WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressman Brad Finstad (MN-01) issued the following statement after attending President Trump’s State of the Union address:
“Since President Trump’s return to office, we have seen strong economic momentum return after four years of poor Democrat leadership. President Trump has proven that his America First policies truly put Americans first. Gas prices have fallen to their lowest level in nearly five years, private-sector job growth has accelerated, inflation has declined significantly, and new global trade agreements have expanded opportunities for American workers and producers.
“House Republicans and President Trump have ushered in the long-term reform Americans voted for by passing the Working Families Tax Cuts, which have made life more affordable – delivering meaningful relief to middle-class families and supporting millions of American jobs. Our country is safer both at home and abroad, our farmers have the certainty they need, small business owners spend less time fighting bureaucratic red tape, energy costs are lower for families, and Americans are keeping more of their hard-earned tax dollars.
“Thanks to President Trump’s leadership, real people are seeing real relief. Tonight’s address made it clear that our nation is moving in the right direction. We are building a stronger, more secure future for the American people. I remain committed to working with my colleagues in Congress to continue advancing President Trump’s policies that deliver results for hardworking southern Minnesota families.”
Anonymous says
“Gas prices have fallen to their lowest level in five years?”
According to this story published by factually., the average price of gasoline during Joe Biden’s final day in office was $.3.08/gallon. Here’s the link to that story: https://factually.co/fact-checks/politics/price-of-gasoline-when-biden-left-office-1f17b9
Here’s a chart published by gasbuddy.com, detailing the gas prices during the past three months. If you go onto that website, you can left click on the “Gas Tools” tab, then left click on the “Gas Price Charts” tab, which will allow you to review gas prices over various periods of time. You’ll see that the average gas price on (or about) January 11, 2026, was $2.73/gallon, which compares with the most recent price of $3.67/gallon, which is only a 34.43% price increase in just slightly over two months’ time.. The current price is also 19.16% above the price during Biden’s final day in office.
You may say that “I’m a little old lady who only uses my car to drive to church on Sunday mornings, so I have no reason to worry?” If you purchase groceries that you haven’t grown on your own property, much of it has been transported via ships, trains and trucks, which mostly use petroleum products, which will eventually increase the price you pay for food and almost everything else for which petroleum products are used for the transportation of those items.
“Private sector job growth has accelerated?”
According to a March 6, 2026, article published by CNBC which is entitled, “U.S. payrolls unexpectedly fell by 92,000 in February; unemployment rate rises to 4.4%.” If you care to read it yourself, here’s that link: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/03/06/february-2026-jobs-report.html
To employ a baseball analogy, just because your team is ahead in the middle of the first inning, it might be a tad premature to declare victory just yet.
“Inflation has declined significantly?”
According to this report by the St. Louis Fed, the inflation rate from February 1, 2025 to February 1, 2026 is 2.43%, which is still above the standard fed target of 2.0% or below. For those who would like to see this for themselves, here’s that report: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/CPIAUCSL
Of course, the aforementioned 34.43% increase in gasoline prices will not impact the inflation rate, will it?
“Working Families Tax Cuts have made life more affordable?”
Most people carry health care insurance if they can afford it. Those who can’t must hope that they have a lot of friends who are willing to hold bake sales, which would barely put a dent in the cost of advanced health care and/or hospitalization. So where are those prices heading. This Newsweek story, published March 6, 2026, provides us with an investigation of that topic: https://www.newsweek.com/medicare-updates-health-care-changes-2026-11635549:
“Our country is safer both at home and abroad?:”
Surely, there would be no better time than the present for Rep. Finstad to lead a tour of the Holy Land for his constituents? If I understand correctly, there is currently less demand for lodging in Israel, which should increase availability and affordability, since we’re all safer now.
Of course, the attack upon Iran will result in their unconditional surrender within days, not weeks, correct?
How about here at home? This CNN story, published March 3, 2026, is entitled, “Kash Patel gutted FBI counterintelligence team tasked with tracking Iranian threats days before US strikes, sources say.” Since we are all safer at home as well, we no longer need to be concerned about sleeper cells in this country that might act to endanger us here at home? We can save tax dollars by firing those staff, which allows us more money to purchase bombs, so there is that. Here’s the link to the aforementioned CNN story: https://www.cnn.com/2026/03/03/politics/patel-fbi-national-security-division-firings-iran
Going back in time, we may recall that the U. S.=led second invasion of Iraq began on March 20, 2003. On May 1, 2026, sailors aboard the U. S. Abraham Lincoln had been at sea for 10 months, the longest such deployment since the Vietnam Era. It was reported at the time that George W. Bush wanted to stage a landing on the carrier that delayed much awaited reunions of sailors with family members. The carrier was held far enough from shore so that the city of San Diego would not be visible in the distance. Once he’d exited the plane, George W. Bush declared, “”Major combat operations in Iraq have ended. In the battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed … because the regime [of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein] is no more..” The 2003 Iraq War officially ended on December 18, 2011, when U.S. troops completed their withdrawal from the country. That departure took place eight years and 9 1/2 months after George W. Bush’s carrier landing.
Some might argue that its just a bit difficult to keep more of your hard earned tax dollars if you have to spend more for gasoline/diesel, everything that is transported using those products, and health care insurance. Surely, the tax cuts will more than pay for those costs, won’t they?
“Farmers face less uncertainty?”
Here’s a sequence of stories germane for our nation’s farmers, published on the Yahoo Finance webpage: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/fertilizer-stocks-surge-middle-east-143045156.html
Quite likely, this country will still be involved in hostilities in Iran at the time of the scheduled upcoming elections in November of this year. This writer’s prediction is that if the U. S. withdraws prior to that time, the White House will announce that we’ve achieved a resounding victory, no matter what is occurring in the Middle East. Keep in mind that the United States and Israel can agree to withdraw, but for peace to return to the region, Iran must agree to return to “business as usual”, which is hardly a certainty.
Russia’s involvement in these hostilities cannot be underestimated. According to a New York Times story published in 2020 (Biden was not yet the president), indicating that Russia had offered the Taliban a bounty of $200,000 for every dead American. Surely the White House would have severely criticized Russia as a result, however, I’ve been unable to find a single news story indicating that such a response ever occurred. Maybe one of the Fillmore County Journal readers can locate such a story? Here’s the link to the Newsweek story describing the preceding: https://www.newsweek.com/russia-gru-taliban-american-soldier-bounty-2014673
According to this Associated Press story dated March 6, 2025, entitled, “Russia has provided Iran with information that can help Tehran strike US military, AP sources say.” Again, I’ve looked, in vain, for the White House declaring their outrage to Vladimir Putin. Again, perhaps another Fillmore County Journal reader can locate such a story? For those who want to see the Associated Press story, here’s that link: https://apnews.com/article/trump-iran-russia-intelligence-35afae34198408d670941f971d383378
The White House very recently gave Russia a one-month reprieve on sales of their oil to India. Russia’s economy has purportedly been struggling. Surely, selling large quantities of their oil (at much higher prices) to a country of more than 1 billion people might help to replenish their war chest, This money will help Russia to bomb more day care centers, schools, playgrounds, hospitals and apartment buildings in Ukraine than has previously been the case, while at the same time their ability to alert Iran to the locations of U. S. military equipment and personnel will help Iran to further prolong the conflict?
For those desiring more details about the aforementioned one-month reprieve, a number of news organizations are publishing a similar story. Here’s one published by Reuters on March 12, 2026: https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/us-issues-new-russia-related-general-license-oil-treasury-website-2026-03-12/
This All Leads to an Important Question (my words)…
Its difficult to imagine why Rep. Finstad hasn’t been blanketing his district with public town hall meetings, where he can proclaim the good news in person. If some in attendance have read some of the preceding news sources, maybe Rep. Finstad can definitively allay any and all concerns. Surely, he should welcome an opportunity to face his constituents?
Rep. Finstad’s rosy statement, made two days after the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran sounds too good to be true, particularly as reports now indicate that the U. S. is planning to puts “boots on the ground” in Iran.
This all brings to mind these wise words from long ago…
“If we got one-tenth of what was promised to us in these acceptance speeches there wouldn’t be any inducement to go to heaven.” – Will Rogers, 1879-1935
Anonymous says
Lies and more lies