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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