In 2016, Donald Trump promised to bring back manufacturing jobs to the United States. At the time, President Obama ridiculed the idea, saying, “What magic wand do you have?” Turns out Trump had a good one.
In the first 30 months of the Trump Administration, U.S. manufacturers added 499,000 jobs, expanding by 4 percent. In the last 30 months of the Obama-Biden Administration, manufacturers added only 185,000 jobs, which equated to a mere 1.5 percent – a net difference of 314,000 jobs.
Now Joe Biden is promising to bring back manufacturing jobs. Will anyone in the media ask him about his magic wand? I doubt it. During the Obama-Biden years, the economy averaged an anemic two percent growth rate, never surpassing three percent for any quarter. In contrast, before the pandemic, under President Trump, we had the lowest unemployment rate in 50 years and the lowest ever for African Americans and Latinos.
The Trump Administration has consistently cut burdensome regulations. Removing these regulatory shackles from our economy has allowed the private sector to expand and move forward unencumbered. The amount of other economic benefits from these cuts will soon be realized as new projects come to fruition.
Under President Trump, we have seen dramatic developments in our energy sector. America produces more oil and gas than we consume and much of this is due to an increase in fracking. Not only is booming energy beneficial to U.S. consumers, but also changes our foreign policy options. Consumers are less susceptible to oil shocks caused by Middle Eastern dictators or Russia, and no longer are we subject to blackmail by Iranian actions in the Strait of Hormuz.
If Biden were to become president, he would see to it that these gains are reversed. He has promised to prevent any “new fracking,” putting a severe damper on further energy exploration and destroying the opportunity for additional good-paying jobs. He would move to end fossil fuels and in doing so, eliminate 1.3 million jobs in the process. We are already seeing the outcome of over-reliance on wind and solar in California by the rolling blackouts. How is our high-tech economy supposed to function without stable power grids?
Biden promises to bring manufacturing of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to the United States. Does he mean something like the $300 million in public and private money that has been invested with 3M to increase their N95 respirator production from 1 billion to 2 billion this year? Too late Joe… Trump already did that.
President Trump’s career as a savvy businessman has bolstered our economy. His understanding of business production cycles provided insight into how and when to use government aid for PPE and ventilator production, and when to move out of the private sector’s way and let the market work.
Under a Biden administration, America can look forward to yet again being dependent on the Middle East for energy. America can look forward to those energy jobs disappearing for their fathers, husbands, sisters, and sons. Under Biden, we will quickly go back to a slow-growing and highly regulated economy. And, in case we forgot, under Biden, we also have higher taxes awaiting us.
If anyone has a magic wand, it is Joe Biden. And that wand will bring our economy to a grinding halt in no time.
Dr. Kelli Ward is a family physician, two-term Arizona state senator, and the chairwoman of the Republican Party of Arizona. On Twitter: @KelliWardAZ