Press Release - Steve Cortes: "Mainstream Media vs. Main Street USA"

"[H]ardworking Americans throughout flyover country live and know a very different reality of an optimistic, growing, and resurgent America under the leadership of President Donald J. Trump."

Mainstream Media vs. Main Street USA

By Steve Cortes

RealClearPolitics

August 22, 2018

The treatment of recent news reveals an important chasm in 2018 America: the concerns of Mainstream Media vs. those of Main Street USA.

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In fact, far from New York newsrooms and the Georgetown salons of Washington lobbyists, Americans grasp the reality of a stronger and more prosperous country.  For example, CNBC reports that total American home equity just hit an all-time high of $5.8 trillion of total net value.  The average homeowner with a mortgage saw accessible equity grow $14,700 over the last year and now has $113,900 available to draw upon.

But, the even better news lies in the details.  Unlike the 2007-era housing price boom, consumers are managing their debt prudently today and middle-class families do not feel pressed to use homes as ATMs just to pay bills.  For example, despite the prodigious appreciation in home equity, only 1.17 percent of available equity was tapped in the first quarter of 2018, the lowest amount in four years.

This housing optimism reflects the strong underlying growth of the Trump Boom, which registered 4.1 percent GDP growth for the second quarter, with the Atlanta Federal Reserve's live statistical model now forecasting a 4.3 percent rate for quarter three. Within that overall heady expansion, small business in particular is thriving amid reduced federal tax and regulatory burdens. 

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Not only is growth faster, it is also broader, meaning the rising economic tide finally and truly lifts all boats, not just the already-successful. 

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Sadly, I do not expect that the mainstream media will start to report on these marked improvements for Main Street America.

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Nevertheless, while opposition advocates in the White House briefing room masquerade as journalists, hardworking Americans throughout flyover country live and know a very different reality of an optimistic, growing, and resurgent America under the leadership of President Donald J. Trump.

Read the full op-ed here.