Letter To the Editor:

Many people believe that the economy did better under former President Trump than it is doing now. They often cite that if the Covid epidemic had not happened, that Trump would have swept into victory in 2020 and that the January 6, 2021 “insurrection” would never have happened. These ideas have been in the news lately and I would like to discuss them.

First of all, the Covid epidemic did happen and it did affect the economy, but the economy was never as good during the Trump years as it is right now. For example, Trump said that he would get the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) up to 4% during his presidency. It peaked at 2.9% in 2018 and was lower even before Covid. The most recent quarter under President Biden had GDP at 4.9%. The stock market also hit a record Dow of 38,000 last Friday. It only hit 29,000 under Trump. Look at your latest retirement account statement for proof.

In addition, unemployment has been at 50 year lows for most of the past two years. 14 million new jobs have been added since Biden took office. Trump was the only President since Herbert Hoover to have fewer people working when he left office than were working at inauguration.

The deficit increased by over $7 trillion under Trump, from $14.4 to $21.6 trillion. Much of this was due to his 2017 tax cuts passed exclusively by Republicans. Republicans want to cut Social Security and Medicare to help reduce the deficit they created.

Further, US oil and gas production hit an all time record high in 2023 and the U.S. is the number one fossil fuel producer in the world.

On top of that, our inflation rate is the lowest among advanced industrial nations and is dropping faster than comparable countries. While groceries are still high, eggs are down 22% and gasoline prices were $2.49 at Holiday in Menominee last week.

The point is that it is easy to forget exactly what was happening during the Trump years and there are a lot of motivated people trying to rewrite history. The economy as measured by GDP, inflation, employment and the stock market is better than it was under Trump. Consumer sentiment is rising. Bidenomics is working and this will become more apparent as more of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill projects come on line. Now is not the time to return to the chaos years of Trump. Now is the time to continue to lead the world in economic growth. You can help by voting for Biden in 2024.

Dr. Paul A. Haupt
Menominee, MI
715-923-6221