"I've got to admit it's getting better."
Yes, there are problems, but there are indications that things are getting better.
Notice what is happening in the economy and in politics.
Gasoline prices are going back down. It makes sense. Oil prices hit a high of $120/barrel in mid-June and they are now down 25%. The average national gasoline price was about $5.10 in mid-June. Now it is about $4.44. Gasoline is the most conspicuous in-your-face indication of inflation. Good news.
Mortgage rates are going back down. In mid-June they were about 5.81%. Now they are 5.54%. A similar trend is happening with the yields on funds of bank preferred stocks. They hit a yield of about 5.30% in mid-June and are now back under 5%. Notice the trend. Lower interest rates set by banks and investors are a signal that markets interpret what the Fed is doing to be working. Good news.
Unemployment is very low. It is back to 3.6%.
We could very well have the "soft landing" people desire. The economy is unwinding from a COVID crisis, an era of artificially low interest rates, and is doing it while a war disrupts food and oil supplies. Lots could go wrong. Yet American businesses are still making money. Technology stocks and crypto currencies are down in price, but the consensus view is that this was overdue. Main Street businesses are doing well. They have customers to service and they want to hire more people than are readily available. A "recession" where employers have more business than they can service, and employees have some leverage to negotiate better wages, is a soft landing. Good news.
Political good news, too. The GOP is getting tired of Trump. The wins by Brian Kemp and Brad Raffensperger in Georgia were an early signal. A gap is growing between GOP donors and thought leaders and the GOP base. Murdock's The Wall Street Journal and New York Post ran editorials saying Trump was unfit to be president. They want Trump-ism, but without the tweets, the treason, and Trump himself.
Potential Trump successors are walking a tightrope. Trump's endorsements still matter. Trump is on the lookout for stragglers and RINO heretics--people who say "move on." But officeholders see the ground shifting, coincident with the reports of the January 6 committee. Trump asks too much. The Trump faithful in the local parties ask too much. Officeholders in solidly red districts go too far and say impolitic extreme things. The red states pass extreme laws that color the national brand too bright a red. The safe harbor for most Republican officeholders is to join Trump in bashing Biden, Democrats, CRT, illegal immigration, Antifa, gasoline prices, and fake news, but not to defend Trump personally. Republicans see what Democrats are doing. Democrats are taking sides in Republican primaries, encouraging the Trump base to choose the most Trump-like candidate. The more Trump-faithful the candidate, the easier the candidate is to beat. Trump is an anchor on Republicans, and he won't go away.
Meanwhile, Liz Cheney isn't going away, either. She is on team-Constitution, not Team Trump. GOP leaders say she is a disrupter. She says things they don't want to hear. She is like Martin Luther, pointing at indulgences for sale, calling out the indefensible. Republicans say she is a heretic who sounds like a Democrat and shouldn't be saying it. They don't say she is wrong.
Trump demands the spotlight. He divides Republicans and unites Democrats. Things just might work out for Democrats.
I've got to admit it's getting better (Better)
A little better all the time (It can't get no worse)
I have to admit it's getting better (Better)