Do you want a Trump or Biden economy?

It would be great if the President was an icon of virtue and goodness, but he isn’t. As much as my Democratic friends want to parse otherwise, neither was Bill Clinton, but we overlooked Clinton’s repugnancy because we loved his booming economy. When you strip away the media noise, the fundamental question is: do you want a Trump or Biden economy in 2021 and beyond? Thankfully, both men have records in leading the country so the question isn’t a speculative one.

Additionally, given that the states are experiencing dramatically different post-pandemic economic recoveries, we can see what a Trump economy is doing under conservative leadership and policies compared to what a Biden economy is doing under progressive leadership and policies. As the accompanying chart vividly shows, 14 out of the top 16 strongest economic recoveries are occurring in Republican-led states with conservative policies, whereas 12 out of the bottom 16 weakest economic recoveries are occurring in Democratic-led states with progressive policies.

Do you want a hollowed-out New York City economy or a vibrant Dallas economy? Do you want a riot-dominated Seattle economy or a peaceful and productive Charleston economy? Boeing is opting for Charleston, as it is moving the entire 787 Dreamliner manufacturing line there.

On issue after issue, Trump’s record decisively bests the Obama-Biden record. Here is a run-down:

The economy

As demonstrated by the Democratic-led states, Biden and his team would have kept the country under economic lockdown longer, so the 11.4 million jobs we’ve already added back would not have occurred under a Biden Administration. Even comparing first terms (excluding 2009 when the U.S. was still in recession), Trump added 6.6 million jobs in his first three years compared to 5.3 million jobs in the Obama-Biden administration’s first term. In 37 months, Trump brought the unemployment rate from 4.7 percent down to 3.5 percent, which included historic low rates for blacks, Hispanics, the disabled, and high school dropouts. It took the Obama-Biden administration twice as long to get a similar drop in the unemployment rate. With Biden’s support of continued lockdowns, the Green New Deal, and opposition to fracking, job growth simply will be harder to achieve if he wins.

In terms of other metrics, the stock market has done well under Trump. The Dow Jones Industrial Average went up roughly 6,000 points in Obama-Biden’s first term after the 2008 recession, but jumped nearly 8,000 points in Trump’s first term despite an historic pandemic-induced recession. Wages were stagnant under the Obama-Biden administration, but jumped up during Trump’s first three years. Real median household income also improved under Trump compared to the Obama-Biden administration.

Tax

This one is quite easy. After delivering major tax reform already, Trump has called for another major tax cut for all Americans and businesses. Biden wants to raise taxes on those making $400,000 and above, as well as all businesses. My earlier analysis showed Biden’s tax plan will hit all Americans.

Regulations

The undisputed legacy of the Obama-Biden administration was a major increase in regulations on all businesses, farms, and families. From declaring puddles on farm fields as waterways subject to federal environmental regulation to Obamacare countless mandates, the regulatory burden grew exponentially when Biden last held office and the progressive policies he supports will drive regulations skyward again. Trump got elected in 2016 to deregulate. He instituted a rule requiring the repeal of two rules for every one enacted and required legitimate cost-benefit analyses to new regulatory proposals. Trump’s regulatory reforms lifted the burdens on businesses large and small allowing them to boom.

Trade

Biden supported China’s admittance into the World Trade Organization where it abused international rules to wipe out manufacturing in the American Midwest. Biden also supported Nafta, which killed even more jobs in America. Trump opposed Nafta and replaced it with the US-Canada-Mexico Trade Agreement that puts American workers and their products first. Trump also forced China to the table where he secured a Phase One deal. Will Biden get more concessions out of China?

Foreign affairs

Biden failed to get America out of endless wars and allowed Isis to became an international menace. Biden also funded Iran with cash and give it the pathway to nuclear weapons with a flawed deal. Trump destroyed Isis and got America out of Iraq and Afghanistan. He also forced Nato allies to begin paying their fair share and pulled America out of the Iran deal followed by crushing economic sanctions on Iran and the killing of terrorist leader Qasem Soleimani, as Biden opposed the mission to nabbed Osama bin Laden. Trump also begin rebuilding our exhausted military and made sure our vets received the care they deserved after eight years of substandard care and scandals in the Obama-Biden VA.

The courts

Trump’s appointees will interpret the Constitution and statutes as written. They won’t use their power to insert imagined rights and powers. They believe five justices shouldn’t undermine our republic by giving partisans what they failed to get via the legislative process. Biden appointees who he won’t name will find rights and powers not expressly written in the Constitution and they will bend legislation to do what their progressive backers want them to do. They believe wholeheartedly that five justices from Ivy League schools know better what the law should be than you or me.

COVID

Even when it comes to the COVID pandemic, the indisputable facts are (1) Trump’s successes or failures should have impacted every state similarly and (2) state and local leadership was the discriminating factor between state results. Trump’s early decision to shut-down travel from China and Europe, which Biden opposed, and his team’s efforts to get critical equipment and supplies to the states unequivocally lessoned the impact of the pandemic regardless of whether you lived in New York or Florida. When it comes to state and local leadership, where you lived did matter (see New York’s 33,219 deaths to Florida’s 14,767), as the 24 Democratic led states have suffered 122,712 COVID deaths out of America’s 210,464 total deaths, or 58.3 percent of the US total. Other than pushing for an unconstitutional national mask mandate and another disastrous national economic shutdown, Biden hasn’t actually identified what he would have done differently than Trump.

[special_offer]

Trump and Republican governors did their best to balance the economy with the virus. That approach resulted in a vibrant recovery in their states with fewer deaths. Biden and Democratic governors put shutting down the economy to hurt Trump over all else. That hyperpartisan approach resulted in a weak economic recovery in their states and far more deaths. Those are the facts.

Ask yourself this very simply question: do you want four more years of a strong recovery with more jobs, lower taxes, less regulation, an America First foreign policy, a judiciary bound by written words, and a balanced approach to COVID with a president that sometimes drives you crazy, or do you want a weaker recovery with fewer jobs, higher taxes, more regulations, an America Second foreign policy, a judiciary unconstrained by written words, and an approach to COVID that disregards the economic harm with a president that acts the part better?

We survived Bill Clinton so the choice seems fairly clear.