Obama Taking Credit for the Trump Economy

By Douglas V. Gibbs
Author, Speaker, Instructor, Radio Host

Barack Obama has officially taken credit for kick-starting Trump's booming economy.

On Twitter, Alex Bruesewitz nailed it when it comes to Obama's false claim:

Obama is like a guy who couldn't open a jar for 8 years, and then @realDonaldTrump opens it and Obama says "I loosened it for you” pic.twitter.com/DJ6dopNAFB

— Alex Bruesewitz (@alexanderbruz) September 9, 2018

President Donald Trump shot back, poking fun at Obama, saying to a crowd in North Dakota, “I think he was trying to take credit for this incredible thing happening to our country, “I have to say to President Obama, it wasn’t him, and if the Democrats got in with their agenda … instead of having 4.2 [percent GDP growth] up, you have 4.2 down – you’d be in negative numbers.  [Obama oversaw the] weakest recovery in the history of our country, [while the United States is currently experiencing] not a recovery, but a rocket ship.”

According to The Hill, Trump is right.  “Happily for President Trump, the pros agree with him.  Economists agree: Trump, not Obama, gets credit for the economy.” “A recent survey of economists suggests it is President Trump – and not Obama – who should be taking a bow.”

The numbers reveal everything we need to know, and history reveals that the conservative economic steps President Trump has taken always results in an economy that experiences an upturn.  It worked under Reagan, it worked under Coolidge, and yes, it worked under Kennedy.

In fact, the economy is doing so well under President Trump, records are being set.

The Labor Department says wages have climbed in August by the most since the recession ended in 2009, and hiring rose by more than forecast, with an additional 201,000 nonfarm payrolls.  The unemployment rate [is] holding steady at 3.9 percent, [and] average hourly earnings for private workers increased 2.9 percent from a year earlier – exceeding all estimates in a Bloomberg survey. (WND)

“On New Year’s Day of 2018, the New York Times described a ‘wave of optimism’ sweeping over Americans business leaders, saying it is ‘beginning to translate into the sort of investment in new plants, equipment and factory upgrades that bolsters economic growth, spurs job creation – and may finally raise wages significantly,” continues the WND article.

Obama's claim that it was he who set in motion the foundation of today's soaring economy was verbalized by the former President while he was accepting an “Ethics in Government” award from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Think about that.  He knowingly lied during his acceptance speech of an "Ethics in Government" award.

“[I stepped in to turn things around after the] reckless behavior of financial elites triggered a massive financial crisis – 10 years ago this week – a crisis that resulted in the worst recession in any of our lifetimes and caused years of hardship for the American people, for many of your parents, for many of your families.  [By the time I left office in January 2017], the household income was near its all-time high, and the uninsured rate had hit an all-time low, and wages were rising, and poverty rates were falling...I mention all this just so when you hear how great the economy’s doing right now, let’s just remember when this recovery started.”

The crowd cheered.

“I mean, I’m glad it’s continued, but when you hear about this economic miracle that’s been going on, when the job numbers come out, monthly job numbers, suddenly Republicans are saying it’s a miracle. I have to kind of remind them, actually, those job numbers are the same as they were in 2015 and 2016.”

Again, another lie.

“According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2015, 221,417 jobs were added monthly on average for an annual total of 2,657,000. In 2016, it was 176,333 jobs added monthly on average with an annual total of 2,116,000.  Under Obama, annual GDP peaked at 2.9 percent in 2015, [but] while 2018 is still under way – in the second quarter, under Trump – it reached 4.2 percent.” (WND)

The Democrats would have never passed a tax cut bill.  They would have never reduced regulations like the GOP and Trump has done.  They would never have used a firm hand in dealing with other countries to make free trade a bit more fair for the United States.  Not one Democrat voted for the latest legislation that set these things in motion, and they wouldn't have under a Hillary Clinton presidency.  That means a flat, slow moving economy would have remained in place, and the Democrats would have been continuing to say what they said during the Obama presidency ... the good ol' days of economic prosperity are over, this is the new normal.

The fact is, President Trump is the architect of the new economy that is jumping out of its britches in economic prosperity.  Like the Russian Collusion investigation, the whole argument that Obama started the ball rolling for today's economy is a fraud that the Democrats are trying to pull over on the American people.

In fact, the truth of the matter is, the Democrats are angry the economy is doing so well.  It means that there will be no blue wave in November, and there will be no impeachment of President Donald J. Trump after all.

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary