Is Anything Better?

I haven't kept up with all the members of that new job category called "Influencers," but there are a lot of them out there. And I suspect, but can't prove because I don't watch them, to gain that lofty title, you would have to actually influence people with information, or charm, I guess. I mean, apparently, most of the Kardashian coven are called influencers, so it can't just be based on information or IQ.

But there is a guy named Dave Rubin that I hadn't heard of either, who is reputedly a raving, gay liberal before and is now a raving, gay MAGA "influencer" now. He has a show on something called Blaze TV, a product of one of Glenn Beck's fever dreams, which you can find on either Pluto TV or Sling TV, both of which I had to look up as well.

Well, Rubin's latest ploy is not original since the late Charlie Kirk used to do, which is let students come up and try to debate your well-rehearsed pre-fab answers to big issues. While they fumble around, you have the script down pat.

Rubin offered to "debate" what he called "20 far-left Democrats" and was doing the usual shooting fish in a barrel performance right up until one guy sat down and asked a simple question.

“What is one main metric that Donald Trump has made better off since he got in office?”

The guy even offered topics like inflation, GDP, jobs, etc.

Rubin stumbled around and ultimately touted the ridiculously-named "One Big Beautiful Bill" which will work all sorts of wonders, just you wait and see. It will explode the debt, granted, but we will see a new Gilded Age that will put Trump's hideously tacky Oval Office to shame.

But, the young man asked, what is actually better now?

Here's how Mediaite reported the exchange...

Rubin then pivoted to the attack, asserting his opponent must believe “things economically were better under [former President] Joe Biden at the end of his administration.”

“Absolutely,” the debater said.

Rubin then pressed him for examples, but his opponent was all too happy to provide them: “GDP growth was better off. Real median wage growth is better off. Inflation was better off at the end of his administration. Unemployment was better off at the end of his administration.”

“We had the worst year of job growth in the past four years, just this last year under Trump’s administration,” he continued. “The inflation 3.8% year-over-year since Trump got in office. We’re seeing all of those economic indicators become worse off. So, can you tell me anything that he’s done to make it better off?"

There was some talk of tariffs, but who can defend a concept that has you and me, and American companies paying the tariff for the things they import and we buy? It's frankly, nuts.

You could say the border is more secure, but the Labor Department recently said the lack of workers is really impacting several industries now and in the future.

But the young man is on to something, and it's something Democrats had better realize before they blow it again, as they inevitably do so damned always. The U.S. economy has experienced a notable shift from 2024 to mid-2026. While 2024 was marked by a "soft landing" with easing inflation and steady growth, current 2026 figures show a more complicated reality: inflation has ticked higher, job growth has slowed, and the unemployment rate has risen. For example...

1. Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
In 2024, the U.S. economy proved highly resilient, expanding by a robust 2.8% led by consumer spending and a strong labor market. Today, the pace has cooled. According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, real GDP for Q1 2026 grew at an annual rate of 1.6%, falling short of initial market expectations.

2. Labor Market
In 2024, job gains were steady, though they began to slow down by the end of the year. The current labor market has softened considerably. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the unemployment rate stands at 4.3%, with monthly payroll additions averaging smaller, stabilized gains.

3. Inflation and Cost of Living
Throughout 2024, the narrative was about inflation steadily cooling down. However, 2026 has seen a re-acceleration of consumer prices. Driven by recent geopolitical shocks and rising energy costs, the headline Consumer Price Index (CPI) climbed to 3.8% annually as of the spring of 2026, putting renewed pressure on consumer purchasing power.

4. Monetary Policy
To support the economy and manage the labor landscape, the Federal Reserve began a cycle of rate cuts in late 2024. Interest rates have fluctuated since as policymakers continue to balance the risks of elevated inflation against a slower hiring environment.

We can add in a war that was not planned, and inflation that was not foreseen. But instead, we get endless social media posts, often in the dead of night, insulting Trump enemies and touting in the most flowery language, his supposed successes. When every artist except Vanilla Ice(!?) drops out of your alternative America 250th celebration, and you have to fill in with another tired MAGA rally, you're flailing. Or as he put it in a post...

 “I understand Artists are getting ‘the yips’ having to do with their performance on Wednesday, so I am thinking about bringing the Number One Attraction anywhere in the World, the man who gets much larger audiences than Elvis in his prime, and he does so without a guitar, the man who loves our Country more than anyone else, and the man who some say is the Greatest President in History (THE GOAT!), DONALD J. TRUMP, to take the place of these highly paid, Third Rate ‘Artists,’ and give a major speech, rallying the Country forward like I have done ever since being President!”

Really, bigger than Elvis? Hard to know where to go after that one. After Walter Cronkite travelled to Vietnam during the war and came back with a pessimistic report on our chances, LBJ is reputed to have said, "When I've lost Cronkite, I've lost the country."

Well, when you've lost Milli Vanilli, you're in much deeper trouble.

But, amid all the lousy news on prices, the war, and other things, Trump is ignoring new polling that shows that percentage-wise, more people believe the earth is flat and we faked the moon landing than approve of his vanity projects in Washington. His fixations are curious to say the least.

I want to show you all a picture. Actually, it is two pictures that you have no doubt seen before. One is the house next door, and the other is what happens when new neighbors move in and basically trash the joint.

Believe it or not, I currently live in a house that is only 75 years younger than the White House. We even have the plaque to prove it.

So, I understand the need to periodically improve and renovate a 156-year-old house, much less a 226-year-old one. I asked the realtor if she knew where the outhouse was before modern plumbing was installed. She said no, but just look for the greenest patch of grass in the back lawn. Now, I'm looking at having to paint the whole bloody thing soon, along with some wood repair. Any donations would be appreciated, by the way.

But I can't just knock down a part of an historic house in Texas, and I have to maintain the basic look of the exterior. That has not been the rule with this President in his quest to Make Washington Beautiful Again. I'm sure there will be some Chinese-made baseball caps to go with this slogan.

So, let's just run down the Trump list.

What we are seeing now is far beyond the simple improvements that have been done before. And, obviously, this is also way past just the executive mansion, and that by itself is bad enough. There's so much cheap, gold gilt in the Oval Office alone to make the Sultan of Brunai look around and mutter, "Ah, a bit too much."

It looks like the inside of Liberace's coffin.

As I have mentioned before, we are seeing the Washington and Lincoln memorials partially ruined by turning the reflecting pool into essentially the Fontainebleau in Miami.

Jaqueline Kennedy's professionally designed rose garden has been dug up and paved over to make a patio, you know. like the one at Mar A Lago.

The east wing of the White House, built by Theodore Roosevelt, has been torn down, without any permits or warning, to build a ballroom, you know, like the almost duplicate one a block away.

Or how about the towering Arc d'Trump leading up to the Arlington National Cemetery.

This thing, if built, will be monstrous in size. It is so tall that the FAA will have to be consulted as jets come into National Airport at a fairly low altitude.

Of course, Option #1 is the one he chose. I have pointed out elsewhere that this was all done before, in the mid-1940's. You know, by these guys...

The President has now taken to hanging long banners featuring his likeness on government buildings all over D.C. Well, that's been done, too...

The President has decided that wherever in the world you travel, when you look at your passport, you'll think of him...

And now there is talk of putting the President's face on a new $250 bill.

Well, that's been done before as well...

Although, to be fair, the idea of a $250 bill is timely as that's what it will cost to fill up a Ford F-250.

One reason the south lawn of the White House looks like Barnum and Bailey setting up the Big Top is that on June 14th, the President's birthday, there will be a so-called "Ultimate Fighting Championship" fight. This is a combination of boxing, wrestling, and Ju-Jitsu with few to no rules. It's essentially a street fight with guys in spangled shorts. UFC is the company Trump invested in before promoting this event.

You know, like he invested in Dell before giving them a big Pentagon contract?

Add a tractor pull and Lee Greenwood, and it's the perfect celebration.

The South Lawn looked better when President Wilson let a flock of sheep graze when the White House landscapers volunteered for WWI.

So, here we are. NATO's a mess, Ukraine is on its own, our allies hate us and are looking elsewhere for trade, Ebola is back right after we cut off medical aid, SNAP food benefits have been cut, Medicaid has been cut, Trump's perceived enemies have been sued, unsuccessfully, inflation is up, jobs are down, interest rates are back up and an ethically crippled man is running for the Senate in Texas.

But I have to say, the odds are that Ken Paxton will still win here, warts and all. That is the power of blind loyalty. Some of my favorite interviews over the years, were the times I got to spend an hour or so with the late Carl Sagan. One quote is truly pertinent now...

“One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we’ve been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. We’re no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us. It’s simply too painful to acknowledge, even to ourselves, that we’ve been taken. Once you give a charlatan power over you, you almost never get it back.”

So, if you're a Democrat, you had better tell your candidates to remember what the young man asked Dave Rubin:

"What have you guys actually made better?"