RUSH: Let’s just do 25, 26, 27 in order here. Here’s F. Chuck Todd. I mentioned this. This is F. Chuck Todd today on NBC special coverage of Trump’s remarks about the second quarter GDP news. The infobabe, Savannah Guthrie, said (paraphrased), “Meet the Press moderator, F. Chuck Todd, whose wife works on the Bernie Sanders campaign, talking now about Trump’s remarks. It’s 4.1%. That’s a rate we haven’t seen in four years, F. Chuck. The president with a good economic story to tell. He wants to highlight it amidst, obviously, the Russia investigation and facing the midterm elections as well.”
TODD: You could tell there was sort of an urgency in the president’s voice that bordered on almost pulling a muscle trying to pat yourself on the back.
RUSH: What!
TODD: You could feel that he knows there’s all these other headlines out there that are not —
RUSH: Stop the tape! I watched this. He didn’t pull a muscle at all. This is an out-and-out falsehood. Trump didn’t pull a muscle. He wasn’t desperately trying to praise himself. He was simply trying to overcome this kind of bull crap! He went out there; he knew this was the kind of bull crap he was gonna have to face after this great bit of economic news that this country hasn’t seen in eight years. He wasn’t desperate. He wasn’t this. He was very proud, and he should have been! All right. (sigh) Resume this debacle of a tape.
TODD: — this morning Michael Cohen, involving the Russia investigation. Frankly, even on the economic front he got a lot of grief about trade from even fellow Republicans while traveling in the Midwest. So today —
RUSH: Stop tape! Because they don’t understand what they’re talking about here! Even the Republicans don’t even know how to talk about tariffs in the right way now. Anyway, that’s F. Chuck Todd. That’s F. Chuck Todd. As Trump’s going out there after he’s spoken about the 4.1% and great economic results that we got from his policies, that’s the Drive-By Media trying to tell you that Trump is desperate to change the subject because of Michael Cohen, because of the Russians investigation and because of Mueller and because the Russians stealing the election and all that garbage! So Trump went out and spoke, and here is Kevin Hassett. He’s the chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors, and he’s telling a little story about all that has happened in the Oval Office leading up to the policies that gave us this growth rate today.
HASSETT: We’re very, very happy, because, remember, the president promised his policies would deliver 3% growth, and, you know, now we’re looking at four. One of the nuances in the data that’s really striking and is very favorable to the second half of the year is the inventory subtracted about a whole percentage point from the GDP number. So what happened was instead of producers being able to keep up with consumer demand and increase their production as the surge in their demand for the products occurred, you know, they had to run down their inventories. And historically when that happens, then they have to jack up production in the second half of the year to rebuild their stocks. So, you know, it’s about as positive a report as you can get because it suggests that you’re gonna have sustained growth.
RUSH: All right. That’s not what I thought it was. That was Hassett appearing with Neil Cavuto on Fox. Hassett also appeared at the White House press conference today after Trump had spoken, and he told a story of the president and everybody discussing the tax policies, and whether or not they could reach 4%. He was telling everybody that would listen how Trump was insistent that it was gonna happen; it could happen.
There were some doubters in the room, and that now that everybody in there is a believer with the president. It was a comment talking about Trump’s leadership. Here’s Kudlow. Kudlow at the White House. This is at the press conference. This is after Trump and after Hassert. I think this is good because, you know, Kudlow is a supply-side guru dating all the way back to the eighties and Reagan. He understands this stuff inside and out. He can recite it to you in his sleep. He’s almost as good explaining this stuff as I am, and that’s why I want to use this particular bite from Kudlow.
KUDLOW: It is already beginning to work. Low tax rates, rollback of regulations, unleashing energy and trade reform to fix a broken world trading system. Business investment is booming, nine to 10% growth in the first half of this year. I believe that’s gonna continue. Why do I talk about business investment? Well, that’s the key to productivity, which is the key to growth, which is the key to rising real wages and very strong jobs. These tax cuts particularly on the business and investment side are gonna be boosting wages, livelihoods and jobs for middle American ordinary workin’ folks. And it’s starting to take effect, and that’s why I agree with the president; this is a boom that will be sustainable.
RUSH: And then Kudlow appearing on TV later said that he can see 5%, maybe even 6% and so does the president, that there’s no reason not to, that all the pieces are in place. As Kudlow’s going through this, you know what I’m thinking? I’m imagining some of these dummkopfs that live in Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s district that were interviewed by the Campus Reform guy. Can you imagine them listening to this and having the slightest idea what he’s talking about?
When he starts talking about such things as, “Well, we got low tax rates; we got business investment booming,” they would hate that. Anything business does is bad! Business is mean! Business kills its customers. Business doesn’t care! He says, “Why do I talk about business investment? Because that’s the key to productivity.” Productivity? What’s that? What does productivity matter? That’s a foreign language to these socialists.
Productivity? They don’t understand that. That’s work! “Productivity is key to growth.” What kind of growth? What do you mean, growth of government? No. “…which is the key to rising real wages in very strong job market.” Can you imagine the average Alexandria Cortez voter translating this and understanding it? I can’t. “These tax cuts, particularly on the business and investment…”
Oh, man, you start talking business tax cuts, and they start throwing daggers at you with their eyes. They hate you. And it’s all so unnecessary. (sigh) It’s all such a shame, because Kudlow nailed it there. That’s exactly what has happened, what’s gonna continue to happen, and it benefits everybody who wants to work.