aquascoot wrote on May 10^th, 2018 at 6:37am:

It’s not just the 3.9 percent unemployment rate that is worth celebrating. The growth rate of the economy over the last four quarters was just under 3 percent, a level that almost all liberal economists said was impossible to achieve and yet with Donald Trump after one year in office, here we are. In just more than one year in the White House, he has achieved a growth rate that is higher than Obama was able to achieve in eight years.

Oh, and by the way, the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta estimated last week that growth in April hit 4 percent. Meanwhile, a survey of manufacturers finds that more than 90 percent are bullish about the future. There are now an estimated 6 million more jobs than available workers with the skills to fill them.

The New York Times wondered last week whether we are going to see inflation rising from 2 percent as a result of the surging demand for workers. The Washington Post reported that some blue collar workers are now getting signing bonuses of up to $25,000. Who do these workers think they are? Derek Jeter?

On Friday, Obama’s White House chief of staff, Valerie Jarrett (yes, she’s back) ‎said on CNN that Obama deserves most of the credit for the boon and this is the left’s new riff. What else could she say? The previous administration’s staffers are genetically incapable of admitting that Trump deserves credit for anything.

This storyline that Obama is responsible for the bullish job market might have a sliver of credibility if it weren’t for several inconvenient facts. First, almost every liberal analyst who now says that Obama deserves the credit was one who told us that Trump would surely crash the economy and the stock market if he won the election.

So let’s get this straight: Trump’s policies are to blame if the economy tanks, but he gets no credit if it soars? That’s heads I win, tails you lose logic. Second, the economy was slowing down at the end of Obama presidency. The last year Obama was in office, the economy grew by 1.6 percent, which is barely staying out of inflation.

Then there’s the most inconvenient problem with the spin that Obama deserves the credit for the surge in employment and growth. It would be plausible if Trump continued on with Obama’s policies. But instead, he has systematically overturned every Obama initiative, from the tax rate increases to the climate change treaty, to the pro-drilling and pro-coal energy policies to the deregulation, to the spending priorities. This is what has infuriated Democrats. How could Obama be responsible for a spurt of growth under Trump when he’s shifted Obamanomics into reverse?

Once during the campaign, Trump asked Larry Kudlow and me how we could get much faster growth. We half-jokingly told Trump that the “key was to look at everything Obama has done and do exactly the opposite.”‎ That’s pretty much what the Trump administration has done. And boom!

One last point: The supercharged economy points to the absurdity of the Democrats primary policy goal, which is to ‎repeal the Trump tax cut. They say it is mainly for the rich and for big corporations and working-class Americans have received only, in the words of House minority leader Nancy Pelosi, “crumbs.”

But the new jobs report only underscores that it would be hard to point to a bigger public policy success story in recent times. The left’s big idea one the economy is to cancel the tax cuts. Really? Would they also ask the 5 million workers who’ve gotten bonuses and pay hikes to give the money back? Would they rather that Apple not bring $300 billion back to America? Would they prefer that Walmart and Costco not raise their minimum salaries to $13 an hour?

Would they take America back to the highest corporate tax rate in the world? Would they rather the stock market give up the $7 trillion in increased wealth since Trump was elected? If the Democrats take back Congress, do they intend to raise taxes on 26 million small businesses? Inquiring voters want to know.

Economy:

No question about it — one year into President Trump's first term, the economy is on a roll, creating wealth, income and jobs for Americans, and building opportunities for the young. It's a triumph of economic realism over foolish skepticism.

Critics so disliked Trump as he entered office last year that they were all but rooting for him to fail. A few headlines tell the tale:

"President Trump is about to tank the economy" (TheWeek.com). "Millennials think the Trump economy is going to implode" (Chicago Tribune). "Investors ignoring the risks in Trump's presidency" (MarketWatch). "Why the Trump Economic Boom Will Never Come" (Foreign Policy). "Trump is being handed a great economy. What happens when it goes south?" (Washington Post).

No Hidden Agenda: Get News From A Pro-Free Market, Pro-Growth Perspective

OK. You get the picture. We did a simple, random Google search for "Does President Trump deserve credit for the economy?" As a sign of how skeptical the Trump-hating media are, it returned 826,000 results.

But it's fair to ask: What has Trump accomplished when it comes to the economy? The numbers don't lie.

Stock market:

The Dow Jones industrial average rose about 31% over the past year, "more than any other president since Franklin Roosevelt," CNBC.com reminds us. Total stock market wealth added since Trump's first inauguration: $5.5 trillion.

Jobs:

Over the last year, 2.2 million jobs were added to the economy, as the unemployment rate fell from 4.8% to 4.1% currently. Minorities experienced their lowest unemployment rates ever in December 2017, after a year of solid gains. Unemployment claims, meanwhile, are at a 45-year low.

GDP:

President Trump entered office amid what appeared to be a dangerously slowing economy, with just 1.2% growth in the first quarter of 2017. But growth immediately picked up, rising to 3.1% in the second quarter, 3.2% in the third quarter, and, based on recent data, 3% or higher in the final quarter of 2017 — making the longest stretch of 3%-plus GDP growth since 2005.

Tax cuts:

Trump's $1.5 trillion in tax cuts lowered the corporate marginal rate from 35% to 21%, and cut rates sharply for middle-class and lower-income Americans. The results are in: Less than three weeks after the tax bill became law, more than 164 companies — ranging from AT&T and Apple to Visa and Wal-Mart — have announced pay hikes and special bonuses for their workers. Apple stunned markets last week, announcing it would bring $245 billion back from overseas, hire about 20,000 new workers and hand out bonuses of around $2,500 for each of its employees due to tax cuts.

Confidence:

Our IBD/TIPP Economic Optimism Index stands at 55.1, well above the 49.3 average over that measure's lifetime, signaling continued confidence in the strength of the economy. The optimism index is close to its all-time high and has now been positive — above 50 — for 16 months. Meanwhile, a separate IBD/TIPP index for financial stress is at its lowest since we began measuring it in 2007.

Regulation:

Trump fulfilled his promise to cut more rules than he enacted. Indeed, he eliminated 22 regulations for every regulation he added, cutting some $8.1 billion in costs. More important, he pulled out of the ruinous Paris Climate Deal, which the NERA economic consulting group estimated would cost the U.S. some $3 trillion in compliance costs over the lifetime of the deal.

The point is, this last year has been a humdinger for President Trump. Coming in with the lowest of expectations, he has exceeded virtually all forecasts and the dire predictions of doom by his naysayers. Tax cuts and deregulation, the twin pillars of Trumponomics, have been a success by any measure. If Trump's second year is as successful as his first, the "blue wave" Democrats expect in the 2018 midterm elections won't materialize.

SadKangaroo wrote on May 10^th, 2018 at 1:58pm:


you just made up another lie...

do you ever stop?

I guess a pathological lie can't stop lying.. eh? 

You have to say Abracadabra ................