They really believe we are all this stupid.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent: “I want to encourage everyone out there watching today to change their withholding. You will get an automatic real wage increase on a weekly or a monthly basis.”
byu/Snapdragon_4U ininflation

This is the same gaslighting playbook used in 2021-2022: redefine pain as progress, blame “spending more on everything” instead of admitting real wages got crushed under Biden-era inflation that peaked over 9%.

Real wages were crushed during 2021-2022. Inflation significantly outpaced nominal wage growth, leading to negative real wage growth for most of that period. Workers lost purchasing power as prices rose faster than paychecks.