The much-touted manufacturing boom under the new administration? Nowhere to be found. Factory owners are stuck in an awkward position—they got the promises, but the reality looks rather different. And frankly, many of them would probably prefer if Washington dialed back the "help." Too much intervention from too many angles. When bureaucratic enthusiasm starts outpacing actual market demand, even well-intentioned policies can become counterproductive. The disconnect between rhetoric and ground-level reality is hard to ignore.