It's important to remember the past. I don't mean only long ago history, but rather recent history. Today, it's time to look at what was said in the last ten years about the American economy. After all, we just saw this morning a report stating that about a quarter of a million new jobs were created in April, a number much higher than the "experts" were expecting. But I don't want to look at what these experts predicted for April. No, I think it's time to take a look back a bit farther.
1. During the Obama administration, the economy grew for the most part at a rate of between 1 and 1.5%. There were some higher quarters and some lower ones, but very sluggish growth was the rule. Indeed, during his entire 8 years in office, Obama never saw a year in which economic growth reach the average rate for the post World War II period (3%). Obama is the only president during that time without even one year reaching the average. When Trump ran in 2016, he said that he would restore economic growth. Obama and the Democrats scoffed at this. They told America that sluggish growth was the "new normal" and the we had to get used to that. They were wrong. The first quarter of 2019 just came in with 3.6% growth.
2. Trump said he would make moves that would bring back the manufacturing jobs that had been lost to China and elsewhere. He would pass tax cuts and get rid of excessive regulations and the jobs would come pouring back in. President Obama famously said that candidate Trump could never achieve that. Obama and Joe Biden said that those manufacturing jobs were gone for good. Obama even mocked Trump's claim and famously asked whether Trump had some sort of magic wand that he could use to bring back those jobs. Obama and Biden were wrong. As of this morning's report, the economy under Trump has seen growth in manufacturing jobs of about 1 million new positions. Trump did this in just over two years. Obama spent eight years watching manufacturing jobs disappear.
3. Growing manufacturing jobs is important because those are the sort of jobs that permit lower income people to make it into the middle class. Under Obama, the economy grew but nearly 90% of the growth went to the top 10% of people across the country. Obama's economy made the rich richer and did nothing for everyone else. Obama and the Democrats said that this was the new normal. They lamented growing income inequality and proclaimed that the way to deal with this problem was to tax the wealthy to take away their money; the offered nothing to grow the income of the poor and middle class. They mocked Trump when he said he would change this. But they were wrong. For the last two years, wages across the country have been growing again. The biggest gains in wages are for those who are on the bottom half of the income ladder. The wealthy are still doing fine, but the poor and the middle income folks are doing much better.
Desperate to try to explain away the better incomes of the lower half of the income ladder across America, Democrats are now saying that this is the result of raising the minimum wage in a few states. Wrong again. Most states haven't raised the minimum wage. Even in the few states where the minimum wage was raised, only a very small portion of the workforce was affected. It's another misstatement about the economy. The rise in wages is across the entire country, not just in a few places affecting a few people.
4. In 2016, President Trump also talked about how he would improve economic conditions for minorities. He famously said that they should vote for him announcing, "What do you have to lose?" The response from the Democrats was derision. Trump was a racist they said. Trump would never help minorities, or so they said. Only the Democrats cared about minorities, or so they said. But they were wrong. During the eight years of Obama, African Americans experienced high unemployment and no wage growth. In just over two years with Trump in office, African American and Hispanic unemployment are at the lowest levels ever recorded by the government. Incomes for this group are rising faster than for the average American as well. That's something that Obama never achieved even once in his eight years.
So when you hear the next statement about the economy from the Democrats, remember what they have said in the past. Remember that they haven't been right for the past decade, not even once.
1. During the Obama administration, the economy grew for the most part at a rate of between 1 and 1.5%. There were some higher quarters and some lower ones, but very sluggish growth was the rule. Indeed, during his entire 8 years in office, Obama never saw a year in which economic growth reach the average rate for the post World War II period (3%). Obama is the only president during that time without even one year reaching the average. When Trump ran in 2016, he said that he would restore economic growth. Obama and the Democrats scoffed at this. They told America that sluggish growth was the "new normal" and the we had to get used to that. They were wrong. The first quarter of 2019 just came in with 3.6% growth.
2. Trump said he would make moves that would bring back the manufacturing jobs that had been lost to China and elsewhere. He would pass tax cuts and get rid of excessive regulations and the jobs would come pouring back in. President Obama famously said that candidate Trump could never achieve that. Obama and Joe Biden said that those manufacturing jobs were gone for good. Obama even mocked Trump's claim and famously asked whether Trump had some sort of magic wand that he could use to bring back those jobs. Obama and Biden were wrong. As of this morning's report, the economy under Trump has seen growth in manufacturing jobs of about 1 million new positions. Trump did this in just over two years. Obama spent eight years watching manufacturing jobs disappear.
3. Growing manufacturing jobs is important because those are the sort of jobs that permit lower income people to make it into the middle class. Under Obama, the economy grew but nearly 90% of the growth went to the top 10% of people across the country. Obama's economy made the rich richer and did nothing for everyone else. Obama and the Democrats said that this was the new normal. They lamented growing income inequality and proclaimed that the way to deal with this problem was to tax the wealthy to take away their money; the offered nothing to grow the income of the poor and middle class. They mocked Trump when he said he would change this. But they were wrong. For the last two years, wages across the country have been growing again. The biggest gains in wages are for those who are on the bottom half of the income ladder. The wealthy are still doing fine, but the poor and the middle income folks are doing much better.
Desperate to try to explain away the better incomes of the lower half of the income ladder across America, Democrats are now saying that this is the result of raising the minimum wage in a few states. Wrong again. Most states haven't raised the minimum wage. Even in the few states where the minimum wage was raised, only a very small portion of the workforce was affected. It's another misstatement about the economy. The rise in wages is across the entire country, not just in a few places affecting a few people.
4. In 2016, President Trump also talked about how he would improve economic conditions for minorities. He famously said that they should vote for him announcing, "What do you have to lose?" The response from the Democrats was derision. Trump was a racist they said. Trump would never help minorities, or so they said. Only the Democrats cared about minorities, or so they said. But they were wrong. During the eight years of Obama, African Americans experienced high unemployment and no wage growth. In just over two years with Trump in office, African American and Hispanic unemployment are at the lowest levels ever recorded by the government. Incomes for this group are rising faster than for the average American as well. That's something that Obama never achieved even once in his eight years.
So when you hear the next statement about the economy from the Democrats, remember what they have said in the past. Remember that they haven't been right for the past decade, not even once.
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