In Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s Michigan, “it’s hard, especially when you feel like you don’t have help.” “I work at Dunham’s,” Nicole Wares, a single mother living in Traverse City, told WPBN. “I’ve been there almost eight years now. I’m on disability. I would work more, but I physically can’t do it.”
“Money is tight everywhere,” she said. “Cost of living has gone up; income doesn’t really go up much.”
Wares’ situation isn’t unique. A whopping 75% of single mothers are struggling to afford basics like housing, child care, food, transportation and taxes in Whitmer’s Michigan.
That’s based on 2023 data from a 2025 United for ALICE report recently released by the Michigan Association of United Ways. It’s also up 2% from last year’s report.
Statewide, 41% of Michigan’s 4.1 million households struggle to afford a survival budget, which includes 2,359 more than in 2022.
President Donald Trump revealed Sunday that he will be lowering drug prices for Americans, sharing posts across the White House official website, traditional and new media on his actions.
Shortly before noon on Monday, May 12, Trump signed an Executive Order to bring the prices “Americans and taxpayers pay for prescription drugs in line with those paid by similar nations,” according to a fact sheet shared by the White House.
Details of the EO:
The Order directs the U.S. Trade Representative and Secretary of Commerce to take action to ensure foreign countries are not engaged in practices that purposefully and unfairly undercut market prices and drive price hikes in the United States.
The Order instructs the Administration to communicate price targets to pharmaceutical manufacturers to establish that America, the largest purchaser and funder of prescription drugs in the world, gets the best deal.
The Secretary of Health and Human Services will establish a mechanism through which American patients can buy their drugs directly from manufacturers who sell to Americans at a “Most-Favored-Nation” price, bypassing middlemen.
If drug manufacturers fail to offer most-favored-nation pricing, the Order directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to: (1) propose rules that impose most-favored-nation pricing; and (2) take other aggressive measures to significantly reduce the cost of prescription drugs to the American consumer and end anticompetitive practices.
Screenshot/TruthSocial
Again, from the White House:
According to recent data, the prices Americans pay for brand-name drugs are more than three times the price other OECD nations pay, even after accounting for discounts manufacturers provide in the U.S.
The United States has less than five percent of the world’s population, yet funds roughly 75% of global pharmaceutical profits.
Drug manufacturers discount their products to gain access to foreign markets and then subsidize those discounts through high prices charged in America—in essence, Americans are subsidizing drug-manufacturer profits and foreign health systems, despite drug manufacturers benefiting from generous research subsidies and enormous healthcare spending by the U.S. Government.
In his first term, President Trump took historic action to keep Medicare and seniors from paying more for drugs than economically comparable countries, which the Biden Administration rescinded before it could take effect.
Instead of fixing this problem, the Biden Administration’s greatest achievement was to negotiate prices that were, on average, 78 percent higher than in 11 comparable countries as part of Biden’s effort to “beat Medicare.”
Putting Patients First
This Order builds on actions from President Trump’s first term to make progress on reducing price disparities at home and expands those efforts by including Medicaid in addition to Medicare.
President Trump recently signed an Executive Order to take additional action to lower drug prices, including by providing massive discounts to low-income patients for lifesaving medicines, facilitating importation programs, and increasing the availability of generic and biosimilar medicines.
President Trump is also working to make drug prices radically transparent, as he recently signed an Executive Order to build on his historic price transparency efforts undertaken during his first term.
President Trump has been relentless in his effort to address the unfair and outrageous prices Americans pay for prescription drugs:
President Trump: “In case after case, our citizens pay massively higher prices than other nations pay for the same exact pill, from the same factory, effectively subsidizing socialism aboard [abroad] with skyrocketing prices at home. So we would spend tremendous amounts of money in order to provide inexpensive drugs to another country. And when I say the price is different, you can see some examples where the price is beyond anything — four times, five times different.”
Vice President J.D. Vance cast the deciding vote in the Senate to block a resolution that would have overturned President Donald Trump’s tariffs, stepping in after three Republicans joined Democrats in an effort to revoke the national emergency authority underpinning the policy.
The Senate vote was held on a resolution seeking to terminate the president’s declaration of a national emergency related to foreign trade deficits.
The measure would have effectively dismantled the tariffs implemented under that authority.
Although Republicans hold a majority in the chamber, the resolution tied 49-49 after GOP Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Susan Collins (R-ME), and Rand Paul (R-KY) crossed party lines to vote with Democrats.
With the tie, Vice President Vance intervened and cast the tie-breaking vote to defeat the resolution.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) were both absent from the vote.
A spokesperson for McConnell later stated that the 83-year-old senator would have voted in favor of the resolution alongside Democrats.
“The Senator has been consistent in opposing tariffs and that a trade war is not in the best interest of American households and businesses,” the spokesperson said. “He believes that tariffs are a tax increase on everybody.”
Following the vote, Murkowski posted on social media defending her decision to support the resolution, stating that the president’s declaration of a national emergency related to trade imbalances does not meet the legal threshold required.
“Bilateral trade deficits do not constitute a national emergency, nor do they qualify as an ‘unusual and extraordinary’ circumstance needed to unlock authorities under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act,” Murkowski said.
Today, I voted in support of SJR 49, which would terminate the President’s national emergency declaration regarding our trade deficits with countries around the world. Bilateral trade deficits do not constitute a national emergency, nor do they qualify as an “unusual and…
— Sen. Lisa Murkowski (@lisamurkowski) May 1, 2025
“We have a lot more work to do to reclaim Congress’s constitutional power over tariffs, but this resolution is a step in the right direction,” she added.
Senator Rand Paul also explained his vote, citing constitutional concerns over executive power and congressional authority over taxation.
“The Constitution clearly states that Congress, not the president, has the power of the purse,” Paul posted on X.
“All new taxes (which is what a tariff is) are supposed to originate in the House of Representatives before going to the Senate for approval.”
The Constitution clearly states that Congress, not the president, has the power of the purse. All new taxes (which is what a tariff is) are supposed to originate in the House of Representatives before going to the Senate for approval.https://t.co/TyrmT7kYcE
Despite the attempted rollback, President Trump defended his economic strategy, particularly the tariffs implemented under his “Liberation Day” trade policy.
In a series of posts on Truth Social this week, Trump rejected claims that the tariffs were to blame for current market volatility, attributing recent economic turbulence to policies inherited from the previous administration.
“This is Biden’s Stock Market, not Trump’s,” the president wrote.
“I didn’t take over until January 20th. Tariffs will soon start kicking in, and companies are starting to move into the USA in record numbers. Our Country will boom, but we have to get rid of the Biden ‘Overhang.’”
Trump also urged patience from Americans and businesses navigating the transition.
“This will take a while, has NOTHING TO DO WITH TARIFFS, only that he left us with bad numbers,” Trump added.
“But when the boom begins, it will be like no other. BE PATIENT!!!”
Trump on the stock market: “This is Biden’s stock market, not Trump’s… BE PATIENT!!!” pic.twitter.com/Vb8X1UAuYd
The failed resolution marks a significant win for the Trump administration as it moves forward with efforts to realign global trade policies in favor of American production.
The White House has signaled that further economic measures tied to the national emergency authority could be forthcoming.
Former Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen downplayed the feasibility of reviving American manufacturing during a recent interview, calling the idea a “pipe dream” and questioning whether it should even be a “desirable goal.”
As Breitbart reported, the remarks come at a time when major tech companies are investing heavily in U.S.-based production, challenging her position.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen speaks during the McCain Institute’s 2024 Sedona Forum at Enchantment Resort on May 3, 2024 in Sedona.
Yellen, who led the Federal Reserve from 2014 to 2018 and later served as President Joe Biden’s Treasury Secretary from 2021 to 2025, made the comments Monday during an appearance on CNBC’s Squawk Box.
She criticized the impact of former President Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariff policy, suggesting it created uncertainty for businesses and households.
“Things have been just chaotic,” Yellen said. “The reciprocal tariffs put on and paused … This is really creating an environment in which households and businesses feel paralyzed by the uncertainty about what’s going to happen — it makes planning almost impossible.”
When asked about the future of domestic production, Yellen dismissed the idea of bringing back American manufacturing, saying:
“Perhaps it’s to bring back American manufacturing, but I really think that’s a pipe dream, and not something that is likely to be accomplished. And we could even raise questions about whether or not, in a broad-based way, that’s a desirable goal.”
Her remarks sparked swift backlash from conservatives, including Kentucky businessman Nate Morris, a potential Republican Senate candidate.
“The very same leftwing elites who are responsible for gutting our manufacturing base, screwing over our workers and building up the Chinese Communist Party,” Morris wrote on X, “are upset because President Trump is committed to putting America First and ending their globalist agenda.”
The very same leftwing elites who are responsible for gutting our manufacturing base, screwing over our workers and building up the Chinese Communist Party are upset because President Trump is committed to putting America First and ending their globalist agenda. https://t.co/ZwIvUhgpk4
Yellen had previously criticized Trump’s economic strategy during an interview last week on CNN, where she described the Trump-era tariffs as “the worst self-inflicted policy wound I’ve ever seen in my career inflicted on our economy.”
“The Trump tariff plans are doing immense damage to our economy,” she told CNN’s Anderson Cooper during her first televised interview since President Trump returned to office.
The same politicians who sold American workers out to foreign countries for decades now say an American manufacturing renaissance is a "pipe dream" that isn't even a "desirable goal."
Despite her remarks, American investment in domestic manufacturing continues to surge.
On the same day as Yellen’s comments, tech giant Nvidia revealed plans to expand its AI operations within the U.S. The company announced it will build AI supercomputers in Texas and invest up to $500 billion into American AI production infrastructure.
“The engines of the world’s AI infrastructure are being built in the United States for the first time,” said Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang.
“Adding American manufacturing helps us better meet the incredible and growing demand for AI chips and supercomputers, strengthens our supply chain and boosts our resiliency.”
The contrast between Yellen’s skepticism and Nvidia’s multibillion-dollar commitment highlights an ongoing divide over the future of U.S. industrial policy under the renewed America First agenda.
Watch the full interview:
Please visit RVM News for more articles like this.
President Donald Trump responded forcefully to a question from a Bloomberg reporter on Sunday regarding the potential economic impact of his administration’s tariff policies.
The exchange occurred during a press availability aboard Air Force One, just days after the rollout of sweeping reciprocal tariffs referred to by the administration as “Liberation Day.”
Annmarie Hordern of Bloomberg asked President Trump whether there was a point at which he would reconsider his tariff strategy if it caused continued market declines.
“I think your question is so stupid,” Trump said.
“I mean it, I think it’s a— Uh, I don’t want anything to go down. But sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something.”
Trump went on to defend the tariffs as a necessary step to protect American workers and businesses, placing blame on prior administrations for trade policies that, in his view, contributed to the erosion of U.S. manufacturing and economic strength.
“We have been treated so badly by other countries because we had stupid leadership that allowed this to happen,” Trump said.
“They took our businesses, they took our money, they took our jobs. They moved it to Mexico. They moved it to Canada. They moved a lot of it to China and it’s not sustainable. We’re not gonna do it.”
Me: Is there a “Trump put?”
Trump: “I think your question is so stupid. I don't want anything to go down, but sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something.”pic.twitter.com/8WfBZTcXwW
Trump credited his tariff policies with generating new revenue for the United States and attracting global attention.
“Now we have hundreds of billions of dollars pouring into our country on a monthly basis. It’s pouring. It’s already started because I put tariffs on,” Trump said. “And eventually it’s gonna straighten out, and our country will be solid and strong again.”
The administration’s recent tariff actions have triggered a broad response worldwide.
That moment when you realize the media is manipulating you into panicking over the stock market. pic.twitter.com/Z5xq1yyKB1
More than 50 countries have signaled interest in negotiations to avoid new U.S. tariffs, according to Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins.
“We already have 50 — five-zero — countries that have come to the table over the last few days, over the last weeks, that are willing and desperate to talk to us,” Rollins told CNN’s Jake Tapper on Sunday morning.
“We are the economic engine of the world, and it’s finally time that someone, President Trump, stood up for America.”
Rollins addressed concerns raised by critics who argue that the tariffs could damage the stock market or increase prices for consumers.
She said such concerns are politically motivated and do not reflect the broader benefits of the policy shift.
“This is about putting America first,” Rollins said, pointing to trade imbalances and longstanding barriers faced by U.S. exporters.
She cited examples such as Mexico’s past refusal to buy American corn and Australia’s restrictions on U.S. beef imports.
Rollins also emphasized that the administration’s broader strategy includes not only tariffs but also deregulation, tax cuts, and policies aimed at achieving energy independence.
She described the approach as a comprehensive economic reset modeled on principles of national self-reliance and security.
When asked if the tariffs are intended to be permanent, Rollins said they are part of a longer-term national strategy to reshore jobs and restore industrial strength.
The administration’s tariff actions follow years of trade deficits and complaints from U.S. industries and labor groups about unfair practices by foreign competitors.
Trump’s latest round of tariffs applies reciprocal surcharges on a wide range of imports from countries that impose barriers on American goods.
Further negotiations are expected in the coming weeks as other nations seek exemptions or new trade agreements.
For now, the administration remains firm in its position, asserting that the measures are necessary to reestablish economic fairness and protect U.S. sovereignty in global trade.
Three years after lawmakers created the Strategic Outreach Attraction Reserve Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said would “create tens of thousands of good paying jobs,” not a single one has materialized.
Michigan taxpayers have shelled out more than $670 million to five multibillion companies to prop up the electric vehicle and renewable energy industries in Michigan with a promise to create a total of 8,812 jobs, but a report from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation that oversees the spending shows zero “actual qualified jobs created.”
“The program was poorly designed from the start,” said James Hohman, director of fiscal policy at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. “It allows companies to cash in on taxpayer subsidies without having to create jobs. Lawmakers must wait years to ask for taxpayer money back if deals fail to deliver. It’s good that House lawmakers are working to redirect this money to roads.”
Liberal protestors have upped their game since the days of now quaint-seeming sit-ins on college campuses. There’s a furore over whether the Trump administration is right to deport green-card-holding non-citizen Mahmoud Khalil for what it says is his support for terrorist organizations like Hamas. The controversy shows how far we’ve traveled from what anyone would call peaceful protest to, today, students taking over campus buildings, breaking windows, and preventing other students from walking freely on campuses like Columbia where Khalil was active.
When did “protest” become synonymous with criminal vandalism and threats and intimidation aimed at fellow students? It’s been at least since 2020, when Black Lives Matter “protestors” rioted in cities across the U.S., burning public and private buildings, cars, and more. The “protests” caused more than $1 billion in damage (that’s just counting the insurance claims), the most in U.S. history. The leftist media showed its naked contempt for reality and viewers, of course, by labeling the violence as “mostly peaceful.” CNN was widely ridiculed for showing live images of a burning city while the on-screen label called the violence “fiery but mostly peaceful protests”.
For modern protestors who don’t want to go all the to violence, but who instead want to appear to be “victims,” we have a melodramatist’s delight: the “die-in.” This is where demonstrators lie on the ground pretending to be dead in the mistaken belief that such a histrionic display will convince onlookers that their cause is righteous.
A group of Democrat theater kids just held a die-in in front of the New York Stock Exchange. They were “dying” in protest of what they claim were acts of harm done to them by President Trump, and especially by Elon Musk as he slashes through wasteful government spending.
Let’s take a look at the “gravestones” and see what they indicate about the protestors’ frame of mind.
“Fatal infection-abortion ban”—It was abortion bans that drove them to it, see? The woman had no responsibility for getting pregnant.
“Elon fired bird flu monitoring”—You got that? There weren’t enough monitors for bird flu, so humans are dying of a bird flu that doesn’t affect humans.
“SNAP cuts killed me”— “SNAP” (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) is the new word so no one has to say “food stamps.” Apparently changes to the program killed the protestor despite the fact that he or she does not appear to be starving in the video.
Let’s see what X/Twitter thought of this latest set piece. We’ve got a few comedians:
Michigan’s critical manufacturing industry shed 20,000 jobs over the last year, including at least 4,000 so far in 2025, as unemployment continued to tick up to 5.3% in January.
“The number of unemployed people in Michigan is going up. It has been going up for the past year or so. That’s not unexpected with the news we’ve been hearing with the weakness in manufacturing and retail trade,” Michigan Labor Market Information Director Wayne Rourke told WEMU. “Those are particularly weak industries for Michigan right now.”
Compared to the year prior, there were 67,000 more residents without a job in January, marking a 33.3% jump from the same month in 2024. The continued job losses in Michigan come despite a national decline in unemployment of one tenth of a percentage point in January to 4%.
Read the full article at The Midwesterner for more stories like this.
President Donald Trump threatened the European Union (EU) with crushing tariffs if it does not lift “a nasty 50% Tariff on Whisky.”
The president, who described the EU as “one of the most hostile and abusive taxing and tariffing authorities in the World,” said he would place a 200% tariff if the globalist Union did not remove theirs.
“If this Tariff is not removed immediately, the U.S. will shortly place a 200% Tariff on all WINES, CHAMPAGNES, & ALCOHOLIC PRODUCTS COMING OUT OF FRANCE AND OTHER E.U. REPRESENTED COUNTRIES,” Trump warned.
🚨 BREAKING: Trump threatens a 200% tariff on French wine and champagne unless the 50% EU tariff on American whiskey is removed.
The EU implemented tariffs on $28 billion worth of U.S. goods as a countermeasure to President Trump’s increased tariffs on foreign steel and aluminum imports. The EU targeted bourbon, jeans, and motorcycles, which appeared to be designed to harm globally popular American brands. However, tariffs on metal imports to the U.S. were not targeted at the EU but took effect globally, imposing a 25 percent levy on various metal items.
Tariffs in several areas have often been unbalanced in the EU’s favor. For example, the EU imposed 0 percent tariffs on American cars while the U.S. imposed only 2.5 percent tariffs on European cars.
A trade war with Europe was escalated Wednesday when Trump’s 25 percent tariffs on steel and aluminum took effect, leading the EU to swiftly retaliate with a two-step approach.
The European trading bloc, which is made up of 27 nations, said it will allow the suspension of existing 2018 and 2020 countermeasures against the U.S. to expire April 1. That would allow for 50 percent tariffs on American whiskey, which were suspended, to automatically go into effect.
Second, the commission is proposing a new package of countermeasures on goods coming from the U.S. that will go into effect in mid-April, covering some $28 billion in imports in total.
Chris Swonger, CEO of the Distilled Spirits Council, urged Trump to make a deal with the EU to prevent escalation.
“The U.S.-EU spirits sector is the model for fair and reciprocal trade, having zero-for-zero tariffs since 1997,” he said.
“We urge President Trump to secure a spirits agreement with the EU to get us back to zero-for-zero tariffs, which will create U.S. jobs and increase manufacturing and exports for the American hospitality sector. We want toasts not tariffs.”
On Wednesday, Swonger warned that a European whiskey tariff would be “very, very devastating.”
“We’ve just gotten the news early, early this morning, that the [EU] is poised to put a 50 percent tariff on American whiskey,” Swonger told NewsNation’s Nichole Berlie.
Ranked in bottom half of states for education, crime, and infrastructure
U.S. News & World Report recently released its annual Best States analysis, and not much has changed for the Great Lakes State. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s Michigan remains among the bottom 10 in the nation, well behind all states in the Midwest.
“Some states shine in health care. Some soar in education. Some excel in both – or in much more,” according to the news site. “The Best States rankings by U.S. News draw on thousands of data points to measure how well states perform for their citizens.” The rankings include a breakdown by categories: health care, crime, economy, education, fiscal stability, infrastructure, natural environment and opportunity. Michigan did not “shine,” “soar,” or “excel” in any of them.
Overall, the state ranked 42nd in the U.S. for the second consecutive year, making no progress after slipping one spot from 41st in 2023. For the second consecutive year, Michigan ranked in the bottom half of states for all categories, with its top-ranked category of opportunity in 27th place. The news site ranked Michigan 28th for the economy, 29th for health care, 30th for the natural environment, 32nd for fiscal stability, 38th for crime and corrections, and 41st for education and infrastructure.
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