure would have passed. Jared Golden, however, voted against it.

These were two rather impactful defections, as you can see. If Fetterman and Golden had voted with their party this week, then bills to end the war would have passed in both houses of Congress. This still would have been merely symbolic, because Donald Trump would certainly have vetoed such a measure, but it would have been a real slap in the face for him politically, and it would have shown the rising anger at what his war of choice is doing to American consumers.

So we'll have to wait until at least one more GOP senator and one more GOP representative get so worried about their party's prospects in November (not to mention their own chances of getting re-elected) that they also cross the aisle.

But it didn't have to be this way. Congress could have sent a very strong rebuke to Trump this week -- but because of two Democratic defectors, it didn't. Which is why the Most Disappointing Democrat Of The Week award goes to both of them.

[Contact Senator John Fetterman on his Senate contact page, and Representative Jared Golden on his House contact page, to let them know what you think of their actions.]

 

Volume 841 (5/15/26)

Another mixed bag of talking points this week. There's one in the middle that really deserves an entire column of its own sometime soon, since it is an open opportunity for the Democratic Party to get ahead of a potent political issue, but that'll have to wait until later. For now, here's what we've got....

 

   Trump doesn't care about you

We've said this before, but it bears repeating. Often.

"Donald Trump does not care about you, period. He'll even come right out and admit it. When asked about Americans feeling the economic pain of his war of choice with Iran, Trump this week answered: 'Not even a little bit... I don't think about Americans' financial situation.' There it is, folks. Trump doesn't think about you filling your car or truck up at the gas pumps even a little bit. So much for all that talk about bringing prices down, eh? He used to promise that he'd drop gas prices by half, and would moan about how high the price of tomatoes had gotten, out on the campaign trail. Well, the price of gas is up over 60 percent this year, and the price of tomatoes is up 40 percent. Trump never meant a word of any of it, because he just does not care. At all."

 

   Eating his words on low gas prices

Rub his face in it. Go on, he deserves it!

"The Secretary of Energy went on television at the beginning of March and predicted that the price of gas would drop below three bucks a gallon again 'within weeks.' That's a direct quote -- 'within weeks.' Well, here we are over two months later, and the price just keeps going up. It's still above $4.50 a gallon, and shows no signs of dropping below four bucks a gallon any time soon. Now all he'll say about it is: 'I can't predict the price of energy in the short term or even the medium term.' Well, gee, I guess that's more honest than just blowing sunshine up our skirts! Trump entered into this war with no plan, no concept of the consequences, and no earthly idea how to end it. And we are all going to pay the price for that for a long time to come."

 

   Road trip!

The tone-deafness is simply astounding.

"Meanwhile, the secretary of Transportation, Sean Duffy, is about to unveil a five-part video series called 'The Great American Road Trip,' which he apparently spent seven months filming, with his family. Because yeah, that's exactly what American families are planning right now -- a gigantic road trip across America! I mean, does he even have a clue what American families are going through at the gas pump right now? This has to rank right up there with Marie Antoinette, folks. As one person commented on YouTube, this is like 'going on a foodie tour during the Great Depression.' These people just have no concept of what Trump's war is doing to American families, and they obviously just do not care."

 

   Data center anger is real

This is somewhat of a sleeper issue, but it plays right into the concept of either protecting billionaires and giant corporations or looking out for the little guy, so Democrats really should jump on it.

"As more and more people see the effects of gargantuan data centers on their lives and on their pocketbooks, more and more of them are getting downright angry. A recent poll showed that seventy percent of Americans are now against data centers being built anywhere near them, and it's pretty easy to see why. Another recent report showed that the growth of data centers in the biggest electrical grid in the country -- on the East Coast, spanning 13 states and covering 67 million people -- was the biggest factor in the cost of electricity going up a jaw-dropping 76 percent in just the first three months of this year alone. Data centers are driving the price of electricity through the roof, they are being built far too close to residential areas and ruining people's peace of mind with their noise, and they are using an insane amount of water supplies. We need legislation that mandates that data centers must (1) build their own generating plants to cover their electrical needs, (2) not be sited in heavily-populated residential areas, and (3) be forced to recycle their water so they aren't an enormous drain on local water systems. Somebody's got to stand up and stop the Wild West nature of this industry, and the time to do so is now!"

 

   Trump might be in for a shock

Wouldn't it be ironic?

"Trump just got his new pick to lead the Federal Reserve confirmed by the Senate, but he may be unpleasantly surprised at what happens next. Because all the economic indicators are pointing the wrong direction for what Trump desperately wants: lower interest rates. In fact, with inflation heading through the roof with no relief in sight, the new Fed chair may just be forced to increase interest rates to try to calm inflation down. Personally, I can't wait to see Trump explode into a tantrum if that happens! It'd serve him right, after what he tried to do to Jerome Powell...."

 

   Xi held all the cards

Rub this one in, too.

"Donald Trump just got back from a big whoopty-do summit with President Xi of China, and for all the ceremony and flattery they heaped upon Trump while he was there, he is returning noticeably empty-handed. He didn't make any progress on the issue of the Strait of Hormuz, he didn't make any progress on fentanyl, he didn't make any progress on pretty much his entire list of priorities for the summit. Instead, Xi forced Trump to begin rethinking his support of Taiwan. It's pretty obvious that Xi not only held all the cards in this meeting, but also that Xi would up eating Trump's lunch. What an embarrassment for the United States!"

 

   Yeah, that's the ticket!

Let's just triple-down on the stupidity, shall we?

"It has been reported that Trump and the Pentagon are considering yet another rename for their disastrous war with Iran. Because that's all they need -- a new brand name! That'll solve everything, surely! What began as 'Operation Epic Fury' then turned into 'Project Freedom' -- but only for one day, because Trump had to back down on his attempt to reopen the Strait of Hormuz with force after Saudi Arabia told him not to -- and now they're reportedly considering renaming it all 'Operation Sledgehammer.' Because that's the ticket -- all this war needs is a snappier and more belligerent name, right? Because that'll solve everything! Yeah!"

-- Chris Weigant

 

Follow Chris on Twitter: @ChrisWeigant

Cross-posted at: Democratic Underground