Erin Elmore
By Erin Elmore, Special to The Times
America is picking up momentum under President Trump’s bold leadership in the Great American Comeback. As President Trump upholds his reputation as the jobs President and always puts America first, the economic contrast between President Trump and Joe Biden couldn’t be clearer.
Many indicators show that President Trump is swiftly rebuilding the American economy while shattering economists’ predictions. The June jobs report continued the momentum with almost 5 million new jobs added, which makes a total of 7.5 million jobs created the past two months. May and June have been the largest monthly job increases ever reported and have also been accompanied by decreasing unemployment rates.
Experts have credited these positive numbers to President Trump’s bold economic policies like the Paycheck Protection Program, which directly benefitted the state of Pennsylvania with over $20.7 billion going to over 165,000 businesses, supporting over 1.8 million jobs. President Trump championed this economic policy across the country, ensuring American workers could retain their jobs, receive their paychecks, and help our economy reopen smoother. Overall, the PPP saved 51 million jobs, provided a lifeline to 82% of all small business workers in the United States, and helped stimulate the economy ahead of schedule.
Joe Biden cannot compete with President Trump on the economy and the American people know it. President Trump is on his way for the second time of making the American economy the best in the world with tremendous growth and opportunity. On the other hand, Biden’s disastrous economic strategy includes increasing taxes and more regulations, which would undo all of the economic progress made under President Trump and bring our momentous growth to a sudden halt. Simply looking at Biden’s economic record itself is a calamity. Even Biden himself admitted that the 2009 economic stimulus he oversaw failed to produce a comeback for the economy and ended up not helping many Americans at all.
Our economy is also getting a boost from President Trump’s 2016 campaign promise of putting the American worker first and delivering freer, fairer and more reciprocal trade deals. The USMCA trade deal, effective July 1, could not have come at a better time because it will increase investment and create more high-paying jobs for Pennsylvania farmers, workers and manufacturers. The U.S. Commerce Secretary, Wilbur Ross, views this as a significant opportunity to improve Pennsylvania’s extensive trade relationship with Canada and Mexico. In 2019, Pennsylvania exported $11.1 billion and $4.2 billion to Canada and Mexico respectively, equaling over 35% of their total exports.
The USMCA replaces the outdated, disastrous NAFTA trade agreement, which was championed by Joe Biden and led to a massive export of Pennsylvania and American jobs and wealth. In Pennsylvania alone, it was responsible for nearly 200,000 trade-related job losses. Joe Biden has even admitted his own shortcoming that he is not an “expert on international trade matters.”
Biden’s socialist policies will also financially hurt Pennsylvania businesses and families through other job-killing policies like the Green New Deal. This $93 trillion energy deal would cost Pennsylvania households over $75,307 in the first year alone, and 322,600 Pennsylvanians who work in the oil and gas industry would lose their jobs. Joe Biden has also made it clear that he intends to ban all fossil fuels, which includes fracking. A fracking ban in Pennsylvania would wreak havoc on our economy, and cost Pennsylvania 609,000 jobs and $261 billion by 2025.
Pennsylvania voters experienced first-hand how President Trump built the strongest economy in the world and have confidence he will do so again. The renewed hope and optimism under our current President’s leadership, has resulted in unprecedented enthusiasm for four more years of President Trump.
As President Trump continues to lead the Great American Comeback, every Pennsylvanian from all backgrounds should feel pride in our country’s spirit and determination. Because of our President’s leadership, Americans have a renewed sense of optimism that life is returning to normal and we’re beginning to see signs that our economy has potential to be even stronger than before. President Trump built the greatest economy in U.S. history one time, and it’s clear he’s the only one who can do it again.
Erin Elmore is a political analyst, lawyer and delegate at large to the Republican Convention.
