Can Biden’s army of influencers prove the economy is booming?

Plus: 3M layoffs, the end of Big Oil and more. Bloomberg This is Bloomberg Opinion Today, an effort to trim down and streamline Bloomberg Opinion’s opinions. [Sign up here](. Today’s Agenda - The [Biden economy]( is bright. - Texas wants the [Ten Commandments](. - [3M]( isn’t so great at “streamlining.” - Wall Street makes money off [the Permian](. Things Joe Biden Ate and Survived This morning, President Joe Biden released [his official re-election video](. It’s pretty classic: Dramatic piano chords underpin his somber-yet-hopeful voice, which promises to defend freedom and democracy for all Americans. The Republican National Committee wasted no time in clapping back with an AI-generated [dystopian ad](, which seems like a low-budget version of [The Purge](. The 2024 presidential race promises to be unlike any before it: Everything from campaign merch to policy briefs could theoretically be cooked up by robots. Adding to the chaos is the fact that one of the largest social distribution channels, TikTok, is [a political quagmire]( for both parties. The president doesn’t have a TikTok for pretty [obvious]( [reasons](, but maybe that’s for the best. If he campaigned on the app, he’d probably end up posting one of those memes where [Pedro Pascal eats a sandwich](. Or maybe he’d do the “[things I ate & survived](” slideshow where people show off humbling pics from their formative years. I can picture it now: [Biden’s digital team]( has proven it will go great (and often cringey) lengths to appeal to Gen Zers. He’s collaborated with [the Jonas Brothers](. [Olivia Rodrigo](. [BTS](. The list goes on. And for the 2024 campaign, his entourage is enlisting an even-bigger “[army of influencers](” to boost his standing among [young people](, many of whom are [far from thrilled]( with his performance thus far. Despite the national security crusade against the Chinese-owned app, Julianna Goldman says both Democrats and Republicans “[may end up with candidates]( who campaign against TikTok even as they spend heavily to be on it.” The reality is that a lot of young people get [their news]( from the app, [whether they care to admit it or not](. But reaching the youths is just half of the battle. Biden’s messaging will be even more crucial, and Matt Winkler says the president is up against “what seems like a never-ending doom loop of negativity when it comes to the economy.” Running for a second term with that kind of bad rap is [a predicament]( for any president, to say the least. But luckily for him, there’s not a whole lot of doom to be found underneath the supposed gloom. Quite the contrary, the Biden economy is [sliving]( like [Sofia Richie on her wedding day](: “No president since Lyndon Johnson can match Biden's [labor market] record ... He has created the equivalent of six times more jobs than the last three Republican presidents combined,” Matt writes, noting that today’s job market rivals that of the post-World War II boom. Biden has, to a large degree, [succeeded in delivering his two big campaign promises](: “to restore normal government following the chaos of Donald Trump’s presidency and to govern as a mainstream Democrat in a party that has become increasingly liberal over the last decade,” Jonathan Bernstein writes. But perhaps as a result of all that [post-Trump boringness](, people have failed to recognize these accomplishments. Instead, many Americans are hung up on the fact that Biden is old, with some people pointing out that at the end of a second term, he’d be closer to 90 than 80. “How Biden handles these issues will be a central test of his campaign,” Julianna [argues](. Whether influencers will help him ace that test is an open question. Thou Shalt Not Covet Thy Neighbor’s Frito Pie In a surprise to no one, the Texas Senate is up to its tricks again. This time, lawmakers passed [a bill that requires posters of the Ten Commandments]( to be displayed on the walls of classrooms across the Lone Star State. Before last year, attempting to push a religious agenda in a public school setting was a 100% unconstitutional no-no. But when the [Supreme Court]( overturned a 50-year precedent in 2022, Noah Feldman says, it opened the floodgates for religious disputes. The separation of church and state has never looked so razor-thin, and “the justices have sent the message to the country that the establishment clause can now be violated at will,” he writes. Aside from the legal issues here, one must wonder whether the Texas Senate’s bill is perhaps ill-advised, if only for the reason that kindergarteners could not possibly comprehend this sentence: “you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant, or his maidservant, or his ox, or his ass.” If you were to plug the Ten Commandments into some reading comprehension software, it would tell you that the text is at an 8th-grade reading level or above (per the [Gunning-Fog Index](). What good is a poster if the kids can’t even read it? Bloomberg’s editorial board points out that “a large number of US students are facing an unpleasant possibility: They may be asked to repeat a grade due to low test scores.” Instead of spending money on religious iconography, maybe we’d be better off giving more support to flailing students so that they can get back on track. After all, the Ten Commandments say to honor your father and your mother. Having more kids get an A on their next test is an honor that every parent — and taxpayer — could get behind. Read [the whole thing](. Bonus Preschool Reading: Remote jobs won’t cure America’s [broken child-care system](. — Sarah Green Carmichael Telltale Charts When it comes to cutting costs, 3M’s track record is nothing to write home about. Brooke Sutherland says [the Post-it note maker’s decision to lay off 6,000 more workers]( is just the latest in an already-long laundry list of efforts to trim down and “streamline” its operations. “After all this streamlining, one might think that the company would be more, um, streamlined by now,” she writes. They’ve been hitting the gym for quite some time now, with not much to show in the way of results: Javier Blas recently took a drive across the Permian Basin, which goes from West Texas into southeast New Mexico. “Signs of a slowdown are everywhere,” he observed, adding that “[the end of the greatest American oil boom](” is here to stay. It’s a humbling moment for Big Oil, which for years has reaped buckets and buckets of profits thanks to decades of massive drilling and fracking operations. Bonus Listening “It's one thing to get a $6,400 bronze statue from a guy, it's a totally different thing to be given, potentially [a million dollars in free vacations]( over a number of years.” Gabe Roth Founder and executive director of Fix the Court Listen to Tim O’Brien's latest episode of Crash Course —“Supreme Court Justices Aren’t Immune to Greed" — on [iHeartRadio](, [Apple]( or [Spotify](. Further Reading Credit Suisse had [one of the best quarters]( in banking ever, because it failed. — Matt Levine [Sudan’s war]( is a major test for the ruling elites of the Middle East. — Bobby Ghosh China’s [AI-powered electric-vehicle fleet]( is fast and furious. — Anjani Trivedi Big tech earnings look good. But good [might not be enough](. — John Authers and Isabelle Lee The only way to stop bank runs is to [get rid of banks](. — Paul J. Davies [Lower mortgage rates]( aren’t going to solve our housing affordability problem. — Conor Sen ICYMI Nate Silver [is out](. [New York City]( is back, baby. Apple wants to [track your mood](. Mattel made [a Barbie]( with Down syndrome. Kickers The boy who lived [is a dad](. A California man [impersonated]( a doctor. What if your boss was [an algorithm](? Popcorn [moose]( on the loose. (h/t Lara Williams) Source: [Twitter]( Notes: Please send popcorn and feedback to Jessica Karl at jkarl9@bloomberg.net. [Sign up here]( and follow us on [Instagram](, [TikTok](, [Twitter]( and [Facebook](. Follow Us You received this message because you are subscribed to Bloomberg's Bloomberg Opinion Today newsletter. If a friend forwarded you this message, [sign up here]( to get it in your inbox. 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