Democrats are crowing because they got a win in New York in what they think was a “bellwether” race for the midterms. They’re pushing abortion as their issue and thinking that’s going to turn the tide for them in the midterms.

But if they think that, they’re not looking at the right factors. As I said in my post about that race, it’s the economy, stupid. It’s always the economy. And some troubling signs are coming on that front if what we had already experienced with crushing Bidenflation and officially entering a recession wasn’t enough. Democrats want to keep ignoring the facts, but that doesn’t stop them from coming.

Business activity in August dropped off at some of the sharpest rates seen since the beginning of the pandemic due to rising interest rates and high inflation inhibiting consumer spending, according to new data just released.

🇺🇸 US business activity contracted for a second straight month in August
*The S&P Global flash composite purchasing managers output index slid 2.7 points to 45, the weakest reading since May 2020
*Link: https://t.co/4Iy7JgC3JI pic.twitter.com/BsFV9YsRiV

— Christophe Barraud🛢🐳 (@C_Barraud) August 23, 2022

The latest S&P Global preliminary flash composite purchasing managers index, or PMI, registered a level of 45 as of August 22, down from 47.7 in July.

The rate at which business activity slowed was the fastest recorded since May 2020 when the pandemic shutdowns first took hold, according to S&P Global. This marks five consecutive months that the activity index has fallen and the second consecutive month that it has been in contraction territory.

Levels above 50 indicate expansion, while levels below represent a contraction is occurring, according to S&P Global.

“The data is certainly pointing to a downturn at the moment,” said Sian Jones, senior economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence. “Obviously, we have to wait and see how it progresses, but it’s certainly going to be a challenging business environment going forward.” [….]

The contraction was particularly deep amongst service-sector firms, with the S&P Global Services Business activity index landing at 44.1 in August, down from a 47.3 reading in July. The manufacturing index dropped from 52.2 in July to 51.3 in August — a two-year low.

US companies signaled a sharper drop in business activity, which fell at the fastest pace this month since May 2020: S&P Global. The rate of contraction outpaced anything recorded outside of the initial pandemic outbreak in at least 13 years of data. https://t.co/aXqoKvQAM4

— Lisa Abramowicz (@lisaabramowicz1) August 23, 2022

That’s an indication that, contrary to what the Democrats would like to try to sell to us with things like the slight drop in gas prices, things are getting worse.

If business activity drops off, that means still higher prices and laying people off, as businesses struggle to cope.

Meanwhile, what is Joe Biden doing? Signing onto more government spending to make inflation even worse with the falsely named Inflation Reduction Act. And he is expected to make Americans foot the bill for $300 billion in student debt forgiveness. That’s insane and can only make everything worse. We need to take back power to stop the madness if we’re to have any hope of righting the ship.