People are ‘UNCERTAIN’ about where the country is headed: Steve Forbes

[00:00:00] Speaker 1: ahead of the midterms, he's going to be holding a rally in Florida tonight. The message, America is booming, and it's because of the Republicans. [00:00:08] Speaker 2: The U.S. economy is booming at 3.4%, which is a historic economic level. Consumers spending is way up. Business investment is up at record levels, and investment in new equipment exploded by 21%. It's the tax credit that you get under the great, big, beautiful bill. The businesses get, but I think even more important, it's because of the tariffs, because all these companies are coming in. They're flooding America. They're coming in from Europe, from Asia, Canada, [00:00:38] Speaker 1: Mexico. I'll tell you what, guys. Look, I was looking at this midterm bliss that the president has done, and Steve, I'm going to take this to you first, as somebody that has actually run for president of the United States yourself. The strategy for President Trump has been, pretend that I'm on the ballot. The problem that Republicans are having is they're dealing with high gasoline prices. They're dealing with high diesel prices. They're talking about inflation. They're still spending, but the American consumer is saying that they're not happy. If you're in a Republican seat right now, you're trying to hold on to said seat, Steve, [00:01:12] Steve: what do you do? What you do is you put on the table as a candidate that you're going to have proposed more tax cuts, that you're going to deal with the Federal Reserve artificially keeping interest rates high, and things for people to look forward to in the future. Also, too, the Republicans are so afraid of health care, because they think the Democrats have the issue. They don't. Who should control health care dollars? Third parties, like insurance companies or the government, or you, the patient? Put positive stuff out there. I've been advocating that for months. Why did the GOP put more good stuff out there? It's not enough to say we had a great, big, beautiful bill, which we did, really historic. It's like those nighttime commercials, you have to [00:01:52] Lou: say, but wait, there's more. You get a Guinsoo knives, right? [00:01:55] Speaker 1: Well, Lou, I was going to ask you that about consumer spending, because we talked about that yesterday. Larry Kudlow was on with us. He talked about that. Look, the stock market, amazing performances. You know, people got, you mentioned this yesterday, people got their tax returns, you know, spring tax returns, big, beautiful bill, big, all these things filtering into the economy and the message isn't getting through. Well, it's not getting through because [00:02:17] Lou: it's, we have a bullet hole in ourselves, and it's the pain at the pump, right? I mean, that's where you're bleeding out in your, in your family budget right now, and a 3.4% GDP print is phenomenal. You just don't feel that at the kitchen table yet, and that's the key. And Steve's right. The messaging should be, listen, we, it's not even the, the, the seeds of, of economic prosperity being planted and starting to sprout. This is the full on summer growth season, and it's going to start showing up in your wages, but we need more tax cuts, right? Like that was the message that won. And for whatever reason, you know, Republicans have abandoned it, maybe because it means they probably have to find ways to cut spending in other areas, which we know none of them are going to do. But everyday Americans need to see the direct feed impact on their personal budgets. A GDP number, headline number doesn't provide that [00:03:04] Speaker 1: yet. The bigger story, Jackie. Also too, I mean, we were talking about this in the commercial break, like, this is, I think, incredible. There are seven states right now that could decide the Senate, and they're surprising. Madison's in Ohio. You've got Alaska, South Carolina, Maine, Michigan, Kansas, Texas. These, a lot of these are red. They're surprising states. Surprising states to bring up, to say the least here. [00:03:24] Speaker 5: Here's the thing. I'm taking the Larry Kudlow approach on this. Historically, this has been a check on the current administration's power. That's what happens. I mean, I assume that is what is going to happen here. Do I want to see Democrats start with the investigations, trying to go after companies and the president, impeachment? It's all a waste of time. You know, whoever you are, if you're elected to office, you're supposed to work for the American people. And so I do not support that. But Larry calmed me down the other day when he was on. He made the point that the president still has tools in his toolbox through executive orders to continue to get things done. But in terms of that check on the power of the current administration, the guy in Ohio that Madison had in the soundbite, he said it best. You know, people have different issues. His issue is tariffs. That impacts that state. And so, President Trump chose to run his first two years a certain way. And I think there are lofty, ambitious goals that are incorporated in that along with the big, beautiful bill. But, you know, for someone in Ohio, that tariff issue is going to be an issue. And you can't stop that from happening. [00:04:26] Steve: And what's happening with the war in the Middle East and in Europe has put a bad mood when the president keeps saying, in effect, it's going to end, we're going to end it, and we're going to end it. And it doesn't end. It just seems to go on and on and on. So it's not just the gas prices per se. It's what's behind it. People don't have confidence in the -- they have uncertainty about the future. You know, back in the '80s, energy, farm belt was in a depression, but the economy boomed. And Republicans did well. And so what do we have here today? People don't really feel the 3.4% because they're uncertain about where this country's really headed, about AI, about the war. And that uncertainty is hurting the incumbents. [00:05:05] Speaker 1: And the tariffs, Gary, Kate. And I know that you've never liked the tariffs. Don't get me started. I know. Well, actually, I'm about to get you started because I know what you think. And that the tariffs have been something that you disagreed with from the beginning, from the beginning of his term. But the tariffs, according to Madison and her reporting and other polling that we've seen is actually hurting the president. And the Canadians, I said this earlier, they're not going to make a deal with him now or before the midterms. There's no way because they want those swing states to go blue because they want Donald Trump. And this is Mark Carney wants him off his back. He's making it very clear. [00:05:35] Speaker 6: Tariffs are a tax hike. Tariffs are a tax hike and tariffs are a tax hike. Yet our Republican president that's conservative is the greatest word in the dictionary. So I don't get it. [00:05:48] Lou: And look. But are they really a tax hike if it's led to foreign direct investment and the tariffs go away? [00:05:52] Speaker 6: Okay, led to -- but we're just talking about the here and now. Right. And we're talking about voters. And you heard from a voter that say, oh, it's impacting us. Yeah. But I have to go to one word, and that is messaging. You see, politics is about marketing. You are marketing to voters. And here's what I don't understand. The number one, number two, number three, number four, number five issue for the public, for the voters, keep saying is affordability. And the messaging has been affordability is a con and affordability is a myth. How are you going to earn voters that way? That's not true, Gary. Wait, wait, wait. I've seen it every day. [00:06:30] Speaker 5: They have not been gaslighting the way Biden Harris did with gas prices and everything else. [00:06:33] Speaker 6: Hold on. That's not true. Hold on. I'm going by what is being said on the stump. Even in Hassett outcome out this week saying it's a myth. And all I'm saying is you're telling the voters I'm not listening to you when you tell me affordability is the biggest issue. Okay. This is not me inventing something. I hear you. It's not me coming out with something. This is for real. [00:06:53] Speaker 5: But there have been many GOP leaders that have gotten up and said, we acknowledge your pain. We feel your pain at the pump. We understand that the president is on top of the Iran situation, to your point, promising an end to something that hasn't come yet. But, you know, the number of people saying that it's completely a myth as opposed to the others saying, acknowledging the reality of it, I think is. [00:07:12] Speaker 6: Don't get me started on the left. And I always thought this should have been a gimme. This should have been a gimme. The left, some of their policies are just absolutely looney tunes that make absolutely no sense whatsoever. And don't get me started on some of the candidates. I'm just stating that, again, politics is about marketing and messaging. And when the number one issue is affordability, you got to hit it right there. And I don't believe they've been doing a very good job of it. [00:07:40] Speaker 1: Don't gaslight the voter when they're saying that, look, my grocery price is high and I can't afford to pay my mortgage. That's all. But I agree with Jackie, though. I think a lot of these candidates, especially those that are in really tight races right now, are acknowledging that. And many of them have broken from the president and the president hasn't been very happy about that. [00:07:57] Speaker 6: The president, remember that.