Despite some fluctuations in the stock market, the economic outlook for Americans is rosy indeed. Through the Tax Cut and Jobs Act, over 90% of Americans had their taxes reduced, giving them more money in their paychecks as employers deducted less for federal taxes. Corporations spent some of their tax cut by donating more to charity, raising wages for their employees, giving larger dividends to stockholders (even the not-so-wealthy who only own a few stocks) and benefiting the retirement plans of countless Americans. Companies also gave, one-time bonuses of $1000 and in some cases $3000 to millions of their employees. Not all of the companies’ saving went to their employees, to be sure. Other dollars were spent on expansion, on research and development, and on bringing back manufacturing jobs to the U.S., all of which in the end will benefit Americans.
During the Obama years, most of the jobs that were created, were created in the public sector, that is to say, they were government jobs. All of the thousands upon thousands of new regulations that the Obama administration put onto businesses needed more bureaucrats to ensure that companies were indeed complying with the regulations. Private sector jobs tended to be mostly part-time positions which were still taken by many who were desperate for work. We were told by President Obama’s administration that the GDP, which never rose to 3% during his eight years and averaged 1.075% (according to CNSNews) would probably always be around 1%. The “new norm,” we were told. Manufacturing jobs which had gone abroad due to the high tax rate in the U.S., were probably never going to return.
And then Donald Trump was elected President. Now, blue-collar jobs are increasing (according to the Washington Post) at a faster rate than they have in 30 years. Companies have used the reduced tax to bring manufacturing plants back to the U.S. In total, over 3 million jobs have been created in the U.S. since President Trump took office. Unemployment has sunk to 3.7% (the lowest since 1969) which actually means that we have reached full employment (indicated by the fact that there are more jobs available than there are people looking for work). Blacks, women, and Hispanics are seeing record employment with unemployment numbers for both Blacks and Hispanics lower than they have ever been since records have been kept. And the jobs appear not to be minimum wage jobs, either. Just to check on the kind of wages being offered with available jobs, in June, The Christian Science Monitor went to New Hampshire and looked at all of the local job offerings in a community. “Of the 412 local job listings that include pay information, only one is offering minimum wage – and that turns out to be a mistake,” they wrote. Unlike the few jobs that were available during the past administration, these jobs are mostly full-time jobs with above minimum wages.
We are headed for a yearly average of as much as 4% GDP (not the 1.075% of the Obama years) and the figures for October are staggering. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the labor participation rate rose to 62.9%, rising by 0.2% from September. (Those not participating in labor include those who have taken early retirement and stay-at-home moms as well as any who have simply chosen not to look for work.) In October the economy added jobs in every field with manufacturing and construction each adding over 30,000 jobs. In all, the 250,000 jobs that were added last month surpassed the projected 200,000 jobs. Wage growth in October was 0.2% and 3.1% over last year so far, the largest wage increase since April of 2009.
The looming specter of trade wars was greatly touted by Democrats and many “free trade” Republicans who ignored the fact that U.S. workers were getting a raw deal when we charged lower tariffs on goods coming into the U.S. than the much higher tariffs charged on our goods going abroad. When the President announced he would increase tariffs until countries were willing to work towards equitable trade deals with the U.S., the world erupted in hysteria. However, within a few days, the President of the European Union arrived in Washington unannounced to discuss working towards a fairer trade deal between the EU and the U.S. Next Mexico reached a more equitable trade agreement with the U.S. and then Canada joined the agreement. That left China. This week, however, the President announced that his administration is working on a new trade deal to discuss with China.
President Trump is a blustery, sometimes crude “boss” who made his billions dealing with corrupt city officials and mobs who tried to run the unions who built his hotels. He learned to fight dirty because that was the only way to survive. His unwillingness to back down made him successful in his job and also got the world to the point where North Korea is talking about denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula. Kim Jong Un may have nukes, but President Trump literally told him that he had bigger and more numerous nukes than North Korea. Kim Jong Un got the message because it was given in language he understood.
The President, according to everyone who has met him in person, is a very nice and generous man. When he and First Lady, Melania, traveled to Pittsburgh on Wednesday, for example, they met with Rabbi Jeffrey Myers of the Tree of Life Synagogue where last Saturday’s massacre had occurred. The Rabbi spoke for about 20 minutes with the President, his wife, daughter Ivanka, and her husband Jared Kushner, who are themselves Jewish. “’Throughout the time we spent together, I was pleasantly surprised by a warm, personal side to the president that I don’t think America has ever seen,’ Myers said.” (as reported by NBC News).
The fact that those qualities do not come out in his tweets and often in his speeches is in large part because of the constant barrage of criticism and name calling launched at him and at his family by much of the press, by Hollywood, and sometimes by Democratic leaders. Every word that he utters, every move that he makes is twisted to make him appear bad in the eyes of the public. Good things that he accomplishes are ignored when possible. The reason that his supporters are not fazed by those misrepresentations lies in the fact that he has accomplished so many of the things which he promised on the campaign trail that he would do, and also in the fact that Republicans were repeatedly called racists throughout the Obama years any time they disagreed with one of the president’s policies. Eventually the term “racist,” when used as a cudgel against those who simply have different political views, comes to have no meaning any more. We understand when he is called names, because we are called names as well. So what? As the old adage goes, “Actions speak louder than words,” and so far, President Trump’s actions are bringing America back to prosperity again.