The Trump-GOP tax cuts of 2017 that reduced the Corporate tax rate 14%, yes, you read that right 14%, was unnecessary for the U.S. economy that was in its 8th straight year of economic expansion and job creation was steady averaging 225,000 a month for the last 36 months of the Obama administration. What was best for the economy at that time was Hillary Clinton's priority promise to rebuild and repair the nations infrastructure that would have added new job growth immediately, increased the GDP and those new jobs would have been at a pay scale higher than the average workers pay. Infrastructure was and still is a very needy project of an old system in need of repair and rebuilding.
The 14% tax reduction turned out to be a stimulus for the stock market as corporate America used those savings to buy back and enhance their own stock which ran up the price per share and over priced the market They also increased the salaries and bonus of their CEO's and executives at the expense of their average worker. Those savings could have been used to provide family and sick leave for their employees and for a rainy day that would support employees laid off because of work stoppages caused by nature such as the coronavirus. But now, corporate America is again asking the federal government to bail them out and pay sick leave and other expenses of those laid off workers because of the virus.
What is taking place today, took place in the past with the Bush 43 tax cuts and the following deep recession. The U.S. economy received more benefits from President Obama's stimulus than it did from both the Bush and Trump tax cuts because the stimulus was targeted and over a period of years. It also cost the federal government, therefore the people much less than the Bush and Trump tax cuts. The Obama stimulus cost $787 billion while the Bush and Trump tax cuts cost $3.6 Trillion and $1,5 trillion respectfully. The federal deficit decreased on President Obama's watch from what it was at the end of George W. Bush's last fiscal year. The federal deficit increased on George W. Bush's watch and so far it has increased on Trump's watch. And more jobs were created on Obama's watch in 8 years than were created on Bush's (8) and Trump's (3) watch in the 11 years they have served.
And needless to say, we know Bill Clinton's administration created more jobs in 8 years than were created during the Reagan, Bush 41 and Bush 43 administration in the 20 years they served. Clinton's performance on the economy and job creation shamed those three President even though Reagan and Bush 43 gave corporate America and the wealthy huge decreases in taxes to accomplish what Clinton did without cutting taxes. Plus Clinton reduced deficit spending every year in his first 4 years in office and then balanced the budget all 4 years of his second term with record surpluses. But Reagan, Bush 41 and Bush 43 never balanced one federal budget in the 20 years they ran the country. And Trump is following in their footsteps.
Now we are in the present and in the middle of a virus shutdown, a slowdown in the world economy and dropping oil prices that actually began before the virus started. The over priced stock market's DJIA closed Wednesday at 19,898. It closed at 19,827 the day President Obama left office. It reached a high of 29,000 just last month in February. The Trump-GOP $1.5 trillion tax cut was financed by deficit spending and was no real stimulus or economic plan to create more jobs and put more money in the economy. (Note: In Trumps 36 months in office the economy created an average monthly job number of 183,333 per month. While the average monthly job creation number during the Obama's last 36 months in office was 225,000 average jobs a month created) The tax cuts were pay back by Trump and the republican party for their relationship with special interest. Then the usual cure follows. The federal government bail out of the business community and financial help for their employees who have been harmed because tax breaks were used to feed the greed of corporate America instead of taking care of their employees.
So what does Louisiana's two do nothing U.S. Senators say about the present situation? According to a New Orleans Advocate article John Kennedy said he'd support spending what ever it takes for the federal government to prop up the economy. Bill Cassidy said the federal government should consider a massive infrastructure package. (It was Hillary Clinton's plan remember?) Democratic speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi set up a meeting with Trump to talk about infrastructure after the democratic party took control of the House in 2019. That meeting was set but before it even started Trump threw a little boy fit and walked out the meeting before it ever began.
The Reagan and Bush 43 administrations suffered an economic recession and now Trump says a recession is on the horizon on his watch. And what all three have in common is a tax cut virus for those that need lower taxes the least. The people should also remember that the highest level of sustained unemployment in the last 60 years took place on the watch of Ronald Reagan despite his tax cuts. It stood at over 10% for 10 straight months from September 1982 thru June 1983.
The last 40 years of history tells us the democratic administrations of Bill Clinton and Barrack Obama had the better economy, more job creation, balanced more budgets, cut deficit spending, lower decrease in unemployment, a smaller percentage increase in the national debt, larger increase in middle class income, smaller percentage increase in total federal spending, zero economic recession that began on their watch, no bank failures, better economic policy and plans, the ACA and etc., etc. And the one thing both Clinton and Obama had in common was the WISDOM to understand a tax cut that favors the wealthy and corporate America is the greatest VIRUS threat to the economy and economic conditions.
And the readers of PolitiDose discovered that long ago here in commentary.
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