It used to take one breadwinner to buy a new house, then both spouses had to work, now you need 3.5 welders

LOL Kudlow and Ingraham: The trades are making close to $200k per year, why aren't Republicans in Congress taking credit?

 Because Republicans in Congress, contrary to popular opinion, aren't all stupid, you dopes.

Fox’s Laura Ingraham Alleges ‘Many Republicans Secretly Want Trump To Lose’ Congress

... “One of the most incredible statistics is the Trump administration, in one year, has grown personal incomes more than Biden in four,” Ingraham stated, alluding to Census Bureau data released this week.

“That is correct,” Kudlow replied.

“Why aren’t Republicans screaming this from the rooftops?!” Ingraham exclaimed.

Kudlow replied by saying people in trade professions such as “pipefitters, electricians, welders, carpenters [are] making close to $200,000 a year.” Ingraham responded by saying that now is the “best time ever for men without college degrees.” ...

First of all, Ingraham says personal income, which is not the median household income data released this week.

Real personal income grew by 7.4% from the end of 2020 to the end of 2024 compared with only 2.1% from 2024 to 2025.

She means real median household income, which grew by only 1.9% in the four years 2020-2024 but by 2.6% in the one 2024-2025.

But one can forgive the American people for not being overly excited about that 2.6% increase because it is still part of a picture since the 1980s showing structural long term weakness, while the 2025 increase of 2.6% pales in comparison to Trump I performance in 2019 at 7.2%.

He campaigned on a return to that and has not delivered it so far. 

 

Meanwhile Kudlow's claim about trade incomes approaching $200k is just crazy.

Top pay in the skilled trades is for the building trades, and their average national mean wage is nowhere near $100k let alone $200k. It's north of only $65k.

And the mean is lower for the other trades.

For installers, maintenance workers, mechanics, and repairers it's $58k. For welders, fabricators, and assemblers it's $47k.

The building trades represent only 4.1% of the workforce.  

Altogether the trades represent just under 14% of the workforce. 

The votes of these 21 million matter a lot, but even assuming Kudlow's fanciful incomes, Republicans aren't going to win with them alone.

Republicans don't have a problem communicating a message. 

They have a problem seeing reality.

Here's the reality.

The median sales price of an existing single family home in August 2026 was $434,800. 

Using the old formula of affordability which said you can afford a home which is 2.6 times your annual salary, you'd need a job paying $167,231 to afford that one.

Or 3.5 welding jobs.

Like Marco Rubio said, you need more welders. 

Populism means speaking fifty words of English: Pete Hegseth joins Marco Rubio in his own more welders, less philosophers moment

Take courage people!

You too can become populists just like Pete and Little Marco. Just get your degrees from Princeton and Harvard and the Universities of Florida and Miami.

 

 

Is English a second language for Marco Rubio?

Recently Rubio flubbed "more" and "fewer", saying "more plumbers welders and less philosophers".

 

 

 

 

But now he also shows his ignorance of "between you and me":

"The bottom line is there isn't that big a difference between [Cruz] and I on how to approach immigration," Rubio told CBS News on Sunday.

I expect rednecks from Michigan to say "between you and I" but not US Senators, but then again neither Barack Obama nor Donald Trump seems to know it's "secretaries of state", not "secretary of states".

Meanwhile Byron York above shows rather convincingly that it was Ted Cruz voting for stronger border amendments to the Gang of Eight bill in 2013 and Rubio voting against them.

Sorry Marco, they can fact check your stupidity: philosophers make more than welders

And arguably, we're already producing plenty of welders relative to philosophers, at least 16 times more, but it would be nice if the welders, and the politicians, could at least speak English correctly, as in "more welders, fewer philosophers", instead of "more welders, less philosophers". 

From the BLS, here:

Senator Marco Rubio: We need more welders and less philosophers

Oh boy, they ate that up in Milwaukee.

Go less miles . . . use fewer gasoline.