Have you heard that the word “affordability” is “a con job by the Democrats?”
That was at Tuesday’s cabinet meeting. Funny how just a few days earlier he declared “I AM THE AFFORDABILITY PRESIDENT.” It seems that this word is getting under his orange skin, as Democrats win elections by highlighting his failed commitment to bring down prices.
He is now determined to say the word more often than anybody else. He’s going to “Make America Affordable Again” (MAAA!!). Let the real con job begin.
This week’s con: Trump’s reversal of Biden’s Corporate Average Fuel Efficiency (CAFE) standards for the auto industry. It’s all about affordability, don’t you know. By letting car companies sell more gas guzzlers, the White House says you’ll save at least $1,000 on the cost of a new car. Welcome to the Trump Cafe, serving you sludge by the gallon.
Let’s take a look at how two different politicians responded to this announcement almost immediately. First there was Gavin Newsom, who provided a slightly different economic analysis:
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates the fuel economy standards Trump is gutting would have saved American drivers $23 billion in fuel costs and reduced our national fuel consumption by 70 billion gallons. Over the past 15 years, fuel economy improvements have delivered an average household savings of $630-840 annually. Over the past two decades, fuel efficiency improvements, driven by standards, have put more than $9,000 back in consumers’ pockets over the lifetime of the average new car sold in the U.S. in 2024.
Newsom also pointed out the real con job going on here. This isn’t about affordability. It’s a gift to Trump’s Big Oil donors. Let’s recall how Trump hosted a private dinner at Mar-a-Lago for 20 oil and gas industry executives in April of last year, where he reportedly pressed them to raise $1B for his campaign.
Compare the Trump Seal Team response from our friend Mike Lawler, who jumped onto the Foxsphere almost instantly to provide oily ground cover for his boss, and to claim the affordability mantle.
Can we afford the time to listen to this drivel? I do encourage you to hit the play button on that clip, though. Watch Lawler’s creepy practiced smile as he’s introduced. You’ll see it in every one of his interviews. It will serve him well in his next chapter as a car salesman, which he’s getting a jump on here.
Lawler weaves a layered con. Notice how the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) is now called the Working Families Tax Cut Bill in his playbook. You remember OBBBA. Where Mike Lawler was the deciding vote to pass the original bill in the House. The bill that granted huge permanent tax breaks to billionaires, while sprinkling temporary tax goodies on working families, and taking away health care and SNAP benefits from millions of “legals.” Saddling the country with historic tax deficits.
Then of course we’ve watched Lawler’s spineless abdication of Congressional authority and promotion of Trump’s tariffs, the real driver of current economic anxiety.
Mike, take a hint from what Marjorie Taylor Greene is saying on her way out the door, as she predicts a Democratic takeover of the House in November:
“Gaslighting the people and trying to tell them that prices have come down is not helping. It’s actually infuriating people because people know what they are paying at the grocery store, they know what they’re paying for their kid’s clothes and school supplies. They know what they’re paying for their electricity bills.”
And they know for whom you speak, Mike. Can you afford to continue this con? Wouldn’t it feel better to hitch your future to truth and representation, rather than the lies and corruption of this administration? Even though it’s likely too late to change your fate in November.
Rule of Lawler 