<p>Democrats have been myopic in their narrative of misery and suffering by the American people – and it is all because of Trump. They are attempting to put President Trump in a no-win position. If he opens up the economy, he is responsible for COVID-19 deaths – and if he locks things down, he is responsible for the unemployment, schools not opening and increases in a range of other life and death issues.</p>
<p>In terms of the economy, Democrats and the elitist media paint a picture of pandemic economic hardship. They say it is worse than the 2008 Recession and some of those talking heads on the telly are describing it as a depression. Neither is even remotely true.</p>
<p>There is economic hardship for a lot of people – brought on by the necessity of shutting down the economy. But the truth be known, the vast majority of Americans are doing quite well. Most Americans who got that $1200 stimulus check did not even need it. Oh, I know. It was nice, but most of us would have done quite well without it.</p>
<p>Hopefully, the next round will be means tested. It would make more sense to give less – or none – to those who do not need it and use the money to extend unemployment benefits. If you want to stimulate the economy, those without jobs are more likely to spend that money very quickly.</p>
<p>To rate Trump’s performance with the economy, we must see where we were before the COVID-19 virus. Our unemployment rate had dropped to a record three percent. Since zero unemployment is impossible, three percent is what many economists view as “full employment.” That was a huge economic achievement.</p>
<p>Not only were more people working, but the average wage was increasing. With fewer available workers, businesses had to pay more. The old law of supply and demand.</p>
<p>Just prior to the Pandemic, the stock market was breaking records on a regular basis. Democrats claim that the stock market is irrelevant since most Americans do not own stock. That is one BIG lie. Most Americans may not “play the stock market.” They may not personally own shares in all those growing enterprises – BUT when you consider that most retirement plans are based on investments in stock, you have a clear majority of Americans who do “own” – and are affected by the stock market. The soaring stock market also results in more job creation – and more people with stock market-based retirement plans.</p>
<p>Websites like Robin Hood are turning millions of people – especially the younger &#8212; into direct investors because you can buy in with very small amounts of money and no broker fees. When I last checked, my 27-year-old son – who just started on Robin Hood &#8212; was up about 20 percent on his modest investment.</p>
<p>Numbers just released by the Census Bureau show that the Median Household Income (MHI) rose by 6.8 percent in 2019. That was the largest annual increase EVER. Understandably, much of those gains will be erased by the shutdown. Since the shutdown was not systemic, however, MHI should again rise quickly as the economy re-opens. That is just another reason the economy must re-open as soon as possible.</p>
<p>In reporting on the unprecedented rise in the MHI, the Wall Street Journal noted that it meant a $4,379 increase for the average family – increasing the MHI to $68.709. This one-year increase was 50 percent higher than all eight years of the Obama presidency.</p>
<p>Contrary to Democrat propaganda, the big winners were the minorities – all of which exceeded that 6.8 percent national average gain. Specifically, Blacks gained 7.9%, Hispanics 7.15%, Asians 10.6% and the so-called privileged Whites only gained 5.7%. Native-born Americans had a 6.2% rise, while foreign born workers enjoyed an 8.5% increase.</p>
<p>Trump did more in four years to close the gender gap than all the talk, talk, talk emanating from the left for the past decades. Median income rose a record-breaking 7.8% for women in the workforce. Men got a 2.8% increase – and almost no increase for White male workers.</p>
<p>In normal times, most would agree that a 1929-type depression would be a far greater tragedy for the American people than even the Pandemic. If you believe otherwise, you are just a damn fool or completely jaded by political biases.</p>
<p>Trump is right to try to balance the response to the Pandemic with the need to keep a functional economy. It is not a question of lives versus money – or the rich versus the poor. It is lives versus lives. The Trump administration was working to avoid a crushing hardship spread across the entire population – with the likely exception of those millionaire journalists and politicians who favor shutting down the economy for politically biased reasons.</p>
<p>Trump’s decision to keep the economy operating as much as possible has been the right decision. In an amazing turnaround, we have recently seen the stock market rise to within points of those record levels. We have also seen the unemployment descend by one-third – from approximately 10.7 to 8.4.</p>
<p>There is still hardship and tragedy in the COVID-19 versus the economy dichotomy. But there is no winning option. It is a matter of balancing one crisis against another. Until we can get a vaccine or reach herd immunity, there will be suffering on both sides. Despite the constant drumbeat of left-wing media criticism of Trump, his people have done close to the best job possible in arriving at a necessary – albeit painful – balance.</p>
<p>Many pundits – including those on the left &#8212; say that were it not for the COVID-19 Pandemic, Trump would be a sure winner in November. That is why the economy should be the issue most in the voters’ minds when they cast their ballots. That is because COVID-19 will be largely in the rearview mirror by the end of 2021 – but it will be the policies of the person sitting in the Oval Office that will determine economic policies – among other critical issues.</p>
<p>The Pandemic is not driving my vote – nor is Trump’s pugnacious personality. It’s the policies stupid.</p>
<p>So, there ‘tis.</p>