Trump Economy Faces Socialist Headwinds

“The chief business of the American people is business.” – President Calvin Coolidge

 

“You can’t love jobs & hate the people who create them.” – Arnold Schwarzenegger

 

“I have never been offered a job by a poor person.” – Neal Boortz

 

“MAGA – the initials of the four largest corporations in America – Microsoft, Apple, Google, & Amazon, signifying the importance of corporations in America.” – Trish Regan on FBN

 

Despite the unprecedented American history of prosperity brought about by limited government, personal responsibility, & free enterprise plainly expressed in the above quotations, all of the major Democrat presidential primary candidates have declared a war of hatred on business & specifically on corporations & the rich – which sooner or later will be defined down to mean virtually all of the readers of this blog – no matter their political affiliation.  Democrats have a fundamental contempt for businesses & successful people – except, of course, they don’t mention that all of their presidential primary candidates, except Mayor Pete, are millionaires & Tom Steyer & Bloomy are billionaires. 

 

Never mind that there are over 150 million people employed by corporations & that almost three quarters of the value of domestically held stocks is owned by pension plans, 401(k)s & IRAs, or held by life insurance companies to fund annuities or death benefits – sources BLS on employment & Phil Gramm & Mike Salon on stocks.  In short, people are well invested in corporations who are our employers – not our enemies.

 

We can understand the attacks by all of the the Democrat presidential primary candidates against President Trump because these people are all vying for the same top spot.  But it is the mania, obsession, fixation, & preoccupation with Trump that all of these Democrat presidential candidates constantly rage in unison with the entire Democrat party & the hostile anti-American media that tells the tale – namely, that the socialist government dependent lifestyle they have planned for you grows dimmer with every Trump success.

 

The headline U-3 unemployment rate has been @ a 50 year low of 3.5% for many months; the broader U-6 unemployment/underemployment rate of 6.7% in December is the lowest in over 20 years; & women, blacks, Hispanics, Asians, & high school drop outs all have unemployment rates @ or near all time lows. 

 

This record low unemployment data under Trump policies & practices is not good news for Democrats peddling government dependence because people who have been economically lost for years are participating in the dignity of work supporting themselves.  The number of discouraged workers in December decreased by 98,000 from a year ago – a decrease of 26%.  Discouraged workers are defined by the Labor Department as persons not currently looking for work because they believe no jobs are available for them – how great for these 98,000 people to find work.

 

This is not to say that all of these previously discouraged workers found jobs that would support a family – but they have gone from months or years of hopelessness, despair, & government dependence to the dignity of having a chance to earn something to live on themselves.  The first step for them is to live within their means & then demonstrate a positive attitude toward their job & company followed by getting training to move to a better paying position within the firm - then start a family.

 

The remaining discouraged workers, as well as those marginally attached to the labor force & the persisting unemployed, can also take heart because there still is over one million more job openings than people unemployed – job openings are a level of labor demand.  This has been the case since March 2018 when the job openings & hires graph increased substantially as a result of the Trump tax cuts under the Tax Cuts & Jobs Act of 2017 enacted on December 22, 2017 – just three months before the number of jobs openings took off.  See blue line starting @ 4.0% on graphic below.

But employers need better trained people & this is holding back economic growth & its commensurate rise in prosperity, productivity growth, & additional wealth creation.  The graphic below shows the near doubling in the number of small businesses from 2008 to 2017 that identified the poor quality of labor as their biggest problem.  Source: National Federation of Independent Businesses.

In this regard Ivanka Trump has concentrated her efforts to create more opportunities for American workers following her father’s Executive Order that established the president’s national council for the American worker that recognized America is facing a skills crisis.  Ivanka, along with people like Apple CEO Tim Cook, has focused her work on companies & trade groups throughout the country to sign a Pledge To America's Workers committing to expand programs that educate, train, & reskill American workers from high school age to near retirement.  

 

Ivanka says “there are plenty of occupations that will require advanced degrees . . . But cyber security, I.T., a lot of these different programs require a credential that is achievable without racking up enormous amounts of student debt.”  Over 25 years ago I knew technicians who got computer training @ work & obtained the credential Ivanka described that met many of a company’s I.T. needs thereby promoting these technicians to a higher level of earnings.  It worked then with a company that was way ahead of its time so there is no reason it should not work again. 

 

So far over 400 companies & organizations have signed the Pledge contributing to over 12 million new education & training opportunities for American students & workers over the next five years.  Click here to hear Maria Bartiromo interview Ivanka & IBM President Ginni Rometty on FBN in Davos Switzerland regarding this education & training initiative.

 

In addition to the record low unemployment statistics summarized above, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports the following differences (see two graphics below) in median weekly earnings comparing the first eleven quarters of the Trump administration to BO’s second term.

Previously, the above type of positive economic statistics would ensure the reelection of an incumbent president.  But there are other important factors in play in this 2020 presidential election year.  Youthful voters are not focusing on Trump’s positive economic accomplishments & neither are older generations to some degree.  One third of Democrat primary or caucus voters say climate change is the single issue that will determine their vote & 64% of Democrats are more positive about socialism than capitalism according to a Cato Institute study which explains why Bernie Sanders took the lead in a WSJ/NBC News poll of national Democrat primary voters conducted January 26 to 29.  See graphic below.

Millennials (27.3%) & members of Generation Z (10.2%) are projected to make up 37.5% of the 2020 electorate & for many of these young people gainful employment & its commensurate wealth creation & improved standard of living are not high on their list of voting priorities.

 

Generation Z is interested in mass shootings, racial equality, & immigration policy & treatment of immigrants.  Millennials are interested in healthcare, global warming/climate change, & mass shootings.  Generation X & older generations are interested in healthcare, terrorism/national security, & the national debt. 

 

And more broadly, Americans under the age of 50, which makes up the majority of people considered to be in their prime working years (25 to 54), place no where near the same importance or significance on patriotism, religion, & having children than people did twenty years ago.  Accordingly, additional pro-growth economic measures, including middle class income tax cuts that Trump talks about, mean very little or nothing to these people compared to continuing or expanding government dependent entitlement programs – the theme of the major Democrat presidential candidates.

 

Of course, all of the above changes in attitude from the free enterprise capitalistic system America was founded on to the failed socialist system being taught & brainwashed today in our K-12 schools & universities explains it all – these young people, superficially free bird spirits, have been taught to love government dependent programs & that could have a big affect on the 2020 presidential election & the rest of their lives & everyone else’s.

 

Ref Post:  Part C - 2020 Presidential Election May Turn On America’s Attraction To Democrat Socialist Government Dependent Policies