Broken Economy, Broken Democracy.

When the economy slips, Trump cheats.

Aug 07, 2025

As always, a lot is happening in the country. Tariffs. Jobs reports. Gerrymandering. Erosion of democracy. In the flood of headlines, it’s easy to miss how much is changing, and how fast.

Here are four national stories you should know right now, and what they really mean.

Apple’s $100 Billion Investment: Big Number, Small Shift

This week, Apple announced it would increase its U.S. investment commitment by $100 billion, bringing its total to $600 billion through 2029. Trump took credit, claiming his tariffs forced Apple to act.

As always, the real impact is in the details:

The new $100 billion is incremental to Apple’s earlier $500 billion commitment announced this year, driven largely by Biden’s CHIPS Act and broader industrial policy.
The additional spending includes new contracts with U.S. suppliers like Corning and Broadcom, a server facility in Houston, and expanded AI infrastructure.
iPhones still won’t be made in America. Core assembly remains in China, India, and Vietnam. No change there.
Apple’s new investment is designed to avoid tariffs, not to move manufacturing back home.

My take: Chips Act vs Tariffs

This moment highlights the sharp contrast between two very different approaches to industrial policy: Biden’s CHIPS Act vs. Trump’s tariffs. Both claim to bring manufacturing back to the U.S. One does it better.

Biden’s CHIPS Act (2022):

$53 billion in federal subsidies to boost domestic chip production.
Spurred $400–$450 billion in private-sector investment.
Created 115,000+ construction and manufacturing jobs.
Fueled over 80 semiconductor projects across 25 states.
Apple’s supplier, TSMC, was able to build in Arizona because of CHIPS Act funding.

Trump’s Tariffs:

Pushed Apple to announce an extra $100 billion in spending.
Imposed 100% duties on imported semiconductors, effectively a tax on U.S. consumers.
Raised prices, disrupted supply chains, and triggered threats of global retaliation.

Bottom line: The CHIPS Act produced real jobs, real factories, and avoided costly trade wars. Trump’s tariffs generated headlines, higher prices, and economic turbulence.

The Economy is Slowing Down

The July jobs report tells a troubling story:

Only 73,000 jobs added.
May and June numbers revised down sharply.
Unemployment rose to 4.2%.
Underemployment (U-6) hit 7.9%.
Labor force participation dropped to its lowest level since 2022.

Trump’s response? He fired the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, accusing her of manipulating the numbers. A loyalist has been installed.

Meanwhile, Las Vegas is flashing warning lights:

Convention attendance down 10.7%.
Hotel room revenue down 13.8%.
Major resorts slashing rates to as low as $18/night.
MGM and Caesars both report revenue declines.

Trump and his allies will point to the stock market as proof that the economy is strong. But here’s what they’re not saying:

The top five AI companies, Nvidia, Microsoft, Alphabet, Meta, and Amazon, account for 25% of the S&P 500.
Strip those companies out, and market gains mostly disappear. Some indexes would be negative.

Trump’s economy is in decline.

Democracy on the Brink: Gerrymandering and a New Census

Bad economic news usually spells disaster for the party in power. But instead of improving the economy, Trump has decided to cheat.

Texas Gerrymandering:

Texas Republicans have proposed a radical new congressional map designed to:

Republicans in Texas are proposing a new congressional map designed to:
Break up Democratic strongholds like Austin, Houston, and Dallas.
Create two majority-Black districts, but only to pack Democratic voters into fewer seats.
Net the GOP up to five additional House seats, despite no major demographic shifts.

This is the most aggressive gerrymander in the country. In protest, Texas Democrats have walked out of the legislature to block a vote.

My take:

I live in Illinois. Our congressional map is also wildly gerrymandered. But there’s a difference between what’s happening here and in Texas.

Right or wrong, Illinois followed legal processes. The law is bad, and I want it changed, but it was followed.

Texas isn’t following any legal or normal redistricting process. There’s no new census. No new data. Just a desperate president demanding a map that helps him stay in power.

Trump’s New Census:

Trump has now ordered an unprecedented, mid-decade census. The goal? Exclude undocumented immigrants and shift power to Republican states.

Let’s be clear:

The Constitution requires counting the “whole number of persons”—not citizens.
If you want to change that, we have a process. It’s called a constitutional amendment.

What Trump is doing isn’t about representation. It’s about rigging the system to hold power despite an unpopular agenda and shrinking base.

Trump Abandons His IVF Promise

During the 2024 campaign, Trump made a rare appeal to suburban women: he promised to require insurance companies to cover in vitro fertilization (IVF).

Now, that promise is dead.

The White House says IVF coverage is no longer on the agenda.
No legislation has been introduced. No executive action taken.
Aides quietly admit it was never a serious policy priority.

Millions of hopeful families just got ghosted. Another betrayal from a man whose “pro-family” rhetoric ends where the headlines do.