by Wayne Besen • May 8, 2023 • Opinion, Politics • Comments (0) • 176

Biden’s Economic Success Driving Republicans Crazy

Bidenomics continues to deliver results for the American people. The Labor Department announced that employers added 253,000 jobs in April. The unemployment rate was down to 3.4 percent, matching the lowest since 1969.

If you have a new job, thank Joe Biden.

Conservatives are thrilled with the news, because they want Biden to succeed for the good of the country. That was a joke.

President Biden followed through on his promise to create an economy that works for everyone. Wages at the bottom end of the pay scale increased faster than they had in decades. The unemployment rate for African Americans reached its lowest point on record in April, at 4.7 percent. The New York Times reports:

The gap between the unemployment rates of white and Black people was also the smallest ever measured. The share of working-age people participating in the labor market reached 83.3 percent, matching a level not seen since 2008.

The economic success of a Democratic president should not surprise anyone. A New York Times analysis found:

Since 1933, the economy has grown at an annual average rate of 4.6 percent under Democratic presidents and 2.4 percent under Republicans. In more concrete terms: The average income of Americans would be more than double its current level if the economy had somehow grown at the Democratic rate for all of the past nine decades. If anything, that period (which is based on data availability) is too kind to Republicans, because it excludes the portion of the Great Depression that happened on Herbert Hoover’s watch.

The six presidents who have presided over the fastest job growth have all been Democrats. The four presidents who have presided over the slowest growth have all been Republicans.

The main issue inhibiting our economy today are Republican attacks on immigration. Contrary to their propaganda, hardworking immigrants are good for the economy. The Labor Department found:

A rebound in immigration eased labor shortages, especially in fields like leisure and hospitality and health care, allowing those to continue to grow quickly.

Republicans are reacting to Biden’s economic success by threatening to not raise the debt ceiling. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is demanding Joe Biden cut trillions of dollars, or Republicans will crash the world economy.

A new study by the White House Council of Economic Advisers found that if McCarthy holds the economy hostage, the results could be devastating. The report warned:

The nightmare scenario of a “protracted” standoff over the debt limit — or one that lasts about three months — would lead to a 6 percent contraction in the size of the economy…The stock market would also fall by an estimated 45 percent… failing to increase the nation’s borrowing limit could wipe out more than 8 million jobs.

Republicans would rather sabotage the economy than acknowledge Biden’s success. They would wreck the economy at the moment of recovery.

McCarthy is so focused on Republican power, that he seems prepared to drive us into poverty. The modern Republican Party is depressing enough, without leading America into the next Great Depression.