By Nancy Thorner and Ed Ingold -
The month of May closed with amazing news on the economy. It looks unstoppable and signals the best recovery since World War II.
Instead of celebrating the incredible economic activity, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi had this to say:
“May’s jobs report shows that strong employment numbers mean little to the families hit with soaring new costs under the Republicans’ watch."
She added: Republicans’ cruel, cynical health care sabotage campaign is already spiking families’ premiums by double digits and pushing millions off their coverage, according to the nonpartisan CBO. Big Pharma continues to hoard the benefits of the GOP tax scam, using their handouts to further enrich executives and shareholders instead of lowering prescription drug costs for seniors and sick kids. At the same time, the President’s reckless policies are exploding gas prices, wiping out the few meager gains that some families should have received from the GOP tax scam, as wages remain stagnant.
Pelosi further claimed: “Democrats will never stop fighting for the hard-working middle-class families who are the backbone of our nation."
The Atlanta Fed forecasts a big boost in private sector fixed investment, which includes capital investment in machinery, land, buildings, vehicles, and technology. Earlier, the Atlanta Fed saw this growing at 4.6 percent. But following the release Friday of a construction spending report from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Manufacturing ISM Report On Business from the Institute for Supply Management, this was upgraded to 5.4 percent growth.
Unemployment is 3.8%, the third month at 4% or less. Employment participation is at a 20 year high. Black unemployment is 5.9%, down from 6.6%. There are currently more manufacturing jobs (aka high paying) than suitable candidates. In that the GDP was 3.6%, it is now projected to reach 4.7% in the next month or two. This is all the continuation of President Obama’s policies, or is it?
It was on January 1, 2016, that a steel worker union official asked President Barack Obama at a June 1 town hall in Elkhart, Indiana, about job losses at a plant run by Carrier, an air conditioning manufacturer that recently announced plans to move jobs from Indiana to Mexico. He replied that some jobs "are just not going to come back," while others are in flux or rebounding.
Having made this gloom statement about job growth, by December 6th, 2017 former President Barack Obama was taking credit for the economic growth that was occurring at the time under President Trump, when he told an adoring crowd at a Chicago climate summit that despite “resistance at every step of the way,” his administration’s efforts to fight climate change resulted in a better economy.
“As we took these actions, we saw the U.S. economy grow consistently,” Obama said. “We saw the longest streak of job creation in American history by far — a streak that still continues, by the way.”
He then added a zinger: “Thanks Obama.”
Obama made Trump’s job easy in achieving most of the gains simply by reversing (or erasing) those destructive policies.
- Re-authorization and completion of at least two major oil pipelines.
- Reversing restrictions on off-shore oil extraction.
- Easing restrictions on coal mining and use.
- Cutting corporate tax rates in half, and encouraging re-patriotization of profits held abroad.
- Re-negotiating foreign trade agreements toward balanced versions.
Similar improvements have been made by Trump on the international scene, including the following:
- Obama’s toxic relationship with Russia led to last minute (literally) imposition of sanctions, which Trump delayed as a way to have better leverage when relations with Russia reached various crises.
- Renewed relationships with our main ally in the Middle-East, Israel, and improved relationships with Egypt and Jordan (snubbed by Obama).
- Abandonment of the Obama/Kerry agreement-for-the-sake-of-agreement (never ratified) with Iran in favor of increased sanctions.
- Tough stance on China’s trade imbalance and theft of technology.
- Staring down North Korea’s reckless threats, bringing Kim Jung-Un to the negotiating table (at Kim’s request).
- Re-gaining all the territory in Iraq claimed by ISIS and killing most of their leaders and 90% of their followers.
The May jobs report is great news for everyone — except Democrats running for office. https://www.cnbc.com/2018/06/01/may-jobs-numbers-are-bad-news-for-democrats.ht
- Voters who are employed are historically more likely to favor incumbents than those who are out of work.
- With the jobless rate now down to 3.8 percent, Democrats in 435 House districts and 35 Senate races face a major challenge as they try to unseat Republican majorities in both chambers.
The GDP could reach 4.8% in the second quarter of 2018. Unemployment is at 3.8%, the lowest since 1996, and North Korea is at the bargaining table next week. Trump's approval is at 49%, greater than that of any president since Ronald Reagan (and 5% better than Obama). Yet the Never Trumpers of both parties are working at a fever pitch against him.
Donald Trump’s success in his Presidency is due to a combination of reversing negative policies and innovation using techniques foreign to career bureaucrats. All of this is in the face of unrelenting criticism of every move, word and misspelling, and a deep state bent on his destruction. Under President Trump the term “Red Line” has taken a more literal meaning, and our enemies take notice.
It is becoming clear that the intensity of attacks increases the more Trump accomplishes. It is becoming clear that his enemies fear success on his part over failure on behalf of the citizens of this country.
