Inflation Comes In Hot (Again), Trump Is Descending Further Into Authoritarianism And Madness
Texas Democratic Party Chair Kendall Scudder Joins Us Live Tomorrow At Noon ET
Morning all. Greetings from Washington, DC, the Capital of the United States of America, and our mad leader’s new play toy. We will get to that in a moment.
Today we will experience yet another day where the gap between what is true and what Trump incoherently says will be enormous. The headline monthly inflation number came in at +0.2 last month, and an 2.7% increase over the last 12 months. This will be a number low enough that Trump will scream “no inflation” despite that number coming in above the Fed target rate of a 2% over 12 months.
The problem for Trump, for the Fed, and for all of us is that another closely tracked measure of inflation in today’s CPI report, “core inflation,” which is the inflation rate minus volatile food and energy, came in hotter than expected, 0.3% for the month and 3.1% over the last year. Here’s the write up from BLS (yes that BLS):
The all items index rose 2.7 percent for the 12 months ending July, after rising 2.7 percent over the 12 months ending June. The all items less food and energy index rose 3.1 percent over the last 12 months. The energy index
decreased 1.6 percent for the 12 months ending July. The food index increased 2.9 percent over the last year. So what this is telling us that the overall inflation number (the headline number) is coming in under 3% because lower energy costs (thanks to Trump’s buddies the Saudis) are bringing down the overall number, but outside of the decline in energy inflation for all other goods is rising. And that, my friends, is not good:
Here’s how NPR’s MarketWatch played it this morning:
Here’s the current headline in The NYT:
To be clear - inflation is rising again after years of falling and this is all before the inflationary Smoot-Hawley level tariffs Trump put in place last Friday have taken effect. Trump’s “more for me and less for you” agenda has re-ignited inflation; slowed the economy; angered our trading partners and consumers throughout the world; caused the nation’s credit to be downgraded to the lowest level in 100 years; weakened our health care system and Americans’ access to care; hurt farmers and small businesses; ushered in an age of extraordinary, perhaps unprecedented, crony capitalism and corruption; savagely attacked our world-leading and treasured scientific and higher ed communities, central drivers of our prosperity; and is shifting the tax burden from the wealthy to the middle and working classes.
Yesterday, The Congressional Budget Office released a revised assessment of the impact of the reconciliation bill will have on the American people.
It is “let them eat cake” and “more for me, less for you” made manifest:
Oh, and by the way, since Inauguration Day the Dow is up just 2% under Trump. It increased 39% under Joe Biden.
Despite the bluster and the blather Trump’s agenda remains an agenda of sabotage, plunder and betrayal; a recipe for national decline; a gift to our adversaries; an own goal is soccer parlance; the very opposite of American greatness.
Pro-democracy forces should be making rolling back the tariffs - the very heart of this destructive and oligarchical agenda - one of our central fights in the months ahead. It’s hard to imagine a set of policies more anti-worker than these, and the tariffs are at the very core of it all.
Is Trump STRONG and MANLY NOW everyone? - It is a central understanding here that since Elon attacked Trump in early June over the Epstein files our mad leader has been looking for desperate “spectaculars” to deflect from his failing governing agenda and restore his declining standing with the public and his MANHOOD that was so grievously and rudely injured by Elon’s attacks.
We got marines in Los Angeles; the bombing of Iran; his sad MILITARY parade that no one came to; his unpopular big ugly; the ongoing and outrageous attempts to make Epstein disappear; his wild and unhinged tariffs; his escalating campaign to steal Congressional seats next year; the firing of the BLS director; a SUMMIT IN RUSSIA (or maybe ALASKA); and now the OCCUPATION OF WASHINGTON, DC, bitches.
None of it has worked. On Monday the weekly Morning Consult tracking poll still had Trump at the lowest approval of his 2nd term, and the just released Economist/YouGov track still has him in ugly territory, 42%-54%:
As I wrote yesterday, and I discussed with Stuart Stevens in a great, new conversation, I think Trump is descending deeper into both authoritarianism and madness. It is as if now the sole purpose of his regime is to force reality and others to bend the knee, or have it bent for them; that it has all become about him imposing himself on us as he has imposed himself upon others throughout his awful life; that outcomes and legality - is this good for the American people, is this legal and Constitutional? - have ceased even being a consideration; that it is all about showing the world that he is STRONG, POWERFUL, MIGHTY, the most important man who has ever lived. This week he became The Conqueror Of DC.
At the core of what Trump is doing now in DC is the clearly false and fantastical argument that crime is rising and out of control in DC. Like with his tariffs the power he is asserting - a dramatic and historic revocation of home rule here in DC - comes from a non-existent, fictional “emergency.” On CNN last night legal commentator Ryan Goodman explained why what Trump is doing now does not come from law but merely from his assertion of a power that he does not legally hold:
Simply, to claim this power Trump asserts crime is rising and out of control. In fact crime rates have fallen in DC, dramatically, and are now at 30 year lows.
Here is some new helpful data from Judd Legum:
It’s my view that Trump is descending further and further into madness. It is as if his central mission now is to assert and impose fictions as truth and “win” by having those untruths become the basis of action. What Trump did yesterday, what he said is clear 25th Amendment and Impeachment territory. He is deploying the National Guard to DC and revoking home rule over something that clearly HAS NOT HAPPENED. It is literally madness. The same is true for his tariffs - no national emergency to justify the powers, completely false and fantastical assertions driving the policy itself.
I don’t know where all this goes but we are here, now, a dangerous place. Trump is clearly not fit to lead. He is spending less time living in the real world and more and more time in his imaginary world, his world of invention, delusion, madness. He is in profound physical and cognitive decline. He is the oldest man to ever be elected to the Presidency and he was just diagnosed with a debilitating illness. His public performances are increasingly unhinged and unwatchable. He is growing more impulsive and dictatorial as he maniacal need to thrust himself and his fictions keep failing to give him what he needs. For he is not strong, he is weak; America is not winning, we are losing; we are not succeeding, we are failing; and he is far more a villain, a world historic Bond-level villain than an American hero and patriot.
What do we do? Here at Hopium we put our heads down and we keep fighting…..
Now, Let’s Get To Work For This Great Country, Fellow Patriots!!!!!!!!!!!!
Tomorrow Texas Democratic Party Chair Kendall Scudder joins us live at noon to update us on the latest from battleground Texas. Click here to join live a few minutes before noon. Excited for this one!
Support Hopium’s Priority Candidates And Party Committees - A reminder that Election Day, 2025 is a little less than three months away and early voting starts in Virginia in less than six weeks - September 19th!
As background learn about 1) our big recommendations to the family coming out of the 2024 elections 2) the many important wins we had together last cycle 3) my latest thinking on where we are and the path forward for the Hopium community.
Donate, volunteer, learn more about our candidates and opportunities here. I consider all these options must dos for anyone serious about winning this year and next year...
Mikie Sherrill NJ Gov (2025) - $250,000 goal, $50k raised - Donate | Learn More | Volunteer | Watch my interview with Rep. Sherrill
Abigail Spanberger VA Gov (2025) - $250,000 goal, $163k raised - Donate | Learn More | Volunteer | Watch my interview with Abigail Spanberger
Roy Cooper for NC Senate (2026) - $25,000 Labor Day goal, $250,000 goal, $20,000 raised- Donate | Learn More | Volunteer
Jon Ossoff GA Senate (2026) - $250,000 goal, $46k raised - Donate | Learn More | Volunteer
Hopium House 7 (2026) - $250,000 goal, $180k raised - Donate | Learn More, Volunteer, Watch My Interviews With Our Great Members
Our updated fundraising goals are now for the end of the year, December 31st, except for the 2025 races, which are now for Election Day, 2025.
Our Recommended Actions - We are prioritizing three actions today. You can get our full list of recommended actions here. Let’s get to it:
1 - Call Your Senators and Member Of The House And Demand They Act Upon Our Four-Part Agenda - While it is recess we need to be loud this week, very, very loud. Make the case for our our emerging four part agenda, and demand they 1) Stand with Ukraine and work to block Trump’s selling out of the West to Putin 2) Roll back Trump’s terrible tariffs 3) Block the expansion of ICE 4) End the war on science, higher education and the public health of the American people.
2 - Bring “Resolutions Of Condemnation” To Your Community - Inspired by the tactics of our Founders learn about how Hopium members are advancing “Resolutions of Condemnation” in their communities across the country and consider bringing this initiative to your state, country or city/town.
Remarkably, members of this community are now advancing 61 (!!!!) resolutions projects in 19 states. Can we get to all 50 states by the fall election?
Our newly updated Resolutions page includes a new chat for folks to report in on their progress or seek counsel from those interested in launching a resolutions project in their community. This is one way to fight back against Trump’s unprecedented abandonment of our Constitutional order.
3 - Grow Hopium And This Wonderful Community Of Proud, Plucky, Patriots - We’ve set a goal of trying to grow the Hopium community from the 152,000 we are now to 175,000 by Election Day, 2025. Do what you can to encourage your friends, family and colleagues to become a summer subscriber to Hopium, free or paid. If each current paid subscriber brings in just one new subscriber this summer and fall we will hit our goal.
To encourage the growth of our community annual paid subscriptions are 10% off through Labor Day. Use that link to buy gift or group subscriptions, and join our new referral rewards program too. A further note - if you want to up your support of Hopium a powerful way to do it is to buy group or gift subscriptions for others.
Finally, please self-report your activities to our daily paid subscriber chat. These reports help inspire all of us to do more and fight harder! Been impressive to see how many of you remain involved in local, in person protests of all kinds in your communities. Keep it up!!!
Keep working hard all. Proud to be in this fight with all of you, and a fight it truly is - Simon
Self report: super-fun things that I am doing, and you can do them too!! Just check the websites for your candidates’ events and go have some fun... or host an event with your neighbors.
With the DNC funding, our elected officials are having open house parties at their new offices. You can go and talk with them one-on-one, enjoy something to eat and drink, and mingle with other Democrats. Last night I visited with Rep. Melanie Stansbury and Deb Haaland – candidate for Governor. I did an impromptu, recorded 20-sec. endorsement of Deb for social media saying that she is fierce and strong -- a winner as Chair of DPNM, our Congressional Rep., and Sec. of USDI. My pic is buried here, standing behind Deb and Melanie (next to Deb's left shoulder). https://debhaaland.com/2025/08/haaland-culminates-visits-to-all-33-new-mexico-counties-at-office-grand-opening-reaffirms-focus-on-affordability/ I mentoned to Rep. Stansbury that she’d be receiving the signed resolution from BernCo Commission in the mail from our County Clerk. I recently went to the office openings for my State Rep. and State Senator, ate yummy breakfast burritos and talked with them and others.
I’m also hosting a “Meet-and-Greet” (AKA House Party) next week for Katharine Clark, candidate for NM Secretary of State in the upcoming Democratic primary election. It will be at my home with several Democratic Party leaders as Co-hosts. These are informal, smaller gatherings than fund-raising events. The purpose is to get to know the candidates and discuss issues. All candidates are eager for you to do this for them. Here’s a DNC tool kit if you’d like some ideas. https://democrats.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/07/Rural-Precinct-Chair-Toolkit.pdf pg. 6
I must add that I talk some Hopium wherever I go. Our Vice Ward Chair says that when I talk about Hopium he is reminded of the ending of Meg Ryan’s scene with Billy Crystal in “When Harry Met Sally:” “I'll Have What She's Having.” That comment was so unexpected and it made me laugh. I hope it made you laugh too.
Not exactly an update about my actions: Yesterday my husband and I were talking with someone, a contractor, who has contacts, buddies, etc., who supported Trump. He said these people are extremely angry at Trump. A truck driver he knows said the trucking companies are telling them to park their trucks and go home.
Our friend said that these people did choose Trump because (as Simon said!) he seemed strong and tough, and because they thought he knew how to make them more prosperous.
A few weeks ago, neighbors returned from a family reunion in Wyoming, where the Trump-supporting ranchers in the family have completely turned on Trump.