What has happened in the 6 months since President Trump took office? Everything is on the move with the US Stock Markets at record highs. The DOW market average has risen 18% since the election in November. The DOW took just 66 days to climb from 19,000 to above 21,000, the fastest 2,000 point run ever. The NASDAQ has also set new all-time highs during this period. This amounts to about a 4 trillion gain in wealth since Trump was elected. This is probably going to help some people who have 401k.
Increasable as it sounds the national debt has decreased under President Trump since his inauguration by $103 Billion. People have more jobs according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. President Trump added a projected 1,000,000 jobs in his first six months. The unemployment rate since President Trump’s inauguration decreased from 4.8%, in January 2017 to 4.4% in June.
But, what about inflation? That rate decreased to an eight-month low to 1.6%. This is in part due to President Trump’s energy policies that are providing cheaper gas and electricity. One of the other things that President Trump did was to reduce the number of burdensome regulations put in place by the EPA and other Federal agencies. In January, President Trump signed his 2 for 1 executive order mandating that for every new regulation, two regulations needed to be revoked.
According to the US Census Bureau, there were nearly twice as many US housing sales in the past couple of months. The annualized housing sales rate for May 2017 is reported to be 610,000 where in 2009 this amount was only 376,000.
The Federal Reserve is meeting this week and probably will not raise rates although they have increased interest rates three times since President Trump was elected. The funny thing is that the Fed increased interest rates only once in Obama’s 8 Years. The US Manufacturing Index soared to a 33 year high in President Trump’s first six months in office.
The Border patrol reports that illegal immigration is down almost 70% under President Trump. Many illegals are fleeing to Canada or simply not crossing the southern border, which is good news for our welfare system and our entry level workers.
The President has signed more than 100 executive orders, memoranda and proclamations including: dismantling Obama’s climate change initiatives, protecting law enforcement, crushing ISIS, rebuilding the military, building a border wall, cutting funding for sanctuary cities, approving pipelines, reducing regulations on manufacturers, a hiring freeze on federal employees and withdrawing the US from the TPP.
Although some liberal judges are trying to holdup some of these changes, but they are being challenged up to the Supreme Court and with the appointment of new judges; most of the changes will be upheld. Not bad for the first 6 months and with a little help from the GOP congressional delegation he just might do even better in his next six. As they say, ‘There is a New Sheriff in town.”
A good piece, well written, but the flipside of that coin is, that President Trump’s personal behaviour, the way he treats other national leaders, the Iron fisted, bullying way he has ruled so far and those Oh so thoughtless tweets he has made and keeps making, further exacerbated by the left leaning media organizations across the USA taking him to task over them, has led to the United States standing in the world dropping like a stone. The USA used to be regarded as the most respected nation in the world but not any longer. Yes, there’s “a New Sheriff in town”, but with guns blazing, he’s not interested in listening to anyone. It’s very sad, especially when the USA promotes their country as a Democracy. Hey! I was for him, but I don’t support his behaviour. It’s just not what you would expect from a world leader.
The soaring stock market has done nothing for the middle class. In fact its record levels reveal a basic flaw in our economy–too much concentration of wealth. If you don’t believe that’s bad, read the Founding Fathers’ thoughts.
The economy is growing. It was doing so six months ago and continues. Nothing has changed in calculating the unemployment rates that Mr. Trump called fake six months ago, but are now legit. It is almost comical.
The Executive Orders are a nice touch, but are ephemeral and can be wiped out just as easily as they came into being.
A president’s legacy is in real legislation. You mention none in this column, not because you left it out, because there is none. Mr. Trump’s attempts at getting “anything passed”–he doesn’t care what it is– show he is totally inept at executing this job. He thinks a 48-4 vote in the Senate is a good vote. He neglects to mention the other 48 who are joining the 4 and voting against him–that equals a loss.
The people did elect Mr. Trump to be a different kind of president, but he is squandering any chance he has for any kind of legacy.
Great opinion piece! You did such a great job in spinning the facts and non facts that I have forwarded your name to the White House. You would make a great Press Secretary as you can look reporters right in the eyes and lie without blinking. The White House will need you after Sarah Huckabee resigns in a few months.(You can only lie for so long before it impacts your health. Look at the toll it took on Sean Spicer)
The Trump administration is having a tough time getting people to work for them. Many positions are unfilled due to the lack of good candidates. People who would sell their soul to the devil and lie all day for our President. Those people, thank God, are hard to find. That is why you are needed in Washington. Just do not buy a house as you will not last more than a few months.
You all think Washington swamp people are great, but the people who elected Trump want a change, not the same old merry-go-round. The reason it hard to fill positions is that honest people are hard to find in Washington and those who are found are blocked by Democrats. The stock-market rise helps those with 401k and we have a lot in town including me and I’m hardly rich. Yes, he is having trouble get bills and appointments through congress because of Democratic blocking and Republicans who should change their affiliation to swamp creature. A good example is McCain who promised the voters he would vote for repeal and then voted against it. As far a personal behavior, I’m tired of politicians who say one thing and then do something different. With the press so against anything he does, he goes to something else to get his message out. Yes, it’s different but look what happen with Sessions, he jumped on him and now we have action on getting gang members out and investigating leaks. It’s time we stopped giving away our money and jobs and put America first. Maybe you all should read the list against, those things have happened.