Steve Rattner

Interest on the national debt topped $1 trillion this fiscal year. That’s $87 billion more than we spent on defense.

The six biggest Senate fundraisers this cycle are all Democrats. Ossoff: $131 million. Talarico: $128 million. No question where the enthusiasm lies.

Health insurance premiums rose 5% this year — and workers took the hit.

Trump has made more stock trades in his second term than all 535 members of Congress combined.

Elon Musk gave $158 million to the GOP’s Senate super PAC in a last-ditch effort to head off Democratic momentum. That’s 58% of everything it raised last quarter.

Diesel prices have jumped 65% since the Iran War began — to $6.28 a gallon. That's hitting farmers, truckers, and industry hard in several states that will decide control of the Senate.

When first reported, 2025’s jobs reports added up to 1.2 million new jobs. After revisions, the economy added just 116,000 — 90% less.

Republicans in House races are outspending Democrats by $29 million in Lean-Democratic seats and $14 million in toss-ups.  My @morningjoe-msnow.bsky.social Chart

Republicans have put $947 million of ads into the seven Senate toss-ups vs. $625 million for Democrats, a gap that opened almost entirely in September.  In the House toss-ups, the two sides are even.  My @morningjoe-msnow.bsky.social Chart

The six biggest Senate fundraisers this cycle are all Democrats. My @morningjoe-msnow.bsky.social Chart

While Republican Super PACs are dominant, Democratic candidates are leading their Republicans opponents when it comes to individual donations. That's a strong sign of Democratic momentum with voters. My @morningjoe-msnow.bsky.social Chart

Republican super PACs hold $549 million, more than twice the two main Democratic groups. Elon Musk alone put in $178 million. My @morningjoe-msnow.bsky.social Chart

The RNC ended September with $97 million in the bank, five times the DNC’s $19 million. But the House and Senate committees are close, and the Democrats’ House committee out-raised the Republicans’ last quarter. My @morningjoe-msnow.bsky.social Chart

Since 2000, hospital prices have risen 295% — triple the rate of overall inflation.

Trump says prices are coming "way, way down." Inflation was below 3% when Biden left office. It is 3.7% now.

Trump has raised $330 million from private donors for his White House ballroom. About half have received federal contracts during his second term, according to The Washington Post. Here are the top 16 givers.

Trump says he brought in “$21 trillion” of investment vs. “less than $1 trillion” under Biden. Actual business investment: $14.5 trillion under Biden, $6.7 trillion so far under Trump. My @morningjoe-msnow.bsky.social Chart

Trump says we’re building “more factories and plants right now than at any time in our history.” Factory construction hit a historic record under Biden and has fallen 31% since Trump took office. My @morningjoe-msnow.bsky.social Chart

Trump says drug prices are down 300–700%, and Americans pay “the lowest drug prices” in the world. Prescription drug prices are down only 3.9%, and our prices are still near the top of the list. My @morningjoe-msnow.bsky.social Chart

Trump says gas prices are “lower than when Biden was president.” Gas today is $4.35. Under Biden, it averaged $3.46 and was $3.01 when he left office. My @morningjoe-msnow.bsky.social Chart

Trump says Biden gave us “the worst inflation in American history.” It peaked at 9% (far lower than historic records) and was down to 3.0% when Trump took office. My @morningjoe-msnow.bsky.social Chart

Trump says prices are coming “way down.” Inflation is 3.7% and has risen in three of the last five months. Core inflation rose in September too. My @morningjoe-msnow.bsky.social Chart

The Iran War has drained America’s strategic petroleum reserve to its lowest level since 1982.

Real wages are down 0.6% over the past year. Going into the 2006 midterms, when Republicans lost both chambers, they were up 2.2%.

Tech billionaires have added $845 billion to their fortunes this year — more than three times the gains of every other industry combined.

Millions of people have lost about $4 billion on the $TRUMP meme coin. Trump and a couple dozen insiders made almost $2 billion. It's like buying a pet rock just to lose a lot of money.

Headline inflation is up again, as expected given the ongoing energy crisis induced by the Iran War. Equally concerning, core inflation is up too, indicating that high energy costs are beginning to bleed into everything else.

Real wages are shrinking year-over-year for the sixth month in a row. The Iran War brought an end to three years of real wage growth.

Gas prices are up 34.2% over the last year.

The wealth of the world’s 500 richest people has more than doubled since 2020 — to $12.9 trillion.

Adjusted for inflation, business investment in computers and software grew 21% at the end of 2025 — the fastest pace since the dot-com boom.

Trump’s promised $5,000 post-midterm checks would cost $1.2 trillion, more than the entire Pentagon budget. Add that to his previous promises, and the total is $2.2 trillion.

The federal government's debt has surpassed $40 trillion with over $4 trillion of that added since Trump's inauguration.

The United States accounts for a quarter of the world economy but nearly two-thirds of its stock market.

Bush's GOP got shellacked in 2026 in the House and the Senate with economic numbers better than Trump's right now. Inflation is more the twice as high under Trump, and job creation is a quarter of what it was before the 2006 midterms.

The Iran War is costing Americans $2,000 per household according to analysis by Moody's Analytics and Brown University.

The federal government spends 10 times more on seniors than on children.

Stock holdings now exceed the value of primary residences in the U.S. Yet the typical family's home is worth five times their stock portfolio. In other words, the gains from the stock market boom are going to the top.

One in five American families fell behind on a loan or mortgage payment in the past year — up from one in eight in 2022 and the highest since 2007.

Sun Belt cities are building housing roughly three times as fast as blue state metropolises.

The economic and political mood this year is similar to 2006, but Democrats have fewer swing districts to compete in. My @morningjoe-msnow.bsky.social Chart

Consumer sentiment is at 48, the fourth-lowest reading since 1952. It was almost double that at this point in Bush’s second term and didn’t even fall this low during the 2008 financial crisis. My @morningjoe-msnow.bsky.social Chart

Gas is still quite expensive at $4.35 a gallon ahead of the midterms. That's worse than the inflation-adjusted price in 2006 when the Democrats won the House and the Senate from Bush's GOP.

Trump’s approval rating is 37%, almost exactly where Bush was before the 2006 midterms, which his party lost badly. My @morningjoe-msnow.bsky.social Chart

Inflation, mortgage rates, and hiring are all worse today than in October 2006. Only unemployment and economic growth are roughly the same. My @morningjoe-msnow.bsky.social Chart

Real wage growth is stagnant over the past year. In 2006, it was rising 2.5% annually by election day. My @morningjoe-msnow.bsky.social Chart

Gas prices fell 25% in the three months before the 2006 midterms. They’re rising heading into this round: $4.46 a gallon, up from $2.88 in January. My @morningjoe-msnow.bsky.social Chart

Since Trump took office, the personal saving rate has fallen from 5.7% to 4.1%, the lowest since 2022. With tariffs pushing up prices and real wages falling since the Iran War, families are dipping into savings to keep up.

Corporate profits and tax revenues grew together until the Trump tax cuts. Now corporate profits are at an all-time high while tax receipts are at their lowest since 2021.

The top 0.1% of Americans now hold more than six times more wealth than the bottom half.