New Golden Age, Real Results

Guest Opinion by Perry Hooper, Jr.

Across Alabama, families know what inflation feels like. It isn’t an academic debate. It is the extra money at the grocery store. It is the gas pump climbing higher than it should. It is the uneasy realization that your paycheck simply does not stretch as far as it once did. For two years under the previous administration, that pressure was constant. Inflation hit 40-year highs. Retirement accounts dipped. Small businesses absorbed rising input costs. Working families carried the burden.

That is the backdrop against which President Trump delivered his 2026 State of the Union address, and it is why the speech resonated far beyond Washington.

As Louisiana Senator John Kennedy put it, “When moms and dads lie down to sleep at night and can’t, they’re worried about the cost of living. President Trump’s making it clear tonight: tackling this issue is his top priority.” 

Sen. Tommy Tuberville brought the kind of coach-style clarity Alabama voters appreciate. “We have HUGE tax cuts, a secure border, manufacturing coming home, and our armed forces once again rebuilt, refocused, and ready to defend American interests anywhere in the world. America is STRONG, and we can’t stop winning.”

The key word in that sentence is winning. Because this speech was not built on promises. It was built on results.Inflation has cooled dramatically from its peak. Real wages are rising again.

When President Trump declared this the “golden age of America,” critics scoffed. But golden compared to what? Compared to nine percent inflation? Compared to border chaos? Compared to energy dependence and supply chain breakdowns? Contrast gives clarity. And the contrast this year is unmistakable.

The centerpiece of the speech was the One Big Beautiful Bill, which permanently locks in the 2017 tax cuts and blocks what would have been a $4.3 trillion tax hike. Kennedy laid it out plainly: the average tax filer will see a $3,750 tax cut in 2026. That is not theory. That is groceries, braces for a teenager, vehicle repairs, savings.

More importantly for working Alabamians, the bill delivers targeted relief that speaks directly to the middle class: no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, and no tax on Social Security benefits. Tuberville called them “REAL CHANGES” that will matter when families file their taxes in April. For waitresses in Hoover, welders in Prattville, nurses in Daphne, retirees in Enterprise, that relief is tangible.

This is how economic growth compounds. Families keep more of their own money. Businesses reinvest. Hiring expands. Confidence rises. It is real bottom-up momentum rather than Government top-down redistribution.

But if the economic message was strong, the emotional contrast of the night may have been even stronger.

How do you not stand when the gallery is filled with families whose loved ones were violently murdered by illegal aliens? How do you remain seated when military heroes are honored? When members of the USA Hockey team are recognized? When grieving parents are acknowledged in front of the entire nation?

You do not have to agree with every policy. You do not have to applaud every line. But when American families who have buried their children are being recognized, basic human decency should not be partisan. That moment said more than any protest ever could.

It may well have been the strongest State of the Union address since Ronald Reagan — clear in purpose, confident in delivery, and unapologetic about putting American citizens first.

President Trump asked every Congressman and Senator to stand for Americans over illegal immigrants. Not one Democrat stood.

That was not about legislative nuance. It was about alignment. And the visual told its own story.

The border turnaround underscores that alignment. For nine consecutive months, Border Patrol has released zero illegal aliens into the interior of the United States. That is not symbolism. That is operational control. Border security is public safety. It is drug interdiction. It is restoring federal authority. Senator Tuberville said it plainly: “Border security is national security.”

Tariffs are again being used as leverage, and manufacturing is returning because the playing field is no longer tilted against American workers. That shift does not happen overnight, but it begins with clarity and enforcement.

Meanwhile, many Democrats chose boycott, protest, or visible silence. Elections are rarely decided by a single speech. But they are shaped by contrasts. On one side: permanent tax relief, border enforcement, energy expansion, economic resurgence. On the other: resistance to the very policies now producing measurable stabilization.

With midterms approaching, control of Congress will determine whether tax relief remains permanent, whether border enforcement continues, and whether economic momentum accelerates or stalls. Those stakes are not abstract. They determine paychecks, security, and growth.

Championship teams do not coast when they have the lead. They press the advantage. They finish strong. The golden age is not a slogan. It is a direction. And for the first time in several years, that direction feels unmistakably upward.

Perry O. Hooper Jr. is a longtime Alabama Republican figure, former Alabama Legislator and Montgomery businessman. He served as Co-Chair of “Alabama Trump Victory” in 2016, and served as an at-large delegate to the Republican National Convention. He is a noted civic leader in Montgomery with deep family roots in Alabama’s legal and political history.

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