Local opinion: Republicans tout economy as Casa Grande struggles

Arizonans need not peer into the sinkhole the president opened with his Iran war or hear about the nation’s $40 trillion debt to realize his decisions create disasters, fully supported in the Republican Congress.

We have only to review the Aug. 5 meeting in Casa Grande of a millionaire cabinet member, U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson and U.S. Rep. Juan Ciscomani of Arizona’s 6th Congressional District.

They gathered business leaders to spotlight what the president’s economic policies have done for the country, including Casa Grande. Johnson and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent came to shore up the vulnerable Ciscomani’s re-election chances.

Curiously, Casa Grande is where electric vehicle maker Lucid Motors laid off 705 of its 2,500 workers in June, blaming slow sales after Congress eliminated clean-energy subsidies and tax credits. Ciscomani had said he favored the subsidies and credits, but voted to eliminate them, kowtowing to the president and tacitly denying climate change is an existential threat.

Equally curious is that the meeting and news conference were at PepsiCo’s Frito-Lay plant in Casa Grande, where about 500 people work; most earn $17 to $27 an hour, meaning the Republicans’ visit spotlighted people whose wages aren’t keeping up with inflation, including prices of the snack foods they produce.

Lays potato chips, Doritos corn chips, Cheetos and other Frito-Lay brands rose as much as 50% in price from 2021 to this year; the company said in January it would cut prices 15% after consumer complaints.

Summarizing: Republicans met to tout their economic successes in a city where 705 people were just laid off, and another 500 are paid slightly more than subsistence wages.

Somehow without sarcasm, Bessent declared, “Life is good here in Casa Grande,” the Arizona Republic reported.

Ciscomani, also quoted in the Republic, acknowledged problems: "Are there hardships? Are there things that people are struggling with? Absolutely. We don't ignore that.”

Then he ignored that, saying, “But we're definitely on the right track.” Does that track include his vote to cut food stamps and, after saying he wouldn’t, to cut Medicaid?

Speaker Johnson averred, “2025 was like setting the table. The feast and the banquet in the economy will be in 2026.”

Will be? The year is two-thirds over, and Casa Grande residents aren’t feasting yet.

“There’s a lot of frustration,” Mayor Lisa Navarro Fitzgibbons told the Republic. “People are trying to make ends meet.”

City Councilman Matt Herman: “I don’t think people feel like they’re getting relief.”

Republicans’ attempted big sell at the Casa Grande meeting was their 2025 tax-cut package, including exemptions for some overtime pay, which Bessent said Frito-Lay workers praised.

Most people at their income levels will see little if any benefit, though, because of other tax-rule changes, including lower tax credits for health insurance premiums, according to the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank.

Much of the gain is going to the top 1%, a category that includes Bessent, with $50,000 or more a year in individual tax savings, the think tank reported.

For him and other millionaires, life is good. For Frito-Lay workers and millions of other average people, not so much.

No need to use Washington’s ongoing debacles or those elsewhere to gauge the president’s and Congress’ ineptitude. It’s visible in Casa Grande, where inflation was 8% higher than the national average last month, usafacts.org reported, and July unemployment was expected to nudge up from June’s 6.1%, compared with 4.4% when the president took office 19 months ago, the state reported.

Welcome to the Republicans’ banquet.