The Government Thinks You’re Too Dumb to Notice This

The fish rots from the president down.

Here in 2026 America, the official position of the US presidential administration is that a rotting fish smells fine. Better than fine, actually—the finest fish smell in the history of fish smells. Anyone who says otherwise is an enemy of the people and hates America, and maybe they should check their heart of hearts.

At some point in recent American history, we crossed an invisible line—from spin to something… else.

Something harder to name.

At least spinning a narrative acknowledges reality and then tries to reframe it in a more favorable light. You can respect spin.

What we have now—there is no respecting it or the people behind it. It’s the dishonest and disingenuous insistence that the reality you’re living… is a lie and you know it. The economy is great. The numbers prove it. Your wallet is lying to you.

Let’s start with this New York Times headline from a few days ago:
61% of Americans Said They Had to Cut Back on Groceries
From the story itself:
More than three quarters of Americans, including 55 percent of Republicans, said President Trump’s policies had increased the cost of living in their community.

Survey after survey has found that Americans are feeling growing financial uncertainty. Nearly half of all voters gave the economy the lowest rating, “poor,” in the latest New York Times/Siena poll, up 11 percentage points since January.

And economic confidence has hit a four-year low, according to Gallup.
At the same time, the Trump administration would like you to know that the American economy has never been better. Donald himself proclaimed so on Fox Business when he said that what he is presiding over is “the greatest economy actually ever in history.”

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent predicted a “blockbuster” 2026, telling Fox News the economy would grow at least 3.5% this year, and declaring that “the Trump economy is delivering for the American people.”

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick promised in September 2025 that Americans would see robust growth “six months from now.” Well, here we are, eight months later, and Lutnick is wrong… as is common with his proclamations. (Lutnick predicted 5% GDP growth in the first quarter of 2026. The economy grew 2%.)

The American economy, in their telling, is a remarkable picture of strength and vigor,… a booming, historic, never-been-hotter, greatest-ever economy.

There’s just one problem…

Americans aren’t living in that fantasy economy.

George Orwell wrote a novel about this kind of governmental delusion. You may have read it.

What’s actually happening out there across America’s fruited plains does not at all resemble what spews forth on Fox News and the Truth Social victory laps.

What’s actually happening reflects that NY Times headline—an America in which more than 60% of people are cutting back on groceries because the greatest economy in history is not so much “the greatest” as it is “the worst in the last 74 years.”

That last bit of quotation is from me, El Jefe, and it reflects the fact that consumer sentiment in America, as measured by the University of Michigan’s Consumer Sentiment Index, has never been as low as it is right now since the survey began in 1952.

More data to chew on:
In a Fox News poll, a solid majority of voters, 57%, said Trump’s policies have hurt the country, up from 51% a year ago. Nearly 80%—including a majority of Republicans—blamed the administration for rising gas prices. When you’re Donald Trump and you’re losing the economic argument at Fox News, you’re not winning bigly.
Delinquency rates on loans ranging from mortgages to credit cards rose to 4.8% of all outstanding US household debt—the highest level since 2017—driven by higher defaults among low-income and young borrowers. Total credit card debt stands at $1.28 trillion and roughly 111 million Americans are trapped in cycles of persistent revolving debt.
Here’s my favorite paragraph in all of today’s dispatch: When Scott Bessent was asked why voters aren’t feeling the gains, he said, “Well, look, in their heart of hearts, they feel good. I’m not sure what they’re telling the survey people.”

The Treasury Secretary of the United States is telling struggling Americans they actually feel great about struggling in this crappy economy—they just don’t know it. The surveys are wrong. Your grocery bill is wrong. Your gas pump is wrong. Your lying eyes are wrong.

The Ministry of Truth sends its regards.

What’s going on here is that America is now stuck in a K-shaped economy.

The top of the K is doing just fine, thank you for asking.

They’re genuinely thriving and living their best life.

The bottom of the K is choking on debt and wages that cannot compete against inflation.

This is the economy that the administration’s comments and GDP numbers don’t show you.

Wealthy households spending freely on premium airline seats and luxury experiences are inflating consumer spending… while lower-income households are increasingly subsisting on debt—with auto loan and credit card delinquencies running well above pre-pandemic levels, and mortgage delinquencies in lower-income communities surging nearly six-fold since 2021.

A February 2026 report from the National Energy Assistance Directors Association found that roughly 21.5 million US households—about 1 in 6—are behind on their energy bills.

But, hey, in their heart of hearts, I’ll just bet they’re feeling dandy and they’re lying to the survey takers to “own the libs!”

Here’s my point, very late in our dispatch: The numbers the government reports are one thing—and that thing rhymes with “bull spit.” The economy that the vast majority of Americans are actually living in is the real America… and that America is struggling mightily.

This is not going to end well for America, Americans, or the Trump administration.

More to come, sadly…