Trump and Clinton on the economy and jobs

art credit: politichicks.com 

Betsy McCaughey is a senior fellow at the London Center for Policy Research. Tea party and liberty groups will recognize her name from her ongoing analyses, from the beginning, of Obamacare. Many in those groups are not happy that Trump is the presumptive candidate. Some of the dissatisfaction stems from the perception that Trump is not a true conservative at heart, that’s he’s an egomaniac and braggart, and so on. In yesterday’s column in The New York Post, McCaughey looks at the economic prospects under either a Clinton or a Trump presidency.

President Obama’s top banker Janet Yellen gave a somber assessment of the current job market this week, throwing cold water on the president’s election-year message that voters should elect a Democrat to the White House again.

Obama’s been bragging that America has “the strongest” economy in the world. And pigs can fly.

Growth under Obama has averaged a stagnant 1.7 percent a year. Meanwhile, Ireland is growing at nearly 8 percent, India at 7 percent, Sweden at 4 percent.

The Obama economy is embarrassing compared to those countries — and compared to what Americans enjoyed for decades. It’s “the worst economic-growth record of any president” since the Great Depression, says Stanford economist Michael Boskin.

Last week’s economic reports were bad news for job seekers. Growth dipped below 1 percent in the first quarter, and full-time employment actually shrank in May.

We can’t let Obama-stagnation become the new normal. It’s driving Americans to self-destruction. Deaths from alcoholism, drug addiction, cirrhosis of the liver and suicides — what Princeton University researcher Anne Case calls “deaths of despair” — have soared.

These tragedies raise the stakes in this presidential election. Who’s equipped to jump-start America’s economy, Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump?

Spoiler alert: It’s not Hillary. She makes her money giving speeches and promoting books about herself.

Of course, Trump is no slouch when it comes to self-promotion. But he’s made a fortune actually building businesses. Trump runs an impressive 185 income-producing ventures, all listed on his 104-page Financial Disclosure Statement. (Hillary’s is only 11 pages.)

The mogul has built office buildings, apartment buildings, golf resorts and other ventures worldwide. He builds things and creates jobs. He also rakes in hefty fees managing properties worldwide, because their owners are confident he’s effective.

People like Trump, who run businesses themselves, understand why our economy is stuck in low gear. High taxes and suffocating, costly regulations are turning off investors. As economist Larry Kudlow explains, investment — in computers, factory buildings, equipment, trucks — is declining, indicating slow job growth ahead. A business that can’t buy more trucks can’t hire more drivers.

To boost investment, Trump calls for lowering taxes on businesses to 15 percent — less than half the nominal rate now — and reducing regulation. Obama calls Trump’s tax policies “crazy.” But if you want to see crazy, take a look at Hillary’s proposals.

She calls her plan “fair growth.” The phrase should strike terror into the heart of any business owner. It means more gender and racial preferences in hiring, more government rules on how employees are paid, and tax hikes to push companies into what she calls “far-sighted investments.” Yikes, Uncle Sam will be taking a seat in boardrooms and looking over managers’ shoulders.

That will discourage investment. Weak investment is already to blame for the hiring slowdown, points out economist David Malpass. Overall, the economy lost 59,000 full-time jobs, gaining only in part-time spots.

America is becoming a nation of part-timers. The average work week has shrunk to 34 hours — not enough to support a family.

Hillary wouldn’t know. She pulls in $250,000 for an hour at the podium, and sometimes racks up two speaking fees a day. Nice work if you can get it. Who needs full-time?

Hillary earns her money blabbing, while Trump earns his building.

Clinton is assailing Trump for not releasing his tax returns. Face it, most politicians willingly release their returns because there isn’t much to see. (Like speaking fees.) Whereas a builder’s return reveals how he makes money — suppliers, labor, depreciation and everything else.

Now Washington pols are pushing a bill authorizing the IRS to release the returns of any presidential candidate who doesn’t disclose voluntarily. Who would want the IRS to have that power?

The real issue isn’t Trump’s taxable income, but what the rest of us are able to earn. Americans need more take-home pay. The prospects look better with a builder in the White House than with a blabber.

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