In advance of the SOTU, the NEW GOLDEN ERA ECONOMY: The "haves" have more money. The "have nots" do not. USA! USA!

[Miles Archer]

Income and wealth inequality are not new concerns for the US economy, but the gap between the haves and the have-nots widened this past year. While booming stock prices – themselves bolstered by rampant investment in artificial intelligence infrastructure – have increased prosperity for high-wealth individuals.

Tracking US consumer sentiment
The Index of Consumer Sentiment in the US changed little in February from January. It was below the 20-year average. The index is derived from surveys that ask Americans about their current financial situation and their expectations for the future. A higher index value suggests that consumers are confident, while a lower value indicates caution or pessimism.

For some lower- and middle-income Americans, however, the finances just seem to get tighter, and burdens are growing. A growing share of American households are finding it increasingly difficult to pay down bloated credit card bills, to keep up with pricey car payments, to make student loan payments (deferred during the pandemic but now back in the mix), and to have enough money in the bank to cover their monthly mortgage check.

More Americans are falling behind on their debts
The percentage of credit balances that are "seriously delinquent," or 90-plus days past due
Multi-series line chart showing the percentage of credit balances that are "seriously delinquent," or 90-plus days past due.

https://www.cnn.com/2026/02/24/economy/us-sotu-economy-trump-vis

[Johnny2X2X]

1. If Biden were President

If Joe Biden were President right now, the media would be holding a vigil in front of the White House 24/7 covering the mob of people calling for him to resign over the economy.

Trump inherited a booming economy that was beginning to reverse the haves and the have nots. He completely destroyed the job market, which Joe Biden made into the greatest in history and was responsible for working people actually seeing significant real income gains for the first time in generations. GDP growth is lower. And the stock market he brags about actually saw below average returns compared to the previous 30 years. DOW up 9.2% in 13 months, 30 year average is 10.4% per year. So the one thing they keep pointing to isn't even really a positive.

Trump and his pointless trade war and his anti worker policies have destroyed the booming Biden economy. It never got covered and even a lot of DUers are unaware of the miracle economy Biden created. Biden's economy actually reversed the paradigm that I have lived my who life with, that "the rich get richer and the poor get poorer." That literally reversed under Joe Biden where the bottom 20%, and the bottom 50% saw more income gains than the top 10%. It was a literal miracle and no one reported on it because of inflation that was the result of Covid and was totally out of Biden's control.

[2naSalit]

2. Except...

If Biden were president right now the economy would not be flailing due to the tariff bonanza and other hack jobs that the magat dismantling of the government set in motion would not have occurred.

[Johnny2X2X]

3. 100% true!

I remember one month with Biden, he was cranking jobs out at such a torrid pace that 300,000+ jobs were expected to be added that month, when the report came in at 188,000 jobs instead of over 300K, it was a national news story for 2 weeks about the jobs miss. It was framed as a disaster and he took more heat for that than the last jobs report Trump just produced, which showed 184,000 jobs added, not for a month, but for all of 2025! The 188K was still more than Trump averaged per month before Covid. It was a solid report, but because Biden was crushing it for so long on jobs, it was reported on as a disaster.

Think about that. Biden added 188,000 jobs in 1 month and it was reported on for weeks as a crisis and a disaster. Trump added 184,000 jobs in an entire year and we've barely heard a word about it in the media. Instead they focused on the 130,000 jobs Trump's economy added in January as less was expected. Trump got praised for 130,000 measly jobs added, which doesn't even keep up with population growth. Biden got hammered for 188,000 added. That's the garbage we're dealing with.