Op-ed:Economics
+ War = A Maybe Midterm Loss...Part 1
By
Diane Sori / The Patriot Factor
This opinion piece is my opinion alone, and does not necessarily
represent the views of blogspot.or google.com
It
is my opinion that we...as in we Republicans...are going to
lose both the House and the Senate come November's midterm election.
And it's not because, as many will claim, that history has shown more
times than not that the sitting president's party does lose total
control at midterm time, but that in this particular case it will be
because of what I truly believe to be President Trump's misguided economic policies in relation to his promises made that still have not been kept
(the crux of this article), and also his foreign policy blunders...blunders like
the ever growing unpopularity of the war with Iran (the crux of next week's Part Two).And
so I begin on the economic front where Trump's failures can be seen
almost daily in one of our nation's key economic indicators, as in
the Stock Market. Exactly how so... because the Stock Market directly reflects
what is known as “consumer confidence.” Simply, this means that
when folks feel confident in how our nation's economy is
trending...when what's called a “Bull Market” has taken hold...the
American consumer does tend to spend more money which, in turn, boosts our
nation's GDP...as in the “Gross Domestic Product”...a good thing
indeed.
However,
when the Stock Market enters into what's called a “Bear Market” phase
consumers
do tend to cutback on spending. Why
so...because the Stock Market is then considered by most economists to be
“unstable”...as in up one day, then down the next day... primarily do
to how the market itself is being affected by
fluctuating
oil prices...which usually means a rise in "per barrel" oil prices.
And when you couple that with rising interest rates, the midterms
today surely do not look good for the Republican side of the aisle.In
fact, numerous leading economists here in the U.S...along with
leading economists overseas...all seem to agree that the
Stock Market will remain “unstable” until the Iran War is
over...surely not good news on the economic front here at home. And
when you couple that with the fact that while Donald
Trump was a successful real estate builder and contractor...no one
can or should deny that...when one is President of the United States
one needs to actually know how to not only play the game of politics,
but that the "business of the government” differs greatly from
private sector business...private sector as in business for profit.
And while Trump obviously did private sector business well and made
lots of money doing so, his mistake was in thinking that he could use
his private sector business knowledge and savvy, and actually just transfer it
over into the “business of the government.” Sorry folks, but that is
not how it works as witnessed by Trump's rise in tariffs levied
against countries who have been long time U.S. friends, allies, and
trading partners.Remember,
in Trump's attempt to bring down the national debt...I'll get into
that in a bit...the countries seeing a raise in their tariffs had to
raise the prices on the goods they sold to the U.S. simply to cover
not only Trump's tariff increase itself, but in order to make even a
marginal business profit as well. And who then became the unhappy
recipients of a monetary increase in those countries goods...surely
not our federal government...but we the American consumer. Not a
smart move on Trump's part I'd say even with the national debt
lowering being the reason given as to why he did what he did tariff
wise.
Let
me explain. First, one needs to know as fact that at the beginning of
September 2026, the U.S. national debt was $40.10 trillion...the largest in United States history... with
$32.42 trillion of it being held by “We the People. ” And technically this means that each and every one of us now owes a whopping $119,713 to the federal government. Let that number sink in.
So how exactly does
the federal government even start to begin to collect each of our individual share of those so much needed
monies...simply through
federal income and payroll taxes...which unfortunately always seem to
go up...and which in turn the federal government uses to service interest
payments, and then to fund necessary governmental operations.But
here is where it gets a bit sticky, as in can the national debt
instead be remedied or even negated by what is simple “numbers
shifting” on paper...remember “numbers shifting” is not uncommon on the
federal government level no matter which party is in power. And “numbers shifting” is something I have always claimed could be done
without the raising of tariffs while most thought me wrong...but as
it turns out I was indeed right all along.
Let
me again explain. While Trump choose to raise the tariff...he's no Regan after all...the fact
is...and he had to know this or was told this...the raise in tariffs
did not need to be done. Yet he went ahead and did it anyway, thus
making numerous enemies of some of America's
long time allies and friends (Canada for one), all while we consumers
paid for the raise in tariffs every time we went grocery shopping or
pumped gas. Simply, our president knowingly and willingly chose “We
the People”
to help in his paying down the national debt, and way too many
American's pocketbooks are clearly still hurting because of this
misguided action taken by “Mr. Art of the Deal”...taken because he
clearly did not understand that the 'business of the government' is a
completely different animal than private business dealings.
And
by the way, since Trump first became president, when you add both of
his terms in office together, to date this man has added a combined
total of roughly $11.6
trillion
to the national debt. Interesting indeed, and yet he still had the
gall to add increasing the tariffs so that “We the People” would
actually be paying for the tariffed countries having to increase the
prices on their goods sold here in the U.S.
So
now let me explain exactly how...with but two examples out of
many...the aforementioned “paper shifting” to bring down the national
debt actually could have been done
minus Trump's need to raise tariffs which directly affects our
pocketbooks every time we go shopping...something that now will most likely be remembered by many come November's midterm election. Simply, what is perfectly legal “paper shifting of numbers” could
indeed have been done through what's known as “financial
engineering, accounting revaluations,and strategic monetary
adjustments”...all of which are fiscal and monetary techniques used by
our and other governments to fund, optimize, and/or obscure the true
cost of said government's spending...which if utilized correctly
could have actually helped to bring down the national debt minus
Trump's need for an increase in tariffs...which directly has
negatively affected the American consumer...with no tax increases or
government spending cuts needed as well.
Basically,
and in simpler terms, what this process does is “shift numbers
across balance sheets to erase obligations, engineer debt-free
liquidity, and/or dilute what's refereed to as the debts structural
weight.” Trump both as president and as a successful businessman
should have known about this.
And
then there's also this little piece of not talked about information. Trump could have well helped to lower the national debt not by going the
tariff route, but by using what some American economists lovingly refer to as
the “nuclear option”...which in this case means a “Gold Reserve
Revaluation.”And
once again let me explain, and start with the fact... which most don't
know...that the U.S. Treasury holds over 261
million "troy ounces"* of physical bars of gold
...mainly at
Fort Knox...with said gold being listed on the government's books at the “historic, statutorily fixed rate” of just $42.22
per ounce, thus equaling roughly $11 billion in
value. However, if the statutory
price were to be upgraded to what is current market value...for
example between $3,400 to $5,000+ per ounce...the Treasury would
garner an on paper gain of between $850
billion to $1.3+ trillion.
So
how exactly would that monetary gain actually help in the lowering of the ever increasing national
debt? As per the “Gold Reserve Act of 1934,” the Treasury can issue
what is called “gold certificates” to the Federal Reserve which would show what are the now upgraded gold value numbers, thus allowing for a legal shifting of the raised numerical credit to the Treasury itself, who in
turn could then “paper shift” the now newest numerical values to the specific areas where
they could help the most...like, for example, to help pay down the national
debt. And it would do so without the need to increase tariffs, which as I
explained earlier, actually puts the monetary burden on the American
consumer, and not just on the countries whose tariffs were being raised.But
to be honest here I am not an economist by any stretch of the
imagination nor do I pretend to be one, but I do know simple math and
how numbers work. And in my world 2+2 still = 4...but maybe in
Trump's decision making world...maybe in the political world
especially at election time or when campaign promises could not be
kept let alone be met...it does not. Guess we'll find out next
month come midterm time. Case closed.**
_____________________________
Footnotes
*
A
troy ounce of physical gold is a specialized unit of measurement used
to weigh precious metals, equal to 31.1034
grams
(or about 480 grains), and is
about 10% heavier than a standard kitchen or postal ounce (which
weighs 28.35 grams). Whenever financial news or gold dealers quote a
price "per ounce" of gold, silver, or platinum, they mean a
troy ounce.
** Part 2 of Economics
+ War = A Maybe Midterm Loss specifically in regards to how the Iran War might well affect the midterm election will be published next Monday, October 12th.
Copyright
@ 2026 Diane Sori / The Patriot Factor / All Rights Reserved.
************************************************************************************************** For more political commentary please visit my RIGHT SIDE PATRIOTS partner Craig Andresen's blog The National Patriot to read his latest article, Iran's Regime - Low on Time, Out of Leverage, Long on Desperation.
***************************************************************************************************
RIGHT SIDE PATRIOTS...LIVE!
Tomorrow, Tuesday, October 6 from 7 to 8:30pm EST, RIGHT SIDE PATRIOTS Craig Andresen and Diane Sori discuss 'Economics
+ War = A Maybe Midterm Loss'; ' 'Iran's Regime - Low on Time, Out of Leverage, Long on Desperation.'; and important news of the day. Tune in to RIGHT SIDE PATRIOTS on https://rspradio1.com Click 'LISTEN LIVE.'
