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During a press conference on Tuesday, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-Louisiana) claimed that the economy is improving, citing lower costs for gasoline compared to earlier this month.
“This is a country that’s actually experiencing a golden age again,” said Scalise, the second-highest ranking Republican in the House of Representatives. “I mean, gas prices are down 50 cents from where they were just a few weeks ago and continuing to go down.”
“Affordability is back again,” he added, claiming that Democrats are “upset about that” because they want to use the issue as “a talking point” ahead of the midterms.
Scalise’s claims don’t match reality. As of Monday, regular grade gasoline cost $3.831/gallon on average across the U.S. That is indeed close to $0.50 cheaper than prices at the beginning of June. However, prices are still much higher than they were at the start of the war on Iran, which President Donald Trump launched without congressional approval at the end of February.
Gas is 30 percent more expensive now than it was then. And current gas prices are 37 percent higher than they were at the start of the year.
According to estimates from the Energy Information Administration, gas prices will not reach pre-war levels until 2027, at the earliest.
The economy has also seen the costs of goods go up overall. According to the latest inflation report, costs have increased by 4.2 percent — the highest rate of inflation seen in over three years. Costs for staple items have gone up even higher, including for fish and seafood (up 6.5 percent), fresh fruits and vegetables (6.7 percent), coffee (17.5 percent), and beef (12.9 percent).
Scalise’s comments on Tuesday mirror his remarks almost exactly a year ago, when Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act was passed into law. At that time, the House Majority Leader claimed that “it is the golden age of America again,” and that “America is coming back.”
Most Americans disagree with Scalise’s more recent assessment.
According to an Economist/YouGov poll published on Tuesday, only 17 percent of Americans say the economy is getting better. Twenty-three percent say things are about the same as they were before, while 54 percent say the economy is getting worse.
What’s more, another poll from the financial firm Self Financial found that more than a third of Americans say they are left with no money from their paycheck at the end of each month due to the current state of the economy. Around 4 in 10 Americans are left with $50 or less.
“The cost-of-living crisis continues to put a heavy financial strain on many Americans,” the firm said, contradicting Scalise’s outlook of a “golden” economy.
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