The further to the left or the right you move, the more your lens on life distorts.

Saturday, November 03, 2018

Boom

Over the past two years, Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS) has gripped the Democratic Party and their trained hamsters in the media. They have battled, belittled, and bemoaned everything, and I do mean everything, that Donald Trump and his administration have accomplished. In the condescending manner that only Democrats can muster, they lectured us on the evils of the tax cut, indicating that it would hurt the middle class and minorities (recall Nancy Pelosi's "bread crumbs" comment). They became near-hysterical over Trump's regulatory reform, telling anyone who would listen that it would poison our rivers and suffocate all of us with dirty air. They were wrong.

The editors of the Chicago Tribune comment:
... on Jan. 23, 2017, his first work day in office, Trump made it clear that his Job One would be boosting economic growth. The president said he wanted to reduce the corporate tax rate and relieve the burden of federal regulation. Good, we wrote at the time: “Those are the kinds of moves that encourage companies to invest more and add jobs.”

Trump and the Republican-controlled Congress did their part by cutting red tape and passing tax reform. The economy is responding. Actually, it’s booming in a way Americans haven’t experienced in years. The business climate looks great and employers are hiring, and paying more. These are terrific times for American workers.

According to Friday’s Labor Department report, employers added 250,000 jobs in October, a far higher number than economists expected. The unemployment rate held at 3.7 percent, a figure not seen in nearly 50 years. With more job openings across the country than job seekers, wages are rising: Average earnings increased 3.1 percent from a year earlier. Congrats if you got a raise.

The jobless rate would have dropped, except that the participation rate is higher, meaning some people who previously gave up looking for work re-entered the job market. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate for Hispanics hit a record low 4.4 percent. It was near a record low for African-Americans at 6.2 percent.

Employers are hiring for a reason: The business climate is exceptionally strong. Growth last quarter was 3.5 percent, significantly higher than the 2 percent average of the past decade.

Tuesday’s midterm elections will be decided on many issues, and influenced by the totality of Trump’s chaotic, divisive leadership. But it’s undeniable the president and Congress get credit for this era of healthy job growth.
You may not like Donald Trump the man, but unless you suffer from a terminal case of TDS, it's pretty hard to deny that (1) Trump kept his promise to invigorate the economy and (2) thereby provided tangible benefits to the middle class and minorities.

The Democrats tell us repeatedly they'e "the party of the middle class and minorities," but the history of the last decade indicates that they're all talk and very little accomplishment. Under Trump, the middle class and minorities are flourishing and that makes Dems crazy. So they lie.

They tell us that nothing has changed (but unemployment is the lowest its been in 50 years!), that wages have not gone up (in the last quarter, wages went up an astounding 3.1 percent)), that African Americans and Latinos are not doing better (yet their unemployment rates are the lowest ever recorded)), that only "the rich" have benefitted under Trump (yet blue collar workers in construction, manufacturing and even retail are seeing rising wages and more job opportunities).

The Dems insist that they are more capable at governance, but that claim simply doesn't hold up under the harsh light of recent history. The past administration's economic performance was abysmal. And the new Democrat party is even further left than the past administration. Big government, higher taxes, and ever more spending are what a new Democrat led Congress will promote (when they're not trying to impeach Trump). It's ironic that they may very well get the chance—to the detriment of middle class and minorities.